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Staying the Course in "Mega-Disaster" Rehabilitation

by Linda Beher

Posted: January 14, 2005

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, January 13, 2005: How well do relief operations follow through with rehabilitation after "mega-disasters" such as the earthquake and tsunamis that swept the Indian Ocean on December 26?

The New York Times dramatically posed that question in a front page story on January 11, using as examples the 1998 hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the 2000 floods in Mozambique, and the 2003 earthquake in Iran. The story described unfinished housing dotting the Honduran landscape and uncompleted projects in Bam, Iran. "We are abandoned," one resident of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, said, also summing up the sentiment of the journalists.*

"In big, complex recoveries from mega-disasters, UMCOR plans to be in place for a long time-- for years," said the Rev. Kristin Sachen of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). "I do not doubt that more rebuilding is needed in Honduras, Mozambique and Iran. Though a number of organizations have left those three countries, UMCOR is still at work," she said, "just as we will be in the Indian Ocean region long after the media and dignitaries leave."

"Our volunteers are still rebuilding houses in the Honduran towns of Tegucigalpa, Subriana, and LaCeibita," said the Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's chief executive. "We sent 45 teams to Honduras in 2004 and have even more scheduled for 2005. In Iran, through grants to our partner, the International Blue Crescent, UMCOR continues to minister to children in Bam."

UMCOR has also built housing units in Cuba with funds donated for recovery from the 1998 hurricanes Georges and Mitch. In 2004, 20 families in a small fishing town at the west edge of Havana moved into new apartments and another 100 received upgraded water service as a result of UMCOR work there-- six years after the hurricane struck. Housing for another 12 families had been completed earlier.

United Methodist donations are still at work in Mozambique, another country mentioned in the Times. Floods in 2000 devastated whole villages. UMCOR helped build houses in the new village of Mangoanine for 70 families who lost both their homes and land. A second project begun later in Bantu involves building 138 flood-resistant brick homes using a brick-making machine purchased by UMCOR. Landmine removal and school construction are ongoing projects across that country.

"United Methodists are extremely generous in responding to disasters," said Sachen. "This means we can stay with people as long as it takes to get them back on their feet. It's the way United Methodists do things-- having the patience to stay with the most vulnerable, however long it takes. We don't quit."

Cash gifts will help UMCOR continue to support local relief efforts in the South Asia disaster area as well as other vulnerable regions of the world. One hundred percent of every donation to any appeal, including the South Asia Emergency, UMCOR Advance #274305, goes to support recovery efforts in the disaster-stricken regions.

How to Participate in This Response

Please give to Advance #274305 and designate "South Asia Emergency" on the memo line of your check. 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 recovery efforts in the disaster-stricken regions. UMCOR also needs donations of health kits, school kits, and Medicine Boxes for this response.

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

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*Ginger Thompson and Nazila Fathi, "EARLIER DISASTERS: For Honduras and Iran, World's Aid Evaporated," New York Times, January 11, 2005.