In Focus

By Bonnie K. Carenen and Andreas Sinaga

CWS Indonesia deployed a second team to the Mentawai Islands, to support the Emergency Response team that arrived immediately after the earthquake and tsunami which struck October 25, 2010. Andreas Sinaga (CWS Indonesia Program Officer) and Bonnie Carenen (CWS Indonesia Disaster Relief and Development Advisor) are helping with aid distribution of non-food items, helping to establish water and sanitation logistics, promoting post-trauma healing, among other things.

The team visited an IDP camp in Sikakap where the CWS emergency response team was preparing for distribution that would take place the next day. It took the team around two long hours on motorcycle ride, in the rain to reach and with very poor road conditions, to reach the camp where IDPs had been living there for a month.

A kid is leaning on the non-food item package that CWS distributed in Sikakap Sub-district. The package consists of tarpauline, blanket, kitchen utencil, cutlery and tools.
(Andreas Sinaga)

"The camp is made up of tents covered in tarps on clear cut land that was paved over with limestone gravel. The residents had come from a small village 13 km away, next to the sea, which was destroyed in the 7.7 earthquake and washed away by the subsequent tsunami. The conditions were very sad," explained Bonnie Carenen. Since there is no proper water facility, and the camps are not near the fresh water spring or river, people have been collecting rain water for consumption and washing purposes. Rain water is not sufficient for the daily needs of the community, especially for toilet and washing needs, therefore there is a risk of disease spreding. "CWS hopes to provide assistance in water and sanitation facility which will be especially important once the rainy season ends," said Bonnie.

Due to poor transportation access, the camp has not received adequate urgent aid, so CWS distributed basic supplies and equipment such as tarpaulins, blankets, eating and cooking utensils, ropes and plastic mats. The Government has promised to build temporary houses by the end of the year, but according to one pastor the team spoke with, "I'm not sure whether the government will be able to deliver the promise, given the road condition and constant rain," He was also concerned about trauma the community has suffered, "People do not want to return home, believing that the destroyed villages are now haunted. They also fear another earthquake and tsunami will come sooner or later and cause more headaches."

The IDPs camp in Sikakap. The survivors have been staying in this camp for over a month after the tsunami struck Mentawai Islands.
(Andreas Sinaga)

"It amazes me to learn how these people that had survived the disaster, that have to bear with this existing condition, are still be able to greet us with smiles. I was moved to see the way they work together as one community and carry each other's arms during this hard time. People often glorify rescuers, aid workers, military personnels and others who come and help them as heroes. They sometimes forget who the real heroes are. Certainly not us, most of us are just doing our jobs here. But the people who are affected by disasters -- they are the survivors and they are the real heroes," said Andreas Sinaga.

One woman whose two children had died in the tsunami expressed her gratitude with the assistance. "I feel that we are not abandoned, we need all the resources we can have to make a life again and to build back our community," she wished.