The Mercy Corps Blog

Blog Post Posted October 4, 2009, 10:34 am by Malka Older

Sometimes more than meets the eye

Mercy Corps emergency team member Tasyrif (right, wearing ID badge) talking to villagers outside a severely-damaged school near Padang. Photo: Malka Older/Mercy Corps

In Padang city the damage is dramatic, extreme — huge buildings collapsed into rubble, the second story signs grazing the sidewalk. In Padang Pariaman, the district just to the north of Padang City, the damage is everywhere. Driving north, you see the occasional flattened house besides the road, but then notice that every house is missing something. A corner, a façade. Some look untouched and then, as you draw closer, you notice the jagged crack that means no one should go under that roof again.

Going to see some of the communities that Mercy Corps has been working with for a year, we turned off the main road and drove down a barely paved track. There were palm trees, paddy fields and ruined houses. Families sat on the steps or in front rooms that no longer had front walls. In some places the colors were oddly festive, as families had brought out tents, normally used for wedding celebrations, as shelter from the rain and sun as they sleep outside the pile of bricks that was their home.

We passed a C-shaped school, the middle classrooms completely flattened, paddy fields glowing emerald on the other side. At another school, where Mercy Corps has worked with the children teaching them about disasters and what to do, we stopped to get out and look. The teachers’ room had lost a corner, but the newer classrooms looked all right.

Then the people took us around the back. The wall of the school bowed outwards at a frightening angle.

As we continue to venture out into the more remote areas around Padang, we're learning more about what needs to be done.

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Blog Post Posted October 2, 2009, 7:40 pm by Nancy Lindborg

A chance for the people of Zimbabwe

Mercy Corps President Nancy Lindborg testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Zimbabwe. Photo: Sardari Group, Inc.

This week I had the honor of testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Zimbabwe, along with representatives from the State Department, USAID, the Treasury Department and several think tanks. As the sole representative of an international humanitarian organization, I focused my remarks on how to advance recovery and reconstruction efforts in the country.

We have an important opportunity to help support the nascent progress of a country that has spiraled into collapse over the last decade. The changes that we have witnessed in Zimbabwe since the advent of the Unity Government in February of this year have been important — improvements to the economy, a vastly improved working environment for non-governmental organizations and a real grassroots desire for positive change. During my trip this summer to Zimbabwe, I saw growing glimmers of hope and increased optimism in the communities I visited.

Most important has been the stabilization of an economy that at one point reached a daily inflation rate of more that 100,000 percent! As one man expressed to me, “You have no idea what it is like to wake up with some money, enough to buy bread for your children, but then you can’t find the bread. The shops are not able to stock their shelves due to inflation. Finally, at the end of the day you find the bread, but you can no longer afford it as the price has tripled.”

Zimbabweans experienced vital relief when the economy was dollarized in February 2009, enabling shops to stock goods. As a result, life for many — although not all — is returning to greater normalcy.

Food shortages, food insecurity, cholera — these are humanitarian crises in Zimbabwe that will return without a more concerted effort to address the systemic failures. As I told the Senators, the challenge today is to move beyond the series of humanitarian band-aids we have been applying and begin supporting the early recovery and reconstruction of Zimbabwe.

There was remarkable consensus among my think tank co-panelists that now is the time to re-engage with Zimbabwe. Make the bet on the best option available right now for Zimbabweans. Help them move in the right direction and help them avoid the ravages of the recent humanitarian disasters.

I applaud Senator Feingold and Senator Isakson for holding this important hearing and strongly hope the United States will push forward with important, incremental assistance. The courageous people of Zimbabwe deserve this chance.

You can read my full testimony to the Senate here.

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Blog Post Posted October 2, 2009, 1:59 pm by Malka Older

What else I'm seeing in Padang

Driving around the city of Padang, you can almost forget the enormity of the disaster that's happened here, until you turn a corner and see a building-sized pile of rubble, or a roof touching the ground or — worst of all — a building that has crumbled inward, possibly trapping people inside.

Crowds of people gather on street corners to watch the search and rescue crews delve into the rubble. Ambulances are still screaming frequently through the streets, and electricity and running water are still not working in the city.

