Rori, 29 years old

“I HAVE one baby, six months old. She is alive. My husband is also alive. But my mother, my grandmother aged 75, my cousins, my niece and also my aunt, are yet to be found under the debris.

“I was there during the earthquake and it was chaotic at the time.

“We tried to save everyone that we love, and we tried to save ourselves. But when I tried to save my mother, the earth suddenly split up. I fell through the hole and a car fell on top of me. I was pinned down and fortunately, after the earthquake, my family was there to help me, but my right leg was shattered. The people at that time could not lift the car so they dug the ground under the car to get me out.

“My home is totally destroyed and flattened to the earth. There are other houses fallen on top of other houses so we don’t know where the remains of our family members may be. Everything is scattered everywhere.

“I saw the earth moving and the debris was moving towards me. Fortunately, the car stopped the debris from flowing into me. So, I was saved by that car initially. The car that was on top of me exploded 10 minutes after my rescue.

“There are lots of people injured and hundreds more we believe are still hurt under the debris. We don’t know for sure who is injured and who is missing because after the earthquake, after our house had been destroyed, we scattered everywhere. We evacuated ourselves and we don’t know about our neighbours and our relatives in the same compound. I believe there are lots of people, hundreds of people, that are injured, and hundreds of them are dead.

“Our immediate need is food and shelter and also health facilities because, during the emergency response, the hospitals were very full. I was in hospital for two days in the open air because all the rooms were full, and I was under the sky.

“We received help from neighbours, from the Islamic Relief and from their partners in the case of the evacuation and also for food and shelter.

“We have a relative who has a house still intact but there are currently almost 20 people in the house, including my child who is six months old.

“Even today, I still don’t want to enter any building because I’m afraid and traumatised. Even this morning there were three aftershocks. It made me cry because I still remember the terror that occurred during that day.

“My biggest fear is the health of my family due to the earthquake, the trauma and the psychological impact. Every day members of our family have gone to the earthquake sites to see whether the evacuation team have found our family or not. The environment there is not very healthy and I am afraid because I see some of them already suffering from headaches, from nausea and so on...

“It is already 11 days since the earthquake and the possibility of a living family member found is zero. But we believe in miracles, Even if we find them dead, at least we have found them.

“My hope is that we can rebuild our house and I can recover from my injury. And that there are no aftershocks in our area so we can live without fear.’’

Viola, 10 years old

Viola lives in Jono Oge village on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Viola experienced the earthquake which hit her village on September 28. Fortunately her family survived, but they are all living in a tent which is hot and uncomfortable and far from a supply of clean water.

Viola is now attending the child friendly space that Wahana Visi Indonesia has set up [a local affiliate of World Vision].

“I HAVE a sister, Debby, she is three years old and goes to kindergarten. When the earthquake hit I was at home and was playing jump on the road. I ran. I ran to my house. I was crying all the time. I ran to the yard in front of my house and I was there with my mother when the earthquake happened.

“We didn’t know where to run to and we couldn’t run anyway because the land kept shaking. We all just sat there afraid. My sister, my father and my mother were gathered in the yard. We were crying and hugging each other. I cried with my family and we just stayed there waiting for the earthquake to stop.

“I have been living in this temporary shelter for more than seven days now. I feel sad. It is uncomfortable in the shelter because it is hot. I can’t go to school and there is no water, we are far from water.

“My school is broken and collapsed. I’d like to go to school because I can study, meet friends and learn something new. I am happy there.

“Now my friends are just scattered. Some of them are here but most of them are not here.”

Ayu, 10 years old

Ayu lives with her grandparents because her father is dead and her mother lives in Tolitoli (a town in Central Sulawesi) with her new husband. After the earthquake Ayu, who suffers with asthma, went to the mobile health station to get checked out. She was seen by the YAKKUM Emergency Unit, which is being funded by DEC member Christian Aid, and given medicines to help with her symptoms.

“I WAS in my room when the earthquake happened. I wanted to take a bath but I was still in my room when I went to put on my veil. Then the earthquake happened. I ran to the front of our house. It was still going on so I ran to the field in front of my school and found my neighbour.

“Our kitchen was broken, because of the earthquake.

“Before the earthquake, I lived with my grandma, grandpa, my aunt, uncle and three cousins. After the earthquake, I lived in the campsite for five days and five nights.

I like to play with my friends; we play traditional games or clapping games. I want to go back to school, I want to be a doctor in the future.”

“After the earthquake, I only play with my friends in the campsite. We play card games. I was afraid in the first few days, but I’m not afraid anymore.”

Anita, 38 years old

“I HAVE a newborn son called Moh Syamil, who was born just seven days before the earthquake. I also have two daughters, Syakira who is seven years old, and Syafira aged four years old. My family members are luckily still alive.

