Vital Aid Delivered to Earthquake and Tsunami-hit Region of Indonesia by Save the Children

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (Oct. 4, 2018) – Save the Children, working through its partner Yayasan Sayangi Tunas Cilik (YSTC), has delivered vital aid on a military plane to Palu, the Indonesian city devastated by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.

Eight hundred shelter and hygiene kits have been flown to Palu and are being distributed to children and families who urgently need them. Another air shipment and distribution is planned for Saturday.

Meanwhile 1,000 kits to support shelter, hygiene, Child Friendly Spaces and temporary educational facilities are on their way by road. Child Friendly Spaces are specially designed areas which will allow children, many having lost their families and homes, with a safe place to play – often instead of being on the streets. They also allow our assessment teams to identify children who may have become separated from their families.

“I can’t overstate how much this aid is needed by children and families impacted by the disaster,” Zubedy Koteng, Child Protection Specialist with Save the Children’s national entity in Indonesia, said.

“The earthquake and tsunami cut off many transport routes in this remote area. We sent out three teams, on different routes, with as many supplies as they could carry to ensure we could reach people as fast as we could but the journey has taken days. We are relieved that these much-needed supplies have arrived by plane and are starting to get through.

“Children urgently need shelter and essential hygiene items to prevent the spread of diseases and contamination as families are packed into evacuation centers with limited supply of clean water. We’re also sending school kits to ensure their education isn’t interrupted any further."

More than 46,000 children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.

Save the Children has been working in Indonesia since 1976, and has a long history responding to humanitarian disasters in the country, including the recent earthquakes in Lombok and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

To learn more about Save the Children’s work in Indonesia and how to help, please visit: savethechildren.org/Indonesia.

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