Background

On the 17th of July 2006 at 15:19:22 WIB a strong earthquake, 6.8 on the Richter scale, happened in south Pangandaran. The epicentre was located at: 9.46 LS - 107.19 BT with a depth of 33 km. Following the earthquake, a high wave / tsunami of 7 meters reached the coast of south Java from Ciamis area until Kebumen.

A total of 500 people lost their lives, 200 were injured, and thousands of houses were damaged. Approximately 5.000 people were left homeless, and most of the areas fishing boats and public facilities were destroyed.

IDEP’s response

The aim of IDEP’s emergency response was to assist victims of the earthquake and tsunami who were not being reached by other organizations.

Objectives were to:

1. Procure and distribute supplies to people in remote areas who were not receiving aid from other organizations, and to assist them to continue to live in their own communities;
2. Support and strengthen local organizations’ and networks’ abilities to effectively search for and evacuate people, while addressing emergency needs for shelter, food, public health needs, education of children, first aid and post trauma follow up.

Activities to achieve these objectives were:

• Procurement and distribution of aid, through IDEP’s local partners.
• Procurement and distribution of emergency response fact booklets that explained actions that can be taken to minimise and manage commonly found problems following a disaster.
• To cooperate with and support local partners with tools, material and assistance to help them to undertake their relief work.

IDEP’s Implementation Partner

Yayasan Bahari called upon their network of local volunteers and mobilized over 100 local people who joined the emergency response effort in the field. The Bahari team has extensive experience in search and rescue using navigation aids, GPS, and radios.

Combining their knowledge of the region and transect analysis of the area, Yayasan Bahari’s team quickly identified communities in need. In consultation with these communities, HIKESPI/Yayasan Bahari located appropriate drop off points that could be reached on foot by affected community members. They commenced weekly drops of food and whatever other items they had been able to obtain.

Locations of activities

The rapid assessment conducted indicated that the worst affected people were communities that had been living near the beach, which had left their homes and fled to the higher ground for safety. 32.000 people were displaced from 21 different locations in Kabupaten Ciamis including 6.450 people that were displaced from Kabupaten Tasikmalaya. Some of them stayed in public buildings such as schools or government offices but most of them had no shelter whatsoever. There were suffering from a lack of food, water, sanitation or medical care.

Many people from these coastal communities had their houses destroyed (1,417 houses destroyed) and lost all of their possessions. There was an urgent need for body removal and injured rescue, emergency medical care, tarpaulins and food.

Project logistics

Because the area covered was relatively large (200km long) Bahari’s main base camp was set up in the town of Pangandaran. The camp’s main unity was a 6 x 15m tent, which was located next to a warehouse used to store the projects supplies and logistic tools. This location was chosen for the easy access to goods from Yogyakarta and proximity to routes that lead directly to the Internally Displaced People (IDP)’s locations. As well as this main base camp, 5 other base camps were established. These camps consisted of large tents for 200 people. Each base camp however, created a gathering place for between 200 to 8,000 people.

Bahari’s team of volunteer relief workers distributed aid and assisted people from throughout the area from these base camps. Support offered included food, medical care, and the establishment of an education project for local children.

As well as delivering their aid supplies, the Bahari team coordinated with other local NGO’s, Government bodies and members of the local communities to help them organize and coordinate assistance for the population in needs.

To facilitation communication between all the base camps, Bahari installed a VHF radio repeater in the highest location in the area. Each camp had a VHF radio, the project’s 4 vehicles were equipped with VHF too and 4 walkie-talkies were deployed in the field.

For transportation and distribution needs, 4 cars (2 mobile clinics and 2 operational cars), 2 motorbikes were deployed. 2 water trucks were rented to facilitate the distribution of water.

Activities conducted

A. IDEP Procurement of appropriate aid items

With support from OXFAM Australia, Tents, Water Pumps, piping, buckets and jerry cans were procured for community WATSAN activities with a total value of IDR 30,000,000.

With support from Direct Relief International medicine for the project’s mobile clinic to the value of IDR 28,000,000 was procured.

With support from Trocaire IDR 179,637,200 worth of tools and tool kits for community recovery and reconstruction were purchased from IDEP’s local emergency response supplies partner CV Saraswati. These Reconstruction Toolkits contained shovels, nails, hammers, rope, wire, construction buckets, crowbars, axes and handsaws.

10,000 copies of the emergency fact booklet that were printed with support from OXFAM Au as part of IDEP’s emergency response activities for the earlier Yogyakarta Quake were distributed directly to people in disaster areas, and in areas at high risk for disaster. The booklets explain the signs and effects of earthquakes and tsunamis (to reduce unnecessary panic), how to plan and prepare for such events, and how to best manage health and sanitation after a disaster has occurred. Click here to see a sample booklet

B. IDEP’s partners’ activities on the ground

a. Search and rescue
A team of 110 volunteers from caving, climbing, rafting and trekking clubs, most of whom were trained in High Risk Rescue and Emergency First Response by bahari leader Cahyo Alkantana worked in the field. The core team also included 3 doctors and 6 nurses. During the 1 week of operations these teams evacuated 63 deceased and gave medical assistance to over 2,500 people. 2 helicopters from Indonesian Government and 3 rubber boats were used to assess the remote are and evacuate the injured people.

