CWS-ACT
Earthquake Response

ACT Situation Report

Indonesia 01/06

Indonesia earthquake: ACT response

ACT appeal ASID61 - Java: Assistance to Quake Affected

Geneva, June 8, 2006

Information provided by ACT members in Indonesia: YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU), Yayasan Tanggul Bencana Indonesia (YTBI) and Church World Service Indonesia (CWS)

Update on the June 8 eruption of Merapi volcano

On the morning of June 8, the largest eruption to date of the Mount Merapi volcano occurred. The volcano spewed smoke to the west and south, and lava flows were seen. The smoke blew 5 kilometers to the south in the direction of the Kali River. The heat from the eruption burned part of a forest, but no casualties were reported.

The mountain is located between Yogyakarta and Central Java Province, about 450 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, near the areas affected by the May 27 earthquake.

Some of the previously evacuated residents who were returning each day to their villages had to flee the latest eruption. But most of the evacuated villagers, especially vulnerable groups like pregnant women, children and babies and the elderly, remained at a safe distance.

Residents of temporary camps in Dompol and Kemalang, Klaten, where ACT member YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU) is working, are remaining in these camps after today’s latest eruption, YEU reported today. In the past few days, these camp residents had been returning to their villages from the camps during the day.

YEU has been responding for the past few weeks to the volcano crisis by providing health services and psychosocial activities in the affected areas. After this morning’s eruption, YEU is involved in further evacuations.

The other ACT members in Indonesia have also been responding to the building volcano crisis. Church World Service Indonesia has distributed health kits, hygiene kits and blankets to displaced people. Yayasan Tanggul Bencana di Indonesia (YTBI) is working with the crisis center of Christian University of Duta Wacana and the Javanese Christian Churches (GKJ). The crisis center is assisting 1,040 displaced people living in three places in Umbulharjo village.

GENERAL SITUATION - JAVA EARTHQUAKE

Aftershocks continue in Central Java, and the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency predicts they will continue for at least two more weeks.

On June 4, the governor of Yogyakarta stated that the rescue phase of the emergency situation had passed and that Yogyakarta and Central Java were now in transition to the reconstruction phase. The government has stated that it will focus on non-permanent housing for the people affected by the disaster.

Residents of the city of Yogyakarta city are returning to their normal routines, although some stores and hotels are still closed. The traditional markets have re-opened for business, but many vendors, who were from Bantul, were killed in the earthquake.

Even though the flow of information and transportation have returned to normal, there are still complaints that some areas are not receiving any assistance or that assistance is not being organized systematically. There are reports of thousands of women and children lining or even blocking roads that are clogged with relief vehicles and curious onlookers - asking motorists for money to buy food. These situations have created traffic jams and slowed distributions.

Fear of thieves has led earthquake survivors to block roads to their homes and villages.

Water is not the main problem, but sanitation facilities are scarce. At a United Nations Organization for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs meeting, it was noted that at least 15,000 latrines need to be built in the affected areas.

ACT MEMBERS' RESPONSES

YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU)/YAKKUM foundation (Yayasan Kristen untuk Kesehatan Umum - Christian Foundation for Public Health)

(Note about the YEU response: YEU, which holds membership in ACT, is one unit of the YAKKUM foundation, and YEU is working with the other units of the foundation – hospitals and community-development programs - to respond to the earthquake.)

At Bethesda Hospital in Yogyakarta, operated by YAKKUM:

271 injured patients have received surgery; 67 more patients were added to the list for surgery on June 5.
115 doctors/surgeons, including ones from overseas, were involved in the surgeries; however, more surgeons are still needed at the hospital.
2,734 patients (as of June 5) have been treated since the earthquake.
On June 6, two nurses from Japan gave a training workshop on “Disaster Nursing” to the hospital’s nurses. Similar training is scheduled for YEU staff next week, including non-medical personnel.
The hospital is providing 1,000 food packages for patients’ families and hospital staff and volunteers (volunteers are from various backgrounds, and most are students) three times a day.

YEU’s medical outreach service:

YEU has provided 528 patients who have been treated at hospitals with transportation back to their homes. However, many have little to return to, as their dwellings were destroyed in the earthquake. They now have to live in camps, in tents or in the open outside their former homes.
Mobile clinic teams are also providing some basic health-related services, especially for those living in tents or under tarpaulins.
Total patients served by mobile clinics: 3,190 (as of June 4).
Community organizers, working in 11 villages, are accompanying the mobile clinics and are helping community residents to identify how they can meet their own needs.
Engineers have installed public latrines at 24 points.
Total beneficiaries in Central Java (Wedi and Prambanan): 1,865 households
Total beneficiaries in Yogyakarta (Bantul and Gunung Kidul): 3,660 households
Besides distributing material aid to villages through the mobile clinics, many people have been donating items directly to the YEU office, especially on the second day after the quake when many people had not yet received any assistance; these items are being distributed to those in need.

