Palu (08/04/2019) - Earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction disasters that occurred in several regions in Central Sulawesi caused a large damage impact. As many as 75,000 buildings were destroyed and damaged and left more than 230,000 people homeless and displaced. To help the refugees get proper temporary shelter, Danone worked with Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT) to build an Integrated Community Shelter (Integrated Community Shelter) in Langaleso Village, Dolo District, Sigi Regency.

This Integrated Comfortable Residential houses 96 Head of Families (KK) with a total of more than 300 inhabitants. In addition to providing a temporary home with adequate facilities, the Integrated Residential Area is also equipped with a clinical building, Early Childhood Education (PAUD) class, water and toilet washing facilities (MCK), children's playground, and a public kitchen and mosque.

Connie Ang, General Manager of the Danone Specialized Nutrition Business Unit in Indonesia in the inauguration of this shelter said, "We also feel the difficulties experienced by the people of Central Sulawesi over the disaster that occurred. Our goal is to support the Integrated Community Shelter program because we want to help refugees, especially children, women and the elderly, can begin to reorganize their lives with a sense of security, comfort, and have a better quality of life and health ".

In addition to providing a sense of security and comfort, integrated living is an important requirement for refugees to avoid the risk of disease transmission. Limited access to nutritious food and health facilities as well as inadequate post-disaster housing conditions are a problem often faced by disaster survivors. The absence of adequate housing and facilities also has the potential to cause infection and disease outbreaks.

Deputy Regent of Sigi, Paulina said, "The basic needs of refugees in this recovery period are to build various public facilities that support the resumption of life in post-disaster areas such as schools, sanitation facilities and health facilities. We really appreciate the Integrated Comfort Shelter because this program really helps residents to get back on their activities and start their lives. "

Sigi is one of the districts affected by the disaster. In the finalization meeting of the Disaster Victim Data held by the Governor of Central Sulawesi, it was recorded in Sigi Regency that there were 10,612 lightly damaged houses, more than 15,000 moderately and severely damaged and 302 homes lost.

ICS Langaleso Village in collaboration with Danone is one of the 11 integrated shelter points built by ACT with partners spread across Palu City, Sigi and Donggala Regencies. Mukhti, ACT Partnership Director said, "The ICS we built in total provided 1,026 temporary shelters equipped with adequate facilities such as clinics where we also worked with local health workers to monitor the nutritional status and health of children."

At ICS, health education and environmental hygiene are carried out routinely to residents to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining health during the crisis recovery period. "We hope that in the future more companies will provide disaster response assistance with the approach Danone has taken with us, namely through the provision of adequate and integrated temporary housing that is very useful for the community," Mukhti added.

Danone employees in Indonesia and globally play an active role in realizing the establishment of Integrated Comfort Residential in Langaleso Village. The development of this integrated temporary residential area is the result of corporate and personal donations from Danone employees in Indonesia. Through the One Planet mission, One Health, Danone seeks to provide temporary shelter that is not only suitable for habitation, but also has access to good water and sanitation as well as paying attention to the health aspects of the people who live in it.

"This initiative is a manifestation of our commitment to provide health to as many people as possible in the world. It is our hope that this communal facility will benefit and be able to help improve the lives and health of mothers, children, the elderly and families of disaster survivors in Sigi in the recovery period and provide better hope for their lives in the future, "concludes Connie.