Water Project and School Uniforms for Earthquake Victims in West Sumatra

 

In February of this year the Pasaman district of West Sumatra was hit by an earthquake which destroyed many homes, and schools and also damaged pipelines that supply clean water to the affected communities. We don't have any branches or wards in West Sumatra so our humanitarian missionaries travelled there to ask the community leaders how we could help. It was decided that the Church humanitarian foundation would partner with the Red Cross of Indonesia and CARE Indonesia to repair water systems and provide school uniforms to the children.
In this picture you can see two pipelines. The green one is the old pipe that was made of steel. Because of the rigidity of steel pipe it broke in many places during the earthquake. The plastic pipe is part of the water project and it is larger in diameter, to supply more water, and also flexible to withstand earthquakes better. 
The pipe in the picture before this one runs into a cement enclosure like the one in the background of this picture. The enclosure has two compartments. The first one allows any sand or debris to settle and the second compartment feeds the community water lines with clean water. The man in the center of this picture is the Wakil Bupati (Vice District Leader). He is shaking hands with Elder Lee who is a local humanitarian missionary and the man on the left of the Wakil Bupati is a local farmer whose family will benefit by having clean water piped to his home. 
Another picture of the water project from the point where the water enters the pipe. The water from this stream is collected into an enclosure and then flows into the pipe at a higher elevation. Some of these water systems get water from streams and others from springs.
When we arrived at one of the projects the local people were preparing food for us. The women ate at a table in the building on the right and the men sat outside on the tarps to eat and to review the plan and status of the water project. 
The food was all grown locally. At the top are vegetables but I can't name them because they were not familiar. The dish on the left is casava leaves, the fish are ikan gurame (if they look a lot like carp that is because they are carp). Above that is a dish of freshly made sambal (hot salsa). On the right is rice of course. There were no utensils because we eat with our hands. I assure you it was all quite delicious. 
Here are Sister Lambson and Sister Lee enjoying their meal with their friends from Red Cross and Care.
The cooks asked for a picture with me. I have to tell you that I just love these Ibus (Mothers). They cheer me up whenever I am around them. As you can see they are a bit on the short side. The Indonesians are currently working hard to improve what they call "stunting". In remote places poor nutrition often causes stunted growth and there are now programs to improve nutrition of expecting mothers, babies and children. This community requested our help with their program so that will be considered by the foundation.
Here is a pano of the location. We were just on the edge of the rice fields that the people farm
We visited one of the schools that is receiving new uniforms. This is an elementary school and the kids were wonderful. They sang for us and recited the Pancasila (from the constitution) and some of their Islamic beliefs. The Church Foundation donated hundreds of school uniforms and shoes to the children.
Most of the school classrooms were damaged and are too dangerous to enter so the students meet in these tents that were set up by the Red Cross. When it rains (and it rains a lot here) the water comes in and the floor become mud. 
The mothers all came to school for our visit and they loved getting selfies with Sister Lambson.
We visited the official residence of the Wakil Bupati and this woman, who is the big sister of his wife, cooked us two wonderful dinners of the best Padang food I have ever tasted. She was wonderful and she and Sister Lambson really hit it off. 
The covered rack in this picture is an Indonesian gas station. Those water bottles are not full of water, they are full of motorcycle fuel. You just pull up on your motorbike and buy as many pre-measured liters as you need and pour them into your tank. They also have modern gas stations of course. I am just going to put in a few more pictures from this trip without any captions.
























 




















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