The Salvation Army in Hong Kong obtains large government grant for relief work in Indonesia

As families still struggle to come to terms with the destruction caused by the massive earthquake in Jogyakarta, Indonesia, at the end of May, much-needed assistance is on its way from Hong Kong.

Acting in response to a disaster relief proposal drafted by The Salvation Army’s Hong Kong and Macau Command, the Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government has granted HK$3.3 million (US$426,000) that will enable The Salvation Army in Indonesia to provide vital assistance to 5,000 people over a three-month period.

The relief effort will be focused on the remote villages around Bantul. A Salvation Army Compassion in Action team will distribute emergency supplies including a basic weekly food packet to 4,000 survivors (including 2,000 children) and milk powder for 1,000 babies. They will also supply milk powder and hot porridge to 2,000 children to supplement their daily protein requirements.

Gasoline lanterns will be distributed to 1,000 families in remote villages where electricity supply is scarce. Tents will be provided to 200 families in remote villages where houses were completely destroyed by the earthquake.

In addition, over the next three months the team will operate a mobile clinic in remote areas to provide medical care and free medicine to approximately 4,000 patients (estimated at around 300 per week) who were injured in the earthquake and also to those who are sick because of the appalling living environment after the disaster. This provision will lessen the spread of contagious diseases such as upper respiratory disease, skin disease and cholera.

A trauma counselling team will also be dispatched to provide counselling services to adults and children, particularly those who lost family members in the earthquake.

Lieut-Colonel Alfred Tsang, Officer Commanding for The Salvation Army in Hong Kong and Macau, notes that even with this most generous grant, much more remains to be done. After personally visiting the scene of the disaster, Lieut-Colonel Tsang remarked that people of good will need to 'work together to bring relief to those who suffered in the earthquake'.

It will be a long time before the people in Central Java will be able to pick up all the pieces of their shattered lives and move forward. The Salvation Army is firm in its commitment to stay with the affected families for as long as it takes.