Two months ago, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Flores Island in eastern Indonesia. In late August we shared an urgent appeal as H, a PKN volunteer and independent CHE trainer, set out to join a trusted disaster response team serving some of the hardest-hit communities.

Thanks to your prayers and gifts, H has been serving alongside that team ever since. Here is what has happened, what the team is seeing now, and what comes next.

What your gifts have done

H has spent the past several weeks working shoulder to shoulder with the response team, helping prepare field supplies and move the team’s base closer to the communities it serves. Much of her time has gone to Psychological First Aid (PFA), helping children ages 3 to 16 begin to process what they have lived through, including 16 little ones between the ages of 3 and 6. She has also joined morning exercise and PFA sessions with local women, and taken part in outreach at the temporary church the community set up after the quake.

One story stands out. The earthquake shifted and cracked a concrete water storage tank that serves about 30 households. MAI funds were set aside to replace it, but before buying anything, the team sat down with residents to talk through who would own and manage the new tanks. Water can easily become a source of tension in hard times, and the team wanted the solution to bring neighbors together rather than divide them.

That patience paid off. On Saturday, October 17, community members came out together to begin the work through gotong royong, an Indonesian tradition of mutual cooperation and collective action. It is exactly what we hope for in every CHE community: people taking ownership of their own recovery.

The response has reached beyond the disaster zone, too. Two first-year university students from affected communities have just moved away from home for the first time to begin their studies. The team is helping them find affordable housing and connect with a supportive community in their new city.

What the team is seeing now

Two months on, families are still living with the earthquake every day. Aftershocks continue, and some families are afraid to go back inside their damaged homes. The team has identified several pressing needs:

• Space to learn: the local primary school has 164 students and only one temporary tent to hold them.
• School supplies: many children lost theirs when their homes were damaged.
• Fresh, nutritious food: household kitchens have mostly received rice and instant noodles, and need vegetables and other fresh food.
• Hygiene supplies: soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, laundry soap, and sanitary pads.

Through it all, the team has remained safe.

What comes next

The emergency phase of the response is winding down. H and the Phase 1 team expect to finish their service and return home by mid-November. Your gifts are covering her return travel, which was still unsecured when we first wrote to you.

A new team will then take over for Phase 2, focused on early recovery and rehabilitation. Their first task is assessing needs for transitional shelters and clean water, with community-based work planned to begin gradually from December through January, as resources allow. Our partners at PKN are preparing a Phase 2 proposal based on what those assessments find, and H has offered to return as a volunteer in early 2027 if funding allows.

How you can help

Please pray for:

• The safety and strength of the response teams, and for H as she finishes her service
• The recovery of affected families, especially children still carrying the trauma of the quake
• Wisdom in providing PFA and meeting the community’s needs
• Good cooperation as the community manages its clean water together
• Resources for education and temporary shelter
• The two university students adjusting to life far from home

Please give. Gifts to MAI’s Disaster Response Fund help us walk with partners like PKN as this response moves into recovery, and let us respond quickly the next time disaster strikes anywhere in our network of 70+ countries. Give to the Disaster Response Fund (look for code U020)

We will share a fuller report once Phase 1 is complete. Thank you for standing with these communities.