After the eruption of the Lewotobi Laki volcano on November 3-4, 2024, thousands of residents were temporarily trapped due to the storm and local power outages. This condition hampered the evacuation efforts of the residents. There are three sub-districts in East Flores Regency that are most severely affected, namely; Wulanggitang has 6 villages, Ile Bura has 4 villages, and Titehena has 4 villages.
Based on data compiled by the East Flores Communication and Information Service (Diskominfo) on November 23, 2024, as many as 13,240 residents from various villages were forced to evacuate due to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki. The vulnerable groups among the refugees include 625 infants and children, 48 pregnant women, 124 breastfeeding mothers, 20 people with disabilities, and 1,143 elderly people.
The refugees are now spread across several sub-districts in East Flores and Sikka Regencies, with the main evacuation locations in Titehena District (5,838 people) and Sikka Regency (3,564 people). Initially, they were accommodated in temporary facilities such as schools, churches, and makeshift barracks set up by the local community. However, the increasing intensity of the eruption made the government decide to relocate residents to safer places, namely in Lewolaga, East Flores (17 km from the disaster center) and Waigete, Sikka (60 km).
In the midst of this situation, many refugees are facing a worrying health condition. A number of residents are reported to suffer from diseases such as acute respiratory infections (ARI) due to exposure to volcanic ash and poor sanitation.
“During the evacuation here, we left home. Comfortable uncomfortable must be comfortable. In the early days, the children started to itch. Maybe because of the water, here we have a hard time. Then my son also had a cough yesterday. His cough was only at night. It can’t sleep until morning. I took it to the doctor, it turned out that my child was infected with germs that continued to enter because of the mountain ash,” said Ira, one of the independent refugees in Ile Gerong Village.
Save the Children Indonesia and CIS Timor together with a number of local organizations took significant steps to help 2,253 vulnerable people, including infants, children, pregnant women, and elderly survivors of the eruption of Mount Lewotobi. One of the important assistance that has been provided is the distribution of hygiene kits, which are designed to meet the basic hygiene and comfort needs of refugees.
On November 24, 2024, Save the Children with support from Cargill, a food and agriculture company that works with local cocoa farming communities, provided 110 shelter & hygiene kits as part of the initial emergency response. The packages have been distributed to 110 families in one of the evacuation camps in East Flores Regency as well as the surrounding independent evacuation camps. In addition, the response team also held a socialization of Clean and Healthy Living Behavior (PHBS) to increase refugee awareness about the importance of maintaining cleanliness in emergency situations.
Each package includes various needs, such as mats and blankets to provide comfort in the evacuation center. Then there is bottled drinking water also to meet drinking needs in emergency situations. In addition, there are masks as protection from volcanic ash. Other hygiene supplies, such as buckets, sanitary napkins, body soap, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, detergent, and mugs, help meet sanitation needs and maintain personal hygiene for refugees.
“Thank you very much to Save the Children for giving us a hygiene package. Hopefully others will also listen to us,” said Ira.
“We are working closely with Cis Timor, taking significant steps to help vulnerable groups. The assistance that will be provided includes the establishment of three emergency classrooms in the refugee camps, the distribution of hygiene supplies, and the provision of nutritious food for infants and children. In addition, psychosocial services are provided to support children in dealing with trauma due to disasters, as well as toilet and clean water facilities to ensure adequate sanitation,” explained Wiwied Trisnadi, Senior Humanitarian Manager of Save the Children, further explaining the Save the Children action plan in response to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi.
“In the future, Save the Children Indonesia will continue to strive to provide assistance for the recovery period in the education sector, to ensure that children continue to receive quality education, even though they are in the refugee camp, including in the livelihood sector to ensure that they have a good livelihood so that they can survive in the current difficult situation,” added Silverius Tasman, Regional Manager of Save the Children Indonesia. who are currently helping the refugees at the location.