Elham (not his real name) was born in Ghazni, Afghanistan to a working middle-class Hazara family. His mother was a dressmaker and his father worked for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Elham enjoyed a childhood that was more comfortable than many Afghan children’s until his life changed suddenly when his father died. With […]

Zet Timaubas is a 41 -year-old farmer in Meobesi hamlet who lives with his wife, Safira Kase, who is 39, and their four children: Frederik, who is 17; Maria, who is 14; Martha, who is 10 and, last but not least, Yosina Timaubas, whose first birthday the family recently celebrated. Like many others in his […]

In Burasia village in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, dreams are becoming reality by empowering women to form savings and loans groups that, in turn, create opportunities for them to improve their lives and those of their families. One group created as part of the perfectly named DREAM project that CWS coordinates is the 20-member Mawar group, […]

Today, CWS is distributing 200,000 liters of clean water daily at 24 locations. This is accomplished with a fleet of seven trucks and reaches more than 16,000 people from 3,693 households every day……

CWS started water distributions on October 4th. Today, CWS is distributing 80,000 liters of clean water daily at 16 locations for 6,200+ people affected by the Central Sulawesi earthquake……

Arkilaus Leku and his wife Yunten Betty are farmers in Op village in West Timor. Arkilaus is also the chair of a newly-formed home gardening support group of eight families who share a drip irrigation system. Though Arkilaus had been a subsistence farmer, like most of his neighbors, for years, his poverty has kept him […]

Born in Wardak Province in central Afghanistan, Amir (not his real name) left home when he was just 13 years old because his parents feared for his safety during continuing civil and sectarian strife in their country. First, they sent him to Kabul, and from there he traveled a familiar route arranged by well-known, and […]

Immediately after the news of Saturday’s (29th September 2018) twin natural disasters hitting Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, CWS staff were in action to partner with ACT Alliance and Humanitarian Forum Indonesia colleagues to determine how best to respond in the immediate aftermath of the 7.5 magnitude earthquake and the tsunami it caused. Additionally, CWS Japan colleagues […]

Mateos Missa, who is 33, chairs the Oe Sustana Water User Committee in West Timor. He is a farmer and lives in Nitutoli hamlet in Saenam village with his wife, Yufita Sio, their toddler, Mercy and their newborn, Misa. In Nitutoli there are 83 families – about 400 people in all. As Chair of the […]

Abdo (not his real name) is the youngest of 8 children in a Sudanese family, and he was just one year old when his mother and siblings had to flee with him to a refugee camp after their village was burned down in the ongoing sectarian violence that plagues their country. Abdo lived in the […]

Yohanis Toding started working for his local government in North Belau village in 1999 when he was 28; and, since 2005, he has been the Deputy Chairman of the North Belau village parliament***, which led to his election as Chairman of the North Belau Village Disaster Preparedness Team last year. “Joining activities in partnership with […]

“I live near the beach. I am too afraid to go back to my house right now – that’s why I stayed with my two sons here in the camp. My husband is a fisherman. He went fishing today but only caught 10 fish, which isn’t enough to be sold to buy milk for my […]

Mada and Lazarus Selan and their two children live in Noemuke village on Timor island in far southeastern Indonesia. Like other families in their village, the Selansare farmers, laborers and micro-entrepreneurs who piece their livelihoods together in different ways depending on the farming seasons, which shape their lives. Lazarus harvests corn and vegetables: corn to […]

Oktovina Sari Andilolois a Village Disaster Preparedness Facilitator in LembangBau village in South Sulawesi; and she came to hold this important position when she first heard about a disaster resilience initiative called DREAM. “When I first heard about the DREAM project I was immediately interested. My neighbors and I talked about our experience with disasters […]

In July, CWS partnered with Kampus Diakonia Modern, a local foundation that supports street children in Jakarta, to bring 33 unaccompanied and separated refugee children (UASC) together with 35 Indonesian children for two days of fun through sports, arts and crafts activities and cultural sharing and learning. Among many options, the Indonesian children wanted to […]

1. The latest figures were issued by BNPB late this afternoon (9 August), and showed 270,168 people displaced and 1,033 people seriously injured. Displaced people are spread across 121 evacuation centres across North Lombok, East Lombok, West Lombok and Mataram City. The number of recorded deaths has reached 259 people. The earthquake has also damaged […]

1. In the press conference convened by BNPB today, 7 August 2018 at 13:00 hrs. the agency’s spokesperson reported that the number of victims continues to increase. Interim data collected by the BNPB Command Post recorded that 105 people died, 236 people were injured, thousands of houses were damaged and thousands of people are scattered […]

When a second earthquake within a week struck Lombok, Indonesia yesterday, 5th August 2018, CWS staff were immediately in touch with ACT Alliance colleagues from YAKKUM Emergency Unit and Pelkesi, both ACT Alliance members, which are already responding to the less damaging July 29th quake and are ready to respond to this latest disaster. According to […]

1. BMKG reported an earthquake of magnitude 7 RS with the epicenter at 15 km depth and 18 km north-west of East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara on Sunday, 5 August 2018 at 18.46 Western Indonesian Time. There have been a number of aftershocks, with the largest being 6.9 RS. A tsunami warning was activated with […]

Doris Datupasau is from Lembang Pondingao village in a far northern district on the island of Sulawesi province in eastern Indonesia. Doris and her husband are farmers who have five children. “We plant rice primarily, and some coffee and cocoa, in our fields, and our family income is solely from selling these crops. However, over […]