What Oxfam is Doing
Within a week of the May 27 earthquake near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Oxfam and our local partners had delivered assistance to 100,000 survivors.
The May 27 earthquake that struck near Yogyakarta, Indonesia, took the lives of nearly 6,000 people and left hundreds of thousands of survivors homeless.
Rapid Response
Oxfam's response to the disaster was swift: staff at our Yogyakarta office mobilized immediately, rushing clean water and relief supplies to hospitals and other sites where displaced people were gathering. Our local partners fanned out to determine which communities had been hit the hardest and to begin distributions of relief materials. The proximity of our warehouse, which was freshly stocked with supplies in anticipation of an eruption at nearby Mount Merapi, made it possible to begin delivering essential aid before planes could land on the damaged runways of the nearest airport. Within 24 hours Oxfam and our partners were able to reach 6,000 people with emergency aid.
Water, sanitation, and shelter from torrential rains
Oxfam is providing clean drinking water and will soon begin building latrines, both of which are crucial to preventing the outbreak and spread of waterborne disease in the earthquake’s chaotic aftermath.
Shelter has been a top priority from the start. We distributed tarps by the thousands to provide protection from the drenching rains that fell night after night in the early days after the quake, and we quickly formulated plans to distribute sheet metal and tool kits to enable survivors to build more substantial emergency shelters.
Reaching vulnerable communities
Searching for gaps in aid coverage, Oxfam sent teams to remote villages to ensure that essential aid reached isolated and vulnerable populations.
100,000 survivors reached in the first week
By the end of the first week, we had distributed 12,500 tarpaulins (each large enough to shelter five to eight people), 24,000 gallons of clean water, and thousands of hygiene kits, sarongs, and other emergency supplies -- altogether reaching 100,000 survivors of the quake.
Last updated: 01 February 2007