by Michelle Scott

Methodist Churches in southeast India and Andaman Island are paving the way for long-term recovery in their regions following the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami.

The Madras Regional Conference raised approximately $100,000 to serve tsunami-affected communities. This is the largest disaster response offering they have ever received. The Rev. Kristin L. Sachen of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) visited this region at the end of April to find ways to support relief efforts that the churches there have already mounted.

UMCOR is currently partnering with Churches Auxiliary for Social Action and Christian Medical Society of India (CASA) to operate mobile health clinics through a grant of $320,000 to be delivered in installments over the next four years. This visit to Methodist Churches in Chennai and Andaman Island will inform how UMCOR can contribute to the tsunami recovery effort in new ways, said Rev. Sachen.

One church that is making a difference is the Wesley Methodist Church near the city of Chennai in southeast India. It is providing assistance to the residents of the surrounding slum that was flooded by a backwash of sewage into their shacks. Their goals include providing school fees for 100 children whose families lost all of their belongings (including savings) in the flood.

The tsunami damage is severe on Andaman Island, which sits in the Bay of Bengal. The fishing community was particularly hard hit. Boats are still submerged in the water. The fisher folk can no longer sleep in their houses because the permanently altered coastline allows the night tide to wash into their homes. Farmers were also severely affected. The waves of salt water ruined the rice patties for further crops. It will take approximately three years to desalinate the soil. Four churches on the island are organizing to serve the hardest hit populations with the assistance of UMCOR.

Through unprecedented donations totaling $32.4 million for tsunami relief, UMCOR is funding work in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Thailand, and India. UMCOR workers are supplying new nets and boats, beginning construction of new homes, cleaning wells polluted by saltwater that flooded inland in the December 26, 2004, tsunami that caused catastrophic loss of life and damage to countries on all sides of the Indian Ocean.

Michelle Scott is a communications specialist for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

	See Also... Topic: Christian love |  Communities |  Emergencies |  Natural disasters |  UMCOR |  United Methodist Church |  Advance |  Tsunami |  Geographic Region: India |  Source: UMCOR Press Releases
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Date posted: May 11, 2005