Universitas Gadjah Mada sent volunteers for Disaster Response Unit (DERU) to help with psychological and health recovery of survivors of the tsunami that struck South Lampung on 22 December 2018. As many as 17 students and lecturers are assigned to Sukaraja village in Rajabasa area from 22-31 January.
Team chairperson, dr. Fitriana, said the volunteers would examine the health and help the psychological recovery of the survivors who are currently living in makeshift tents. “We will do a mobile clinic, deploying midwives, pharmacists, and paramedics,” said Fitriana alongside the release of the team at UGM Community Service Directorate on Tuesday (22/1). The Psychology students will give trauma healing especially to children. While on health matters, the health volunteers team will examine the blood pressure, cholesterol, uric acid, and blood sugar levels.
The UGM team collaborates with Kagama Care that had sent a team previously to post-disaster sites. “We have two stations to address the needs of displaced people,” said Agus Ramli from Kagama Care.
The stations are located in Way Muli and Kunjir areas which accommodate 600 and 200 households respectively. Agus said currently logistical needs were sufficient but healthcare services are yet to be addressed. “It is planned that the volunteers will help the trauma healing and economic recovery of the fishing village,” he said,
Community Services Director, Prof. Ir. Irfan Priyambada, M.Sc., Ph.D., said the deployment of volunteers would specifically help the health and psychology issues recovery. “Experiences told us that health treatment is the main need of survivors, followed by psychological condition recovery,” he said.
According to Irfan, volunteers dispatch to South Lampung was part of UGM commitment to help the survivors affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Some other UGM students are currently still in disaster impacted areas such as Lombok and Donggala to help the local people. Irfan added the programme was expected to increase the awareness among the students. “We want to build a humanitarian spirit among the students by going directly to the disaster sites, but more importantly to increase their awareness rather than just giving out aid,” he said.