Aid in Action

USAID Contributes Jakarta Flood Relief Efforts

About half of Cengkareng’s 500,000 residents were affected.

 | Monday, February 12, 2007

 

Pak Rispen is a nurse who has practiced with the Cengkareng health clinic in West Jakarta for more than 30 years.  He smiles as he confers with a mother whose child is sick, even though he has been working non-stop for more than a week since his neighborhood was severely flooded.

“The flood waters were so deep that we had to use rubber boats to reach some communities,” explains Pak Rispen. “People were afraid to leave their belongings, so they set up temporary shelters on sidewalks, in parks and in bus stops. They would go back every day to check on their houses.  Blankets, clothing, food supplies and water were in short supply, and we started to see a rise in cases of diarrhea and respiratory infections.”

During the night on February 1st, flood waters started rising. About half of Cengkareng’s 500,000 residents were affected. Four days later, 25,000 residents were still displaced, and 50,000 were living in houses that were still flooded with up to a meter of water.  Municipal water services and electricity were out for five days.

The morning after the floods started, the Cengkareng District Health Office mobilized its teams to provide services through six public clinics and the 39 emergency posts that were established by the government or charitable organizations.  A few days later, with much of the area still flooded, health providers were exhausted.

USAID, through its Health Services Program, started providing assistance that allowed the Health Office to mobilize additional personnel to provide help.  In the first three days of USAID’s support, teams totaling 40 providers cared for 7,944 people. 

Pak Rispen now works along-side the USAID-supported team at the Cengkareng sport stadium, which continues to house 500 displaced people. “Even though the work is tiring, I am happy to be able to help my neighbors who lost everything in the floods. Given that my house was spared, I feel the obligation to do all I can to help people who were not as fortunate as I am.”