Eight hundred shelter and hygiene kits have been flown to Palu and are being distributed to children and families who urgently need them. Another air shipment and distribution is planned for Saturday.
Meanwhile 1,000 kits to support shelter, hygiene, child-friendly spaces and temporary educational facilities are on their way by road. Child-friendly spaces are specially designed areas which will allow children, many having lost their families and homes, with a safe place to play – often instead of being on the streets. They also allow our assessment teams to identify children who may have become separated from their families.
“I can’t overstate how much this aid is needed by children and families impacted by the disaster,” said Zubedy Koteng.
“The earthquake and tsunami cut off many transport routes in this remote area. We sent out three assessment teams on different routes with as many supplies as they could carry to ensure we could reach people as fast as we could but the journey has taken days. We are relieved that these much-needed supplies have arrived by plane and are starting to get through.”
“Children urgently need shelter, essential hygiene items to prevent the spread of diseases and contamination as families are packed into evacuation centres with limited supply of clean water. We’re also sending school kits to ensure their education isn’t interrupted any further.”
More than 46,000 children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
Save the Children has been working in Indonesia since 1976, and has a long history responding to humanitarian disasters in the country, including the recent earthquakes in Lombok and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
For interviews, call Jess Brennan on 0421 334 918