Skip to content
ELCA Blogs

Lutheran Disaster Response

Situation Report: Fires in Rohingya Camps

 

 

Be a part of the response:

Pray
Please pray for people who have been affected by the fires in the Rohingya camps. May God’s healing presence give them peace and hope in their time of need.

Give
Thanks to generous donations, Lutheran Disaster Response is able to respond quickly and effectively to disasters around the globe. Your gifts to Lutheran Disaster Response (Give where needed most) will be used to respond to the fires in the Rohingya camps and other disasters.

Connect
To learn more about the situation and the ELCA’s response:

  • Sign up to receive Lutheran Disaster Response alerts.
  • Check the Lutheran Disaster Response blog.
  • Like Lutheran Disaster Response on Facebook, follow @ELCALDR on Twitter, and follow @ELCA_LDR on Instagram.
  • Download the situation report and share as a PDF.

Bangladesh: Video of RDRS Disaster Preparedness Wins Award

Title shot from RDRS Award Winning Video. Click image to view video.

How’s that for timing? I’m in Bangladesh in part to visit our partner Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Services (RDRS) to see some of their projects on disaster risk reduction and climate change programs and the video they made with DanChurchAid on the same topic won an award from COP17 climate conference in Durban this past week.

We had the privilege of viewing Ripple during our LWF communications workshop and I have to agree that it’s a great video. It gave me some well-needed background before I begin my visits today, especially around the difficulties caused by chars. Chars are fertile sand bars left after flooding that run a high risk of re-flooding since they by nature exist in flood planes. Since Bangladesh is an extremely population dense country, when chars form they are almost immediately inhabited by the poorest members of Bengali society. Since they have a high risk of flooding there tends to run a cycle of re-impoverishment for people living on them as they continually are flooded out of their homes.

I would highly recommend taking 11 minutes out of your day to view the video, especially if you’re from Australia (it’ll make sense when you view it).

Response to Bangladesh Cold Spell

Distributing Blankets in Bangladesh

Last week a cold spell moved through Bangladesh with temperatures getting as low as 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees F). In response, the ELCA partner RDRS Bangladesh has distributed blankets and wraps to people affected by the cold. Though no appeal has been raised at this point, RDRS will continue to monitor the situation.

To read more, check out this post on the Asian Lutheran Communion website.

Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) was founded in 1971 following the Bangladesh War of Independence by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Since 1997 it has been an autonomous organization but has continued to have close ties with the LWF /Department of World Services and its work in Bangladesh.