“The due date for my son was the day of the earthquake but it was lucky that he was born seven days premature. He was held in hospital for seven days and I brought him back home on the Friday at around 3pm – just three hours later the earthquake and disaster hit our home!

“My niece Murfiati and two of the grandchildren are still missing.

“My house is not destroyed but the area and the soil are damaged and so it is not safe to live there. My immediate needs are vegetables and fruits for my Asi. I have received help from the government but my biggest fear is that the disaster will come back. My daughters are still traumatised.’’

Novelia, 25 years old

“I HAVE one son called Moh Hizam aged just nine months old. Wahyu, my nephew, is still missing and he is just four years old. My house is severely damaged as it was dragged and moved along with the mudslide.

“I was working as a make-up artist for the Palu Nomoni festival in Palu city when the earthquake took place.

“I have received help from the Social Ministry but I still need items for my son, such as milk, nappies and clothing.

“I hope that one day I can have a house for my family again.’’

Suprihatan

Suprihatan’s family and neighbours ran from their home when the earthquake hit. Their house was carried 100 metres away by a mudslide – everything they owned was destroyed by the mud. They are now taking refuge at the airport.

“PRAISE to God, we escaped by running to the south to Petobo. I am still blank, I can’t think of what my plans for the future are like.

“My house was destroyed by the mud. It was carried 100 metres away and was covered up with buildings and other objects that were moved by the mud. Everything was destroyed. There is nothing we could save. We had to run away with just the clothes we were wearing.

“On the second day we took refuge at the airport with my husband, my child and several neighbours. We’ve lived here now for 10 days with four other families.

“Thankfully, we got a lot of help. We have water and food ingredients, but we don’t have a toilet so that is difficult and we have to use the bushes.

“We’ve only got raw materials, rice and cooking oil, so we cook with our own stove.

"I do not have a plan ahead because we have no home, so we will stay here unless the government helps to provide some housing. But if not, maybe we will stay here.

Rostin, 39 years old

Rostin has a seven-year-old child called Sinta.

“BEFORE the earthquake happened, I was preparing for the Maghrib prayer, I took ablution water in the kitchen. When the earthquake happened I was thrown and unable to stand up properly and immediately ran out of the house.

“The three of us all survived, only my brother-in-law who lived in a different house died that day.

“Our house was completely destroyed, we temporarily built a camp in front of our house away from the debris from it.

“My son loved his grade two elementary school. He cannot go to school for a while because the school was damaged, and the teacher also took refuge.

“What we fear most is aftershocks, mud and starvation. I usually sell cakes at the Biromaru market but because the conditions are not normal and some market buildings are damaged, I can’t sell them anymore.

“Hopefully as soon as possible the economy will recover again, and children will return to school and we can get help for our businesses.’’

Alfian, 56 years old

“I LIVE with three other families. My husband is Abdul, my daughter is Nurfiani (27 years old) and my grandson is Sarina (eight years old). Sarina’s father is in Tolitoli to work.

“When the earthquake happened I was inside the house in the kitchen with my grandson Sarina. I saved myself and Sarina by hiding under the dining table. After the earthquake stopped for a while we ran out through the back door, the house began to collapse and I immediately saved myself and my grandson by climbing on to the roof.

"Nurfiani (my daughter) managed to save herself but she suffered bruises due to a building collapsing on her legs, so she was unable to stand and walk normally.

"Thank God we all survived during the earthquake. Our house is destroyed. All our things are inside the house. You can only save yourself and the clothes you are wearing.

"Frightened by a number of aftershocks that often occur a few days later we decided to go to a higher area because we were afraid of being exposed to mud. Then we went to the Ngatabaru-Kapopo mountain area for three days.

"After three days we finally decided to return home and set up a makeshift tent. Sarina is in grade three elementary school. The school collapsed and the teachers also took refuge.’’

Hari, 39 years old

“AT the time of the earthquake I was in the family room watching TV. My wife was in the kitchen and my child was playing.

“The earthquake happened so quickly. My wife immediately rescued our daughter Afikah (two years old) and left the house right away. All my family survived.

“My house was badly damaged though and only the bathroom didn’t collapse. In the future we will rebuild on the same land because there is no other choice, we only have this land.

“For the time being our urgent needs are food and drinking water. I really need baby milk and diapers for my child. We have already received some assistance from neighbours and also NGOs but we are still lacking.

“I still plan to live here and not be so afraid of disasters, because wherever we are we will die eventually. The most important thing now is that the economy gets back to normal as before.

“I work as a civil servant in the water resources section. My income is IDR 2,800,000. But since the disaster we have not received any news regarding salary certainty because we have not returned to normal office hours.

“After our house was damaged we chose to live in tents with our neighbours and build a public kitchen.

“My hope after this is that we can get help to rebuild our house even though it is only limited to houses made of wood.”