In four grants from the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF), Brethren
Disaster Ministries staff have directed a total of $74,000 to relief
efforts following floods and landslides in Afghanistan, flooding and
landslides in Balkan nations, and spring storms in the United States.
Afghanistan
A grant of $35,000 supports the Church World Service (CWS) response
in Afghanistan where hundreds have died and more than 120,000 people
across 16 provinces have been heavily affected by flash floods and
landslides.
This grant will support CWS as it provides assistance to 1,000 of the
most vulnerable families affected, about 7,000 people. The relief
program includes distributions of mattresses, hygiene kits, food, and
tents. The people affected also will be encouraged to help rebuild their
communities through a cash for work program. Mobile health teams will
provide life-saving care and health education. Agricultural support
programs will improve field irrigation. CWS has placed priority on
orphans, people with disabilities, widows, and female-headed households.
The later part of April brought monsoon rains, flash floods,
earthquakes, and landslides to the north, northeast and western regions
of Afghanistan. Among the most severely affected areas were the
provinces of Badakhshan and Jawzjan, along with Takhar Province.
Inaccessibility remains a challenge in areas where roadways were
severely damaged, where flood waters remain, and where insecurity poses
high risk to relief efforts. Overcoming these challenges will be
essential to ensuring the most vulnerable families in these areas
receive assistance.
Balkan nations
An allocation of $30,000 will help fund the CWS response to extensive
flooding in Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Balkan nations where more
than 80 have died, tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed, and
more than 1.6 million people are affected. Assessments of needs have
shown a wide range including personal hygiene supplies, food, water,
shelter, medications, as well as major infrastructure repairs, utility
repair, and land mine removal.
This grant supports the CWS focus on providing food, personal health
and hygiene supplies; equipment disinfecting; tools and packs; and
agricultural assessment and relief. It also supports small emergency
grants to local partners in Serbia including the Centre for Youth
Integration in Belgrade, for work in informal Roma settlements; the Red
Cross Smederevo for immediate aid in food, clothing, and hygiene kits;
and a local partner doing needs assessments in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In mid-May, Cyclone Yvette (also called Tamara) dumped the heaviest
rain in 120 years on Serbia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, causing extensive
flooding and more than 2,000 landslides. It is estimated that more than 1
million people have been directly or indirectly affected. Some
estimates are that damage from the floods will reach the billions in
monetary terms, and in Bosnia it could exceed the damage from that
country’s 1992-95 civil war. The ACT Alliance reports in addition that
large amounts of arable land are under water and large numbers of
livestock have been killed. Infrastructure is being reestablished in
multiple locations, but access to potable water is still an issue,
including in remote mountain villages that have had wells, roads, and
bridges damaged or destroyed by flash flooding.
CWS is working in coalition with other ACT members, which include
Philanthropy, the humanitarian arm of the Serbian Orthodox Church;
International Orthodox Christian Charities; and Hungarian InterChurch
Aid.
Bread of Life, Serbia
A grant of $5,000 is supporting the Bread of Life response to the
extensive flooding in Serbia. Bread of Life is a Brethren Volunteer
Service (BVS) placement site and is in the midst of the flooding. It has
developed a program to offer assistance to families. Staff visit homes
to assess the damage and needs, and select the most ”endangered“
families based on income and family size. The Brethren funds will assist
Bread of Life help an additional 25 families in purchasing the most
needed items, including furniture, appliances, and building materials.
Bread of Life (Hleb Zivota) is a nonprofit humanitarian association that
has been operating in Belgrade since 1992.
Spring storms in the US
An allocation of $4,000 will help CWS respond to damage and
destruction caused by spring storms throughout the United States. The
grant supports the shipping of Clean-Up Buckets and Hygiene Kits to
communities that request this assistance. CWS will also provide these
communities with training, expertise, and support in long-term recovery.
Extensive spring storms have brought tornadoes, flooding, and
straight-line winds to at least 17 states. The loss of life, home
damage, and destruction is extensive in smaller pockets in these states.
Additional disasters this spring were the mudslide near Oso, Wash., and
the Etiwanda Wildfire in drought-stricken California.
To date, CWS has shipped 252 Emergency Clean-Up Buckets and 500
Hygiene Kits to Jefferson County, Ala., and 75 Emergency Clean-Up
Buckets to Baxter Springs, Kan., and expects to process at least three
more material shipments.
For more about the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries and the Emergency Disaster Fund, go to www.brethren.org/bdm and www.brethren.org/edf.
Source: 6/17/2014 Newsline
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