SOS Children helps earthquake survivors in Indonesia

SOS Children has started providing emergency relief to victims of the earthquake that hit the Indonesian island of Java on 2 September. All the children, staff and SOS mothers are safe.

Shortly after the earthquake hit on Wednesday afternoon, leaving many dead and thousands homeless in the hills of West Java, SOS staff provided emergency supplies to people in the village of Pangalengan, some 20 miles from the town Bandung. Nearly 50 percent of the houses here have been flattened.

According to Gregor Nitihardjo, the director of SOS Children's Villages Indonesia, by 3 September about 1,400 adults and 360 children had taken refuge in temporary shelters put up by voluntary organisations. SOS Children is distributing food, baby milk, tea, medicine, blankets and drinking water to the shocked survivors who are huddling under plastic tarpaulins. SOS staff from Yogyakarta have been bringing tents, mats, milk, green beans, clothes, toys and other essential items.

To improve living conditions, and in agreement with the authorities, SOS Children's Villages has begun the process of setting up a base camp and a children's centre in the village of Pangalengan, as well as a kitchen focused on ensuring the children in particular are properly fed. But work does not stop here: "We are going to other places also and after we assess the situation, we may provide initial relief to the victims, focusing on children," said Nitihardjo.

With the help of some of the women from Pangalengan, SOS staff cooked Kolak for the muslim community, who are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan and therefore do not eat any food before sundown. Kolak is a highly nutritious sweet dish made of fruits mixed with coconut milk and sugar.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Java just before 3.00pm (0755 GMT), and even though the epicentre was some 65 miles off the south coast, the tremors were felt as far away as Bali, some 400 miles to the east. At least 57 people died in the quake, and it is feared this number will rise.