wfn.org | [ENS] El Salvador: Housing, disaster relief aided by ERD,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

May 26, 2005 -- Thursday: People of Purpose

El Salvador: Housing, disaster relief aided by ERD, L.A. diocese

[ENS] -- Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) and the World Mission
Group
of the Diocese of Los Angeles broke ground May 23 on a joint project to
build new housing in El Salvador, where an earlier ERD project assisted
last
week's hurricane response.

The launch is ERD's fourth Anglican Village to accommodate the many who
are
still homeless following the devastating earthquakes of 2000 and 2001.
Each
village includes 40 houses, a medical clinic, a school and an Anglican
church.

Each of the 10 deaneries of the Diocese of Los Angeles is being asked to
consider sponsoring at least one house, at $4,000 each, as a part of its
2005 outreach work. Deanery 5 and deanery 3 have committed to this goal,
and
are considering the possibility of raising funds for more than one
house.

Further information may be obtained from the Rev. George Woodward, chair
of
the World Mission Group, at St. Edmund's Church, San Marino, California,
or
email GFWTRES@aol.com.

Last week, a radio-based early warning system  -- implemented by ERD and
the
Asociacion Mangle to assist in emergency situations in the region of
Bajo
Lempa -- was put to the test when reports of Hurricane Adrian were made.

Adrian, the first tropical storm of the 2005 Pacific hurricane season,
battered El Salvador the morning of May 20 causing the evacuation of
14,000
people from low-lying coastal areas. The eye of the hurricane made
landfall
on the southern coast south of the capital of San Salvador, washing out
roads and cutting off power.

According to reports from the U.S. National Hurricane Center, the
hurricane
hit with sustained winds of almost 75 miles per hour.

"This seems the perfect time to thank ERD once again for its support of
Bajo
Lempa, specifically for the project to strengthen our early warning
system,"
said Miguel Ramirez, a staff agronomist at Asociacion Mangle. "The
system
has allowed us to operate with haste during this difficult time."

Archbishop Martín Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador and Primate of the
Anglican Church of the Central American Region, closed and evacuated the
diocesan office May 19 and instructed parishes in the diocese to act as
shelters.

ERD program associate Coe Economou said at this time relatively little
damage has been reported and Barahona and Bishop Lloyd Emmanuel Allen of
Honduras have not requested emergency funds from ERD.

ERD will continue to monitor developments in El Salvador, Honduras,
Guatemala and other Central American countries affected by the
hurricane.

Contributions to help people immediately after disasters around the
world
may be sent to Episcopal Relief and Development, Emergency Relief Fund,
P.O.
Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101, or visit www.er-d.org.

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