Last Thursday (20/9), Pandanan hamlet, located in North Lombok, was the destination of Phase 3 of Family Bucket distribution. In the hamlet which is located right close to the beach, we distributed Family Buckets and other relief packages (food supplies, shelter equipment and clean water filters) for 460 families (1,840 people) spread over in 4 locations.
Most of the houses in this hamlet collapsed by the earthquake on August 5, 2018. At that time, some said, they were so panicked. When the panic had not over yet, they once again had forced to feel threatened after the tsunami issue was so widely spread among them. Inevitably, it forced most of them to evacuate for a few days to hilly areas behind the hamlet. They just returned after getting certainty from the hamlet authority that conditions were safe enough.
Since then, they have lived in evacuation tents built around their collapsed houses. After about 3 weeks there, some of them seemed to start building better temporary shelters. Anticipating the rainy, they said. Indeed, when the last distribution was completed in the late afternoon, the rain had dropped for a while.
As we arrived in each locations, they seemed to have been waiting. The news about the assistance that we will bring turns out to have spread since a few days before. After collecting each of their families data, they seemed enthusiastic waiting for their turn to be called. Yet they were curious about the contents of the Family Bucket, the distribution was still well-organised until all the families registered had their respective shares. When they finally received and found out the buckets content, most of them had no other way but to keep smiling.
When the parents were waiting for the distribution, our partner Yayasan Pulih invited their children to get involved in psychological assistance. As what we seen, the assistance that was mixed in the form of games often spontaneously provoked laughter from the children.
A number of residents who took time to talk with us expressed their gratitudes. They also entrusted prayer, as might the only thing left on them, for all who had helped to make all the relief packages reached their families. (Ed)
*) Visit IDEP Foundation on Facebook for more photos.
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