IDEP Foundation

IDEP and Partners Conduct Emergency Response Efforts for Communities Affected by the West Java Earthquake on 21 November 2022

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 M rocked Cianjur, West Java, on 21 November 2022 at 13.21 WIB. The earthquake, with an epicenter as deep as 124 km and 9 km from the north of Cianjur City, had an impact on the lives of thousands of people in West Java. As of 24 November 2022, BNPB recorded that the death toll reached 272 people, 2,046 people were injured, and residents who begged and fled reached 62,545 people.

The IDEP Selaras Alam Foundation (IDEP) is working with KUN Humanity System (KUN+) and the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI) in an emergency response effort for the community. This emergency response effort is planned in Tunagan Village, Wangunjaya Village, which is 14 km from the epicenter. Since the earthquake is located in the highlands, it affects limited village access. Tunagan Village can only be reached by motorbike, and one lane for four-wheeled vehicles when it rains. The joint team of IDEP, KUN+, and PKBI opened the activity and information center tent during the emergency response period, which started on 22 November 2022 and ended on 20 December 2022.

Conditions around the post

The emergency response effort includes five main activities. The first activity is medical treatment. The joint team set up a mother and child health post in the central tent. At the post, three doctors, one nurse, and one midwife are on guard and doing a treatment. However, they did not just stay in tents either. They also carried out 31 rounds of mobile medical treatment in seven areas in four villages using one motorbike and a modified four-wheeled ambulance. During 22 days, they have provided health consultation services 1,020 times.

The second activity is in the form of treatment and assistance related to mental health. This activity aims to heal trauma for injured residents by conducting observations, focus group discussions, and interviews in collaboration with professional psychology institutions. There are also services for individual and group cases as well as tracking medical history reported by health workers. Volunteers also provide capacity building to assist recovery and treatment in the mental health sector. This activity extends to individual tents and villages.

Provision of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, which are also the needs of residents, is the third activity held. IDEP and partners distributed 202 family pail packages for 212 families. Nahyar (6), a resident of Tunagan Village, feels immensely helped by the bucket package he uses to wash clothes and kitchen utensils. Miptah (35) uses his bucket to store rice and other goods.

The fourth activity that was held was in the form of emergency shelter construction around tents and shelters. Apart from consulting with the local RT and RW, this development was also carried out with the community according to expert directions. As of 25 December 2022, around 15 emergency shelters have been built. For food security, the fifth activity in the form of public kitchens was held in three RTs to ensure adequate nutrition for residents.

There is no discouragement to study in the tent

When this report was published, IDEP and KUN+ were in preparation to continue efforts from emergency response to post-disaster recovery. Some of these include the withdrawal of the medical team and capacity building for the mental health recovery team. Then, psychosocial and mental health services began to be opened for Limbang Sari Village in particular and Cianjur Regency in general, in collaboration with the West Java Provincial Education Office. The service will be integrated with medical posts and mobile activities in the following weeks. Accompanied by capacity building for local mental health cadres and volunteers. On the WASH aspect, the distribution of family buckets continues. In addition, the shelter will continue to be built together with the community. This recovery effort will last until September 2023.

Sharing giving each other

Thank you sincerely and deeply to the partners and donors who have wanted to be involved and join in the recovery work for the West Java Earthquake recovery community, 21 November 2021. Thank you to KUN+ and PKBI, who took part in the field and synergized with the community and various parties to do recovery work.

Article: Hamzah

Photo: Volunteer Team © IDEP Foundation & KUN

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