October 12, 2005

CHICAGO – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) allocated an initial $100,000 to assist relief efforts in the aftermath of an Oct. 8 earthquake in Pakistan and another $50,000 toward responses to flooding and mudslides in the wake of Hurricane Stan in Central America, according to Lita Brusick Johnson, associate executive director, ELCA Global Mission.

ELCA International Disaster Response sent the funds to Church World Service (CWS), which has had relief and development operations in Pakistan for more than 25 years, and to Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, which is working through Christian aid organizations across Central America.

CWS is the relief, development and refugee assistance ministry of 36 U.S. Protestant and Orthodox churches, including the ELCA. It works in partnership with indigenous organizations in more than 80 countries to meet human needs and foster self-reliance.

ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies that meets human need through organized emergency response. It is based with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), in Geneva, Switzerland. The ELCA is a member of the LWF and the WCC.

"I ask you to pray for families who lost their loved ones to these disasters and pray for victims who are affected physically and emotionally," said Belletech Deressa, director for international development and disaster response, ELCA Global Mission, urging ELCA congregations to help victims of these disasters by giving gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response.

Pakistan Earthquake

A 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed as many as 30,000 people in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan and India. It injured at least 47,000 and left millions without homes.

The earthquake struck the Pakistan-India border northeast of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Communication was cut, and landslides blocked roads and made already rugged terrain inaccessible. Immediate response to the disaster was further complicated by armed conflict in Southeast Afghanistan and political tensions in Kashmir between Pakistan and Indian.

CWS was one of the first relief agencies to begin distributing relief assistance in the wake of the earthquake. In Pakistan it provided immediate assistance to 1,600 families in Northwest Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir, and it moved shelter kits and family food packages to Murree, north of Islamabad. Relief packages for each family consist of wheat flour, rice, pulses, cooking oil, sugar, tea leaves, salt and a packet of matches.

CWS is planning long-term shelter and medical assistance in the region.

Hurricane Stan's Continuing Effect on Central America

Heavy rains from Hurricane Stan have plagued Central America since Oct. 1.

Guatemala has experienced extensive flooding and more than 900 mudslides, especially in areas populated by indigenous people living in extreme poverty. According to the latest official reports, 652 people are reported dead, 384 missing and 99 injured in Guatemala. It is estimated that 93,893 people have been affected, 1,298 houses destroyed and 5,225 damaged; 359 communities are affected, and 118 remain cut off.

In El Salvador the Santa Ana volcano that erupted on Oct. 1 combined with the rains of Hurricane Stan to kill 65 people and displace more than 54,000 people.

The rains from Hurricane Stan have created a state of emergency in Nicaragua's Waspan region and have also affected Honduras.

Christian Aid, Conference of Evangelical Churches of Guatemala, Danish Church Aid, LWF, Norwegian Church Aid and Swiss Interchurch Aid are working together as the ACT Guatemala Forum. They are bringing food, water, medicines, clothes and hygiene kits to the affected population, especially in areas where other humanitarian aid agencies are not responding to the emergency.

The ACT Guatemala Forum works in partnership with Trocaire, the Catholic development agency in Ireland, and other local implementing partners. The forum has deployed assessment teams to the affected areas.

ACT members in El Salvador – Christian Aid, LWF, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Salvadoran Lutheran Synod – are providing assistance to the affected population through their local partners. They are bringing food, water, medicines, hygiene kits, mattresses, bed sheets and other relief items to 2,000 people in the emergency phase. Their long-term plans include counseling and efforts to avoid the outbreak of waterborne diseases.

ACT member Christian Medical Action is responding in Nicaragua with food and medicines to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases. ACT members in Honduras are monitoring conditions in that country.

ELCA News Service