Catchlight Pictures Indonesia is a photography and videography studio in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. We have partnered with their team several times in the last few years to document our work in Indonesia, especially our humanitarian response to the earthquake, tsunamis and liquefaction that struck Central Sulawesi in September 2018. All photos credit Catchlight Pictures.
Our phone rang in early October 2018. Dino, A CWS Indonesia staff member, asked us to go to Central Sulawesi to cover the post-earthquake and tsunami conditions and the emergency responses that CWS carried out there. At that time, there were not many flights operating, but fortunately, we could still land in Palu with a commercial flight.
The CWS team had been there since the first days of the disaster. They were distributing tents, hygiene kits and clean water supplies to affected residents. This equipment was a great help to people who had recently lost their families, homes and possessions.
Five months later, in March 2019, we were called back to cover the progress of the disaster response. At this stage, residents have begun to re-organize their lives. With the help of CWS and other humanitarian agencies, they started building temporary shelters, communal latrines and continuing the clean water supply program.
In September 2019, we returned to Central Sulawesi and saw significant progress. The clean water supply program had continued by building more permanent facilities such as borehole wells and supporting facilities. More residents are using temporary shelters before getting permanent housing. People also began to have toilets in their homes so that their sanitation quality was better.
I have been very happy to be a part of this good initiative. Thank you, CWS!
Iqbal Hamdan is the Co-Founder of Catchlight Pictures Indonesia.