Through this tragic chaos, we're continuing to coordinate with other humanitarian organizations to address the worst-hit places — including hospitals — and reaching out to remote communities to address their needs.

This weekend promises to remain busy. I'll keep you updated on what I'm seeing and hearing — and what we're all doing, together, to help the survivors.

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Blog Post Posted October 2, 2009, 10:10 am by Malka Older

Update on our Sumatra earthquake response

I'm on the ground in Padang, a city of 900,000 people that was hard-hit by the earthquake that struck Sumatra on Wednesday. I arrived here last night from Jakarta, so it wasn't until this morning that I got the full effect of the devastation that occurred.

The destruction of some buildings here is unbelievable — signs that were above the doorways of shops are now laying on the sidewalk. The first floors disappeared entirely as the buildings fell. In other cases, walls crumbled inward. I heard one story about someone who was stopped in her car at an intersection when the earthquake struck. Her steering wheel started moving uncontrollably. It was, she said, the worst earthquake that she or any of her relatives had ever felt — and, in this part of Indonesia, there are many.

Besides the widespread devastation, there are many other signs and reminders of the earthquake's aftermath. The electricity is still off — I'm sitting here in the dark as I type this. The roads and bridges are severely damaged, so it's hard to get places. There is no water running through the pipes to people's houses. Prices for petrol have soared, and there are long lines at stations. There has also been a run on food at the few local stores that have reopened.

It's a tough environment in which to operate — but today we were out in some of the most-damaged areas, beginning our emergency response.

Three teams, which included staff from our local partner organization, went out to speak with displaced families and government authorities in and around Padang. We also held a coordination meeting with some of the largest international humanitarian organizations that are working here, just to make sure that we're working together to meet the most urgent needs around here.

The team here is amazing — truly dedicated. They are working hard in the heat and with no electricity or running water in our office, and look slightly worse for the wear but are full of spirit and eager to keep going on the response. Over the next days, we will be delivering hygiene supplies to families and setting up systems to provide clean water. We'll also be working to start a cash-for-work program so that families can earn a living wage while helping to clean up the city. This income will also help local businesses keep going during this challenging time.

I can sum up the atmosphere here in one word: busy. And we have to stay that way, because the needs are many. With your help, we'll be able to meet those needs and move toward helping families rebuild. Thank you for reading this, and for your support.

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Blog Post Posted October 2, 2009, 1:01 am by Masnur Cornelia

A new way of giving

With the recent earthquake that struck Sumatra island this week, there are concerns that an earlier disaster here in Indonesia will be forgotten: the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that hit cities and villages in West Java earlier in September. But Mercy Corps emergency teams are still working with the families that survived that quake.

Here is a story from the village of Garut, in West Java's earthquake-stricken Pamengpeuk district, that happened near the end of last month.

The exhausting eight-hour from Jakarta did not affect our enthusiasm to share our time, hearts and love with those who were sharing what remained of their belongings with other earthquake survivors. The earthquake hit several communities in West Java, and now we had arrived in one of the most-affected areas. Pamengpeuk is a district with a public health center that's led by a beautiful doctor named Dr. Nadya Fachrudin. Dr. Nadya has worked here passionately for 11 years, and only returns to her home in Jakarta on Sundays to visit her husband and family.

Giving to those that have been struck by disaster is an honour — gifts usually take the form of material goods and visible things and, of course, that is not wrong. But today we come with the intention of giving something that cannot be seen with eyes — we come with heart, knowledge and experience, to share with mothers that breastfeeding is best for their babies, even in this time when formula milk is being distributed for free.

Over the course of two days, we met 20 health providers and shared the benefits of breastfeeding and the dangers of formula milk in a relaxed, fun and joyful way. On the last day of this short orientation, one of them had this to say:

“We have never received any detailed lessons on breastfeeding and complementary feeding like this before, which was given in an enjoyable and interactive kind of way. Our comments and concerns were appreciated. We hope that we could get more lessons from friends who came from Jakarta.”

Honestly, there were feelings of happiness. We were proud and touched to hear their comments. These feelings got stronger when, the next day, we conducted an orientation to local health volunteers, including the wife of the village leader. They enthusiastically followed each session and started to realize the dangerous of formula milk.

