Marcelo Garcia dalla Costa, Head of the Emergency Unit of INTERSOS, has just returned from Palu, with a few hours of sleep behind him for days and days, and the jetlag still to be disposed of. After having reached him with difficulty only via whatsapp for weeks, we want to hear from his voice about his last month’s experience on the field in Indonesia.

How is the situation now in Indonesia?

Our staff, in collaboration with the IBU foundation, our local partner, has set up 3 mobile clinics that carry out an average of 45 medical consultations every day. According to estimates by the Indonesian health ministry, by the end of December it will be able to manage the situation created by the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami with its own resources so that at that point we will be able to leave deliveries to local operators. Obviously, the psychological consequences of the trauma on the population will need much more time to be absorbed, but we will ensure all the training and coaching necessary to those who remain.

But back to that terrible September 28th, when a magnitude 7.3 earthquake was recorded at 12.02pm Italian time (local time 18.02) with epicenter on the island of Sulawesi.

The earthquake caused a tsunami with waves of six meters high that swept away the houses located in the coastal area of Palu, and in all the villages that stood in the shores of the Donggala district. From the news we gathered and from an initial assessment of the situation, we understood that behind the official estimate of a thousand deaths in the first 24 hours, a much more serious situation was hiding, since many areas were unreachable, and we started all the internal procedures to be ready to leave as soon as the Indonesian government had appealed for international aid, which happened on Monday, October 1st. In the evening we were at the airport and on October 2 we arrived in Jakarta to collect the material to be shipped to Palu in order to organize the mobile clinics for the first medical assistance of people in need.

What situation did you find when you arrived in Palu?

The buildings along the coast had been swept away and all around there were only rubble and debris. The people who had lost their homes had been gathered by the National Agency for Disasters (ANC) in protected areas where tents were installed and centralized some basic services not sufficient for the entire population that lacked electricity, fuel, drinking water and food.

After having evaluated— together with the local partner, IBU foundation, and other local NGOs— that three of the most heavily affected districts: the district of Sigi, an area in the south of Palu devastated by the earthquake; Donggala on the northeast coast of Palu, heavily affected by the tsunami; and Sibalaya Utala – still totally isolated from the aid; we arranged to organize mobile clinics that immediately brought personnel and medicines to give primary medical assistance where there was the greatest need. Many consultations are carried out every day: diseases of the respiratory system and diarrhea the most frequently encountered pathologies. At the beginning we were very worried about the possible impact on the deterioration of people’s health due to the lack of food and the poor hygiene conditions, with the risk of the spread of epidemics, which fortunately we managed to avoid.

What struck you particularly about this experience in Indonesia?

What truck me the most was the great fear of people and the sense of vulnerability that had remained in them even several days after the end of the tremors. At the same time, I was impressed by the proactivity that the people affected by the catastrophe have shown to try to return to a normal life by getting ready to rebuild what was lost.