Los Angeles, May 9, 2007 — About 2,400 Indonesian villagers, stranded by floods in the Aceh province of Sumatra, received emergency supplies for two weeks in January, thanks to a grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation. The grant was made to the Yayasan IDEP Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides disaster relief while working for environmentally-based improvements in Indonesian food production.

Last December, torrential rains in Aceh and North Sumatra triggered flash floods and landslides, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. Rivers of mud and debris poured over villages, destroying thousands of homes. Some villages were cut off from help when the floods washed out roads and bridges. Villages in remote jungle areas were hit hard by the floods, especially in the areas of Tamiyang and Besitang that have suffered serious deforestation.

Within days of the flooding, Yayasan IDEP turned to The Prem Rawat Foundation for assistance. TPRF responded quickly with a grant that helped bring emergency food and water to families who had not been reached by other relief efforts.

Volunteer teams from Yayasan Bahari, an Indonesian partner organization of IDEP, used boats, off-road vehicles, trucks, and motorbikes to rush relief to remote jungle areas. When the teams arrived, they found many villagers stranded on their rooftops. People had not eaten for days. The floods had destroyed all their food and crops.

In the village of Desa Kampung Lama, a mother named Ibu Ale cried as she accepted supplies for her family of five, including three small children. The family received fresh water, rice, noodles, high-protein biscuits, cooking oil, kerosene, and other vital supplies. The father, Pak Ali, a subsistence farmer, was so moved by the aid that he immediately joined a local relief team helping to restore fresh water and stop the spread of disease. Village wells had been clogged with mud, and volunteers worked around the clock to clean them. Teams pumped out as much mud as they could, then clambered down into the wells to haul out the rest in buckets. The TPRF grant helped bring clean water to about 5,000 people.

"We would like to acknowledge and express our sincere thanks to The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), for the very timely support that has been provided for the victims of the flash floods and landslides in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces of Indonesia," said Petra Schneider, executive director of Yayasan IDEP.

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