RTI International will make a corporate contribution of $10,000 to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to aid earthquake relief efforts on the island of Java
IFRC has a breadth of expertise and capability in disaster situations.
It is also one of the key organizations through which the US government, via the US Agency for International Development (USAid), is providing funds for relief efforts.
In Indonesia, where RTI has a regional office and several ongoing projects, individual and project-team efforts by staff members are under way.
Employees there have rushed to donate money, clothes and medicine to those in the stricken area.
"We're all saddened by the loss of life in Indonesia and very concerned for the welfare of the people of the Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces over the coming days and weeks," said Stephen Dunn, RTI International's Research Triangle Park-based technical manager for several projects in Indonesia.
"Fortunately, RTI is in a position to respond quickly to an event such as this, and we are doing so".
"Our staff members there are taking action in ways that should make us all proud." RTI staff members working on an education improvement project in the Klaten district of Central Java, one of the hardest hit parts of the island, have initiated an effort to help students and teachers, and their families, who were affected by the May 27 earthquake.
An initial report said 15 schools in Klaten had been damaged, five heavily.
Further, 25 teachers' houses were destroyed, and a large number of families in the area were also left homeless.
The RTI project operating in Klaten is component number one of USAid's Decentralized Basic Education project.
Because of their ongoing involvement with the schools in Klaten, project staff members are in a good position to assess the needs of affected families and procure relief goods, as well as to help the schools carry on education activities interrupted by the earthquake.
One report from the field noted that 747 students in the ten most-affected schools could not complete the national exams that were in progress at the time of the quake.
Project staff members plan to coordinate with local government to obtain funds to print new tests and provide exam monitors.
Staff members also may be called on to help manage school rebuilding in Klaten and may help with rebuilding teachers' houses as well.
Dunn noted that many RTI staff members have worked in Indonesia over the years.
"We've learned that the Indonesian people are very resilient," he said.
"They will recover." The death toll from the earthquake has passed the 6000 mark, and the number of those injured is above 30,000.
