Oxfam delivers aid to Java Tsunami survivors

International agency Oxfam has today delivered aid to thousands of displaced people after a Tsunami crashed into the west Java coastline on Monday 17 July killing over 500 people.

Thousands of people have gathered at 16 makeshift camps in the Pangandaran beach area, one of two districts affected by the Tsunami. People are camped on high ground in schools, mosques and football fields. Indonesian Government officials report that between 30,000 - 50,000 people have fled their homes, but exact figures are still to be confirmed.

Many families have lost their homes, and others are fearful of returning as aftershocks continue.

Working alongside UN agencies and local organizations, Oxfam is distributing aid at two sites.

One of them is a school, normally bustling with school children. Today hundreds of families are camped outside. Oxfam has distributed 1,000 hygiene kits, 1,740 sleeping mats and set up a 10,000-liter bladder tank with clean water for drinking, cooking and washing.

At Ciken Bulak, Oxfam has set up a 6,000-liter bladder tank and distributed 150 sleeping mats, 500 sarongs, 100 buckets and 50 hygiene kits.

Tom Baldwin, Oxfam’s Emergency Communications Officer in Pangandaran said, “Broken homes and fishing boats are littered all along the coast here. Many people are still in shock and too scared to return home, but a strong sense of community spirit in this part of Java means everyone is looking after one other.”

More Oxfam aid workers and supplies, including water and sanitation equipment, will be arriving in the next day, as the full picture of this crisis continues to emerge.