In October 2016, a landslide destroyed houses and farmland in Lembang Rano, which is a small, mountainous village in southern Tana Toraja, Indonesia. CWS was already working with communities there, and so partnered with the district Disaster Management Agency to strengthen its disaster response. Then, after the community’s recovery from the disaster, CWS staff and […]

After finding her way to Indonesia through a long air, sea and land journey, 45-year-old Khadra (not her real name) reached Jakarta, Indonesia feeling alone and lost. The story of how she travelled to Jakarta is a long and winding one – just like the journey itself. But, to fast forward to her success story, […]

Yuliana La’lai, like many of her neighbors in South Sulawesi, has always relied farming for her family’s income. However, slowly but surely climate change is making the region’s harvests less fruitful. Gradually, Yuliana notes, “unpredictable rainfall leaves us not knowing when to plant rice; our cacao pods and coffee plants are affected too”. These crop […]

Recently, people from Donggala district, which was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in late September 2018, receive money to support them in the next steps of their recovery from the disaster that upended their lives. The payments to families were made through what is called a cash transfer program, and such programs are increasingly […]

Susana Tefa is a poor farmer in Op village, West Timor. Like countless others in Op and nearby villages, she and her husband are always looking for ways to improve their lives and livelihoods. So, Susana was glad for the opportunity to join CWS-led Timor Zero Hunger project activities, which are open to all who […]

Recently a few young people who live in group homes for unaccompanied refugee children came to CWS staff with an idea. They wanted to practice their newly honed hair cutting skills by offering to cut their neighbors’ hair. Excited about the idea – and a chance for the youngsters to get to know their neighbors […]

June 20th in Jakarta, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) invited their partners to enliven the celebration hall where formal activities were held. CWS was unique in deciding to invite the refugee children and teens in our care to host exhibitions of there are – including drawings and henna painting! CWS team members […]

Although she is not originally from the area, Nirwana Sai is now among tens of thousands of Central Sulawesi (Indonesia) earthquake and tsunami survivors. Somewhat ironically (or so it seems now) Nirwana, her husband and four kids left their home in South Sulawesi to look for a better life. Both parents were working toward that […]

Mubaraka was born in Afghanistan, but she not does remember much about her country because her family moved to a town across the border is west central Pakistan when she was a baby. Not long after they left their homeland, Mubaraka’s mother left the family and eventually her father remarried. Sadly, Mubaraka and her stepmother […]

September 28, 2018 started as a normal Friday, a non-workday, for Stofan as he enjoyed a game of football with his friends and spent some quality time with his oldest son. Then, the day became far from normal as the earth shook and the land moved when an earthquake hit. Luckily, Stofan was close to […]

Before CWS-supported Peer Educators came to her village, 18-year-old Yulianti Elenda Tetty, knew nothing factual about sexual and reproductive health. “Our school never taught about this, and no other people ever really talk about it either”, said Yanti, who is a high school senior. When not in school, Yanti helps her mother with housework. In […]

Asha was born in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp near Mogadishu, Somalia, where her family sought refuge amidst turmoil in their village. Life was hard; food was scarce; the family relied on others, especially international aid organizations for food and water; usually, there was only one meal daily. There was constant discord in the […]

Dina Datu and her husband Lukas live in the mountains of northern South Sulawesi. They spend most of their time working in their family’s rice paddies: planting and harvesting for a share of profits. During the most recent harvest, Dina split her time between the family paddies and working others land for pay to add […]

When someone asks you, “Where is the bathroom?”, what is your answer? For most people, the answer to this question is easy. “Down the hall and to the left”, you might say. For pre-teens Farida and Anizar, the answer is not so easy. After the earthquake that hit their town last year, flash floods washed […]

Rahmayanti, or Tanti as her friends call her, is much like any other 16-year-old girl. She enjoys spending time with her friends and studying. Yet, unlike most teenage girls, Tanti recently experienced something that most 16-year-olds couldn’t imagine: the consequences of a complex natural disaster when an earthquake that struck in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia in […]

Azar (not his real name), was born in the mountains of southern Hazarajat in central Afghanistan. Azar always considered his village a safe place to live. But, towards the end of his primary school years, a group identifying with the Afghan Taliban infiltrated the village and Azar, whose family was not sympathetic to the group, […]

Mama Erni Liunokas is not “just Erni” is to her friends; she is their role model. Erni is a wife, mother of two young children and a small business owner with many accomplishments, including the opening of her first business in 2015. Four years ago, eager to improve her family’s wellbeing, she started selling her […]

In early March, 45 community leaders from five in Central Sulawesi villages started their community disaster preparedness networks by considering natural disaster threats in each of their villages. After discussing as many aspects of natural disasters they have experienced or heard about, the women and men in the room put their ideas for contingency action […]

Six months after the deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit Palu, thousands of people, like 42-year-old Juarni, continue working day in and day out to cope with displacement. When the late September 2018 disaster hit, Juarni was an active health post worker who loved her job. After the crisis’ early days, and as life settled […]

Bilau is like many rural communities in West Timor. Here, families have simple lives. They make do by farming, for subsistence and income, as their families have done for generations. They do so even though their land is arid and there is no reliable water supply. This makes growing enough extra vegetables to sell for […]