LOUISVILLE — Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has sent $113,500 to help meet the immediate needs of earthquake survivors in Indonesia as international aid began arriving in the quake-battered island-nation on Tuesday.

     The PDA funding, from One Great Hour of Sharing and designated disaster funds, is being channeled through three faith-based partner agencies in Indonesia, according to Susan Ryan, PDA’s coordinator. 

     Ryan said $50,000 has been forwarded to the disaster-response arm of the Council of Churches of Indonesia, which is called Yayasan Tanggul Benkana Indonesia or YTBI. The money will help provide food and shelter to quake survivors.

     Another $50,000 has been sent to the emergency unit of the Christian Foundation for Public Health, which is called the Yakkum Emergency Unit or YEU. That money will be used to provide medical assistance to survivors.

     PDA has also sent $13,500 to the Indonesian office of Church World Service (CWS), the disaster-relief agency of the National Council of Churches. The money will be used to fund the shipment of supplies to the earthquake zone from CWS’s warehouse in Medan, Indonesia.

     “As this disaster hit, I remembered the faces of those Indonesians who came recently to the United States to help with the Hurricane Katrina response,” Ryan said, referring to a visit to the Gulf Coast in March by survivors of the 2004 Indonesian tsunami. “Now these same wonderful colleagues have lost family and houses and are weary as they respond to another immense tragedy in their country. Their faithfulness and energy are amazing. They need our prayers and ongoing support.” 

     Like PDA, the three relief agencies are members of Action by Churches Together International (ACT), a Geneva-based international alliance of churches and relief agencies, which is coordinating its relief effort with ACT’s office in Medan.

     She said PDA’s money was sent to support an initial $2.5 million emergency appeal issued by ACT.

     A 6.3-magnitude quake, which struck close to the former Javanese royal capital of Yogyakarta last weekend, has so far killed 5,427 people, seriously wounded 6,504 and left 100,000 homeless, according to the country's Social Affairs Ministry. Another 2,081 suffered minor injuries.

     The quake destroyed 19,535 homes and severely damaged another 13,624, the ministry said.

     Ryan said Presbyterian Mission Co-Workers Bernie and Farsijana Adeney-Risakotta, who are living in hard-hit Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are unharmed and have started to send reports to PDA from the impacted area: http://www.pcusa.org/missionconnections/letters/adeneyb/adeneyb_0605.htm

     Ryan said YEU has been assisting primarily with medical care. On Saturday (May 27), YEU began providing medical services and assessments through mobile clinics in impacted areas.

     The mobile clinics are staffed by six medical teams each made up of doctors, nurses, support staff and community development specialists, who are assisting in organizing YEU’s disaster response.

     The mobile-clinic teams reported that 80 to 98 percent of the houses across 10 villages in which they have visited were damaged, with hundreds of people injured or killed.

     Ryan said the teams reported that there is inadequate shelter to protect survivors from rain, a lack of first-aid kits and medicine, no adequate latrines or other sanitation facilities, and a desperate need for food and other items.

     In each village, the teams treated between 30 to 150 patients, she said. The teams also distributed hygiene kits supplied by CWS and baby kits from YTBI.

      Meanwhile, CWS has distributed mineral water, instant noodles and biscuits to 500 households in four sub-districts in Bantul district: Kretek, Parangtritis, Tambang Dipuro and Pundong. The CWS emergency team is currently assessing six other sub-districts in Bantul district.

     A shipment of 40 family-size tents, 1,125 hygiene kits and 270 blankets arrived Tuesday (May 30) in Solo, Indonesia, from CWS’s warehouse in Medan, the first shipment of some 13 tons of supplies that CWS plans to send to affected areas in Yogyakarta.