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Indonesia

Plan provides schools for Indonesia earthquake survivors

Plan is working to establish 20 temporary schools for children affected by the earthquake which hit the West Java Province of Indonesia on 2 September.

This project is part of Plan's continuing work to support children and families affected by the earthquake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale, which has left 81 people dead and 178,490 people homeless.

Schools help reduce stress

As well as allowing them to resume learning, getting schools up and running helps children get back into a regular routine, according to Vanda Lengkong, disaster risk reduction programme manager for Plan Indonesia.

"The children are on a break right now, but they are worried that when the holidays end they will have no schools to return to," continues Lengkong. "Being able to get back to what they are used to helps reduce the stress they suffer after a disaster of this scale."

Immediate response

Plan's immediate response has been to help survivors into emergency shelters, and in collaboration with its local partner Serikat Petani Pasundan has distributed blankets, ground mats and tarpaulins to families who have lost their homes.

"A lot of people lost their homes in the earthquake," says Lengkong. "So they are camping out as best they can in their neighbourhoods or in front of their damaged houses. There have been some aftershocks and so that makes everyone very nervous. People are feeling stressed and unsure about their future."

More blankets, household kits and repair tools are to be distributed soon and Plan will also be working to raise awareness on safe hygiene, water and sanitation practices under these trying conditions, as well as ways people can help prepare themselves for future disasters.