West Sumatra, Indonesia

In January 2008, we relocated from Banda Aceh to West Sumatra, and set up a field office in Padang Panjang, near the area affected by the March and September 2007 earthquakes.

Build Change provided training on design and construction of safe, satisfactory transitional shelters and training on ERDC to homeowners and NGO facilitators.

Build Change also developed and distributed outreach materials and technical resources, including posters, bar-bending models and booklets, on safe construction techniques. The region was hit by another earthquake on September 30, 2009. This new quake hit an area where we had provided technical assistance, and when we surveyed the houses in that area, we found no damage on those that had met our minimum standard.

We sent our trained Indonesian technical supervisors to the villages to provide hands-on technical assistance. We helped each homeowner select the structural system, draw layouts, estimate costs, check the quality of materials, and monitor the construction. We also trained and mentored builders. We held single-day homeowner training courses, on-the-job training for builders in masonry, barbending, and carpentry, and offered multi-day training courses for government officials and technical high school students and their teachers.

Build Back Better

Prevention

Better Building Materials

Training

Eva Rebuilds for the Last Time

Rusi Saryuni, Business Owner

Erwin the Builder

Support Our Work in West Sumatra

We are seeking partners in the following areas to support our programs:

• Corporations and foundations
• The private sector, including engineers, builders, producers and construction materials producers and suppliers
• Financing and insurance institutions
• Public sector institutions, including public works agencies and municipal engineers
• Implementing partners, including NGOs

Indonesia is in the most seismically active place on earth. West Sumatra was struck by two large earthquakes in 2007.

On March 6, 2007 a 6.4-magnitude earthquake damaged over 43,000 houses. On September 12, 2007 an 8.5-magnitude earthquake caused additional damage in the region.