Crisis watch

Indonesia: Sunda Straits tsunami

CARE has distributed 200 hygiene kits containing sarongs, toothbrushes, soap, detergent, sanitary pads and a bucket for people living in affected villages and displacement camps following the most recent tsunami in the Sunda Straits, Indonesia. (Photo shows hygiene kits being unloaded at Pasauran village; photo © Harris Ritonga/CARE.)

Farrell Shidqi Halilintar, age 21, describes what it was like being caught up in the tsunami:

I am still very traumatised, I keep remembering being chased by water and people bleeding and injured around me. It was a very scary situation.

This was my first experience with a tsunami and I was so scared, there was nowhere to go. I kept worrying about my friends as well. So many scenarios went through my mind: where were they? Were they safe? I was so scared that they had been killed, and then how would I tell their families.

• Read more in our press release CARE distributes 200 hygiene kits amidst fear of further tsunamis and aftershocks in Sunda Straits

Third disaster to hit Indonesia in six months

On 23 December, following an eruption on Mt Krakatoa, a tsunami smashed into the coastlines along the Sundra Strait in Indonesia.

Pandeglang, Serang and South Lampung are the hardest hit districts, facing catastrophic damage and loss of life.

At least 220 people have already lost their lives, with 840 injured and many more homeless, as hundreds of houses have been wiped out. Those numbers are expected to rise as details emerge, but we can be certain that a large-scale humanitarian response will be required.

CARE is already on the ground in Indonesia, where we have worked for over 50 years, and are closely monitoring the situation.

“CARE has an office and an existing water and sanitation project in schools in Serang Regency – the worst hit area,” said Helen Vanwel, CARE Indonesia Country Director. “We are prepared and able to assist with the delivery of hygiene kits if needed.”

Venezuela crisis

There are 3.6 million refugees and migrants in need and CARE is aiming to reach 300,000 people in Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia. In Venezuela, there are growing food, health care and protection needs among women-headed households, as well as households headed by children and elderly people, whose relatives have fled to seek ways to send remittances. In Colombia, where there are more than 1 million refugees from Venezuela, 80% of Venezuelan refugees suffer food insecurity. In Ecuador, CARE led the NGO consortium which carried out a needs assessment, identifying high food insecurity, significant protection issues, human trafficking and exploitation and urgent requirements for basic needs.

CARE International UK Head of Humanitarian Programmes, Tom Newby, said:

Given its scale, it’s incredible how neglected the situation in Venezuela is. The world needs to wake up to this crisis.

• CARE named Venezuela as the major under-reported humanitarian crisis of 2018: read more in this article on the Thomson Reuters Foundation news website

Indonesia tsunami response

To date, CARE Indonesia has reached 12,436 people through WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and shelter interventions.

22 sites in Donggala where displaced people are living temporarily have been identified for the construction of emergency latrines under a  project which will be implemented by CARE‘s partner PKPU.

CARE is also preparing to distribute 1,000 hygiene kits, emergency shelter kits and kitchen kits in early January for 5,000 people in partnership with Solidaritas Perempuan in Sigi.

Afghanistan

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated significantly following a drought affecting more than two-thirds of the country. This is a complex emergency with people displaced due to conflict but also due to drought and other natural disasters. At the same time, the country is dealing with a significant influx of returnees from Pakistan and Iran, and there is a general lack of access to basic services for those in need.

Nearly 4 million people are estimated to be in need of food and livelihood support. CARE Afghanistan plans to distribute multi-purpose cash support, complemented with hygiene awareness, to drought-affected communities in Balkh and Samangan provinces.