“We never received this kind of training, so fun and interesting, with so many new things to learn,” said one of the participants. This sentiment was repeated by Ibu Yuyuk, a volunteer from the village of Kampung Baru, as we led a group discussion. “This is so different, all this time we got many kinds of donation, not like today. Today we're getting new knowledge, more important than any products we've received,” she said.

With these comments, I felt so lively and moved inside. There are a lot of things we could share with survivors: knowledge, information and experience to help them fight back after these days of disaster.

I never forget the smile and laughter of Dr. Nadya, the midwives, volunteers, mothers and all the children we’ve met. Those smiles strengthened our spirit to keep sharing. Those smiles and laughs made us stronger to be apart from our families for a while. And those smiles taught something meaningful, that there is another way of giving — through sincerity, love, knowledge, information and experience.

We came back to Jakarta with memories of strength and toughness, of the hearts of those survivors to welcome the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr. They were not only able to conquer the fasting month of Ramadhan, but also they could conquer their sadness to keep happily celebrating the blessed day.

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Blog Post Posted October 1, 2009, 6:33 pm by Sean Granville-Ross

Beginning the response

Today is an intense day for the Mercy Corps team in Padang, with more team members arriving and emergency assessments of affected areas underway.

We currently have seven Mercy Corps staff on the ground in Padang — six from the local office and Malka Older, our Program Director who's based in Jakarta — as well as 15 staff from Kogami, our local partner organization. Over the next couple of days, they'll be joined by a monitoring and evaluation specialist from our office in Banda Aceh, a logistician, finance and procurement staff, an engineer, a program officer and then a water and sanitation expert from our Global Emergency Operations team. Even though much of our team in Padang was assembled within 24 hours of the first earthquake, it always takes a little longer for the full team to get into position — especially when the local airport is operating at a lesser capacity and roads are blocked by debris.

A wide range of buildings in Padang, including hundreds of houses, were toppled or severely damaged by Wednesday's earthquake. Photo: REUTERS/Dadang Tri, courtesy of www.alertnet.org

This team will assess areas that were hit particularly hard by the earthquake, using specific tools and methods that Mercy Corps has used in many previous disasters, including here in Indonesia. These assessments will be used by a consortium of eight humanitarian organizations, which Mercy Corps is leading, to determine the most pressing needs of devastated communities and displaced families.

Since we've already had a presence in Padang for the last five years, conducting programs that range from children's nutrition to emergency preparedness, we're already very familiar with the area and well-suited to lead this effort.

We're planning to distribute shelter supplies, hygiene items and clean water to displaced families who are surviving as best they can in this suddenly-changed environment. Soon after that, we'll continue working with those families through programs that pay laborers a living wage to restore and rebuild their communities. The income they earn will help them support their households, as well as get money flowing to local businesses that are also struggling to survive.

An emergency response might look different from what a lot of people would expect; it's not about showing up and dropping off boxes of supplies. It takes a lot more to ensure that immediate needs are met in a thorough and timely manner, and also that long-term rebuilding is begun with the full support of the communities we serve.

There's too much at stake here to do any less than a complete response in Padang. Our team plans to do it right.

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Blog Post Posted October 1, 2009, 12:18 pm by Roger Burks

Staff in Padang is safe

We'd mentioned in a couple of blog entries that, because of telecommunications outages in the earthquake zone, we hadn't yet heard from our staff in the devastated city of Padang. But now we have — and not only is everyone all right, but busy working on emergency response around the clock.

First, Mercy Corps staffer Emily Rand — a Senior Program Officer in the Banda Aceh office on the northern tip of Sumatra island — gave us an update via her Twitter account:

All Mercy Corps Padang Indonesia staff accounted for. All safe and assisting others with recovery after yesterdays earth quake!

And then, just a couple hours ago, we heard from Mercy Corps Program Director Malka Older, who'd just arrived in Padang from Jakarta.

So our staff is safe and, even though it's about 3:00 A.M. in Padang right now, it's almost certain they're still at the office working.

