WVI Ended the Emergency Response Program in West SulawesiAn earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 occurred on January 15, 2021, in West Sulawesi, then displaced 19,000 people and damaged various public facilities, as well as residents' houses. Until now, som

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 occurred on January 15, 2021, in West Sulawesi, then displaced 19,000 people and damaged various public facilities, as well as residents' houses. Until now, some of the heavily damaged schools have not been opened, residents whose houses were heavily damaged are also still struggling to rebuild.

Since the first day, Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) together with partners were present to respond to disasters that impacted Majene Regency and Mamuju Regency in collaboration with Karampuang Foundation and Sigap Kerlip in the first 3 months of response in Mamuju Regency and Majene Regency. Cooperation was also carried out with the Sendana KKP in Majene from the 4th to the 6th month. To date, a total of 2,749 families in 4 sub-districts and 13 villages have benefited from the disaster response program with a total of 12,637 people, including 5,645 of whom are children.

"The enthusiasm of residents in Mamuju and Majene to get back up is very high. We have seen that optimism since the beginning of the disaster response until now. We are supported by donors and sponsors and have collaborated with various parties since the emergency response phase, to holding various training for residents. Training to equip citizens with skills is held in the fields of education, health, child protection, to disaster preparedness. We believe that the community is now more resilient in facing disaster risks," said National Director & CEO of Wahana Visi Indonesia, Angelina Theodora.

During the emergency response period, WVI distributed shelter kits, hygiene kits, blankets, packages for children under 2 years old, and medicines. In the field of education, training was held for master teachers, training for teachers accompanying children in the children's friend room, training for positive parenting, and disaster-safe schools in Majene. WVI also built temporary tents for activities for children, teachers, and the community, distributed 970 children's games, 2,000 books, and stationery.

In the health sector, WVI and partners trained health workers on infant and child feeding as well as nutrition garden training for 706 families in 6 villages in Majene. A total of 1,439 families also received non-cash assistance worth a total of Rp. 1.993 billion in Mamuju and Majene.

Sarmin, Head of the Curriculum Section of the Majene Education Office, one of the participants in the SPAB Training of Trainers admitted that he learned a lot from the training provided. "My behavior changed and I began to prepare my family for disaster preparedness. I am no longer as afraid as before and can even prepare other people for disaster preparedness," he said while facilitating a workshop on making disaster preparedness documents at SMPN 6 Tubo Sendana, Majene.

Expert Staff for Economics, Finance, and Development of West Sulawesi H. Syahruddin H, S.E, M.Si, expressed his gratitude to WVI for helping the earthquake management process in Mamuju and Majene. 

"Hopefully the completion of this program will not be the end of our collaboration together. We hope that in the future we can still work together, especially at this time in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic where children are still doing online learning. Hopefully, there will also be ''WVI'' others so that disaster management can be carried out more quickly," said Syahruddin.

Written by Amanda Putri, Media Relations, Wahana Visi Indonesia