UMCOR to Consider Additional Services in Tsunami Disaster

by Linda Beher

Posted: January 6, 2005    Print-friendly

NEW YORK, January 6, 2005-- "The Asian tsunami is a mega-emergency, and recovery will take several years," the Rev. Kristin L. Sachen, head of disaster response for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, said Wednesday.

UMCOR is carefully assessing how it will proceed in the future after the immediate emergency needs are met, she said. "Right now, we are assisting our ecumenical partners with delivery of desperately needed food, emergency shelter materials, medicines, blankets, clothing and cooking utensils. But that's just the beginning."

Rev. Sachen said that the relief phase will continue for several weeks. Already the vast scale of the rehabilitation is apparent, according to reports from Action by Churches Together, the international alliance of churches that is coordinating ecumenical response. She and another United Methodist Committee on Relief staff member met with ecumenical leaders in Geneva Wednesday to evaluate the effectiveness of the response to the South Asia tsunami disaster and determine next steps.

The meeting was the first of several planned assessments that may lead to UMCOR's providing more direct services. The December 26 quake-- 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. Millions have lost homes and livelihoods and much rebuilding will be required.

To fully assess where and how UMCOR may help with rebuilding projects other meetings are planned, said Rev. Sachen. Among them is an assessment mission in Sri Lanka. The meetings will flesh out UMCOR's strategy in the region, she said.

"Face-to-face questions provide a dimension of reality that is unavailable from a distance," explained Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR's chief executive. "Requirements become much clearer with firsthand knowledge," he said.

In many coastal areas the land will need major cleansing, reclamation, and rebuilding efforts. UMCOR acquired expertise in large-scale rebuilding projects in its missions Turkey, Afghanistan, and Bosnia. The scale in the South Asia disaster will require long term food-for-work programs to assist families to recover their livelihoods, said Rev. Sachen.

The agency 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.

Cash gifts will help UMCOR continue to support local Christian relief agencies in the disaster area that are known and trusted. "They are the agencies to which the local Methodists belong," Rev. Sachen explained. "In India and Sri Lanka they are providing saris and dhotas-- terms for culturally appropriate clothing-- lentils and oil, household utensils, plastic sheeting, and blankets to over 50,000 families."

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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.