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Cooperation lends hope in a devastated landBy Paul JeffreyCARMEN DE URIA, Venezuela (UMNS) -- As he makes his pastoral rounds through Carmen de Uria, Felipe Colmenares is welcomed by the dogs who stand guard over the eerie rubble. Weeks after floods and mudslides assaulted the north coast of Venezuela, the few animals that somehow survived here are still waiting in vain for their masters. The dogs timidly greet the Catholic priest as he picks his way through the hardened mud and gigantic boulders that cover what was once a bustling seaside resort town. As many as five thousand people died here during the mid-December floods -- roughly half the town's population. The exact numbers will never be known, as many bodies were swept out to sea or buried under a four-block wide swath of debris that extends 300 meters into the muddy Caribbean. The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working together with Church World Service, the relief agency of the U.S. National Council of Churches, and Action by Churches Together, an ecumenical coalition, to provide assistance to flood victims in Venezuela. Colmenares is pastor of the neighboring parish of Naiguatá, just five kilometers to the east, but since the disaster has taken charge of three other parishes in this northern state of Vargas, the most devastated portion of Venezuela. In one parish, the priest broke a leg during the flooding and is away recuperating. Another priest took a leave to help his family relocate after their home was destroyed. And the priest in Carmen de Uria left in a daze, having helplessly watched half his flock disappear in a few minutes when a torrent of water, mud, boulders and tree trunks poured off the steep hillsides that loom around the town. For Colmenares, there's not much to do in Carmen de Uria. The town is under military control. Government leaders suggest turning what remains into a memorial park. Most of the survivors live in emergency shelters elsewhere. A few residents come back to dig vehicles out of the muck. When bodies are found, the priest prays over the remains. For the most part, Colmenares just walks, remembering the people he knew here. At the ruins of one house, where relatives have pasted a photo of the family that once lived there and is now disappeared, Colmenares leans against the wall and breathes heavily. "I baptized that child," he says, pointing to the photo. He pauses, wanting to say more, but instead can only walk off into the silence of a town that today belongs mostly to the dead and disappeared. In the priest's home parish of Naiguatá, however, life has begun again. Not as hard hit as Carmen de Uria, with better community organization allowing neighbors to more quickly spread the alarm, only nine people died in Naiguatá. Perched safely on a hill over the town, the Our Lady of Coromoto parish school at first served as a refuge for residents fleeing rising waters. School Director Teresa Pacheco, a Sister of Charity of St. Anne, said she couldn't even walk though the Building --- there was no free space to set her feet. In the weeks that followed, the school became a way station, a stopover point for families making pilgrimages along the shattered coastline. While some survivors trekked out, hoping never to return, others arrived on foot, hiking for days through mud to search in vain for their loved ones. The coastal road, covered in places by six meters of mud and plagued by fresh slides, is just now opening up to four-wheel drive vehicles. Colmenares, who was swept by the current for 100 meters the night of the disaster before grabbing onto a doorway and climbing to safety, admitted it's been hard. "My feelings have failed me at times. I had to leave once to spend time with my family," he said. "I'm human. Yet I'm the only pastor in these communities, so I have to be strong to strengthen others, be a fortress for those who are weak." Colmenares said much of what has kept him going is the solidarity that has come from all corners. Cuban physicians set up a clinic next to the church. Students from a nearby university, their campus covered with mud, volunteered to sort and distribute emergency food. UNICEF provided school supplies so that classes in the parish school could begin in mid-January, welcoming dozens of new students from neighboring towns where schools no longer exist. And a church-sponsored organization based in Caracas has also lent a helping hand. Ecumenical Action-ACT (EA-ACT) has provided emergency food, water, and medical supplies for distribution by the parish. On January 21, EA-ACT airlifted several thousand pounds of supplies into Naiguatá on a French helicopter operated by the Venezuelan Air Force. On a separate helicopter flight, EA-ACT Director Manuel Larreal, accompanied by three representatives of the Christian Commission for Development (CCD) in Honduras, surveyed the disaster from the air. They flew into Naiguatá and Carmen de Uria to meet with parish workers and government officials leading the relief effort. The three CCD staff, veterans of emergency work following Hurricane Mitch in Central America at the end of 1998, are helping Venezuelan members of ACT ---- a Geneva-based international coalition of churches and church-sponsored relief agencies--- set up an organized response to the emergency and make long-terms plans for the months and years of reconstruction ahead. After the trip to survey damage throughout Vargas, Maynor Ceron, CCD's director of policies and strategies, said he was impressed with the level of cooperation among government agencies, churches, non-governmental organizations, and the Venezuelan military. "It's particularly fascinating to see the church and the military working together to help people," Ceron said. Such cooperation seems strange after a recent war of words between President Hugo Chavez, a former military officer elected to office a year ago, and top Catholic leaders like Caracas Archbishop Ignacio Velasco. The prelate opposed a new constitution, which Chavez submitted successfully to voters on December 15, the day of the most seriously flooding. Velasco afterward claimed the president's arrogance "provoked the wrath of God," resulting in the disaster. Chavez in turn suggested that Velasco needed an exorcist. At the grassroots, however, such name-calling seems far away. While the military is in control of the region, Colmenares is treated with respect, even deference, by both officers and troops. "The armed forces asked the church for help," he said. "This tragedy is bigger than any single institution can manage, and we work well together. There may be political problems at times between some bishops and the president, but when the words end, we extend the hand again." Donations for Venezuela relief work can be made to UMCOR Advance #9826450-8, earmarked for Venezuela floods, and dropped in church collection plates or mailed to 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donations can be made by calling 1-800-554-8583. January 28, 2000 *Jeffrey is a missionary with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. |
WAITING FOR WATER --
FLOOD WATERS --
DEVASTATION --
CLEANING UP --
FLOOD DAMAGE -- |
