Ikhwan (pictured above) and his family have been living in a tent ever since their house was destroyed by the earthquake. Ikhwan says:
I don’t know when we’ll be able to live in a house again. Our lives have been destroyed. All that I can think about right now is to protect my family.
As CARE begins distributing hygiene kits through our partner organisation PKPU to people in remote and hard to reach communities around Palu, Donggala and Sigi, Wahyu Widayanto, CARE Indonesia’s Emergency Response Coordinator on the ground in Palu, said:
People have lost everything, including their homes and they are dealing with the trauma of their experience. We are also starting to see instances of disease outbreak with fever and diarrhea reported. On top of this people are still living with the daily fear of continuing aftershocks and small quakes.
Dian (pictured above) told us:
Our family have been sleeping in a pick-up truck located around 300 metres from my house for about two weeks now – but I’m happy, because all my children are alive and well.
Amimei (pictured above) says:
My family just built a tent on the location where our house used to be, by the beach. I’m still afraid of [another] earthquake and tsunami, but we just wanted to go back to our land.
Our needs assessment showed that over 80% of people affected by the earthquake and tsunami are staying outside their homes, either because they have been damaged, or for fear of further quakes.
Around 30% do not have access to clean, safe drinking water, with many drinking out of communal wells or rivers. CARE is providing buckets and water purification tablets as well as hygiene items such as soap and laundry detergent.
CARE’s hygiene kits also include items specifically targeted at women and girls, such as sanitary napkins. CARE Indonesia’s Wahyu Widayanto said:
Women in particular are telling me their big worries are things like milk for their babies, and that they are running out of sanitary products, which is a real worry considering they live in communal shelters, or even out in the open. They are also very worried about being able to go back to their houses and rebuilding after all this destruction.
Nuraini (pictured above) says:
We’re waiting for the government or aid organisation to help rebuild our house, because at the moment, most of us lost almost everything. We will stay in temporary shelter while waiting and at the same time, maybe we can resolve the trauma, especially for the children.
Rebuilding and recovery is going to be a long process, says Wahyu Widayanto, CARE Indonesia’s Emergency Response Coordinator:
Much of people’s land has been destroyed through mud ‘liquefaction’. This has an impact on both sources of food and potential incomes. Without a harvest, the effects are likely to be long-lasting. Going forward, we will also be looking at cash assistance programmes to help people get back on their feet.
News and stories are provided by CARE staff working to support our emergency responses and long-term development programmes.
