Church Agencies Continue Massive Relief Efforts in Full Force

Relief efforts following the tsunami disaster in southern and Southeast Asia are in full swing, Christian relief agencies reported Thursday

By Kenneth Chan, Thursday, January 20, 2005

Relief efforts following the tsunami disaster in southern and Southeast Asia are in full swing, Christian relief agencies reported Thursday as the U.S. military prepared to wind down their huge tsunami relief effort in Indonesia to meet requests by officials that foreign troops leave Aceh province by the end of March.

In Indonesia, where reported deaths by government agencies in the affected countries range from nearly 158,000 to more than 221,000, agencies such as Oslo-based Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and North Carolina-based Samaritan’s Purse have sent planes carrying aid.

According to NCA, the agency’s first cargo plane landed in North Sumatra’s capital city of Medan on Monday, Jan. 10, carrying five off-road vehicles, 600 tents that will be used to provide shelter for up to 5000 people, four portable storage buildings and water storage and purifying equipment. The latter, with an estimated total capacity of 20,000 liters per hour, will bring clean drinking water to up to 25,000 people.

A second NCA cargo plane bound for Medan took off from Billund in Denmark later that week, and a third followed closely behind, containing further water purifying and storage equipment, sanitary systems, latrines and emergency ration packs. Distribution will be carried out through the international humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS).

In addition to material aid, Norwegian Church Aid has also sent six water engineers to Indonesia who will set up and run the airlifted Norwegian water equipment in the region of Meulaboh while also assisting local authorities and local partners with their expertise.

Samaritan’s Purse, which chartered a Boeing 747 cargo jet to airlift a helicopter and tons of emergency supplies to Sumatra, packed the 747 cargo jet with provisions ranged from medical supplies and water filters to plastic sheeting for temporary housing. The airlift, which arrived earlier this week, is part of a $4 million tsunami aid effort by Samaritan’s Purse.

In India, Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA)—the official arm of 24 Protestant and Orthodox Churches in India—is working in the regions of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala and Andra Pradesh where they have surveyed a total of 166 villages and identified 2.5 million people in need of further assistance.

CASA began their relief effort on Dec. 26, the very same day as the tsunami hit, by providing warm food for 30,000 individuals in the first week alone. Since then, the distribution of 50,000 dry ration kits containing rice, lentils, cooking oil and spices has been implemented, and 50,000 relief packages containing clothing, bedding, cooking utensils and other essential items are also being distributed. The construction of semi-permanent housing will begin this week.

In Sri Lanka, the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) sent eleven trucks containing dry rations, clothes, medicines and cooking pots to the island’s worst hit areas along the southern and western coastline during the week immediately following the tsunami catastrophe. Water and water storage tanks were also distributed.

A truck with medicines sent by the global alliance of ecumenical aid organizations ACT International has been sent to the eastern coast where a team of five doctors is treating sick patients in the camps there. Training in psychosocial help has also begun.

In addition, temporary housing is now being set up for use until the repair and rebuilding of people’s own homes is completed. Longer term plans to carry out some of the reconstruction work are also being drafted.

Also, in Somalia, Norwegian Church Aid is currently conducting research and assessment before beginning with aid distribution there. It is estimated that to 50,000 Somalians lost their homes and possessions to the tsunamis on Dec. 26. NCA reports that the worst affected are coastal regions between the towns of Hafun in the Bari region and Garacad in Mudug.

“We plan to treat water sources, so that the population can be sure that the drinking water is safe,” says Knut Christiansen, NCA’s Director of International Programs.

“Wells have been destroyed and many water supply sources have been polluted. Norwegian Church Aid considers it essential that we do not simply rebuild that which has been destroyed, but rather that our aid programs also provide an opportunity for the victims to pull themselves out of the poverty in which they were living before the tsunami hit,” Christiansen added.

Meanwhile, at a U.N. conference in Kobe, Japan, the Associated Press reports that participating nations discussed proposals to place a network of detection buoys in the Indian Ocean to warn coastal residents of future tsunamis. Experts have said such a system could have saved thousands of lives Dec. 26.

U.S. officials say a Pacific system already in place eventually could extend to the Mediterranean, Caribbean and other seas.

To find out how to support Christian agencies taking part in the Tsunami Relief Efforts, visit the Christian Post Tsunami Relief Section at: www.christianpost.com/tsunami