Vatican City, 5 September 2006 -
National and international Caritas members are providing shelter for thousands
of victims of the May earthquake and the July tsunami that hit the Indonesian
island of Java, but according to assessments carried out by the U.N and
other humanitarian organisations, over 40 percent of people are still without
acceptable living quarters with monsoon rains imminent.
The monsoon will be in full force in
October, but the rains can begin sometimes even in September, said Ms Yenni
Suryani, deputy country representative for Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
in Indonesia.
"We're covering the needs of all the people we've promised to help, but we did have to revise our target group downwards from providing homes for 500 families to 300 families," said Paul Armour, the country representative for CRS, a U.S.-based member of the Caritas Confederation.
"That's not the fault of any one group or person, and unfortunately it is what is happening to all of the humanitarian organisations who are involved in the relief effort here," Mr Armour said.
"In order to comply with the government's basic standards in rebuilding, all of us are making adjustments, but to a certain extent it also has to do with a lack of funding for this particular emergency," he explained.
As with the Boxing Day tsunami of December 26th, 2004, each step has been difficult, but the Caritas organisations are also using the lessons learnt in that disaster to improve their work. Part of that means adapting the international response to the local reality in central Java.
"In Java, there is a strong tradition of Gotong Royong, which is communities pulling together to help one another, and the Indonesian and local governments wanted to revitalise that, because it's a cultural tradition that in recent times has fallen to the wayside," Mr Armour said.
The solution that the Indonesian government has come up with, he said, involves a strong element of self-building to harness the energy of Gotong Royong, to revitalise the traditions of who the people are and where they come from.
"What CRS and other Caritas partners are doing is essentially building an earthquake-resistant frame, and the local people are providing all of the material to fill in the walls or complete the roof," Mr Armour said. People are salvaging what they can from the earthquake's destruction, such as bricks or bamboo mats, or they are making the bricks themselves, he said.
Landof NaturalDisasters
Unfortunately, the major reconstruction work after the earthquake and the tsunami is planned as early as possible, but it falls right in the middle of the rainy season.
"There will be another major risk factor as the rains begin, and that is MountMerapi," said Ms Suryani, referring to the smouldering volcano on Java that has forced people to abandon their homes repeatedly in past months for fear of an eruption.
"The volcano has been relatively calm, but the rains risk loosening the mix of lava and mud that has settled on the volcano's surface and causing landslides, or cold lava flows," she said.
Meanwhile, the local Caritas organisations on Java, known in Indonesiaas KARINA, continue to bring aid to the victims of another tsunami that hit the island's north coast in July, in addition to helping villagers displaced by Mt.Merapi.
Some 1900 people have received medical treatment through the local KARINA in the seven villages along the Cilacap coastal area, which was largely destroyed by the July tsunami. KARINA's Tyas Dalem unit is also providing fishing populations with nets and other equipment to maintain their livelihoods, and the organisation is providing support and counselling for many fishermen who remain traumatized by the thought of venturing out on the water once again.
Ring of Fire
In addition to the unsafe conditions that many people are still living in without adequate temporary shelter, Mr Armour pointed out that another problem could develop when the season of fires in Indonesiabegins.
"These fires begin seemingly spontaneously in Indonesia, mostly on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, but those fires cast a haze over all of Java," Mr Armour said.
In the earthquake zone, many illnesses were brought under control before they could become a major problem, but many people, mostly children, continue to suffer from respiratory illnesses that under worse climatic conditions could become life-threatening.
"Without a roof over their heads, and with the air being polluted by smoke from these fires, we could see more and more children with respiratory problems," said Ms Suryani.
Caritas Housing Projects in central Java in Short:
Completed:
- Cordaid (Caritas Netherlands): 345 temporary shelters built in Bantul, Sleman and Klaten
- Caritas Germany: 317 semi-permanent homes being built in six subdistricts of Bantul, in cooperation with local NGO Cindelaras Foundation
Planned:
- CRS: 300 transitional homes in Bantul, Klaten and Gunung Kidul, which are earthquake-resistant while also being adaptable/expandable for the years to come
- Cordaid plans on having 3000 temporary shelters built by October and 6000 by year-end
- Caritas Germanyplans on building permanent homes for victims disabled by the earthquake
- Caritas Germanyalso plans on 105 semi-permanent shelters with local partner Alocita
- Caritas Switzerlandplans to build permanent homes in Gunung Kidul
- Members are also active in rebuilding schools and kindergartens.
Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organisations present in over 200 countries and territories.
For more information, contact:
Nancy McNally, media officer
Tel: +39 06 69879752
mcnally@caritas.va
www.caritas.org