PADANG, Indonesia (October 16, 2009) – Save the Children has just received cargo from the first of three airplanes dispatched by the UK Department for
International Development (DFID) and loaded with 8,440 shelter kits for the hardest-hit victims of the West Sumatra earthquake.
Save the Children is working around the clock to
provide relief items to children and their families living in the areas worst hit by the quake, which struck about two weeks ago. Families are struggling to provide shelter for their children in the
earthquake zone. The government reports that 135,299 houses are severely damaged, 52,206 are moderately damaged and another 57,510 are lightly damaged, rendering homeless an estimated 250,000
families.“Home should be a refuge for children, not a place to fear. Yet many families are now too frightened to go back in their houses,” said Peter Sykes, Save the
Children’s team leader for the emergency response. “Children are now living in shelters made from salvaged materials. They are exposed to the elements, endangering their health and
well-being.”
In certain areas 90-95 percent of the population can no longer live in their houses, which are structurally unsafe or completely destroyed. Here, Save the
Children plans to reach 30,000 households, or about 150 000 people, with shelter materials and other essential non-food items.
In the area worst-hit by the quake,
entire villages have been forced into the open. They are living in makeshift accommodations in front of their damaged houses, have been taken in by neighboring villages or are living in camps that
have sprung up since the disaster. “Complicating their situation is the onset of the rainy season, which only adds urgency to our relief efforts,” said Sykes.
Today the agency received the first plane loaded with shelter kits donated by DFID. The plane, an Antonov 12 containing 1458 shelter kits, arrived at 9:30 a.m. at Padang International Airport.
Two more DFID planes are arriving tomorrow, bringing in another 6,982 shelter kits.
Save the Children has worked in Indonesia for over three decades. In recent years, it has
responded to nearly all minor, medium-sized and major natural disasters in the country. In addition to providing immediate relief to children and families after a disaster, Save the Children helps
communities prepare for emergencies and develop the capacity to reduce risks posted by and mitigate the effects of disasters in the future.
Media contacts
Please contact Ingrid Lund on +62 081 994 940 261 or +47 41 50 94 for all media enquiries.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
People gather outside an office building after fleeing from their office when an earthquake shook Jakarta October 16, 2009. Indonesia was hit by a strong quake off Java island, in the ...
