INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE HUMANITARIAN UPDATE #16: USAID/OFDA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 001898 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP, CA STATE FOR USAID USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA CCHAN, ACONVERY, RTHAYER USAID FOR ANE KROSEN BANGKOK FOR ADWYER NSC FOR CPRATT USUN FOR DMERCADO GENEVA FOR NKYLOH PACOM POLAD/J3/J5 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV CASC ECON EAID SENV ID PHUM AEMR ASEC CASC MARR, PREL, PINR, AMGT, EAID, AQ, LA, RP, TN, VM, WS SUBJECT: INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE HUMANITARIAN UPDATE #16: USAID/OFDA FIELD VISIT TO NFI DISTRIBUTIONS -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. From October 31 - November 7, USAID/OFDA Field Officers (FO) visited programs being implemented by CHF, World Vision, Save the Children/US (SC/US),American Red Cross (ARC),CARE, and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and attended shelter and general cluster coordination meetings. The NGOs are implementing shelter programs, distributing non-food items, such as hygiene kits, household kits, and tool kits. The field officers found no urgent humanitarian needs. All programs are running smoothly and the beneficiary population is appreciative of the assistance. -------------- CHF -------------- ¶2. On 31 October, an OFDA Field Officer visited a CHF transitional shelter project site near Sincincin in the Lingkung area of Padang Pariaman District. CHF is constructing about a dozen transitional shelters in the village visited. ¶3. CHF uses a combination of village leader input, beneficiary interviews, and independent assessments to identify recipients. Recipients are intended to be the most vulnerable, including female-headed households, the disabled, elderly and others without the resources to rebuild. Skilled builders assist in the construction of these shelters, and their design serves as a model of a well-constructed transitional shelter for others in the village. ¶4. CHF has a staging area in the village where builders pre-fabricate coconut wood frames for delivery to the selected home sites. CHF has made agreements with several suppliers to ensure there is enough wood for their project district wide. They have also made agreements for supplies of bamboo for places where bamboo frames would be more appropriate. ¶5. The Field Officer observed two transitional shelters under construction. Both were framed in coconut wood frames provided by CHF. One had a low brick wall made of bricks recovered from the destroyed home and using cement concrete mortar rather than lime. The owner said that he would build his permanent home mostly from wood because wood was more earthquake resistant than brick. He will use recovered metal roofing on both the transitional and permanent home. While the FO was present, the family completed the walls using donated tarp material. -------------- World Vision -------------- ¶6. On 3 November, USAID/OFDA FOs visited V Koto Kampung Dalam in Padang Pariaman, one of the four areas selected by World Vision for shelter toolkit distribution. Over the course of the program, World Vision will distribute 10,250 shelter kits. The distribution site was in the market area, but it was not market day. As with all of USAID/OFDA program, the recipients are identified by community leaders based on need. The recovery kit consists of a hand trowel, saw, hammer, spade, crowbar, and measurement tape. Each household will receive a shelter toolkit, while five households will share one wheelbarrow. Although some beneficiaries have started removing debris from their collapsed homes, they were very happy to receive the toolkits. In addition, recipients stated that they would use some of the items to work on their farms. -------------- Save the Children/UK -------------- ¶7. On 4 November, USAID/OFDA FOs visited SC/US's warehouse in Pariaman and an NFI distribution in Lubuk Alung. SC/US is distributing household kits, hygiene kits, and shelter toolkits. Approximately 6,200 families will receive the hygiene and household kits, while five families will share one shelter tool kit. ¶8. Unlike other communities the FOs visited, the clean up and JAKARTA 00001898 002 OF 003 Summary -------------- recovery efforts are lagging in Lubuk Alung. Most of the beneficiaries in Lubuk Alung are living in tents donated by various organizations. Families that did not receive tents are staying with host families. The tents are frequently overcrowded. Very few residents have begun building transitional structures. The village elder stated that people in this community are focused on food and livelihoods. He said they make roughly 50,000 Rupiah a day as farm laborers and cannot afford to rebuild. The elder said they are waiting for someone to rebuild for them. The situation in this village stands in stark contrast to the initiative and effective self-recovery efforts of affected populations seen in every other area visited. -------------- ARC -------------- ¶9. On November 5, USAID/OFDA FOs traveled to Kampung Dalam and Ruyung in Pariaman District with representatives of the American Red Cross (ARC) and local Red Cross society (PMI) to meet recipients of USAID NFI kits. