UMCOR Provides $750,000 in Relief to Tsunami Stricken Region

by Linda Beher

Posted: January 8, 2005    Print-friendly

NEW YORK, January 6, 2005: United Methodist Committee on Relief has provided about $750,000 in relief to the tsunami stricken Indian Ocean region. Other aid is in the pipeline, said the Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's chief executive.

The December 26 earthquake-- one of the world's most powerful in a century-- touched off tidal waves which swept across the Indian Ocean, striking coastal regions of ten countries from Asia to the East Coast of Africa.

A truckload of health kits valued at between $300,000 and $500,000 is on its way from UMCOR to mingle with kits from other denominations. Health kits contain emergency supplies such as soap. Simple as a health kit may seem, behind every health kit is a face, said Rev. Dirdak, "of a child, a woman, a man who has been affected by the disaster and who through the kit is receiving a measure of dignity and respect. Just think what it would feel like to not be able to wash with soap for weeks on end!" he said. Besides being the #1 deterrent to bacterial diseases, soap provides a health kit recipient with the knowledge that they are cared for and valued.

With its initial grant from UMCOR, Churches Auxiliary for Social Action in India has begun distribution of food, emergency supplies, and tarpaulins. CASA leaders expect to serve as many as 50,000 families. Crisis teams are operational in five regions to assist with emergency feeding programs and shelter distribution.

Christian Medical Association of India has deployed 12 health teams to remote regions. An UMCOR grant is helping the teams provide acute health care and longer-term trauma counseling for affected families. As villages regain their own capacity for health services, the teams will move on to the next area.

A grant to Church World Service is supporting a first shipment of shelter kits to Sri Lanka on Sunday, Jan. 9. Additional airlifts are planned to provide much needed commodities for immediate needs and long-term recovery, according to CWS press reports. The agency is establishing a regional emergency staging area to support its Southern Asia recovery efforts.

Another UMCOR grant to the Methodist Church of Singapore will assist in delivery of antibiotics to the stricken region.

UMCOR expects to mount a campaign for Medicine Boxes and health kits in addition to continuing its emphasis on cash donations. "We'll be able to use every box and kit our congregations can make," said Rev. Dirdak.

"United Methodists have been incredibly generous," Rev. Dirdak said. But much more is needed, he said. Cash gifts will help UMCOR continue to support local Christian relief agencies in the disaster area that are known and trusted.

_______________

Linda Beher is communications director for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

The Rev. Nadarajah Arulnathan, a pastor in Passikudah, Sri Lanka, helps unload relief supplies at a Methodist Church in Valaichchenai. Arulnathan, who lost 18 relatives to the disaster, leads a local committee of church leaders coordinating the response in the region the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka, UMCOR's partner and a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. Churches and NGOs have provided almost all of the relief to tsunami survivors in the area. Credit: Paul Jeffrey/ACT International, January 3, 2005.

How to Participate in This Response

Please give to Advance #274305 and designate "South Asia Emergency" on the memo line of your check written to UMCOR. Give through your local United Methodist church or mail contributions to: UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Call 1-800-554-8583 to make a credit card donation.

One hundred percent of every donation to this appeal goes to support relief and recovery efforts in the disaster-stricken regions. UMCOR also needs donations of health kits, school kits, and Medicine Boxes for this response.

A Medicine Box^® contains enough over the counter and prescription medicines to treat 1,000 people for about three months. Congregations can assemble the over-the-counter drugs and contribute $350 for the remainder, or donate $425 per Medicine Box. Interchurch Medical Association assembles and ships the boxes for UMCOR. Requirements are online.

Health Kits focus on personal hygiene as a method of improving overall health. They contain soap-- the number one barrier to the spread of bacterial disease-- washcloth, sterile bandage strips, and other items. Requirements are online.

School kits contain ruled paper, blunt scissors, an eraser, a ruler, six pencils, a pencil sharpener, crayons and construction paper. Requirements are online.