January 30, 2007

Information provided by Action by Churches Together forum (Church World Service Indonesia) Indonesia, Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU), and Yayasan Tanggul Bencana di Indonesia (YTBI)

General overview

By mid-January many people who had been affected by the floods of December 2006 were still facing difficulties in accessing clean drinking water as many of the water sources had been contaminated. However, water pipelines in 12 of the affected sub-districts were still working and being operated by the PAM (Drinking Water Company).

The government is planning to build barracks for people whose houses have been destroyed by the floods until permanent housing can be assured. People are currently living in makeshift shelters made from debris (plywood, wood, corrugated iron sheets) that they have salvaged. Communities are requesting that family tents be provided to the affected. The government is also encouraging people living near the river areas to relocate farther away from the river banks.

Church World Service response

Non-food item distribution CWS conducted a non-food item (NFI) distribution on January 10, 2007 in Tamiang Hulu sub-district.

Water and Sanitation Clean water has been distributed to six points.

Alur Bamban village, Karang Baru sub district (2 points)

Pipa Semadam village, Kejuruan Muda sub district (2 points)

Tanjung Seumantok village, Karang Baru sub district

Benteng Anyer village, Manyak Payed sub district

Another point was to be added in Sungai Liput village, Kejuruan Muda sub-district.

So far, seven wells have been cleaned. Six of the wells are located in Rantau Bintang village, Bandar pusaka sub-district, while the other one is located in Pematang Durian village, Sekerak sub-district.

A water purification unit from Meulaboh arrived in Rantau Bintang village, Bandar Pusaka sub-district (in the CWS base camp). The purification unit is to be installed to cover the need for clean water in Bandar Pusaka sub-district and two other neighboring sub-districts.

Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU) Response

Health service: YEU's main area of focus is in providing health services, with medical units located in Bukit Rata, Semadam, Suka Makmur, Rantau Pauh, Pematang Durian, Sekumur and Rantau Bintang village. So far, YEU has provided health services to a total of 1,522 people.

Supplementary feeding: Supplementary feeding has been regularly provided for the people in Bukit Rata, Pematang Durian and Sekumur village. Since January 2006 through to the 16th (2007), supplementary feeding was provided to a total of 787 children under five and 86 lactating mothers in Bukit Rata village (Mawar, Melur, Melati dan Kamboja hamlet), Sukamakmur, and Pematang Durian village.

The supplementary feeding is conducted once a week and at the end of every month. Health consultations are to be conducted, including anthropometric measurements. YEU are also working with local community cadres and midwives who are responsible for the Posyandu (Integrated Health Service Post) in the villages to run the program (from arranging the menu, cooking the meals, distributing the meals, etc).

Psychosocial and Education: Based on an assessment done by a YEU team in three focus villages (Pematang Durian, Sekumur and Rantau Bintang), where transportation access is difficult, children in particular seemed to have managed to cope with the latest disaster. However, the need for education is a concern, as by mid-January there had been no clear instruction from the local education department to re-activate teaching learning activities. Schools had not been cleaned and most teachers had also been affected by the flood. Schools are expected to re-start in the coming month or two.

YEU plans to work with the children during this time, conducting play activities. One such activity has been conducted in Pematang Durian (some 30 children participated), with others also held in Sekumur, with some 60 children participating, and in Rantau Bintang, with some 25 children participating.

YEU will also distribute school kits to elementary school children in the three villages mentioned above, as well as in Suka Makmur villages. The kits contain bags, shoes, uniforms, writing books and stationery. YEU is currently assessing the data before distributing the school kits.

Yayasan Tanggul Bencana di Indonesia (YTBI) response

Coordination Coordination with GBKP (Gereja Batak Karo Protestan)/Protestant Church of Batak Karo in organizing assessment activities, procurement, distribution, and activity evaluation.

Food distribution YTB has been distributing food items such as rice, vegetables, cooking oil, spices, dried fish, instant noodle, biscuits, and mineral water to 2,586 households in 20 locations in 4 sub-districts of Besitang, Aceh Tamiang, Sekerak, and Tamiang Hulu.

Church World Service is a member of ACT, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.

Media Contacts: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin (24/7), 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net

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