UMCOR, partners respond to Java quake survivors
May. 30, 2006 News media contact: Linda Bloom * (646) 3693759* New York {314}
NOTE: A photograph is available at http://umns.umc.org.
By United Methodist News Service*
The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with partners in the region to respond to survivors of the May 27 earthquake on the Indonesian island of Java.
Indonesian government figures released May 29 put the death toll at about 5,000. More than 15,000 are estimated injured and 100,000 people displaced from their homes.
Especially hard hit was Bantul, a town south of the city of Yogyakarta. The area already has been under threat from Mount Merapi, a volcano near the eruption point.
In Geneva, Action by Churches Together, of which UMCOR is a member, announced the heads of the emergency units of its members in Indonesia had arrived in Yogyakarta, according to Ecumenical News International.
One ACT member, Yayasan Tanggul Bencana Indonesia, was coordinating its efforts with the local Javanese Christian churches and had recruited more than 40 volunteers to distribute food and other aid.
Church World Service staff in Indonesia, with local partners, immediately distributed an initial supply of nearly 3,000 bottles of water and a supply of blankets to Bethesda Hospital in Yogyakarta, according to Maurice Bloem, Indonesia country director. He said that a shipment of family tents, hygiene kits and blankets was expected to be distributed May 30 in the Boyolali district.
Donna Derr, the CWS emergency response program director in Washington, reported that the agency had distributed water and food rations to 500 households in four sub-districts of Bantul: Kretek, Parangtritis, Tambang Dipuro and Pundong.
The U.N.'s World Food Program was expected to bring in more than 40 tons of supplies to the quake zone May 30.
UMCOR, which has been working in Indonesia since the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami, will focus on both immediate assistance and long-term relief for earthquake survivors with its regional partners.
Contributions to UMCOR's "Indonesia Emergency" relief efforts can be placed in local church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Designate checks for UMCOR Advance No. 217400 and "Indonesia Emergency." Credit-card donations can be made online at www.methodistrelief.org or by calling (800) 554-8583.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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