Mercy Corps Indonesia

GCC

Global Citizen Corps Indonesia has produced 200 youth leaders all over Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi since July 2010. They have mobilized hundreds of their peers through 50 local action projects and reached thousands of others through the media.

ACCCRN

ACCCRN aims to equip poor and vulnerable communities with the right resources, tools and methods for responding to existing and future climate risks.

OWOF

Our World Our Family program is assisting low-income & migrant communities have a greater awareness of financial opportunities & establish viable small & micro business, by supporting existing urban & rural programs throughout Indonesia in water sanitation, nutrition, agriculture, & youth programs.

West Sumatera Emergency Response & Recovery Program

Provide water supply construction for disease prevention of earthquake and tsunami communities in relocation camps in South Pagai and North Pagai, Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra Province.

MATASIRI

Empowering internally displaced people (IDP), ex-IDP, returnees, and host communities to integrate into secure, productive, and just communities, supporting sustainable peace and development in Maluku

SCoPe Indonesia

Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production and reducing energy consumption and increase sustainable growth in urban food processing industries in Indonesia.

Sibu – Sibu café: An improvement to motivate Maluku’s Potential Development

By: Dewi Nursanti ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) - OWOF Program.

The festive atmosphMercy Corps Indonesia Country Director witnessing Ambon Mayor handing the Selawaku to Sibu Sibu owner (Photo courtesy of http://ambon.go.id/)ere was in the air during the cloudy morning hung above Sibu Sibu café in Ambon, Maluku, on June 1st, 2012, where smiling people went to and fro since early morning that day. That day marked the official opening ceremony of Maluku One Stop Shop Sibu Sibu by the City Major, Mr. Richard Louhenapessy.

The ceremony was an event to honour co-investment project conducted by Mercy Corps Our World Our Family (OWOF) Program funded by Western Union Foundation, in supporting Mercy Corps Maluku Recovery Program in its economy recovery and development effort on the area that is widely known as The Islands of Spices.

Since 2002, Mercy Corps has been teaming up with the local government, academics, farmers, business actors, and various other parties to implement community development in Ambon and Seram Islands to assist the community in coping and adapting to potential hazards which occurred since the conflicts that began in 1999, has initiated a concept of public-private partnership strategy to assist promotion of assortment products and services from micro entrepreneurs, agro-products, tourism, industry, investment, and commerce. This concept was known by the name of Maluku Branding.

ACCCRN Pilot Project in Tugurejo, Semarang, Indonesia

Mangrove plantation at Tapak Village, Tugurejo, Semarang.In 2010, mangrove plantation and break water construction as climate change adaptation was conducted as pilot project in ACCCRN (Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network) Program in Tapak Village, Tugurejo, Semarang, Indonesia. No less than 20,000 of mangrove seeds has been planted (5,000 are species from Bali which newly introduced in Tapak to add more mangrove variety in Tapak ecosystem) and 120 meters of breakwater construction from used tires has been set up in Tugurejo coastal areas.

This project has contributed to put more attention in Tapak and has increased local community capacities to manage community groups, cooperate with city stakeholders, and sustain mangrove conservation. The community has been developing mangrove nurseries and initiating ecotourism for Mangrove Education Center. The local community group also managed to provide scholarship to send back their members to school.

Emergency planning saves lives in Indonesia today

By Paul Jeffery
Country Director, Indonesia

Today at 3:3Office workers evacuated outside their building in Medan, Northern Sumatra, after the first earthquake hit Indonesia today. Photo: Reuters/Y.T Haryono, courtesy the Thomson Reuters Foundation – AlertNet8 p.m. local time (1:38 a.m. PST), an 8.6 earthquake hit off the coast of Aceh Province in Sumatra, Indonesia — the same site of the deadly 2004 earthquake that triggered a tsunami killing 230,000 people. While we’ll have a team on the ground tomorrow to carefully assess the needs in the area, reports so far indicate far less damage and no fatalities — thanks in part to emergency preparedness work throughout the country in the eight years since the earlier tragedy.

Immediate action
In the Mercy Corps Jakarta office at the time, I first realized something was going on when multiple phones started ringing and a building buzz of activity filled the air. Several team members started relaying information from our colleagues based in Aceh and throughout West Sumatra, more than 700 miles away. Fortunately, our whole team was accounted for and safe.

Our staff quickly organized and started contacting government officials, other NGOs and the UN; we also closely monitored news feeds and social networks to collect more details and ascertain the early impact of the earthquake. We were in close touch with our colleague agencies to share information and begin coordination in the event an emergency response was necessary. As is usual when disasters strike, the phone networks immediately jam — and today was no different. We all repeatedly tried phone numbers, sent text messages and tried to get through on instant messenger to our former colleagues, friends and family in the affected areas.

Temporary Latrine Construction in Pagai Selatan - Mentawai

Dugwell in use in Laggigi 1, Pagai Selatan, Mentawai (Photo - Edy Yamin)I was surprised when I first arrived in Mentawai. There was only one concrete road about 2 km long and 2 meters wide from the ferry harbor to Sikakap. The phone signal is only from Telkomsel and often unavailable. Random power cuts happen daily, with the dependable power cut hours from 2pm to 5pm. Once Air Putih stopped providing internet in Mentawai, internet connections were inconsistent, although since June we have purchased internet for the office. Gasoline is weak and often unavailable, and large waves or bad weather disrupt our activities.

Health Promotion Cadres Begin To Teach Community

The cadre is demonstrating hand washing with soap.Through GATES funding, Mercy Corps formed a Hygiene Promotion Cadres in Bulasat sub village, South Pagai district, Mentawai Islands. The cadres are community members who are given in-depth training in Hygiene Promotion, so that they can teach their community and help lead change. Cadre members are comprised of local leaders, youth, and mothers who voluntarily take time out of their other obligations to learn about hygiene and health.

They received all training materials from Mercy Corps and are comprised of nine members: Hasian Sabelau, Aventina Ndraha, Nespiyenti, Harmida, Hermayanti Taileleu, Redy Hartati Simanjuntak, Rasman Samaloisa, Ronald Sababalat, and Tagai Saleleubaja. They explained about the cessation of the spread of germs and disease chains, the good and bad behavior around spreading disease, and how to properly wash hands with soap.