The Mercy Corps Blog

Blog Post Posted October 7, 2009, 10:55 am by Greg Casagrande

The challenges of post-tsunami Samoa

In just a few moments, a tsunami reduced dozens of Samoan villages to rubble. Photo: Greg Casagrande

Monday was a very long day. We visited with dozens and dozens of South Pacific Business Development Foundation (SPBD) ladies who have been severely impacted by the Samoan Tsunami. The stories they tell and their grief is extreme.

One SPBD member, Ruta Sao —who has a small taro plantation — tells of losing four of her children (ages: five months, two, four and five) when the wave hit. Each of their bodies has since been recovered and they will all be buried in the mass national funeral this Thursday. Ruta is now living high up on a mountainside under a tarp held up by four large sticks. She insists that she is not leaving.

In fact, there is a whole enclave of people from Ruta’s village of Saleapaga who have now moved up there. They all insist that they will never go back to Saleapaga. And after experiencing such terrifying tragedy who can blame them?

We will help her and the others rebuild new and safe homes on the hillside above Saleapaga.

The prime purpose for today’s activities was to individually assess each of the survivors' situations and determine how we can best assist them. People like Ruta are still grieving tremendously and perhaps what she needs most is time, and then some counseling and then some opportunity. We are good at providing economic opportunity. We hope to also link her and others with some charitable psychological counseling organizations that will be arriving on the island in the next couple of weeks.

The village next door to Saleapaga, Lalomanu, was also largely wiped out. Thanks to a nearby off-shore island which bore the brunt of the tsunami, some houses in Lalomanu were mercifully spared. We had organized a group of 21 of our micro-entrepreneurs with whom we work in Lalomanu and were gauging very specifically how each was impacted.

A client of South Pacific Business Development Foundation, Mercy Corps' partner in Samoa, stands in what's left of her business after it was devastated by the tsunami. Photo: Greg Casagrande

One of our members, whom we had assessed as having been entirely spared from disaster, then burst into sudden tears and she began to tell us all of a heartbreaking story of losing a grip on her mother’s arm as they were escaping the wave — her mother was carried out to the sea. Her mother, too, will be buried along with Ruta’s children this Thursday.

The point is — homes can be replaced and businesses can be re-launched. But people are truly precious. And for this reason, all of these ladies in this area have been terribly, deeply and personally affected and need our help.

SPBD is putting together aid packages to deliver to women who have now been literally scattered throughout Samoa. We have already delivered to most a prepaid cell phone so that we can keep in touch with them. Cash grants will be a big part of the package —these should go out later this week.

The logistical issues are significant; however, we have one of the best distribution systems in the entire country and so I am confident that we can pull it off.

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Blog Post Posted October 7, 2009, 12:02 am by Carol Ward

Where her house once stood

Matelana stands with two of her five children on the site where her house once stood in the village of Salesatele, Samoa. Photo: Carol Ward/Mercy Corps

On September 29, a tsunami hit the southeast coast of Samoa. More than a hundred and forty people were killed — for a population of only 185,000 people, that is devastating.

Today I went out with our local partner, South Pacific Business Development (SPBD), to see how their microfinance clients had been affected. I was able to see how the impact of the wave has destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people — ripping through the lightly-built homes, carrying their possessions away and smashing the fishing boats that were a means of earning income. Many people who earned their living from the tourist trade, by working in hotels or selling products to tourists, have been badly affected because three of the local beach resorts were in the most affected area.

In the village of Salesatele we met with Matelana, mother of five children, on the very spot where —just last week — her house stood. She and many of her neighbors fled for high ground to avoid the rushing waters, but returned to find almost everything they had worked so hard for had been destroyed.

Over the coming weeks, they will be trying to rebuild their homes and their livelihoods. We will be here to help them.

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Blog Post Posted October 6, 2009, 9:31 pm by Sonya Shannon

A once-tragic setting for peace dialogues

Hundreds showed up for an event commemorating peaceful dialogue and collaboration in the village of Lampono, Uganda. Photo: Sonya Shannon/Mercy Corps

The village of Lampono, Uganda was recently the location of a peace dialogue between the Karamojong and Acholi communities, two ethnic groups who are formally at odds with each other. But today, they're working together to bridge the gap of misunderstanding that often leads to polarization for communities affected by war, poverty and competition for scarce resources — things that have plagued northern Uganda for decades.