Rehabilitation unit of YAKKUM

Staff of this unit have been providing medical treatment in Bantul through a mobile clinic (specifically to people with fractures). They are providing wound care and comprehensive rehabilitation (physical, mental and livelihood) for post-operative patients discharged from hospitals. The unit’s programs are also providing temporary shelter.

YAKKUM plans to establish a community center (a kind of simple community hall) to provide a place for the care of children; a place where students and children can learn; a temporary place for the village government; and, importantly, a place for people to sit together and discuss how to rebuild their villages. Starting on June 1, YAKKUM has been conducting drawing activities with children, and their pictures are being analyzed by a psychologist for possible trauma healing to take place.

Yayasan Tanggul Bencana Indonesia (YTBI)

As of June 1, YTBI had provided assistance to 1,794 households in three districts: Bantul, Klaten and the city of Yogyakarta.

On May 31, YTBI staff and volunteers distributed food packages (each contained 5 kg of rice, 5 ounces of dried fish, 1 can of fish, 5 eggs, 5 packages of instant noodles, 5 ounces of cooking oil and 1 bottle of drinking water) to 751 households in 8 villages in Bantul and Imogiri sub-districts (Patalan, Mangunan, Sidomulyo, Jodhog, Sabdadadi, Pandak, Canden and Pundong). Baby kits, lanterns and kerosene, tarpaulins, mattresses, women’s underwear and sanitary items were also distributed in these villages. The survivors staying near the YTBI crisis center are also benefiting from electric lights powered by generators.

In coordination with YEU, YTBI provided 100 food packages for newly released patients from Bethesda Hospital in Yogyakarta.

Church World Service Indonesia (CWS)

CWS has established an office in Perum Sidoarum, Godean, Yogyakarta for its operations in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

CWS is planning to provide food for survivors with the support of the World Food Program (WFP). Each household will receive 30 kg of rice, 225 packages of noodles and 22.5 kg of biscuits. CWS is currently waiting for WFP’s approval of the food aid plan, which will assist two villages in Wedi sub-district, Klaten district.

On June 3, CWS’s water and sanitation team visited Sindet hamlet (Trimulyo village, Jetis sub-district), dan Nogosari II hamlet (Wukirsari village, Imogiri sub-district), and two hamlets in Bantul district that are in need of latrine facilities. During the visits, CWS introduced the plan, designs and working mechanisms for the new latrines to ensure the communities’ participation. This introduction process will continue in the following days to ensure that the community is satisfied with the plan. CWS plans to build 1,130 semi-permanent latrines, each to be used by 20 people and in the service of a total of 785 households.

The CWS psychosocial support team is coordinating with Duta Wacana Christian University and Wangsa Manggala University undergraduate students for collaboration in psychosocial assistance.

On June 3, CWS distributed supplies in three villages and three hamlets in Umbulharjo, Piyungan, and Jetis sub-districts, as follows:

2,612 health kits
6,720 cups/bottles of mineral water
1,872 baby kits
964 blankets
36 tents

On June 2, CWS distributed 60 tents and 100 blankets in two hamlets of Trimulyo village, Jetis sub-district, Bantul district, and 1,350 blankets and 7,200 bottles/cups of mineral water in Jogotirto, Brebah sub-district, Sleman district.

Based on a needs assessment, CWS’s water and sanitation team will assist two areas in Bantul district, Wukirsari village, Imogiri sub-district, and Canden village, Jetis sub-district.

On June 1, CWS distributed family tents, blankets and health kits to two sub-districts in Bantul, Imogiri and Piyungan. Three hamlets in the two sub-districts received 82 family tents, 1,410 blankets and 550 health kits.

On May 31, the CWS psychosocial support (PSS) team conducted a needs assessment in Wonokromo, Plered sub-district. It found that most survivors are still afraid of living in their houses (even if not damaged), are scared by loud noises and are having trouble sleeping. The result of the assessment will be used as the basis for activities to support the psychosocial needs of people traumatized by the earthquake.

A CWS water and sanitation needs assessment in some hamlets in Imogiri and Imogiri sub-districts in Bantul District reported that there is still a need for tents, food and latrines. Water availability in most of these areas is generally good.

On May 31, CWS distributed blankets in three villages in Bantul sub-district as follows:

400 blankets in Kembangsongo village, Jetis sub-district
200 blankets in Wukirsari village, Imogiri sub-district
100 blankets in Trimulyo sub-district, Jetis sub-district
A total of 350 households received two blankets each.

COORDINATION

The three ACT members in Indonesia continue to coordinate their responses. Several coordination meetings have been held.

YTBI maintains communication with CWS in seeking possibilities to coordinate especially in the distribution of non-food items.

YTBI also works in collaboration with Islamic Relief in transportation, and an agreement has been made that Islamic Relief will provide tents and water-purification equipment in the areas where YTBI currently works.

CWS is working with its local partners - Mitra Alam and LPASKA Solo - as well as Yayasan Kembang Yogyakarta.

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