We won't stop now

I wasn't joking when I wrote in my previous blog post that Padang is one of my favorite holiday destinations. So it was amazing this morning as I drove with our emergency response team to Pesisir Selatan district and saw the beautiful white sandy beaches along the coast.

The three-hour trip from Padang city brought us to three different villages: Suranti, Salido and Lumpo, where our next distribution will happen tomorrow. We were joined today by a local non-governmental organization (NGO), Kogami, who has partnered with Mercy Corps’ Disaster Risk Reduction project in West Sumatra since 2008. The team arrived a day before the distribution to coordinate with the local government to make sure that the activity will go well tomorrow.

Staff from Mercy Corps and its local partner, Kogami, coordinate details with a sub-village leader in Pesisir Selatan district one day before distribution of critical supplies to earthquake-affected families. Photo: Elpido Soplantila/Mercy Corps

As we drove into the devastated areas, I again realized the enormous needs. The latest official update indicates that 740 people died in the earthquake, 343 are still missing, 412 severely injured and 2,039 slightly injured. But, unofficially, thousands of people are feared to be trapped in the rubble and the number of casualties is expected to increase.

Besides the casualties and destruction, the earthquake has devastated family livelihoods. Everyone seems unsure of what to do next and how they'll make ends meet.

Today marks a week since the 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck West Sumatra. Lots of NGOs are working hard, trying their best to address the enormous needs across this area. Tomorrow, we'll be back here, distributing hygiene kits to more than 380 families.

But the response does not stop with distribution.

With a full team of 25 staff members — mostly deployed from the field offices around Indonesia and supported by international emergency response experts — Mercy Corps has planned for a long-term program strategy to complete the emergency phase, then move quickly forward to the recovery and development phase.

We won’t stop now.