Indonesian Quake Victims Empty-Handed; Christian Groups Offer Millions
Pleas for help from these hungry, homeless, and desperate quake victims are being heard by Christian groups, which have already pledged millions in initial relief efforts.
The Indonesian quake destroyed tens of thousands of homes and displaced some 650,000 survivors - many left with nothing but the shirts on their backs. Pleas for help from these hungry, homeless, and desperate quake victims are being heard by Christian groups, which have already pledged millions in initial relief efforts.
As early as hours after Saturday’s disaster, Christian relief groups had already announced their commitment to send funds to help the victims of Indonesia’s largest disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
Action by Churches Together (ACT) - a global alliance of Protestant and Orthodox churches and agencies – submitted a preliminary appeal to the alliance for US $2.7 million on Wednesday for relief and immediate rehabilitation needs. Other ACT members have also individually pledged funds to the efforts including Lutheran World Relief (LWR) of $25,000, Norwegian Church Aid of more than $65,200, and U.K.-based Christian Aid announced on Tuesday that it will make about $93,500 (50,000 GBP) immediately available to its partner organizations.
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The 6.3-magnitude quake that shattered the sleeping rice-farming district of Bantul early Saturday morning left more than 5,800 people dead and some 160,000 homes destroyed or damaged.
The Salvation Army launched a fundraising appeal and issued an immediate grant of $20,000 to kick start the relief.
World Vision Indonesia National Director, James Tumbuan, plans to carefully assess the situation, including the government’s response and what other aid agencies and donors are doing to create the most appropriate response by WV for the quake survivors.
Tumbuan estimates WV’s relief program would most likely require US $4 - 5 million, excluding the funding for houses and other property reconstruction.
"If, let's say, we want to rebuild 500 houses, we might need US $2.5 million with the assumption of US $5,000 per unit," he said.
Between 15,000 and 25,000 houses and other properties were flattened or suffer from serious damages.
Members of Caritas Internationalis has pledged over US $1.2 million to the effort while Catholic Relief Service (CRS), working alongside local partners to distribute shelter material for the homeless survivors, has committee an initial $200,000 to the initial efforts.
Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations present in over 200 countries and territories. Caritas members are currently working to coordinate a 6-week program for relief response in the affected regions of Central Java and will prepare a longer term program of 1-2 years for the restoration of livelihoods and construction of transitional or semi-permanent shelters.
