In less than 24 hours our first ICT experts landed in Jakarta. Their arrival at the most affected areas, by road, took longer, but despite this, TSF was the first international NGO on site. Sébastien Latouille, our head of mission, reports: "This allowed us to quickly set up a connection in time for the coordination of humanitarian aid at the highest level. Our intervention was fast, effective and paramount despite significant difficulties due to conditions on the ground.” Thanks to its partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), TSF was able to carry out its operations.
Once the connections were re-established in Palu and Donggala by local providers, TSF visited the still isolated surrounding villages, to get closer to the local populations and provide them with mobile Wi-Fi. "We were always warmly welcomed by the villagers and thanked for coming to provide Internet access," says Dan Bowes, one of our volunteers.
Now our teams have just returned. However, we remain in contact with our local partner Airputih, to whom we have provided satellite equipment so that they can continue to carry out data collection operations.
Sulawesi earthquake: TSF was the first international NGO on site
On September 28, when an earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, followed by a tsunami in the Palu Bay, the TSF teams did not hesitate for a second. It was imperative to leave as quickly as possible.
