Small and nimble, IDEP & its local partner organizations were able to start mobilizing aid much faster than larger aid organizations.

Working with its existing network of NGOs in Sumatra, IDEP & its local partner organizations quickly established that the most effective response mechanism would be to purchase emergency supplies in Sumatra and deliver them through secure channels directly to survivors.

With a focus on keeping people from leaving their homes and becoming itinerant refugees, IDEP began to source drilling equipment and pumps to clear seawater from wells, building supplies and other articles that would enable survivors to remain in their communities and begin to rebuild their lives.

Phone calls to the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) office in Medan (Orangutan Information Centre/OIC) established that there were plenty of supplies to be purchased in the city. But the banks were still closed for the Christmas holiday and buying tons of supplies, renting trucks and filling them with petrol requires a substantial amount of money. IDEP directors made a few phone calls and generous Bali residents lent thousands of dollars to get the response work initiated.

In Medan, OIC staff worked with the NGO Indonesia Friends of the Earth (WAHLI) to strategically shop for food and basic supplies, find drivers with trucks who were willing to make the daunting journey to Banda Aceh and load the truck with the help of volunteers. This truck was one of a convoy of three that left Medan December 29 and arrived in Banda Aceh on New Year’s Eve.

This IDEP initiative supplied among the first aid to reach survivors in that devastated city. IDEP & its local partner organizations-funded emergency supply trucks continued to make the 24-hour round trip from Medan to Banda Aceh. Each vehicle was accompanied by an OIC volunteer to ensure the supplies reached the intended recipients.

In Banda Aceh and points between, IDEP & its local partner organizations aid was handed out through distribution centers run by WAHLI.

During the first months of 2005, IDEP and its partner organization delivered hundreds of tons of aid to devastated communities in Aceh, by land, by boat and through other partner initiatives.

Click here to see a slide show of IDEP’s Emergency Response efforts to the Asian Tsunami or an ABC Australia documentary video of one of IDEP Aid by boat voyages of the Sumber Rejeki’s voyages.