Attachments
Perdianto Sahat Hasiholan Sihotang
The earthquake which hit Cianjur District in West Java on 21 November 2022 with a magnitude of 5.6 SR caused damages to 67.504 houses, more than 1.000 public facilities, and even claimed 327 lives (Source: BNPB). Cianjur district has now entered the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (RR) phase based on decree number 360/2100/BPBD/2022 issued by the Head of Cianjur District on 21 December 2022. Out of 12 sub-districts affected by this earthquake, one of them is Cugenang Sub-District.
In response to the post disaster situation, YEU with support from Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) implements a humanitarian response with the aim to “Build Back Better” in the disaster recovery phase in 3 (three) villages at Cugenang Sub-District, namely Galudra, Cibeureum and Padaluyu villages. The three villages are located at foothills of Mount Gede and Mount Pangrango in West Java and they were severely affected by the earthquake.
The total population in these three villages is 25.054 people and approximately 12.960 people are affected. Most of the people in these three villages work as vegetable farmers, ornamental plant farmers, and flower farmers. The earthquake caused various damages to public facilities, such as water or irrigation, roads, houses, buildings, offices, school facilities, places of worship, and Islamic boarding schools. The indirect impact of the disaster on people's livelihoods was the cessation of work in the fields which caused land damage and crop failure. In addition, there was extensive damage to the access road which resulted in disruption to the distribution of plants and flowers.
Most of the affected people who have severely damaged houses have moved to family-based tents which were set up in their respective yards while waiting for the construction program from the government. Entering this transition period, the Galudra Village Government urges all elements such as the village government, volunteers, donors, and NGOs to participate and contribute to the recovery.
Build Back Better in Disaster Recovery Phase
The Build Back Better in Disaster Recovery Phase is being implemented from March to December 2023. There are three main sectors that YEU will carry out in this response, namely disaster risk reduction, reproductive health, and increasing the accessibility of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities for most at-risk groups. This program intervention aims to increase community preparedness and capacity in disaster management.
Activities for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the community involve the role of the District Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), village government, and the community to formulate disaster risk assessment documents, contingency plans documents, the establishment of the village disaster task forces, and installation of evacuation signs. In addition, barracks and logistics management training, and first aid training in emergency will be carried out to increase the community's capacity, especially the village disaster task forces or Disaster Resilient Volunteers (RETANA) in each village.
In the health sector, based on the findings of post disaster learning, it showed that women are more vulnerable to HIV transmission, sexual violence, problems, and disease related to reproductive health due to lack of protection, WASH problems, and unavailability of services to meet those needs. Thus, activities in the health sector will involve health cadres in each village in the information sessions on reproductive health and reproductive health screening for women and girls through Posyandu (community-based health services).
The third sector is increasing accessibility to WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) facilities, especially for at-risk groups. For environmental cleanliness, YEU will collaborate with the Environmental Agency on communal waste management to improve a clean and healthy lifestyle.
The first activity being carried out is an information session to explain YEU as a humanitarian organization and its programs in the respective villages, Galudra, Padaluyu and Cibeureum. This session was attended by community representatives such as the head of the village, disaster resilient volunteers, religious leaders, health cadres, and several community members in those three villages.
The implementation of this humanitarian response received positive responses from the community and local government representatives in the three villages. Mr. Sugandi, Head of Galudra Village, told the YEU team that this initiative would increase community capacity in disaster preparedness. He hopes that the collaboration between YEU and the local government can create a better society.
Mrs. Neng Suliwati, Head of Padaluyu Village, hopes that YEU's presence can assist the people of Padaluyu Village to understand the importance of environmental health and cleanliness. He also hopes that YEU can check the health of the affected community in Padaluyu Village. Mr. Asep Nahdoh, Head of Cibeureum Village, encouraged the people of Cibeureum Village to support YEU activities because the program also supports the needs and development of their village.
YEU hopes that this project has a good impact on the target communities, especially in all three sectors that will be implemented, so that it can increase the community’s capacity for disaster preparedness, and resilience and accelerate their recovery process. Then, the community-based health service could improve along with the improvement of WASH facilities and waste management in that area.