Two weeks before the authorities raised the red alert for the eruption of Mt Merapi, one of the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes, MR sent a 2-man team to Jogjakarta to provide early assessment on the conditions of the communities that would be indefinitely affected by the volcanic eruption. When the catastrophe eventually happened in May 2006, two medical teams were deployed to help with the evacuation and provide primary medical care to affected villagers in the sub-district of Dukun.

At the height of the volcanic activity in Mt Merapi, MR, the only foreign NGO operating in Dukun, evacuated the women with infants and children to their designated evacuation camps. Working closely with the local officials, the team undertook projects that address hygiene, water and sanitation issues at some of the evacuation camps. The medical teams also conducted personal hygiene programmes in the camps to teach the locals proper tooth brushing techniques and care against head-lice, among other things.

About Mercy Relief

Mercy Relief is a Singaporean humanitarian organisation which engages in both disaster relief and sustainable development programmes. It was established in 2003 as an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity responding to the human tragedies in Asia. Mercy Relief’s aid programme focuses on providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken communities and has maintained the delivery of emergency aid within 72 hours from the point of appeal for assistance.  

In the past 12 years, Mercy Relief has disbursed over S$32 million in aid across 40 disaster relief and 53 sustainable development initiatives. Mercy Relief has impacted an aggregate of 2 million lives in 24 countries and areas, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal,  Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Yemen.

For more information, you may call us at 6514 6322 or email corporateaffairs@mercyrelief.org

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