Teams from SOS Children's Villages provide aid across Jakarta
Source: SOS-Kinderdorf International
Doris Kirchebner
Website: http://www.sos-childrensvillages.org
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
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The SOS Health Centre in Poncol/Jakarta
SOS Archives
SOS Archives
13/02/2007 - The emergency aid that is being provided in the Indonesian capital Jakarta is now entering its second week. SOS Children's Villages has so far been able to help more than 13,000 people who are living in difficult conditions.
The situation for thousands of people in Jakarta remains as dire as it was immediately after vast areas of the city of millions were flooded. Teams from SOS Children's Villages Indonesia are out providing aid every day, so that remote villages and areas also receive help. Two examples of this are Poncol and Makmur, which could only be reached on foot by wading through water that was up to the hips, after the people had waited for a whole week for help.
Since the beginning of the aid activities, the SOS teams have already provided more than 13,000 people, many of whom are children, with the bare essentials. They have been handing out packages of ready-made food, mineral water, special milk for babies and small children, rice, noodles, eggs and oil, as well as clothing, school bags, teaching materials, blankets and medication, according to need.
The people found refuge on flyovers, on roofs and in churches. Around 450 people stayed for example in the Koinonia Church and were cared for by the parish; SOS Children's Villages was able to help out by providing medication. SOS Children's Villages has also worked with the Holy Cross Church in Semper, which provides support for families without a home.
Volunteers have set up two health centres in Poncol, where SOS Children's Villages has distributed aid to 850 families. One of the centres is being run by a team from SOS Children's Villages, the other is being run by Sonora Radio Broadcasting and the University of Indonesia. The patients are mainly suffering from serious skin and eye problems and from colds and flu. More often or not it is the children who are suffering the most from the low standards of hygiene in the areas of the city that were flooded.
The SOS Kindergarten in Jakarta has also been participating in the relief operation. The children have collected donations and have used the money to buy rice, mineral water, biscuits and clothes for other children. They were able to help 100 people who were temporarily stranded on a flyover in Cijantung.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
