wfn.org | UMCOR assists in Mozambique floods

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 15, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-21-31-71B{072}

By United Methodist News Service

An early rainy season is causing major flooding problems in the provinces of
Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane and Sofala in Mozambique.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) responded Feb. 11 to
requests for assistance by approving initial grants to the United Methodist
annual conference in Mozambique, the Methodist Church in South Africa and
the South African Council of Churches.

UMCOR also needs donations to help it provide more assistance, including
allotting additional monetary grants; flying a shipment of goods, with
medicine, to the capital city of Maputo; and sending in two mobile plants
and a technician/trainer from a water purification engineering firm.

The rains began in January instead of March, the usual start of the rainy
season, according to information from Action By Churches Together (ACT), an
ecumenical relief group whose members include UMCOR. During an 18-hour
downpour on Feb. 6 and 7, Maputo and its suburbs experienced their worst
flooding in nearly 40 years.

United Methodist Bishop Joao Somane Machado of Mozambique reported that 75
percent of the suburbs had been flooded. "Some of the houses are disappeared
and some are in the water," he wrote in an e-mail message. "Some families
have lost their relatives ... Cholera is starting again, malaria is getting
worse."

The floods also have affected connections between the northern and southern
parts of the country, according to ACT. "In the central province of
Inhambane, normally semi-arid, the rains are the heaviest in 20 years. The
situation in Sofala province is also worrisome, because of the many rivers
which cross it, and suburbs of the city of Beira are already flooded."

United Methodists can support UMCOR's response to Mozambique through
donations to UMCOR Advance No. 156500-0, designated either "Mozambique" or
"South Africa." Checks may be dropped in church collection plates or mailed
directly to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115.
Credit-card donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.
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United Methodist News Service
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