Ten days after the Tsunami, people started moving back to their coastal villages from the mountain areas where they had been seeking safe shelter. At that point the 5 Bahari base camps, with their remaining core volunteer team of 40 people, were redeployed to the locations where the population were re-settling.

Bahari’s aim was to support people to return to the areas where their destroyed houses were located as quickly as possible so that they could be directly involved in and expedite the clean up of the area and gather up and re-usable construction materials from the debris in the area.

A major part of the Bahari team’s work was advocating on behalf of the IDPs to the local government and other international support organizations so that they would allow these displaced communities to return to their villages as quickly as possible instead of getting stuck in IDP camps.

Shelter and reconstruction tools
During the project’s 6 weeks of operations, the Bahari team distributed 1.150 tarpaulins and 500 blankets. 300 Reconstruction Tool Kits which consisted of 1 wheel barrow, shovels, nails, hammers, rope, wire, construction buckets, crow bar, axe and hand saw were distributed to community members so that they could be empowered to initiate their own reconstruction activities.

Infrastructure and construction
The Bahari team cleaned up the debris and un-useable materials from 3 villages using 2 wheel loaders and 2 dump trucks. As well as this, the team repaired the electricity connection and material (poles, cables and lamps) was re-established in these villages as well. They also installed large 10,000 watt flood lights for monitoring water sea level on the Pangandaran beach.

Water and sanitation
The first week, 5 fiberglass water tanks of 3,000 litres each and 5 5,000-litre water bladders were installed in 5 different villages. 2 water trucks were rented that delivered water, three to five times each day to refill the water tanks in the area. This water delivery continued for one month while the local wells were being rehabilitated.

Bahari also purchased 4 water pumps, which were used to pump out household wells, which were rehabilitated and sanitized to expedite local recovery. A total of 400 wells in the area were cleaned and disinfected over 6 weeks.

In Cidadap village, 5 emergency pit latrines were also built, and 100 pour flush latrines were built as well as shower rooms were rehabilitated.

250 Personal Hygiene Kits were also distributed to local communities. Each kit consisted of 5 bars of soap, 2 tooth brushes, 1 tooth paste tube, 250g of washing powder, 1 10 liters bucket, 1 water scope, 1 packet sanitary napkins, 1 plastic matt, 10 m of rope, 5 women and 5 men’s underwear, 2 sarongs, scissor and a knife.

d. Medical care
Bahari’s medical teams included 10 professional medical volunteers. In each of the project’s 5 Posko (Emergency Coordination Centres), a medical team with medicines was on stand by to deliver medical care to people who came to the centre for assistance. 2 mobile clinics also conducted outreach support to treat the people directly in their areas. During the first 10 days, a total of 2,000 people were treated for heavy wounds (surgery). After this emergency period, an average of 250 people per day were treated by the medical team (in Poskos and / or mobile clinics). The main diseases treated, after injuries, were diarrhoea, skin and eyes infections.

e. Food and kitchens sets
During the first 10 days, public kitchens were set up in the 5 base camps. 3 times a day full meals consisting of rice, vegetables and proteins (primarily eggs) were distributed to 200 people per base camp. Rice and noodles were also distributed for people who were able to cook for themselves. Special milk for children and elderly was given - 250g per person per week for a period of 3 weeks. Beside this, 900 babies received special infant milk the first 10 days of the project. One packet of high proteins biscuits (energetic food) was given to 900 families per week for 3 weeks. After the people started returning home, a 3 weeks supply of rice, noodles, cooking oil, biscuits and kerosene were distributed for 1,000 families.

To support the quick recovery of families in the area, 300 Kitchen Sets were distributed. 1 set consisted of: 1 stove, 2 x 20 liters jerry cans, 3 cooking pots (for rice cooking, water boiling and frying pan), 5 plates and spoons, 5 glasses and 2 liters of cooking oil.

d. Formal education
In each base camp next to the destroyed villages, a tent was set up as emergency school facility. Each school provided a teacher, as well as 3 assistant teachers who supported the local teachers to re-establish a lesson routine for the children in the affected areas. Children attended schools 3 hours everyday as well participating in activities developed for them in the afternoons. Notebooks, pencils and games were given to the children as well as meals.

e. Public education
IDEP’s emergency response fact booklets and Comic books with fact sheets about earthquakes and tsunamis were distributed throughout the affected areas.

f. Psychological support
A psychological trauma support team of 3 expert counsellors for trauma and stress relief followed the education team and mobile clinics to identify stressed or traumatized people and to treat them. During the implementation of the project, 60 cases were found and treated.

Monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation of project needs and results was an on going process throughout the program’s implementation. Process, progress, quality and beneficiary satisfaction were monitored at various levels, formally and informally resulting in both qualitative and quantitative data.

