After an intense year of work, SurfAid has completed the major projects of our Tsunami Recovery Program in the Mentawai Islands since the 25 October 2010 disaster.
After our initial Emergency Response, seven recovery projects ran simultaneously across two islands, three of which were implemented by SurfAid partners YRSM (Yayasan Reimar Schefold Mentawai), arche noVa and IBU Foundation.
The projects were Post-disaster Disease Prevention and Treatment, Clean Water, Hygiene Promotion, Psychosocial Support, Mother and Child Health, Emergency Preparedness and Temporary Shelter.
Prior to the tsunami, we were implementing two separate projects, Community-based Health and Clean Water. As soon as we realised the scale of destruction caused by the tsunami, we realised we needed to step up and provide a much greater level of assistance to as many of the affected areas as possible. Luckily we received substantial support, almost immediately, from AusAID and the New Zealand Aid Programme, as well as donations from corporates, individuals and foundations. This allowed us to set our sights high with regard to the amount of assistance we were able to provide.
Our initial focus was on providing health assistance, together with psychosocial support and temporary shelter, to the communities that had been most directly affected by the tsunami. In early 2011 we added the other components, starting with Emergency Preparedness and Clean Water, and then we progressed to Mother and Child Health and Hygiene Promotion. This work took us to 30 individual communities in South Pagai, 10 in North Pagai and a further six in South Sipora.
We realised very early in the piece that we would not be able to meet the requirements of the communities, or the expectations of our supporters, using only our own resources. So we developed collaborative relationships with partner organisations which were able to complement our areas of expertise and help us meet our overall objectives.
It is a humbling experience, and a great privilege, to have had the opportunity to work with these communities in the Mentawai, and help them to help themselves. They did not wait for hand-outs. Instead they stepped up and assumed responsibility for addressing their own problems. We have reached the end of our Tsunami Recovery Program but the long-term recovery will go on in the Mentawai for many, many years to come. SurfAid will still be there, working at community level, building capacity in the local government and trying to improve the health, wellbeing and prospects of the people of the Mentawai.
It is not possible for the people who live in these individual communities to thank our donors and supporters in person, so it falls on us to do it on their behalf. The tsunami happened in our backyard and it was fortunate we had staff on the ground, logistics in place and the capacity to respond the way we did. But we were only able to do this because of the support we received from our wide range of donors and supporters. So “thank you” on behalf of the people in the 46 communities we were able to assist during this year-long recovery work.
And thank you, in advance, for the assistance that will allow us to continue with the activities we have planned for the next few years. We are continuing to work on Clean Water and Sanitation projects in the Mentawai; we are implementing an Emergency Preparedness Program in the Mentawai, Telo and Banyak islands; and we are still implementing our Health Program in the island of Nias.
For communities directly affected by the Mentawai tsunami, we are planning Mother and Child Health, Livelihoods and Sanitation programs in 2012, and in the second half of next year we will commence to roll out another phase of the Malaria Free Mentawai Program in the Mentawai.
By SurfAid Program Director Alan Rogerson