Church World Service Response Update: Tsunami Recovery

Below is the latest update from Church World Service regarding relief efforts in Southeast Asia.  Please visit their site to learn more and to donate.  The web site for the National Council of Churches USA also has updated information.  You can learn on that site what different ways churches are responding all across the US to this crisis.

SITUATION:
Humanitarian access to the affected province of Aceh, Indonesia, remains extremely limited, a Church World Service assessment team working in the area reported today.

In an initial report detailing the team's findings, team members described a tense and dispiriting situation in which most of those displaced by last week's tsunami "have no shelter, experience shortage of food, no doctors, no hygiene materials, no cooking utensils and no blankets."

Those displaced by the disaster are likely "to be living in camps longer than expected" because of the scope of the disaster, said the team's report. The team was coordinated by CWS Indonesia emergencies Program Manager Henry Pirade, who is now in Medan, Indonesia.

Among the problems hampering relief assistance into Aceh are limited transportation and access; relief items clogged at major airports; a limited supply of fresh and clean water; and poor communication access.

Nearly half of the province's residents are reported to have lost at least one relative, and trauma from the disaster has taken a serious toll on residents as they cope with the disaster.

Among the recommendations made by the team as CWS provides assistance to the region are:

++ Working directly with the displaced to best determine distribution methods and coordination efforts.

++ Aside from planned material assistance, making sure that "psychosocial intervention" is part of any response in the region.

++ Installation of temporary water and sanitation facilities in IDP (internally displaced persons) camps.

CWS Indonesia is developing a proposal with local partners to provide 2,000 children who have been displaced by the disaster much-needed psychosocial activities. The program would focus on programs/activities for children ages 6-12 and in internally displaced camps located in Aceh. This will be one of several components of CWS's multi-tiered recovery effort in Aceh.

Another part of the CWS response is air lifting 5,000 light-weight CWS Blankets and 35,000 CWS "Gift of the Heart" Health Kits to Indonesia for distribution in Aceh. (Total value: $486,750.)

Contributions to support CWS Tsunami Recovery efforts may be sent to your denomination or to:

Church World Service
Tsunami Recovery (Acct. #6970)
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made by credit card by calling: (800) 297-1516, ext. 222, or online at www.churchworldservice.org.

For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is responding please visit www.churchworldservice.org or call the CWS Hotline, (800) 297-1516.