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, ARC and the PMI focused on delivering USAID/OFDA commodities to the most vulnerable populations located in remote villages. These commodities were delivered by U.S. Navy helicopters. To ensure orderly distributions, PMI prepositioned personnel to manage the arrival and distribution of the supplies. ¶10. We visited a site where beneficiaries were receiving a mixture of commodities from various organizations, including USAID/OFDA. The distribution was orderly and recipients were appreciative of the assistance. They received shelter kits to be used to remove rubble and begin building transitional shelters. ¶11. USAID/OFDA FOs will visit the PMI water production site in Koto Padang on Tuesday, November 10. This will be the main source for the 10,000 liters/day that PMI will start distributing during the week of 8 November. -------------- CARE -------------- ¶12. On November 6, USAID FOs visited Lambeh sub-village in Pariaman District. CARE was doing the final distribution of shelter recovery kits to 323 households. The kits consist of a shovel, wire, saw, hammer, machete, nails, bucket, bag, chisel, and work glove. Approximately 95% of the homes were destroyed in this area. CARE has distributed hygiene kits, NFI kits, and tarpaulins. There is a 5% gap in coverage in this area, so CARE is working with Japan Emergency (JEM) and others to cover the gap. Other NGOs working in this area include Medecins sans Frontieres-Spain (MSF-Spain),Muslim Aid, and Action by Churches Together (ACT). ¶13. The village leader worked with CARE to identify beneficiaries from the village, focusing on the most vulnerable households, such as female-headed households and the elderly. The beneficiaries received a shovel, nails, hammer, saw, etc. Many people in this area have cleared some of the rubble from the earthquake, but the additional tools will help with the clean up. Some residents have spontaneously begun construction of transitional shelters in Lambeh. -------------- CRS -------------- ¶14. On November 7, USAID/FOs visited Geragalian village in Agam District. CRS's partner BuildChange is conducting trainings on earthquake resistant building techniques. Twenty-one households attended the training in advance of the initial cash distribution for transitional shelter materials. ¶15. CRS and USAID FOs walked through the village. Most houses are heavily damaged and have been deemed uninhabitable by assessors. JAKARTA 00001898 003 OF 003 Summary -------------- A few houses were assessed as only moderately damaged; however the FO noticed there was significant structural damage. Many walls were propped up with large sticks and some walls inside the home were damaged or crumbling. ¶16. CRS has established a hotline to address any issues that may arise while implementing the program. People can call the number if they are in need of non-food items, technical assistance for transitional shelter reconstruction, or complaints about the distribution of assistance. To date, they have not had any complaints about the program. -------------- Closure of USAID Field Office -------------- ¶17. On November 11, the USAID/OFDA field office will close and management of the programs will be turned over to OFDA's regional office in Bangkok. USAID/OFDA FOs were able to visit all partners. Progress continues and the NGOs are not experiencing any delays in implementation. In fact, many have completed or will complete their NFI distributions over the next week. From that point forward, they will focus on supporting transitional shelter construction. Over the coming months, OFDA Regional Advisors will make periodic monitoring visits to West Sumatra. -------------- Comments -------------- ¶18. While the assistance of the international community has made a positive impact on the recovery phase, the Indonesian people affected have made the greatest impact. With or without assistance, they have cleared rubble, built temporary shelters, in a few cases, began rebuilding permanent homes. In addition, the sense of community is strong as they are helping neighbors who are unable to clear the rubble by chipping in as a whole to help their one another. The experiences that Indonesians and NGOs have gained from the numerous disasters that affect Indonesia have also made an impact on the relief and recover operation. Hume#