Week of January 20th   Flooding in Jakarta and Manado.   Providing Disaster Relief

During the rainy season it is not uncommon for it to rain everyday and sometimes all day. Flooding can be a problem.  When the rain relentlessly comes for long periods of time and is heavy, flooding is an issue. In Jakarta, which has experienced flooding for many years this year was one of the worst. The Jakarta Globe reported 28 deaths and as many as 65,000 people needing to be evacuated from their homes. In Manado , on the island of Sulawesi, the flooding was the worst in many years. They experienced flash floods from the mountains and then mud slides. As of Jan 26th, according to the Manado Tribune 26 people were reported missing. We requested emergency disaster relief funds for both Jakarta and Manado. Since both hit at exactly the same time we spent our time in Manado, but directed the relief efforts in Jakarta through the local church leaders. The pictures tell the stories of the devastation and the impact this had on thousands of lives.

                                   The swollen river flooding the homes along the river banks

For many people in Jakarta, flooding is an annual event, and sometimes daily event. If their home has several floors they just move everything up to the next level and carry on

For others it means living in a tent, until they can return home. These tents are provided by the government. The flooding had gone down a bit when we were there., only to have more rain and more flooding later on in the week. This could go on until the rainy season ends in March.

The flooding is more than just high water, it becomes a major health issue due to all that is in the water, it contains sewage, garbage, we've even seen dead rodents. It can really make people sick.

One of the many government posts (called posko's) where donated food, clothing is brought. Set up by the government to assist the people.

Some people just begin to live under a bridge.

One of the best pieces of equipment available, and sometimes the only means to reach those in need

Of all the things we observed one of the saddest was to see all the garbage that accumulated in the water. Forming makeshift dams. This is what too often you see around the edges of the water.

Manado flooded first and Jakarta a few days later...we cancelled our previous plans and got on the plane and flew to Manado to see how LDS Charities could help. As seen below in the following pictures, the need was huge.

In Manado, when we first arrived the water had receded and mud remained. Everywhere the flash flood had been you could see the remnants of the damage it had caused as personal possessions of clothing, furniture, everything was discarded along the edges of the road. It rained almost the entire time we were in Manado and by Friday many areas where flooding again.

                                               In some areas the water was gone, but the mud remained. Street after street, this is what we saw, it was very wide spread, not just one area, but many were hit.

                        We saw several examples that demonstrated the power of the flash flood.

 

 

Our plan when we arrived in Manado was to begin to purchase food, clothing, hygiene kits, bedding, mattresses and medicine. These were the requested needs from the local government. But when we went to some stores some of the shelves were bare. It wasn't easy to find all the items requested. Some items we had to have air shipped from Jakarta. It certainly reinforced  the value of having a home storage!

 

One of the first orders of business was to meet with local church members to see what needs they were aware of and how they could help once we had purchased the needed supplies.

We finally found a store that had a good supply of what the people needed, most people were not able to work and their ability to buy all that they need was gone due to no income.

 A key need was baby food, milk and biscuits. We took as much as we could find.

We got a few good stares from customers in the store as we loaded up and emptied the shelves! But anytime we told people what our purpose was, we received positive support.

 

This is our purchase of baby food and formula.

 

 Loading the cars and trucks with clothing for men, women and children.

                                                               Gathering and loading medicine.

Our medicine order complete! The flooding water is so contaminated that it makes people get diarrhea, itchy skin and other issues, so we purchased medicines that would help with this as well as antibiotics and other meds requested by a team of physicians.

 

 

 

 

 Saturday morning many members of the local branch of our church in Manado came to help where they could. They were so helpful and with many hands it made for light work. They like us have learned that 'when you are in the service of your fellowman, you are in the service of God.'

The famous yellow vests, 'Helping Hands from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints', we didn't have quite enough vests for everyone, and they were printed in English, we need to get some that are in Indonesian!

Remember the cute primary song that sings "When we're helping, we're happy..."?  Hmmm, seems that it is true, not a person there without a smile...Want to be reminded what the gospel is? Revisit the primary lessons told in pure simple ways of how to follow Christ.

There is something about service that brings out the best in people. Despite terrible weather these people were all smiles, all day! Truly service sanctifies!

Three truck loads of much needed supplies was successfully gathered and delivered to the mayor's office for distribution for those in  need throughout the worst hit areas of the city.

Our members ready to go. Did we mention that it continued to rain much of the day, getting most of us pretty soaked. The smiles stayed on all their faces as they helped bring comfort to those we visited. Our only regret is that we couldn't do more to change their circumstances, but that is not usually how the Lord works, He rarely takes away the trials, but He does lessen our burdens...often using others hands...

This is the mayors office. We had been here a few months earlier and this field in front of the mayor's office was a nice green soccer field. Now it, like the mayor's office itself was under mud and water.

The formal process of delivering the supplies to the mayor's office. The meeting was with the chairman of the National Board of Disaster Prevention and the chief of field operations for the city of Manado.

 Our local branch President offering the materials to the needy in the city of Manado from the donations of church members who freely give humanitarian donations from all over the world. Hopefully for those who donate and see these pictures their hearts will be touched that their contributions go to help in so many ways.

 

The cement blocks in the river were the walls of the house in the foreground that collapsed during the flood. Notice the makeshift bamboo bridge the people had built to push away the debris that was  accumulating. One of the men told us they had been working 20 hour days, for the past 5 days to keep the water from making a dam. The pictures don't do justice to the how torrential this was. Were they to misstep and fall in, it would surely mean being swept away. There were several reports from the local paper of people being swept away. One heartbreaking report was a young family being caught in the flash flood. The father was able to get the baby out of the car, but when he returned his two other children were gone.

 Bringing food, blankets and clothing to those in need. This family in the pictures below had experienced flood waters earlier in the week they said was shoulder high.

The smiles say it all. Who was experiencing more joy...the receiver or the giver?

 

             Before the flood there use to be homes in some of the following pictures.
                                                  Completely destroyed.

There is still much work to be done. Much thanks to all those who came out and assisted those in need. There will be other opportunities in the future to continue to support and help. It was a wonderful blessing to see miracles unfold in the lives of people....those that needed help, and those who helped! This was the gospel of Jesus Christ in action.