Indonesia’s Catholic charities and groups have reached out to communities on Flores Island with food, medicines and medical teams to help them recover following 7.7-magnitude earthquake earlier this month. Source: UCA News.
Church charity networks have rushed support as tens of thousands languish due to financial and emotional losses since the quake hit Catholic-majority Flores on August 15.
The death toll rose to 91, while 1286 were injured and 161,084 remain in evacuation centres, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
Caritas Indonesia said it has been reaching affected communities in four Church jurisdictions in Flores – Ende, Maumere, Ruteng and Labuan Bajo – all hit hard by the quake.
Indonesian Catholic Bishops’ Conference president, Bandung Archbishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin, encouraged all Church institutions to collaborate with Caritas for relief and rehabilitation.
“This disaster has brought down physical buildings, but we believe it will never bring down our spirit of togetherness and the firmness of our faith,” he said.
Caritas Indonesia governing board chairman Ketapang Bishop Pius Riana Prapdi said the agency is committed to responding to the humanitarian needs of affected communities.
Caritas Indonesia spokesperson Antonius Sugiyanto said the agency has opened a national logistics post in Surabaya, the nation’s second largest city, to collect and consolidate relief goods from Java and surrounding areas before sending them by sea to ports in Flores.
“Clean water has become one of the main concerns in crowded evacuation areas. The Surabaya post is facilitating the procurement of 100 water tanks, each with a capacity of 1200 litres,” he said.
In addition to running medical teams, the agency has delivered 180 kilograms of emergency medical supplies and equipment to displaced families, he added.
Fr Martin Chen, director of the Ruteng Diocese Pastoral Centre, said they have distributed humanitarian aid to 11,907 quake survivors in 23 affected parishes.
He said the diocese has been working with a local hospital to treat injured people, adding that it also set up 27 emergency tents for displaced people.
Fr Benediktus Gaguk, director of Caritas Ruteng Diocese, said the aid distributed included 12.01 tonnes of rice, 1081 boxes of food, 396 boxes of water, 416 hygiene kits and 89 shelter kits containing tarpaulins and mats.
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Catholic groups reach out to Indonesia quake survivors (UCA News)
