Skip to main content

Rebuilding and Becoming More Resilient: Lessons from two years of working together in Central Sulawesi

Countries
Indonesia
Sources
CWS
Publication date
Origin
View original

On September 28, 2018, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Minahasa Peninsula of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, at 18:02 local time. Its epicenter was only 70 km north of the provincial capital, Palu. The earthquake triggered tsunamis, the worst of which was 7 meters high; caused landslides in mountainous areas; and was followed by land liquefaction that was reported to be the largest the world had ever experienced.

National and international organizations responded in various ways to help the survivors of this complex disaster. Thanks to their own strong resilience and cooperation, most people affected by the disaster have created new daily routines and ways of living after two years.

The CWS Indonesia team has joined communities to respond since the start of the disaster. The team is still working from its Palu office to help communities as they continue building resilience against natural disasters. Based on its long experience and expertise in the field, CWS has designed each part of our response together with families and community leaders based on the needs they prioritized.

In coordination with other humanitarian responders – government, non-government, UN and community organizations – CWS focused their response in 23 villages of Sigi and Donggala districts, about 2 hours north of Palu. They worked in partnership with two local organizations: DANGAU and INANTA.

This report looks back to CWS’s two-year journey in Central Sulawesi, reflecting on all aspects of our work with communities, and by doing so hopes to preserve the invaluable lessons learned from this response.