Once a site of great tragedy, where the rebel Lord's Resistance Army massacred 52 villagers and caused people to flee from fear of further retribution, Lampono is now a place where people have gathered to talk about how to live in peace. Things have changed a lot here: communities experiencing conflict are now encouraged to speak out and work through their problems, as a method to overcome the apparitions of the past, as well as a way to prevent the past from haunting or overtaking the present.

This peace dialogue is an activity initiated by Mercy Corps' Building Bridges to Peace program, which is aimed at bringing together neighboring communities from the districts of Kotido, Kaabong and Pader, through the use of conflict management and reconciliation techniques. The program helps resolve conflict through community-level reconciliation activities, such as joint livelihood projects that emphasize economic opportunity, that are decided at the community level by village stakeholders. In this case, conflict mapping and livelihoods assessments were used to facilitate the process of deciding on the projects that the community both wanted and needed most.

The objectives of this peace program are to work with individuals that have been previously affected by conflict, equip them with the necessary tools to move beyond recovery and help them achieve a more sustainable position towards development — all the while empowering them by helping them engage with others. The hope is that, through strengthening economic linkages between communities, peace will become a far more attractive option to war. If relationships are founded on collaboration and shared interest, the hope is that will ultimately translate to economic benefits and growth for all involved.

Many were on hand to take part in the day’s activities, including key stakeholders such as local government leaders, peace committee members, elders, youth, women and military officials. The message of peace and forgiveness was echoed by many speakers, as well as the call for further dialogues that bring people together to share thoughts, culture and ideas.

“Give peace a chance” was the plea of one local official. “Let’s give a chance to peace and forgive.”

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Blog Post Posted October 6, 2009, 8:40 pm by Na Eng

Three countries, seven cities, one call

Especially during the first several days in the aftermath of an disaster, a diverse group of Mercy Corps staff comes together for phone conferences to coordinate and discuss what's happening on the ground. Today, we had the second such call for the group that's helping lead emergency responses in Indonesia and Samoa.

The call brought together 16 people from three different countries: staff from two cities in Indonesia, four cities in the United States and our European headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was 8 P.M. in Indonesia and 7 A.M. in Portland, both outside the usual scope of working hours — but the early going of an emergency response is an around-the-clock, around-the-world responsibility.

Here are some of the happenings in Indonesia that we talked about on today's call:

• Still no piped water in the city of Padang. Roads are opening up.
• Rapid needs assessments have been completed, now our Indonesia team is putting the data together to get a better picture of needs and challenges, both immediate and long-term.
• Distribution process has begun and has been going well. We delivered recovery kits containing wheelbarrows, shovels, hoes, saws and other equipment to almost 400 households in the village of Ulakan.
• We're also distributing jerry cans, household kits that include blankets, sarongs, towels, buckets and some hygiene items to families that are displaced or living in damaged houses.
• Our emergency team is going to many underserved areas of the island, as well as places where we've worked over the last few years.
• We're using community members from the disaster risk reduction program to help distribute items — this involves training and capacity building.
• Our team is purchasing items locally, which is a more efficient process and supports the local economy.

Tomorrow promises more reports from our hard-working team on the ground in Padang — as well as more updates here. We'll keep you notified of our work to help survivors recover and rebuild.

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Blog Post Posted October 6, 2009, 12:24 pm by Elpido Soplantila

How can you help earthquake survivors?

Today I visited Ulakan village for the second time and, again, I saw many worried faces among the survivors in earthquake-affected communities. Tents fashioned from tarpaulins and plastic bags are still standing in front of their houses, makeshift homes for entire families.

Each visit I make to these devastated places is so meaningful to me, and our whole team is working so hard to bring help to these families. Today, we delivered relief supplies to survivors in Ulakan and another.

