This post is written by Rebecca Young from ACT International. Christian Aid is a member of ACT International.
In the middle of a noisy and crowded church hall in Padang, ACT International members are drawing up an appeal for international assistance. It is not an easy work environment for them since the hall also doubles as the major relief distribution centre.
"People are constantly coming past us with packages, picking things up and dropping things off," says Rebecca Young of ACT International.
More than 1000 people have died after last Wednesday's 7.6 Richter scale earthquake and thousands more are still missing. UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Indonesia, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, reports that an estimated 3000 to 4000 people are still trapped or buried under the rubble, with food, shelter and clean water still urgently needed in and around the worst-hit cities of Padang and Pariaman.
Adjacent to the church is a large market whose roof collapsed during the earthquake. The bodies of people remain trapped inside, and the smell of decay from chickens, meat and eggs is unbearable. While survivors are no longer being found alive under rubble, the challenge facing recovery teams and the hope of families with missing relatives is that the bodies are returned home intact.
This morning ACT International was able to make its first distribution of rice to Padang in a week. Indonesians eat rice three times a day and to go even a day without this staple food is rare. "People say that if you haven't eaten rice yet today, you haven't eaten," Young explains.
As well as distributing water, noodles, rice, cooking oil and relief goods, ACT International is working on a project to fill large water bladders for distribution. The challenge is finding a clean water source, away from water sources already being drawn on by towns or villages. ACT's mobile health clinics continue to treat people with injuries or illnesses related to the earthquake, and ACT is also working closely with six churches in Padang.
Around West Sumatra, infrastructure continues to be very poor, with many residents and relief centres relying on diesel generators to provide their power needs, and water supplies in Padang still do not function in some areas. However, telecommunications have improved and fuel distribution has returned to normal now that the main road to the fuel depot has been cleared.
ACT members working in Indonesia and responding to the West Sumatra earthquake are Christian Aid partners:
Church World ServiceYakkum Emergency UnitYayasan Tanggul Bencana de Indonesia
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Indonesian army soldiers carry the body of an earthquake victim at the Ambacang Hotel which collapsed after an earthquake struck Padang, West Sumatra province October 8, 2009. Relief workers struggled to ...
