Continuing its aid to Indonesia in the wake of the July 7 tsunami, Direct Relief International has authorized three grants to assist on-the-ground partners in the country.
The grants, totaling $80,533, will be distributed to the IBU Foundation, Australian Aid International, and Yayasan IDEP, three organizations that have been working as medical aid first responders. According to CNN, an estimated 670 people were killed, hundreds more were injured, and over 74,000 people have been displaced by the tsunami.
IBU4Acech and IBU4Jogja, recipients of a $40,533 grant, will use the funds towards the purchase of medicines and medical equipment, assistance and counseling for mothers and children in Cikembulan and surrounding refugee camps, and base camp supplies. According to the foundation, these supplies will serve approximately 3,000 displaced Indonesians for a two month period.
Part of the IBU Foundation, IBU4Aceh and IBU4Jogja were founded by a team of Indonesian volunteer doctors, paramedics, psychologists, engineers, and personnel support who galvanized quickly in response to the tsunami of December 26, 2004.
Australian Aid International will receive $20,000 to support their Disaster Response and Assessment team stationed in Yogyakarta. The team has been operating in Pangandaran and the Ciamis District concentrating on improving public health and hygiene conditions for displaced persons, and immediately implemented a hygiene promotion campaign after the tsunami hit, distributing more than 1000 hygiene kits and more than 100 emergency shelter tarps.
Australian Aid International (AAI) is an international non-profit organization based in Melbourne, Australia that aims to help improve health care systems in some of the most remote and dangerous regions around the world.
Direct Relief is also supporting Indonesian non-profit foundation Yayasan IDEP with a grant of $20,000. The grant will help to cover the costs of their emergency response activities in the West Java province of Indonesia, including the operation of mobile medical clinics to delivering potable drinking water to the affected populations.
Yayasan IDEP was formally established in Bali, Indonesia in 1999 at the height of Indonesia's economic crisis. They are dedicated to responding to urgent needs for sustainable food production and resource management, while conveying the importance of environmental education for sustainable living.
About Direct Relief International
Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is a Santa Barbara, CA-based non-profit organization focused on improving the quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers throughout the world. Direct Relief distributed $201 million in direct aid through medical material assistance and targeted cash grants to more than 200 healthcare facilities and organizations in 56 countries serving 23.8 million people. Forbes recognized Direct Relief for the fourth consecutive year as one of only eight non-profit organizations in the United States that is 100 percent efficient in fundraising.