The Earthquake and Tsunami that hit Sulawesi in 2018 received attention, not only from the Indonesian government, but also International Community as well. The 7.4 Richter-Scale Earthquake caused liquefaction which took many more lives than the earthquake itself. 4,340 people perished, 10,679 injured, 667 missing, out or 70,821 being evacuated. Not to mention the infrastructure damage that caused 206.524 people being relocated.
KHW, a German Foundation, along with ADH and Fly & Help worked together hand in hand with Anugrah Ministries as the facilitator and field executor in Indonesia, managed to distribute disaster relief aids in the midst of the calamity. We made commitment then that we would not only help with medic, food supplies and generators, but we would also help to rebuild Palu.
Salvation Army Elementary School located in Jonooge Village, Sigi Region, South Sulawesi Province, is one of so many buildings that was badly damaged by the Palu Earthquake. As we traveled to distribute disaster relief aids, we saw the urgency to help this school.
For almost two years, the students of this school had to study inside temporary building, with very limited facility made of zinc layered with plastic. Which is made not possible for them to study either during a hot day and rainy time. That is why we made the decision to rebuild this school, in conjunction with our previous commitment to help rebuild Palu.
On 8th January 2020, the project of rebuilding Salvation Army Elementary School started. We built Block A for grade 1-3 and Block B for grade 4-6.
We made sure the designing process was done very carefully. Starting from the architectural design which we submitted for permit according to standard of the City Council. Indonesian government is using Japanese Earthquake Building Code as a standard to rebuild Palu and its surrounding areas. We went extra mile to make sure that this new school building will be safe should there be another earthquake, or fire. The school is also environmentally friendly for the disabled. A sink is provided in-front of each class to cultivate the habit of washing hands among the students before they enter the classroom.
The building process continued regardless of Covid 19 pandemic that hit the world throughout the year of 2020. The support coming in was overflowing, and we decided to rebuild more blocks. Block C is dedicated for Salvation Army Secondary School, grade 7-9. The school was built with facilities that support health protocol, so the students can start the new year of 2021 by going back to school and observing their health.
On 23th November 2020, finally we inaugurated the new buildings of Elementary and Middle School of Salvation Army.
Thank you so much for the support we received that enabled us to accomplish this project. The projects that we did together has given new hope in the lives of the students, teachers, and local government. God bless us all.
This post is also available in: Indonesian