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Blog Post Posted October 1, 2009, 11:03 am by Malka Older

Arrival in Padang

Because of many delays, my flight from Jakarta arrived at Padang’s damaged airport at night, less than 30 hours after the devastating 7.6-magnitude earthquake that shook the city. Petrol shortages had made it difficult to find a car, so my colleagues from Mercy Corps’ West Sumatra program picked me up by motorcycle.

A man carries an injured person in front of a collapsed university building during an evacuation after an earthquake hit Padang, Indonesia, on Wednesday. Photo: REUTERS/Muhammad Fitrah/ Singgalang Newspaper, courtesy of www.alertnet.org

As we drove the highway from the airport to the city, I suddenly realized why it seemed so eerie. Except for isolated fluorescent bulbs showing where there were generators, all the lights were out. The houses and shops along the highway loomed in the light of the three-quarter moon. Then, as we got closer to the city, I started to see houses that loomed too far, roofs that had slipped to the ground, corners that had fallen off of walls leaving the interior exposed.

“Three people died there,” said Popo, the Mercy Corps engineer who had picked me up, pointing at an expensive-looking building that had completely collapsed.

We drove on through the city to our office. Every gas station was surrounded by long lines of cars, packs of motorcycles, and even crowds of people, jerry cans in hand, waiting for hours to fill up on gasoline.

Driving up to the Mercy Corps Padang office I heard the roar of a generator. Inside, lit by a few long fluorescent bulbs hooked directly to the power source, staff members from Mercy Corps and Komunitas Siaga Tsunami (Kogami), our local partner, sprawled on couches under white boards where they had written the latest information, gleaned from discussion with the government, the Red Cross and their own assessments. There were at 197 people dead in Padang city alone. Hundreds of houses badly damaged.

Late into the night, the team planned out the schedule for the next three days assessment of the needs for displaced families here in earthquake-devastated Padang.

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Blog Post Posted October 1, 2009, 10:52 am by Angela Owen

Be prepared

Mercy Corps Indonesia Country Director Sean Granville-Ross spoke to CBS News from Jakarta.

The key to responding quickly to any emergency is being prepared. With people on the ground and plans already in place, Mercy Corps is leading an international team of non-governmental organizations as we all respond to the two recent earthquakes in Sumatra, Indonesia.

On CNN, Nancy Lindborg, Mercy Corps President, talked about our established local capacity to respond quickly to emergencies — even multiple emergencies — in the areas where we work.

As the death toll surpassed 1,000 people, Sean Granville-Ross, our Indonesian Country Director, spoke via phone to CBS about the aftermath of the earthquake in Padang and how Mercy Corps is helping the people there.

Paul Jeffery, Mercy Corps' Senior Program Manger Southeast Asia spoke to local Portland station KGW about our response and what we were hearing from the field. At the time of the interview, we had not been able to contact all of our staff. The good news is that just a half day later, and after a second strong earthquake, we've made contact with all of the Mercy Corps staff in Padang and they have already begun to respond.

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Blog Post Posted October 1, 2009, 8:45 am by Roger Burks

Another earthquake hits Sumatra

Early Thursday morning — shortly before nine o'clock local time — another major earthquake shook the cities and villages of western Sumatra. That 6.8 magnitude earthquake came only about 15 hours after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the same region, killing at least 1,100 people so far, injuring 500 and trapping thousands more under collapsed buildings.

The Indonesian Health Minister speculated that the destruction and loss of life from these earthquakes might surpass the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, which killed more than 5,000 people. In devastated areas of Sumatra, widespread electrical and communications outages — as well as fallen bridges and blocked roads — are slowing news from on the ground and hindering relief efforts.

"What we're hearing from Padang is sporadic," said Mercy Corps Indonesia's Country Director, Sean Granville-Ross. "It's difficult, communications are down. What we have heard is this was a huge earthquake and there has been significant damage."

Mercy Corps has an office in Padang that was out of contact for much of Wednesday. An emergency team from Jakarta was scheduled to arrive in Padang on Thursday morning, and we are waiting to hear from them.

Our staff in Indonesia and around the world is staying up-to-date on the latest developments, and will bring you updates from the ground and news of our emergency response as we receive it.

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