Emergency Response

General Situation

At about 8.00 p.m., on 28 July 2006, the village leaders of Cikembulan relocate the IDPs to a new site in front of the village hall of Cikembulan. The logistics is also relocated in the public assembly hall with supervision and permanent management from the Youth and Scholar Union or P3C ( Persatuan Pemuda Pelajar Cikembulan ). Though there are latrines, fresh water supply and the electricity, the new site is still lacking in the quality of the tents, for example, the soil is very humid and could trigger disease and the base of the tent is made of weaved bamboo and not a divan.

In the new site there are several health posts from various NGOs and INGOs, such as Muhammadiyah, Sekoci, and HELP from Germany . On 29 July 2006, YEU coordinates with Agus from the P3C to decide the possible site for the YEU's health post. The health post is operated by both YEU health team and the P3C. YEU also works together with the P3C to put up a tent for the children gathering post in the camp site. In addition to the already implemented health service, YEU conducts data gathering of the patients in Banjar hospital; all were villagers from Pamugaran who were caught by the high tide. It is relevant to carry out the patients' returning home program and the home visit program.

Entering the second week of August, the IDPs feel bored with their inactive daily routine. They stay in the camp the whole day since many of them lost the previous occupation, most of them work as palm sugar extractors (tappers) and they were in need of equipments, such as pan for cooking the sugar palm. They wished to work again as soon as possible to earn money, to occupy themselves with productive activities and to forget the trauma for a while. They are disturbed by this condition both psychologically and mentally. To meet the need of the tappers, on 14 August 2006 YEU provides 19 pans for the tappers so that they could continue working. The selection of the pans and the distribution is done by Bagol, a tapper and also member of P3C. YEU supervises the usefulness of the pans in order to see the progress of the program.

Since the IDPs live in camp, they have to deal with uncertain future. From the rumors circulating in the Cikembulan camp, IDPs who don't have a legal land certificate would be relocated to the land belongs to PT Strust Trust, a former cocoa plantation company, in Pangandaran (see the plan of the relocation site). The IDPs obtain information that 2 local donators have collected money around 300 million rupiah for the land exemption. To attain unambiguous and reliable information, YEU consults with the head of the Sidamulih sub district on the matter. He said that there was no immediate plan to relocate the IDPs, it wasn't the right time to socialize the program or even to make it into reality. He is still thinking on the possibility on the plan to relocate the IDPs.

The head of Ciamis Regional Legislative Council, Mr. Jeje, visits Cikembulan on Friday, 18 August 2006. He informs that the regional government has made an attempt to grant 3-million rupiah for each household, while the Regional Legislative Council proposed 12-million endowment for each household. He also reports that the budget for the disaster administered by the central government was lacking. The village leaders predict that the endowments would be a protracted program, thus, they must find alternatives to fulfill their immediate necessities through their own efforts.

P3C also proposes a long term program to the local government and so far has been approved by the Cikembulan prominent figures. The proposed program is to establish a new Cikembulan village with a vision to tourism, i.e. to promote Cikembulan as art and culture center. Therefore one of its ways is through giving training for the women, held by the Social Department, with skills to make handicrafts. The new vision village is on the relocation site.

Implementation of the Programs

The health service has been operating in the Cikembulan since the first time the health team from YEU arrived there. YEU is now residing in a health post while still conducting mobile clinic. YEU discharges the health service in Masawah since the place is already occupied by an INGO from Kuwait , the Kuwaiti Red Crescent . The team from the Kuwait stays there in a long time. YEU team also conducts mobile clinic three times a week plus one-day-service in Ciparanti (every Saturday) starting on 21 August 2006.

Juni, the camp coordinator of HELP says that HELP ends their project in Pangandaran on 24 August 2006. While Sekoci post seldom operates its health service recently. In response to this decreasing health service, YEU initiates to expand its mobile clinic target area. On 14 August 2006, YEU coordinates with the Pasundan Farmers Union or SPP ( Serikat Petani Pasundan ) to locate the areas that might be reached through mobile clinic. SPP recommends YEU on these possible areas, Bojong Salaweh and Madasari. Actually, there are many other villages near the coast in need of health services, but so far, YEU only runs the mobile clinic in Cikembulan and the previous two recommended areas, Bojong Salaweh and Madasari.

In accord with the mobile clinic, YEU staff carries out home visit for those who already back from the hospital. Those patients should get further treatment though not in the hospital. This mobile clinic also helps a mother who just gave birth in camp.

For the divan program, on 14 August 2006 YEU has purchased plywood, wood, and bamboo for the IDPs through the coordinator of the voluntary carpenters, Mr. Rosso. YEU has bought also the carpentry utensils and registered the local carpenters. On 18 August 2006, Mr. Rosso and the other carpenters hold meeting to formulate the distribution of the duty, the distribution of working hour, and the agreement on the agreed fee as appreciation toward their skill (not a salary) 30.000 rupiah per day. The aim of the fee-giving is to attract other IDPs to join the labor for the sake of community and for humanity. So far there are 10 carpenters join the program.The labor starts on 21 August 2006.

With the intention of providing proper sanitation, YEU constructs two artesian wells, around 6 to 7 meters deep, in the Cikembulan camp. There is no further action from the local government to test the quality of the water. Therefore, the water is used only for taking a bath or washing clothes, but not for drinking water.

The supplementary feeding is carried out once a week, and the monitoring every once a month. Hitherto, there are two occasions where the supplementary feeding program has been conducted and being reported by the YEU team in Pangandaran. YEU team has distributed milk, biscuits, oranges, and sandwiches to around 130 children on 13 August 2006. On the second occasion, YEU together with posyandu , the community health care, provides milk, biscuit, and bubur kacang hijau, the mung bean porridge for again around 130 children on 24 August 2006.

For the psychosocial program, the mental health team doesn't have any intention to compel the trauma healing program for children, particularly in Cikembulan. There are other Islamic institutions, such as the MUI ( Majelis Ulama Indonesia, The Indonesian Council of Religious Scholars) and DKM ( Dewan Kehormatan Masjid , The Honorary Board of the Mosque) who work together with HELP. Hence, YEU moves to Madasari and Ciparanti to carry out the trauma healing for children. The implementation of this program goes along with the supplementary feeding for both areas, Madasari and Ciparanti.

inally, YEU would like to express gratitude to CBM (Christoffel Blindenmission) International, ACT (Action by Churches Together) International, Hida Takayama Church , and the United Church of Christ in Japan for the constant support in disaster response in Pangandaran. Those aids are very beneficial for the displaced people in Pangandaran. YEU team in Pangandaran assures that the aids reach the target beneficiaries in Pangandaran through several motivating programs as mentioned before.