In brief

Cédric Bérard is the head of Handicap International's emergency response in Indonesia, launched following the earthquake that hit the Padang region in September 2009.

What is your mission in Indonesia ?
Following the earthquake of 30 September 2009, Handicap International's teams began by identifying people who had been most severely affected by the disaster and the most vulnerable. Since then, we have endeavoured to meet as many of their needs as possible (health, disabilities, housing and general facilities). As part of my role, I coordinate projects set up in the Padang region and supervise some one hundred people. I also represent the association in its dealings with the authorities.

Are the people you supervise all expatriate staff ?
No, only five of my team members are expatriate staff! It's really important to work with local people. And in Indonesia, it's not difficult to find qualified and experienced staff. We have also decided to work with people employed during the tsunami in 2005. It makes things easier because they already know Handicap International and how we work.

How have Handicap International's teams responded to the fact that many buildings have been destroyed ?
The earthquake destroyed many people's homes so we developed temporary wooden shelters, varying in size from 16 sq.m. to 32 sq.m., according to each family's needs. We have built a total of around 400 shelters and several dozen sanitary facilities. This gives families a roof over their heads and more time to look for accommodation or to rebuild their old homes.
In the Padang region, we've also taken part in the rehabilitation of eleven schools, completely rebuilding two of them. These schools cater for children with all types of disabilities (physical, mental, etc). It's vital that these vulnerable children receive an uninterrupted education. We've provided each of these schools with educational equipment and performed natural disaster risk reduction activities. Our aim is to ensure the buildings are better adapted to resist any new earthquakes and to better prepare people to cope with emergencies.
We've also repaired a partially-destroyed hospital and performed major work on its foundations. We are now going to rearrange the interior of the building to improve access by installing ramps and widening doors to make it easier for people in wheelchairs to move around, etc. We're also planning to perform access-awareness and training for care staff.

Are you in charge of other health-related projects ?
We have organised training for nurses, doctors and surgeons in twenty health centres. In Indonesia, the medical system is relatively well developed, but patient follow-up is almost non-existent. Once the patient has been cared for or operated on, they return home without follow-up care. They run a major risk of infection and fracture-related complications. That's why we've raised the awareness of health staff to these problems.
We've also developed “disability focal points” in five existing health centres. These focal points identify, assess and supply services to vulnerable people (medical follow-up, non-food items, etc). It has enabled us to distribute a large number of crutches and wheelchairs to people who need them, for example.
For more isolated areas, we've developed “mobile clinics” - health teams who travel around with medical equipment in specially-adapted cars.
Lastly, some twenty people have already been fitted with prostheses and their follow-up is ensured by physiotherapists trained on-site.