There is a new bulletin insert on the ELCA Disaster Response website sharing about our work and need following Hurricane Sandy. Please share it with your congregations.

Hurricane Sandy Bulletin Insert

A new situation report highlighting the ELCA’s response to Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean and northeastern US is now available. Please help us share this update with your congregations and communities.

Hurricane Sandy Situation Report #1 (pdf)

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Gifts to ELCA Disaster Response allow the church to respond domestically and internationally in times of need. Donate now.

Greetings to All!

Last week the world was just hearing about Hurricane Sandy.  I was in Haiti visiting our companions and discussing work still underway from other large disasters from recent years. The rain was pouring from the time I touched down in the country early Tuesday until I left late Thursday.  Haiti typically gets stints of rain that last a few hours, but a few days?  In the context, a little bit of rain can go far and a lot of rain can destroy people’s livelihoods, health and well-being. 

Upon my departure from Haiti, I began to hear stories of towns under water and people missing.  Now, four days after the storm has passed Haiti more accurate information on Sandy’s destruction is known.  Haiti has reported over 50 people dead and many more missing.  For Cuba that was more directly hit by the storm, Sandy is the second deadliest storm to hit the island nation in fifty years killing 11 people.  Elsewhere, Jamaica has confirmed one person dead and the Bahamas two. 

The ELCA has been gifted with relationships and networks of actors all around the world that can pull together in times of need.  As we work with our companions to respond to the needs of under-served families devastated by Hurricane Sandy in the Caribbean, we are also in thought of our communities in the US that are bracing for the impact of the storm. 

I encourage you to find time in your day to give thought in prayer to those who have already experienced loss and for those that will in the days to come.  Please also participate in the response either through your giving of time, prayer or resources.  Tomorrow we will be issuing an appeal with ways to give and more information about the response of your church, the ELCA.

Peace,

Megan Bradfield, Director for International Disaster Response

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Gifts to ELCA Disaster Response allow the church to respond domestically and internationally in times of need. Donate now.

The title of this post comes from an advocacy piece written by ELCA Missionary Stephen Deal entitled “Sin borda…no hay comida”. The phrase has become the rallying cry of communities who live along a 10 kilometer stretch of the Paz River in the southwest corner of El Salvador. These communities, including many Lutherans, have been affected by annual flooding, like that of last October where 10 days of torential rains led to heavy throughout Central America and especially along the Paz River.

Much of this flooding occurs due to the lack of a system of retaining dikes at key points along the Paz River – which serves as the border between El Salvador and Guatemala. The consequences are predictable and often tragic: destruction of crops, homes, roads, bridges, farm animals and even the loss of human life. To help lift up this issue the communties formed the Inter-Community Association for the Development of Southern Ahuachapan (ADICO) which has been adovacting Salvadorian authorities for these dikes since the massive flooding of Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Yet for the most part these pleas have fallen on deaf ears and efforts have fallen off.

After last years major flooding event the communities decided to redouble efforts with ADICO and have been blessed with positive results. The authorities were beginning to listen and actions were starting to take shape, like a dredging project to help mitigate some flooding. A great victory and step forward this action offers a short-term fix to a longer-term problem.

“We are tired of being treated as victims; tired of being the recipients of charity . . . we want to be listened to.” – Inter-Community Association for the Development of Southern Ahuachapan (ADICO) representative in El Salvador

The communities are continuing to advocate for a dike system or another alternative to bring a permanent, sustainable solution to the problem of flooding. The ELCA is helping in this important work of disaster risk reduction and preparedness, through generous gifts to our Disaster Response fund and continued relationships of support with our local companions as they work to fulfill the quote above, to move from victims and recipients to empowered citizens engaged in their own solutions.

I think Stephen sums it up best in the closing words of his article: “Thanks be to God for the dedication of ADICO and Lutheran church leaders as they work to bring a measure of peace and stability to the lives and livelihoods of everyone living in this part of El Salvador. Thanks be to God also for the opportunities we have to accompany them through our prayers, visits & offerings!”

Read Stephen’s Update No Borda…No Hay Comida

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Gifts to ELCA Disaster Response allow the church to respond locally and globally in times of need. Donate now.

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Yesterday afternoon Tropical Storm Isaac swept through Haiti’s southern peninsula, bringing with it heavy rains (over a foot in some areas) and hundred-plus mile per hour winds. It wreaked havoc on the nation as it still works to recover from the massive earthquake of 2010. The storm is also threatening to bring the same level of rain and wind to Cuba and southern Florida.

ELCA Disaster Response has been in contact with our companions in Haiti as they assess the situation and possible needs and responses. In Florida we have also been in contact with our Lutheran Disaster Response affiliates as they work to prepare for potential damages.

Please keep all those affected by this new tropical storm in prayer as they work to perpare and respond. As we learn more about the situation and possible responses we will keep you informed.

If you would like to support the response to these disasters, or those like them, you can donate to either Haiti Relief or U.S. Hurricanes. These gifts help us to respond immediately and effectively when disasters strike domestically and internationally.

Last Thursday a fairly momentous occasion happened in Haiti. A new project, that has involved many months of conversation, negotiation, community input and planning came together with the groundbreaking for the Gressier Model Village. This village of 200 housing units and community space will provide some of the hardest hit families of the 2010 earthquake with a new home and a new start.

Built with community involvement and depending on community management once up and running, it empowers residents to have an active role in building and owning their future. Built with green technologies, it is finding better ways to integrate people with their environment. Built to be earthquake resistant the building practices, it brings a focus on disaster risk reduction. Built in conversation with the national government, local and international non-governmental organizations, it has support and a common understanding from all concerned parties.

And these are just a few of the amazing benefits why the ELCA has committed $3.5 million dollars to the project and has played a leading role in its creation. As the work in Haiti continues to transition from short-term relief to long-term development, it is projects like this that are leading the way. Makes one proud to say this is our church at work and puts a tangible ring to the phrase “God’s work. Our hands.”

To read more about this project, as well as the amazing work to stave off a cholera epidemic being doing by the ELCA and our partners in Haiti, check out the ELCA news release: Lutherans break ground for a new resettlement village in Haiti.