Jakarta, Indonesia, 17 October, 2018 – CARE is distributing hygiene kits to around 1,000 households over the coming days. Distributions will target some of those worst affected by the earthquake and tsunami on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Lack of clean water and access to sanitation facilities are two of the biggest problems currently facing survivors of the earthquake.
“People have lost everything, including their homes and they are dealing with the trauma of their experience. We are also starting to see instances of disease outbreak with fever and diarrhea reported. On top of this people are still living with the daily fear of continuing aftershocks and small quakes.” said Wahyu Widayanto, CARE Indonesia’s Emergency Response Coordinator on the ground in Palu.
CARE’s needs assessment showed that over 80% of people affected by the earthquake and tsunami are staying outside their homes, either because they have been damaged, or for fear of further quakes. While around 30% of those do not have access to clean, safe drinking water, with many drinking out of communal wells or rivers. CARE is providing buckets and water purification tablets to help address some of these needs.
CARE Indonesia is working in the worst affected areas of Palu, Donggala and Sigi in some of the most remote and hard to access communities.
CARE’s hygiene kits include items such as soap, water purification tablets, buckets and laundry detergent. They also include items specifically targeted at women and girls, such as sanitary napkins. “Women in particular - are telling me their big worries are things like milk for their babies, and that they are running out of sanitary products, which is a real worry considering they live in communal shelters, or even out in the open. They are also very worried about being able to go back to their houses and rebuilding after all this destruction,” notes Widayanto.
CARE is looking to raise USD 15 million in funding to be used over a four-year period to provide this immediate life-saving assistance, as well as to be able to respond also to longer term needs.
As Widayanto notes; “Much of people’s land has been destroyed through mud ‘liquefaction’. This has an impact on both sources of food and potential incomes. Without a harvest, the effects are likely to be long-lasting. Going forward, we will also be looking at cash assistance programmes to help people get back on their feet.”
Notes to editor:
- CARE was part of a joint assessment between from 3 – 8 October in four of the districts worst affected by the earthquake and tsunami: Palu, Donggala, Sigi and Parigi Moutong. The organization and its partners interviewed 242 across 107 different villages to identify their main urgent needs going forward and the assess the scope and scale of the damage caused by the earthquake, tsunami and ‘liquefaction’ phenomenon. This was in order to provide the most useful, effective and targeted response possible. The assessment was done as a partnership between the Emergency Capacity Building consortium and Humanitarian Forum Indonesia. Full findings of the assessment can be found online here (only available in Bahasa Indonesian): https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYjlkMDAxYmMtYjg0My00NzU3LWJmNzYtZjExMDdjMjc4NjMzIiwidCI6ImI4MGMzMDhjLWQwOGQtNGIwNy05MTVjLTExYTkyZDljYzZiZCIsImMiOjF9
ABOUT CARE INDONESIA:
CARE has offices in the south of Sulawesi island in Makassar, where it has been operating for nearly 30 years. CARE has worked in Indonesia since 1967, initially focused on food distribution, small infrastructure projects, health, the environment, and water and sanitation. In 2004, CARE Indonesia was one of the primary emergency responders after the South Asian tsunami. Emergency response and disaster risk reduction with a focus on women and girls is always CARE Indonesia’s first priority. Its other core activities all focus on women and youth and include: Integrated Risk Management comprising resilience, food security and climate change; Economic Empowerment and leadership; and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene.
Learn more about our work in Indonesia.