Due to the COVID-19 impact in Bali, we need your help to conduct public awareness-raising, distribute daily basic needs to families in need, and provide medical protection gear for COVID-19 Village Task Force Post in Kemenuh village, Gianyar, Bali.

COVID-19 Impacts in Bali 

Bali province is one of the tourism areas that has suffered from the initial impact of the global pandemic COVID-19. In the Provincial report of the pandemic on 25 March 2020, there are 114 samples examined and 9 people are positive. Furthermore, the governor announced for all Balinese to remain at home on Thursday, 26 March, and limiting outdoor activities as well as reducing interaction with others (physical distancing).  The announcement from the Provincial Government was updated on 26 March 2020 to stay at home until 30 March 2020.

Gaps in Emergency Response

Nevertheless, these efforts by the National and Provincial Governments are initial responses that often do not reach the local communities, particularly in rural areas. There are two gaps that we have identified in Bali so far, including:

1. Lack of public awareness in the rural area

The community in rural areas has not been aware of COVID-19 and public health. The verified information about how the virus spread and it's deadly potential, especially for vulnerable groups (person with previous health issues and the elderly), is very limited. The situation has worsened along with the ban on cruise ships, which many members of the community who work on the ships have no choice but to return to their respective villages. Given that the houses in Bali rural areas are compound, where one compound contains at least 3 - 9 families, the risk of the community to be infected by the virus has risen more and more.

2. Unemployment and raising of community vulnerability

There is a rising number of workers being laid off due to the inactive tourism sector and the closure of business centers in big cities, including in Bali, due to policies related to COVID-19. As a result, the unemployment rate has risen and people who work in the informal sector have lost their daily-basis income. In many cases, we have found it has led them to return to their families in the villages. While many of the community members do not have jobs and as well as the income, prices for daily food needs and sanitation needs are rising. Since the situation has remained uncertain, the rural community vulnerability has risen up.

We Need Your Help

As the latest situation due to the impact of COVID-19 has raised more concerns and uncertainty, we need your help to support the affected-community in Bali generally and families in Kemenuh village specifically. The village that is located in Gianyar regency consists of 1.986 families. It is one of the most COVID-19-affected areas that have a lack of public awareness with a high number of unemployed workers as described above as gaps. As of 31 March 2020, the village administration has collected the data mentioned that there are 343 families living in poverty and have lost their daily-basis income as the tourism industry practically inactive. 

With your kind donations and under the COVID-19 protocols, we will conduct three activities, including public awareness-raising, distribute daily basic needs to families in need, and provide medical protection gear for COVID-19 Village Task Force Post. The public awareness-raising will aim for Balinese people in general, while daily basic needs distribution and medical protection gear provision will focus on the community in Kemenuh.

1. Awareness Raising  

To increase the community awareness on public health and the COVID-19 outbreak, we will undertake two activities:

a. Public Announcement through Bondres

Since physical distancing is one way to contain the virus spread, we will produce educational media that will be distributed through social media and public announcement throughout Bali. Using Bondres, a Balinese traditional comedy performance, as a local yet effective way to deliver a message, we will develop a series of videos.

Through a comedy style during the videos, Bondres team will deliver messages related to COVID-19 and public health materials, including WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) around the house, the importance of self-hygiene, how to detect COVID-19 symptoms, what to do if there’s a suspect in the family, emergency line call, etc. All the materials will be localized to make it easier to be understood. 

Reference from our previous related-programs:

• Bondres and Wayang for the community about Disaster Risk Reduction as documented below:
• Public announcement on earthquake safe house as documented below:
  

b. Information and Educational Contents (IEC)

We will compile materials related to COVID-19 obtained from reliable sources such as WHO and the National Disaster Management Board to later be localized and distributed to the homes of rural communities. Our information and educational contents reference can be found through this following link:

https://idepmedia.com/download/free-downloads  

2. Family Bucket  

From your donations, we will distribute basic daily needs in the form of a Family Bucket aid package. The Family Bucket for COVID-19 Emergency Response contains basic daily needs for approximately 2 weeks to 1 month, including:

• Bathing and handwashing tools: soap and hand sanitizer
• Main food ingredients: Rice, oil, Eggs, and Vegetables
• Local organic seeds that can be harvested within 1-2 months: Spinach
• Educational media for families related to COVID-19

We have implemented the aid distribution system using the Family Bucket in various disaster-affected locations in Indonesia as it has proven to be more effective with low-risk conflict. One family bucket that costs about US $ 100 will help the evacuees to survive during hard times in evacuation posts.

Documentary video on how we deliver emergency response through Family Bucket:

3. Medical and Protection Gear for COVID-19 Village Task Force Post

Kemenuh Head of Village has initiated a COVID-19 Task Force that would be active in 11 hamlets to conduct awareness-raising and provide supports to communities in need of emergency assistance. In each hamlet, there will be one post that will support the medical workers in five existing Health Posts (Puskesmas Pembantu) during the isolation period (effective April 1st, 2020 with end period not yet confirmed by Government). They will work voluntarily and be coordinated by the Head of Village. 

The Village COVID-19 Task Force will do the following activities in 11 posts:

• Regular disinfectant spraying in the Hamlets
• Provide online supports to communities with regards to discussions on the COVID-19 issues
• Provide immediate health assistance to vulnerable groups during the soft lockdown period
• Continuously provide information sharing to reduce the spread of the virus.

We will support those 11 Task Force posts and 5 Health Posts with the package that will include tools, equipment, and IEC materials related to the COVID-19 prevention effort such as:

• Communal spraying tools, materials, and equipment
• Medical protection items (clothes, surgical masks, hand gloves)
• Large-size handwashing facilities in public places
• Basic medical and sanitation materials
• Educational media for communities, travelers, tourists related to COVID-19.

If you consider donating directly to our Indonesian bank account, please use this official one:

Bank                      : BNI (Bank Negara Indonesia)
Account number : 0105282577
Account name     : Yayasan Idep
SWIFT CODE        : BNINIDJADPS

THANK YOU! Your help, how modest it is, means a lot to the families.

About us

IDEP Foundation (IDEP) is a non-governmental organization established in 1999. Combining the disaster risk reduction and permaculture approach, IDEP collaborates with the community to make community resilience happen. For 20 years, IDEP has helped many communities in disaster-affected areas such as Aceh, Mentawai, Padang, Merapi, Jogjakarta, Bali, Kupang, and East Flores.

To get more information, please visit IDEP Foundation.