A Preface to our New Assignment in Indonesia

When a massive 9.2 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in December 2004, the tsunami that followed wrought destruction on a dozen countries and left thousands dead and millions devastated. Indonesia was the country most affected by the tsunami. The province of Aceh took the brunt of the disaster, killing close to 200,000 people. Within 24 hours of the tsunami, World Renew was on site and provided relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction to communities living in both Aceh and Nias Island.

Sumba, an island in eastern Indonesia, is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara.It is one of the poorer islands of Indonesia. The landscape of Sumba consists of low, limestone hills, rather than the steep volcanoes of many Indonesian islands. The sub-district of Haharu in the District of East Sumba is one of the poorest places, not only on the island, but in all of Indonesia. This is the area we have been called to serve.

Due to successive crop failures since 2011, the inhabitants of this area have experienced frequent food shortages. Crop failures can be caused by both excessive rains or to drought conditions when the rainy seasons end early. Access to water is one of the major challenges for the inhabitants of this area. During the dry season, streams dry up and many villagers have to walk several kilometres each day to fetch drinking water.  Irrigation for crops is almost unheard of.

Both before the tsunami and after, World Renew has been active in various programs in different areas of Indonesia.

In 2012 World Renew targeted four villages in the Haharu sub-district. Then, as now, people experienced a severe food shortage and had limited coping mechanisms. During such times the poorest people have to resort to desperate measures, one of which is eating iwi, a poisonous root that takes several days to process in order to remove toxins. This includes peeling and slicing the iwi, (the sap of which can burn and injure fingers and palms) soaking it for three days while stirring and trampling it, then drying and again washing it before steaming or cooking until it is finally edible. In order to gather iwi, individuals are required to walk great distances. In some of these villages, people walk up to twenty kilometers to reach the river to be able to wash the iwi. These villages have no rice or corn to eat. To survive, people have been driven to eat their stored seeds which are essential for the planting of future crops.

In 2013 World Renew sponsored a project to construct water wells in the same area.  Six wells were constructed, one in each of six villages. While this has provided some relief some have collapsed and others are providing minimal amounts of water.

Sadly, the villagers in this part of the island continue to be challenged by the effects of climate change, deforestation, crop failure, famine, pest infestation, water scarcity, and drought. They have had to sell much of their livestock to buy food and others animals have died of diseases. A high percentage of the population suffers from malaria, a high infant mortality rate and the stunting of many children due to malnutrition.

The Christian Church of Sumba (GKS) in Waingapu (Capital of East Sumba) has asked World Renew to help them to reach out to their community in this present crisis with some immediate food assistance.

We leave Canada on January 6^th and hope to be able to share regular updates on our work as we start with an initial assessment and needs analysis and then, depending upon our findings, hopefully proceed to proposal preparation, approval, and subsequent implementation.

In the meantime, we covet your prayers as well as encourage you to walk along side us by checking out some of the links on this page to become more familiar with Sumba, Indonesia, and World Renew’s previous involvements there.