Even as MR was toiling over the Tsunami, an 8.7 Richter earthquake hit Nias on 28 March. It destroyed 95% of its capitol, claimed some 850 lives and destroyed 13,000 homes. MR had to quickly divert resources and volunteers to the island. By 30 March, our first team, including four medical volunteers, arrived at ground zero with food, water and medical supplies. As the main hospital was destroyed by the earthquake, MR had to set up a Basic Healthcare Unit (BHU), where our medical team tended to 100 patients a day. Our second medical team of two doctors and three nurses arrived five days later to relieve the first team and had double the load of 200 patients a day at the Pelita Medical Centre set up by the Singapore Armed Forces. Together with the Singapore Red Cross, we sent a shipment of relief supplies on 11 April, worth S$300,000, including water, food and medicine.

Responding to a request from the late Governor of North Sumatra, Tengku Rizal Nurdin, MR supported the construction of 50 semi-permanent classrooms so students can resume their classes in a safe and conducive environment. These structures can last for up to 15 years. Funded by Cargill Asia, Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union, Commerzbank AG and MR, the S$300,000 project benefited some 6,000 students from 19 schools.

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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