Driving in a truck filled with recovery kits, the team arrived in Ulakan late in the afternoon. It was getting dark when we unloaded these kits — which included wheelbarrows, shovels, hoes, saws and other equipment — that will help the community in clearing the debris and get started on rebuilding their damaged houses.

As we stacked the recovery kits for the distribution, some of the worried faces turned into smiles.

Elok, a local fish farmer, returned to the Padang area with his family after working in Jakarta for more than 30 years. The earthquake destroyed one of his fish ponds and severely damaged another. He's beginning to repair the damaged pond with tools he received today from Mercy Corps. Photo: Elpido Soplantila/Mercy Corps

Hundreds of people were gathered in a school yard waiting to take the kits home. Men, women and even children helped each other during the distribution activities. It was not difficult to talk to the people, for all of them expressed their gratitude for receiving assistance from Mercy Corps today.

I was taking pictures of the distribution when Elok, a 51-year-old man, came up to me and said, "Terima kasih" — thank you. He told me how the disaster affected his family a lot. He returned to Ulakan two years ago, after coming back from Jakarta where he worked for more than 30 years. Coming back here, where he is originally from, was a family decision in order to start a new life. Elok owns two fish ponds, which he uses to support his wife and five children. But the earthquake destroyed one pond and the other is severely damaged, yet repairable.

“The tools you distributed today mean a lot to me," Elok said. "I’ve planned to start clearing the debris and repairing the ponds. Because of your support, I feel optimistic that people out there still care about us. I will use the tools immediately."

Suddenly I realized just how badly the earthquake has affected communities like Ulakan. It’s not only about losing houses and loved ones, but losing jobs and a way of life. Thousands of people lost their livelihoods. Many are still confused about how they'll continue their lives.

I’m proud that Mercy Corps is giving villagers like Elok this new opportunity, but also realize that they will need support and assistance for a long time after today. Not only do they have to clean and restore their communities, but also rebuild their homes and restart their work, all while earning income for their families.

It's a hard road ahead for earthquake survivors here. How can you help?

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Blog Post Posted October 6, 2009, 11:20 am by Tanty Pranawisanty

Searching for answers in Padang

Rescue crews search Padang's collapsed buildings for survivors. Photo: courtesy of herdy, wordpress

I feel like my heart stopped for seconds when I watched the news on TV that afternoon. Once again, Padang had been shaken by a massive earthquake. And this time it was really destructive.

I married someone from Padang, so that has made me very attached to the beauty of this city, the rich Minang culture, the hills and the Padang food that you can even find on certain street corners in New York City.

That afternoon last week, I was not only shocked to watch the horrible sight on TV, but also couldn't hold back my tears. I heard my husband whispering and talking to himself. “Oh no, that used to be my playground. And it’s very close to my childhood home,” he said as scenes of a ruined old school building appeared on TV — a place where spent his childhood playing with friends.

We couldn't sleep at all that night, as we were busy trying to call my in-laws to make sure everyone had survived. The landline phones around Padang were cut off and we didn't hear anything at all until the following day. The news was that everyone was all right, but their house now had many cracks on the wall. Thank God it was only that.

Then on Friday, the second day after the earthquake, I arrived in Padang as part of Mercy Corps Indonesia's emergency response team. My heart was beating fast as I passed by the ruined buildings all over the city. I saw only two excavators working among the hundreds of buildings that had collapsed. I imagined those who were trapped under the ruined buildings. It was really worse than I thought.

I had another mission for this trip beside joining the emergency response team: making sure that I got information on my husband’s childhood friends, whether they survived or not. Because some of his old buddies still live in the same neighborhood, the ruined area we saw on TV. On Sunday evening, I finally found out all this information and happily told my husband that his childhood buddies all survived.

I know I will be stay in this city longer than my initial assignment dates, considering the needs of survivors and all the work that needs to be done. But with all the emotions I have for this city, I will be glad to stay even longer.

The fact that Padang and the rest of West Sumatra is prone to disaster, I started to believe that this might not be my last visit to Padang for this purpose. There might be more disasters — whether smaller or bigger — in this beautiful place, but only God knows when. And until then, what can I do is keep hoping that Minang Kabau — the name that Padang people use to describe their homeland — stands still and remains beautiful. Insyah Allah.

