Traveloka Provides Support for Mount Agung Evacuees through Trauma-Healing Program

BALI, 3 November 2017 – Traveloka, a leading technology company that provides an online travel booking platform for domestic and international destinations, today dispatched aid efforts to Mount Agung evacuation camps in Bali, where local residents continue to bear the brunt of the mountain’s seismic activity. The donation is part of Traveloka’s continuous efforts to contribute to local communities in tourism areas, especially Bali, one of Indonesia’s most popular destinations.

Comprising post-disaster trauma support programs as well as food and public kitchen supplies, Traveloka will be delivering Rp226.100.000 worth of aid in a partnership with Aksi Cepat Tanggap (ACT), an organization focusing on humanitarian aid efforts. The first phase of this distribution will cover Menanga Village, Belatung Village, Besakih Village, Tegenan Village and Batusesa Village, while the second phase will see aid distributed to Abang Village and Seraya Village in Karangasem Regency on 11 November 2017.

On behalf of the company, Traveloka Country Market Manager, John Safenson, delivered the donation to the chief of Menanga Village, I Wayan Suwartana, at the Karangasem evacuation camp. “This activity is part of Traveloka’s social responsibility in showing our sympathy toward local residents around Mount Agung who were evacuated due to increasing levels of Mount Agung’s seismic activity. With a solid foundation in Indonesia, we believe the cooperation with ACT will help us deliver the aids to the right people effectively,” said John.

Funds for the aid were collected from internal donations made by Traveloka employees and from a fundraising program in which the company allocated Rp500 from every purchase of Flight + Hotel packages on 24 – 28 October 2017 for the donation.

ACT Vice President, Rini Waryani said, “We really appreciate Traveloka’s initiative to deliver donations to the evacuees. Tangible and physical post-disaster aids such as foods, shelters, and clothes are important. However, evacuees are also in great need of mental health support due to post-disaster trauma. With the aid dispatched by Traveloka, this post-disaster trauma healing program aims to help evacuees move on from this experience and return to their daily routine.”

Since the alert level at Mount Agung escalated to Level IV on 22 September 2017, thousands of local residents had no option but to leave their homes and relocate to evacuation shelters at safer zones on the islands. To date, more than thousand of residents continue to wait for Bali’s highest volcano to be declared as safe from the threat of an eruption.

Traveloka hopes that this donation could help support evacuees in this time of need until the situation at Mount Agung returns to normal.