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Over 24,000 people need emergency shelter, as fears grow for the stability of Mount Merapi
26 May 2006, Central Java, Indonesia
Plan Indonesia is supporting the relief efforts in the already over-stretched refugee camps. Plan is concerned particularly with ensuring a form of education is available to the children.
Sharp rise in number of evacuees
The number of people who have left their homes - currently estimated at 24,000 - is now greater than the combined capacity of the evacuation centres which have been set up. The numbers of evacuees increased sharply following the increase in volcanic activity and fears that a growing lava dome could trigger a huge and potentially lethal eruption.
This is putting pressure on the centres' capacity to provide sufficient shelter, food, water, hygiene, sanitation services and school facilities.
Plan staff are focusing on helping people in Magelang and Sleman districts, on the volcano's western and southern slopes, distributing:
- blankets
- child- and adult-hygiene kits
- other urgent non-food items
Continuing education
Plan staff are particularly concerned about the disruption to primary schooling for both evacuated children and their host communities, where most of the primary and middle schools have been turned into evacuation centres. Older children - who should be preparing for the national examinations for high school placements - are missing out on formal classes, with no suitable place to study and prepare for the exams.
We have begun sourcing school-educational kits and child-recreational kits for distribution, and are developing education and child-friendly centres in evacuee locations and host communities.
18 May
Education disrupted
Plan staff also report that many of the children in the evacuation sites have had their primary education disrupted. Most children stay in the camp all day, whilst their parents return to tend their farms and livestock during the day.
Some children are able to join classes in their host communities, while other evacuation sites, where there are teachers, are holding informal classes. Some have no primary school available for them. We are investigating the need for temporary school assistance in evacuation sites.
15 May
Volcanic activity intensifies in central Java
Volcanic activity on Mount Merapi in central Java intensified over the weekend, with ash, gas and rock fragments spewing from its crater. Experts now believe the volcano is in the early stages of an eruption; more than 4,500 people living near to the crater have been moved to emergency shelters although a small number of farmers are refusing to move.
10 May update
Staff in Indonesia get ready to help as lava flows from volcano
Plan staff have visited government evacuation centres and assessed women's and children's needs in preparation for an eruption of Mount Merapi in central Java, which scientists believe is imminent.
Molten lava last week started to flow from the crater, and the Indonesian government has set up a four-kilometre-wide exclusion zone around the volcano. Up to 80,000 people who live near the volcano may be ordered to leave their homes if the government orders an evacuation.
Plan staff have contacted the government’s Disaster Response Unit and other non-governmental organisations (including Oxfam and Red Cross) which are working in the area. They have visited all the areas surrounding the volcano, and been to the government's evacuation centres in Magelang and Klaten. Staff are in touch with the Department of Psychology of Gajah Mada University in Java, to discuss the psycho-social impact of the current events on children and women.
The two areas most likely to be affected by an eruption - Sleman and Magelang - are prepared and organised, and evacuation facilities are ready to take people. However there are concerns over the centres' ability to handle large numbers of evacuees in a worst-case scenario.
In Magelang five evacuee centres have been opened but are not yet fully functional. A permanent centre in Tanjung is currently housing about 800 people but is in urgent need of additional toilets, milk for children, underwear for women, blankets, children's books and toys.
In Sleman, evacuation routes have been prepared and seven sites identified as potential evacuation centres.
In Klaten, 2,200 people have already moved to three evacuation centres - and this figure is expected to rise sharply. Supplies are already low - particularly fresh water, which must be transported into the area.
21 April update
Indonesia: Volcano communities told to evacuate
Communities living by Mount Merapi in central Java have been told to leave their homes and go to safer areas prepared by the local government. This follows more activity from the volcano, which is now spewing ashes as well as gases. So far however villagers are reluctant to leave their homes and livestock.
The district government has set aside 4bn rupiah (US $425,000) as part of an emergency response. The Indonesian government is stockpiling rice and other food essentials, water and oil, and has flashlights and megaphones ready. The Indonesian Red Cross is standing by ready to supply camps which will provide emergency shelter for people forced to leave their homes, in the event of a volcanic eruption.
Plan initiatives
The two program unit areas in central Java are around 100km from Mount Merapi, so it is unlikely that Plan-supported communities will be directly affected by any eruption.
Plan Indonesia will however provide assistance in rescue centres, focusing on children and women. Staff have also set up an emergency response/assessment team, which is working with government agencies and international organisations.
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