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Blog Post Posted October 6, 2009, 3:41 am by Jim Jarvie

Disaster risk reduction in Padang — not just earthquakes

Flying in to Padang to help our team with earthquake response, an aerial view makes it clear that earthquakes are not the only problem people have to deal with now or anticipate in the future.

The landscape has a beauty that sits in stark contrast to the recent disaster — but its reading is full of warning signs. The flight along the coast by the city, before circling inland and making our final approach for landing over rugged hills, shows telltale warning signs.

Looking inland, the city sits on a large plain, barely above sea level. Two hazards call out. If there were to be a future tsunami, as we saw in similar landscapes in Aceh and Sri Lanka, that water could travel a long way inland. Coastal protection is minimal. Ironically, where the few stone and concrete protrusions emerge into the sea like a giant’s comb running parallel to the shore, there is no mangrove behind them — just exposed habitation. The areas with remaining mangrove look as though they will give better protection to those behind them.

Either way, if even the moderate climate projection models hold true, sea level rise threatens the city. With the added hazard of more frequent, and likely more intensive storms, Padang has a lot to protect itself from.

Deforestation and overcultivation contributed to earthquake-triggered landslides, in which hundreds of people perished. Photo: REUTERS/ IFRC/Wayne Ulrich, courtesy of www.alertnet.org

The plane wheels around, taking us inland over the hills before descending to the ground. We scan for the landslides reported in the UN situation reports and now covered by the media. It becomes obvious what weaknesses the earthquake tremors could work upon. Large patches of forest are felled by human hands, weakening the soil and making the earth more vulnerable; hillsides are exposed by slash and burn agriculture, again exacerbating the chance of a hill giving way.

Under regular circumstances this is already a dangerous issue; there are regular reports of houses swept away, many killed by landslides after heavy rains. The government had already tried to run a program giving cash incentives for people to adopt better upland agriculture practices. These are just the sorts of landscapes that climate change will make more vulnerable. Add inevitable earthquakes because they sit along the dangerous Alpide Belt, which is the second most seismic region in the world with 17 percent of the world’s largest earthquakes, and disasters are bound to happen.

This does not mean that people are defenseless. But what is needed is a disaster risk reduction plan that incorporates current and future risks and places them in the context of human vulnerability and activity. Mercy Corps is right now working on a strategy to foster and integrate earthquake recovery, economic stability and sustainable disaster risk reduction to protect interventions in all of these areas.

The indicator of success is how well we help communities deal with the next big calamity, whether a spontaneous and acute event like an earthquake, or a long and chronic challenge like rising seas. Or — more challenging and likely still — a combination of them both.

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Blog Post Posted October 5, 2009, 10:05 pm by Elpido Soplantila

Excited to help

I finally arrived in Padang four days after the earthquake struck the western part of Sumatra Island. I've lived in a few parts of Indonesia, yet have never been here before. However, I always wished to visit this place to enjoy its natural beauty and tourist hospitality.

I never imagined coming here to see destroyed buildings and damaged houses. I could have never anticipated coming here to a place that still has no electricity and no clean water. But, as a part of the Mercy Corps Indonesia emergency response team, I feel so excited having this opportunity to help people in need.

Driving around Padang gives you some sense of just how strong the disaster was. But it's not until you go further north, to Padang Pariaman, that you realize how bad the conditions are. It's in places like that where you wonder how the community will struggle to get their life back to normal.

Uni lost most of her family's house to last week's earthquake, and is now sleeping in a tent pitched in front of a local mosque with her husband and two children. Photo: Elpido Soplantila/Mercy Corps

A two hour drive brought me to Ulakan village in Padang Pariaman yesterday. When our car arrived there, I immediately saw hundreds of houses totally fallen to the ground. It was so tragic, looking out the window seeing elderly people sleeping on a couch just in front of their houses, or children playing under tents made of tarpaulins and plastic bags — materials that almost all of the families in the area are using as their temporary shelter.

“Since last Wednesday, when the earthquake happened, we left our house because our bedrooms and kitchen were gone, and the children are still afraid to stay in the house,” explained 32-year-old Uni, as she prepared food. Now she’s staying with her husband and two children in a 16 square meter tent in front of a village mosque.

