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Save the Children Receives $500,000 from Gates Foundation to Assist Survivors of Jakarta Flood
Westport, CT (March 1, 2007) — Save the Children announced today that it has received a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help thousands of families and children in Jakarta recover from the worst flood to hit the Indonesian capital in at least five years.
The grant will provide food, clothing, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, hygiene kits and household materials to help meet the immediate needs of families forced from their homes due to the severe flooding. The grant also will allow a new mobile medical clinic to continue serving up to 200 patients a day in east Jakarta for the next three months.
"The humanitarian crisis in Jakarta has left hundreds of thousands of people, including many very poor children, at high risk for serious illness," said Kathy Cahill, Deputy Director of Global Health Strategies at the Gates Foundation. "Many families have been left with nothing and face enormous challenges."
"We are especially concerned about the children," said Rudy Von Bernuth, head of emergency operations for Save the Children. "The flooding has made more children vulnerable to dengue fever — which already had been on the rise this year — along with cases of severe diarrhea and acute respiratory infections."
Besides providing families with basic necessities to help meet daily needs, the grant also will assist in clearing many homes of debris and mud and establishing safe areas for children to play, learn and interact with their peers while recovery efforts are under way. Under the grant, Save the Children will work with local school officials to help children return to school and provide nutritional support for children under 5.
Save the Children began responding to the disaster in early February after torrential rains and severe flooding forced over 330,000 people from their homes and killed at least 84 people. Thousands of houses and public buildings, including nearly 1,500 schools, were impacted by the flood waters.
Save the Children's recovery efforts so far have included the distribution of 2,000 tarpaulins to help provide temporary shelter for children and their families and 450 kits containing basic household and hygiene supplies like pots and pans, soap and washing powder. In addition, the agency has provided rice, noodles and drinking water to thousands of flood survivors.
Read more on Save the Children's response
An inside look: Standing in line for medical treatment in wake of Jakarta floods
Donate now to support children and families in Indonesia affected by the recent flooding
