- UPDATE No2
IDEP
Indonesian Permaculture in Bali
- IDEP s Emergency Response Update: Sumatra Earthquakes September
2007
- Dear Friends of IDEP,
- On the Sumatran mainland, the area north of Bengkulu has been
especially hard hit, in some villages 90% of people s homes have been
damaged beyond repair. Residents said that when the quake started, they
ran outdoors and headed for the hills and some watched as their houses
collapsed. We couldn t speak, we were devastated as we looked back on our
ruined homes. A local mother Yuli said the quake was so powerful that she
and her family had to hold onto furniture to keep from being hurled to
the ground. "It was very bad," she said, "we were so
scared the tsunami was coming."
- IDEP/Bahari team members already stationed in in the area when the
disaster struck have now been joined by emergency response volunteers
from throughout Indonesia, the initial teams have been working since the
moment the disaster struck conducting immediate needs assessments, search
and rescue, emergency first aid and coordination with local authorities
while launching immediate aid distribution for the area.
500 temporary shelter tarpaulins, 3
days of meals for 500 families through public kitchen and 500 household
food packages have been distributed to displaced people in Air Sebakul to
date. Today IDEP/BAHARI public kitchens start serving meals for 1,600
people in Serangai.
- The situation on the ground at this time
With widespread damage to roads and bridges in the area and
intermittent communications, getting accurate casualty figures has been a
challenge. Authorities have been raising the death toll for Bengkulu
province as information comes in from more remote areas. The latest
figures received directly from local authorities report a death toll of
14 people, and 43 injured, while 17,797 houses have suffered damage
(4,759 slightly damaged, 7,444 medium damage and 5,594 completely
destroyed), also 601 schools, 173 hospitals and offices and 256 local
health clinics (PUSKESMAS) seriously damaged or destroyed. Many people in
are target areas are simply surviving in conditions like this:
Many local community representatives and government officials have
said that the public education and awareness campaigns conducted in the
area since the Asian Tsunami of December 2004 has helped to save many
lives. Warnings issued over mosque speakers and training on what do due
in times of disaster played a big role.
For more information about IDEP s
Community Based Disaster Management activities see:
www.idepfoundation.org/Community-Preparedness.html
- What Yayasan IDEP/Bahari is doing now
In the first few days IDEP/BAHARI focused our
efforts in the sub districts of Lais and Air Sebakul. Now that
International and government aid is making its way to the area the
IDEP/BAHARI team has moved the project s base camp further up the coast
to Serangai, Patikno, Bengkulu Utara. A 10-foot-high tsunami wave
destroyed this village while smaller waves were recorded further up and
down the coast in this area. Residents were terrified when they saw the
ocean retreat and then come rushing back to shore. A local resident
recounted, "I heard people screaming and yelling tsunami ...
tsunami!" then the water flooded the village. I ran to find my
children, but they had already run to the hills." Affected families
have been camping out on high ground away from the ocean since the quakes
happened, without access to clean water, food or shelter.
IDEP/BAHARI s coverage for assistance will include
approximately 1.500 families of displaced people
and residents from several remote villages in this area that will only be
accessible by our rapid response team s off road vehicles manned by
IDEP/BAHARI s seasoned off roads emergency response specialists. IDEP has
already used its emergency reserve funds (US$17,000) to assist people in
need in the area. Thousands more are starting to become despondent and
scared as aid is either not accessible to them or very slow to reach
those in need on the ground.
To be able to assist these people we need your help. And we need it
fast. Please see below for how you can pledge your support.
What you help will make possible:
An example of an IDEP/BAHARI emergency response base camp that offers
food, water, medical assistance, children s activities
IDEP/Bahari aims to provide temporary shelter
to at least 1,500 families as well as personal hygiene kits and clean
water. We are using centralized public kitchens as well as food
distribution to remote areas that will provide nutritious meals and food
supplies to at least 4,000 people per day, including special provisions
for children, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly. At the base
camp a temporary medical clinic is being established in conjunction with
local medial personnel using medical supplies shipped in from Jogyakarta.
Food Aid is being distributed to those in the hardest hit areas
Should support be available to do so, we will also be distributing
fresh water three times a day to remote areas by truck, while installing
pulleys and buckets for wells in the area and sanitizing contaminated
wells so that fresh water can be accessed directly and sustainably
wherever possible.
IDEP / Bahari will clean and sanitize contaminated wells to
re-establish local water supplies
Reconstruction tool kits will also be supplied to families in the
area so that those that are able can start to make repairs to their homes
as quickly as possible.
Reconstruction kits will be delivered to local community members to
speed up the recovery process
2 temporary schools will be established offering learning activities
for local children. After the first few weeks we will look at the need
and if support is available to do so we will convert the temporary
schools into permanent facilities so that local children can have both
immediate and ongoing access to education and trauma relief activities.
- How you can help
This emergency response initiative will help to reduce the suffering
for affected refugees in the area. IDEP / BAHARI is very much in need of
your help to make this initiative possible and to assist as many people
as possible in the area. If you are able to help please:
To make a donation please go to our website:
www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php
Currently, IDEP can accept donations by two means:
1) Online Credit Card Donations through the National Heritage
Foundation
Visit
www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php
and select the On-line Credit Card
Donation option. You will be directed to the National
Heritage Foundation website where you can process your donation through
their secure site. Donations are accepted on our behalf by the National
Heritage Foundation in the USA which is a registered 501-(c)(3) charity.
Donation made through NHF are tax deductible in the United
States.
Don t forget, when you register your donation on our website, if you
wish to earmark the funds for a particular project please indicate the
project name.
2) Wire transfer to our bank account
Our bank account details:
Bank Name: BNI
Account Name: Yayasan IDEP
Branch: Ubud
Address: Jl Raya Ubud,Bali 80571,
Indonesia
Swift Code: BNINIDJADPS
Account No: 0049400231
If you are wire transferring funds please notify IDEP by filling in
our donation registration form on-line at:
www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php
or emailing
info@idepfoundation.org.
Please indicate the amount, the originating currency (i.e. US
dollars, UK pounds, etc), bank name and city from which the transfer was
made, your name (as you would like to be listed on the donor list), and
the date of the transfer. A receipt will be sent once the funds have
arrived. Also, if you wish to earmark the funds for a particular project
please indicate the project name.
Thank You so much for any support you are able to
provide.
If you would like to be removed from this mailing list please notify
us at :
info@idepfoundation.org