Besides Uni, there are almost 200,000 other families whose homes are too damaged to live in. Almost a week later, the scale of the damage is still unfolding and figures continue to fluctuate. Needs are rising.

Mercy Corps is starting our first distribution today: we are providing hygiene and recovery kits to more than 400 households in two sub villages, Manggopoh Dalam and Binuang.

Even though I've come to Padang under much different circumstances than what I'd once imagined, I am excited to be here as part of the Mercy Corps response team, supporting survivors and affected communities.

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Blog Post Posted October 5, 2009, 1:55 pm by Malka Older

A village prepares — and survives

Zulkifli (right, in cap) stands with members of the Mercy Corps emergency response team. They are, from left: Endang Trisna, Program Manager; Wahyudi, Monitoring Officer; Aldo, local partner. Photo: Malka Older/Mercy Corps

When a massive earthquake hit the West Sumatran village of Mangopo last week, Zulkifli didn’t panic. Instead, he remembered the disaster preparedness training that he'd received from Mercy Corps and its local partner — and that made all the difference when the quake struck.

When the quake hit, there wasn't time to think — just act. After checking on their families, Zulkifli and others who'd received the training gathered the whole village of Mangopo and led them to an evacuation site that was far inland from the ocean in case of a tsunami. Once the danger had passed, he and the villagers returned to their community. Zulkifli and his fellow disaster preparedness team members immediately started to assess damages and organize the community for clean-up.

“Our training was perfect,” Zulfikli said proudly. “The community responded quickly, and no one was killed here.”

The fact that there were no casualties is testament to the heroism of villagers like Zulkifli — as well as the success of the Mercy Corps-led Disaster Risk Reduction Initiative, funded by Boeing and established more than three years ago to help villages that had suffered the Indian Ocean tsunami.

A family sleeps in the open air after fleeing from their earthquake-damaged home. Photo: REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni, courtesy of www.alertnet.org

Families are grateful for their survival, but well aware of the challenges ahead of them. Zulkifli estimated that 95 percent of houses in the village were affected, and he pointed out cracks in roads and bridges. Fisherman are afraid to fish, farmers are too busy cleaning their houses to farm and transport from Padang — the nearest city, one and a half hours away from here — has come to a standstill, leaving shops without supplies.

“We are worried about food,” Zulkifli said. “The shops are even running out of instant noodles.”

And there is also a problem with shelter: dozens of houses lay in rubble. Even the houses that are still standing are too damaged and dangerous to go into, so villagers are sleeping outside in the rain. Many villagers are suffering from mosquito-borne diseases from the onset of hot, wet weather here, and wonder where they will stay in the coming weeks.

Mercy Corps is preparing to deliver construction and cleaning tools, hygiene kits and mosquito nets to Mangopo and other villages affected by the West Sumatra earthquake. Zulkifli and the other members of the disaster preparedness team will organize and assist in the distribution — which makes them even more ready to support their village when disaster strikes.

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Blog Post Posted October 5, 2009, 3:36 am by Malka Older

When it rains...

A child lies on a mattress inside a house damaged by an earthquake in Padang Pariaman, a coastal town in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. Photo: REUTERS/Crack Palinggi, courtesy of www.alertnet.org

It’s been raining since last night in West Sumatra, sometimes heavily.

Last night, a coordination meeting between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations —which includes Mercy Corps — was held in a hastily-arranged tent outside the governor’s mansion. Voices strained to be heard over the downpour as humanitarian agencies reported on their assessments and the difficulty of reaching remote areas.

Meanwhile, in the rainy night, thousands of people all up and down the West Sumatra coast were out in the rain with no homes or shelter, afraid to go in under their roof if they still had one left. The rain has muddied the roads and made transportation even more difficult, and there are fears of additional landslides like the ones that buried entire villages in the north of the province.

Throughout the rain, the Mercy Corps team was out in the field, procuring much-needed basic items like blankets, clothing and water containers. Despite the weather, we are preparing for distribution tomorrow.

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