Community response to the overall assistance provided was overwhelming, with some people in remote areas being moved to tears by the feeling that they had been remembered and that supplies were being delivered to help them to resume their lives. The Emergency fact booklets, which were delivered at the same time, were also very well received by local communities.

Gender responsiveness

The family aid bucket contains items for use by all members of the family such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, torches, towels and blankets. It also contains items specific to the needs of women’s menstruation and men’s shaving. The bucket includes cooking utensils and cleaning products, which would mainly be used by women and girls.

The emergency fact booklet contains health and sanitation information relevant to the needs of women, men, girls and boys. It specifically emphasises the important role of women in an emergency and gives guidance on maintaining breastfeeding of infants in a disaster situation instead of feeding them with formula from potentially unclean water.

Project Donors

IDEP wishes to express its sincere thanks to these project donors:

• Direct relief International US$ 20,000 (IDR 179,500,000) for search and rescue, water and sanitation activities, aid delivery logistics and emergency medical care
• The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) US$ 10,000 (IDR 89,600,000) for nutritious food aid and related distribution logistics
• OXFAM Australia AUD 10,000 (IDR 67,690,000) for procurement and delivery of shelter, family aid buckets, emergency information booklets and related distribution logistics
• Other private donors IDR 366,145,023 delivery of aid and related distribution logistic
  
  

Constraints and Recommendation

It was difficult to access the people in need in the area. The Bahari team had to use their 4 four-wheel drive vehicles to facilitate this emergency response process. From Dusun Legok to Logodor, there were no bridges at all and all local boats were destroyed by the Tsunami, so Bahari needed to rent a rubber boat for 10 days to access and give assistance to some of the local communities in need.

Due to the fact that Pangandaran is a small town and all the town’s shops were destroyed by the Tsunami, all the supplies, food and material, needed to be brought in from Yogyakarta, Bandung and Jakarta. It takes about 6 to 7 hours by road to make these deliveries of goods. This made rapid mobilization of aid to the people in dire need almost impossible.

Another challenge faced in the field was communication challenges due to the lack of access to any hand phone signals in the area. Because of this the Bahari team needed to use expensive satellite phones for imperative communications.

Finally the most difficult challenge was working to overcome the resistance of the local government and large NGOs to the idea that it was better to encourage and facilitate the speedy return of the IDPs to their villages, and support immediate recovery efforts, than to set up large refugee camps. The challenge with this is that the lead-time between the emergency response and the recovery phase work was dramatically reduced. In the end the communities and NGOs agreed that this was a better option and work proceeded well to this end.

The Operational Funds that Yayasan IDEP was able to supply were only able to cover about 20% of the total project’s operational costs. Additional funding and in-kind / volunteer donation were ascertained to run this project, and personal resources of volunteers and supporters were very much drained to make this important work possible.

Yayasan IDEP’s key emergency response implementation partner Bahari is an exceptional local organization, which is able to have a dramatic impact on saving lives and reducing suffering in acute emergency situations. However the organization finds that it is very difficult to obtain funds while also addressing the many challenges and responsibilities that arise during the rescue phases. It would be much more efficient if some operational cash was already held in reserve before emergencies occur and that these funds would be released / available within the first few hours of any agreed initiative.

From IDEP’s perspective the major problem in implementation was the time lag in receiving needs assessments from partners in the field to IDEP and translating that into funded proposals and the provision of the urgently needed aid. Sending IDEP staff and volunteers to the field to assist partners in reporting and to speed up the flow of information back to IDEP’s HQ office reduced this problem somewhat. While there, IDEP’s staff and volunteers were also able to help liaise between partners and International NGO’s to help facilitate the provision of supplies already available in the area, and to increase coordination with other initiatives.

IDEP sees a clear need to ascertain the necessary support to expand (a) our in-house disaster response and assessment team and (b) our emergency response reserve funds; so that in the future IDEP will be able to (a) meet urgent needs on the ground in a more timely manner and (b) IDEP representatives can assist in more timely project documentation and reporting.

Now that firm partnerships are being established with our emergency response partners in the field such as Yayasan Bahari, better systems, tools and support for clearer flow of information and related actions would greatly enhance IDEP ability for timely emergency response.

Also being able to afford a qualified fulltime emergency response coordinator to assist with project management, documentation and reporting would relieve the workload on IDEP’s DM coordinator who’s job is to also coordinate non-emergency response activities in IDEP’s busy DM department.

IDEP also hopes to be able to establish working relationships and agreements with International NGO’s and Donors so that we can be assured of a greater amount of emergency funds and / or stores of emergency supplies that would be available immediately after a disaster occurs.

Currently IDEP’s emergency reserve fund is US$10,000, which is used each time IDEP chooses to respond to an emergency situation. Increasing the reserve would greatly reduce the lead-time on distribution of aid to communities when they need the help the most (i.e. the first hours / days after a disaster strikes).