UPDATE No2   IDEP   Indonesian Permaculture in Bali

IDEP s Emergency Response Update: Sumatra Earthquakes September 2007

Dear Friends of IDEP,

On the Sumatran mainland, the area north of Bengkulu has been especially hard hit, in some villages 90% of people s homes have been damaged beyond repair. Residents said that when the quake started, they ran outdoors and headed for the hills and some watched as their houses collapsed. We couldn t speak, we were devastated as we looked back on our ruined homes. A local mother Yuli said the quake was so powerful that she and her family had to hold onto furniture to keep from being hurled to the ground. "It was very bad," she said, "we were so scared the tsunami was coming."

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IDEP/Bahari team members already stationed in in the area when the disaster struck have now been joined by emergency response volunteers from throughout Indonesia, the initial teams have been working since the moment the disaster struck conducting immediate needs assessments, search and rescue, emergency first aid and coordination with local authorities while launching immediate aid distribution for the area. 500 temporary shelter tarpaulins, 3 days of meals for 500 families through public kitchen and 500 household food packages have been distributed to displaced people in Air Sebakul to date. Today IDEP/BAHARI public kitchens start serving meals for 1,600 people in Serangai.

The situation on the ground at this time

With widespread damage to roads and bridges in the area and intermittent communications, getting accurate casualty figures has been a challenge. Authorities have been raising the death toll for Bengkulu province as information comes in from more remote areas. The latest figures received directly from local authorities report a death toll of 14 people, and 43 injured, while 17,797 houses have suffered damage (4,759 slightly damaged, 7,444 medium damage and 5,594 completely destroyed), also 601 schools, 173 hospitals and offices and 256 local health clinics (PUSKESMAS) seriously damaged or destroyed. Many people in are target areas are simply surviving in conditions like this:

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Many local community representatives and government officials have said that the public education and awareness campaigns conducted in the area since the Asian Tsunami of December 2004 has helped to save many lives. Warnings issued over mosque speakers and training on what do due in times of disaster played a big role. For more information about IDEP s Community Based Disaster Management activities see: www.idepfoundation.org/Community-Preparedness.html

What Yayasan IDEP/Bahari is doing now

In the first few days IDEP/BAHARI focused our efforts in the sub districts of Lais and Air Sebakul. Now that International and government aid is making its way to the area the IDEP/BAHARI team has moved the project s base camp further up the coast to Serangai, Patikno, Bengkulu Utara. A 10-foot-high tsunami wave destroyed this village while smaller waves were recorded further up and down the coast in this area. Residents were terrified when they saw the ocean retreat and then come rushing back to shore. A local resident recounted, "I heard people screaming and yelling tsunami ... tsunami!" then the water flooded the village. I ran to find my children, but they had already run to the hills." Affected families have been camping out on high ground away from the ocean since the quakes happened, without access to clean water, food or shelter.

IDEP/BAHARI s coverage for assistance will include approximately 1.500 families of displaced people and residents from several remote villages in this area that will only be accessible by our rapid response team s off road vehicles manned by IDEP/BAHARI s seasoned off roads emergency response specialists. IDEP has already used its emergency reserve funds (US$17,000) to assist people in need in the area. Thousands more are starting to become despondent and scared as aid is either not accessible to them or very slow to reach those in need on the ground.

To be able to assist these people we need your help. And we need it fast. Please see below for how you can pledge your support.

What you help will make possible:

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An example of an IDEP/BAHARI emergency response base camp that offers food, water, medical assistance, children s activities

IDEP/Bahari aims to provide temporary shelter to at least 1,500 families as well as personal hygiene kits and clean water. We are using centralized public kitchens as well as food distribution to remote areas that will provide nutritious meals and food supplies to at least 4,000 people per day, including special provisions for children, pregnant and lactating women and the elderly. At the base camp a temporary medical clinic is being established in conjunction with local medial personnel using medical supplies shipped in from Jogyakarta.

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Food Aid is being distributed to those in the hardest hit areas

Should support be available to do so, we will also be distributing fresh water three times a day to remote areas by truck, while installing pulleys and buckets for wells in the area and sanitizing contaminated wells so that fresh water can be accessed directly and sustainably wherever possible.

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IDEP / Bahari will clean and sanitize contaminated wells to re-establish local water supplies

Reconstruction tool kits will also be supplied to families in the area so that those that are able can start to make repairs to their homes as quickly as possible.



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Reconstruction kits will be delivered to local community members to speed up the recovery process

2 temporary schools will be established offering learning activities for local children. After the first few weeks we will look at the need and if support is available to do so we will convert the temporary schools into permanent facilities so that local children can have both immediate and ongoing access to education and trauma relief activities.


How you can help

This emergency response initiative will help to reduce the suffering for affected refugees in the area. IDEP / BAHARI is very much in need of your help to make this initiative possible and to assist as many people as possible in the area. If you are able to help please:

To make a donation please go to our website: www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php

Currently, IDEP can accept donations by two means:

1) Online Credit Card Donations through the National Heritage Foundation

Visit www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php and select the On-line Credit Card Donation option. You will be directed to the National Heritage Foundation website where you can process your donation through their secure site. Donations are accepted on our behalf by the National Heritage Foundation in the USA which is a registered 501-(c)(3) charity. Donation made through NHF are tax deductible in the United States.

Don t forget, when you register your donation on our website, if you wish to earmark the funds for a particular project please indicate the project name.

2) Wire transfer to our bank account

Our bank account details:
Bank Name: BNI
Account Name: Yayasan IDEP
Branch:  Ubud
Address: Jl Raya Ubud,Bali 80571, Indonesia
Swift Code: BNINIDJADPS
Account No: 0049400231

If you are wire transferring funds please notify IDEP by filling in our donation registration form  on-line at: www.idepfoundation.org/idep_donate.php or emailing info@idepfoundation.org. Please indicate the amount, the originating currency (i.e. US  dollars, UK pounds, etc), bank name and city from which the transfer was made, your name (as you would like to be listed on the donor list), and the date of the transfer. A receipt will be sent once the funds have arrived. Also, if you wish to earmark the funds for a particular project please indicate the project name.

Thank You so much for any support you are able to  provide.

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