wfn.org | ELCA Responds to Honduras Political Crisis, West Africa Floods

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Title: ELCA Responds to Honduras Political Crisis, West Africa Floods
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

>September 25, 2009  

ELCA Responds to Honduras Political Crisis, West Africa Floods
09-211-MRC

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) are working to provide food, clean water, medicine and
other needed supplies to help meet the needs of people in Honduras and
in West Africa.

Through ELCA Disaster Response, Lutherans provided $20,000 to
support humanitarian efforts in Honduras, and $25,000 to support flood
affected communities in West Africa. Coordinated by ELCA Global Mission,
funds are given to international church organizations and relief agencies
to help meet the emergency needs of survivors of disasters.

>Honduras

Earlier this summer the president of Honduras, Jose Manuel Zelaya
Rosales, was arrested and taken to Costa Rica. Zelaya's removal came as a
result of his organizing a referendum that could have led to an extension
of his four-year term in office, judged as illegal by the country's
Supreme Court, reported Megan E. Bradfield, associate director for
international development, ELCA Global Mission.

Zelaya returned to Honduras Sept. 21 and sought refuge at the
Brazilian Embassy, Bradfield said, adding that the move has increased
pressure on the current political ruler, Roberto Micheletti.

The political crisis has led people in Honduras to feel unsafe
leaving their homes. Their rights as citizens are being diminished with
curfews, threats and arbitrary arrests, Bradfield reported.

ELCA funds were sent to the Honduras Forum of Action by Churches
Together (ACT).  Members of the ACT Honduras Forum, which includes the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF), have been active in bringing water and
food to the affected population, transporting people in need of medical
assistance to health care facilities, caring for and providing
information to local communities and supporting local organizations,
Bradfield reported.

"ACT members and implementing partners emphasize that they are
acting 'not as followers or supporters of President Jose Manuel Zelaya
Rosales or the political institution to which he belongs, but solely in
respect for constitutional order and the rule of law in the country,'"
she said.

The ELCA is a member of ACT, a global alliance of churches and
related agencies working to save lives and support communities in
emergency situations. It is based in Geneva with the LWF and the World
Council of Churches (WCC). The ELCA is a member of the LWF and WCC.

>West Africa

The 2009 rainy season in West Africa has produced extensive
flooding, affecting hundreds of thousands of people, according to the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

In Senegal more than 100,000 people along the outskirts of Dakar,
the country's capital, are affected. The government has activated an
emergency response plan that calls on public, private and nongovernment
entities to respond to the flooding.

"While response continues, families struggle to regain normal living
conditions," Bradfield said. "Flooded areas have now become breeding
grounds for mosquitoes, (which) spread malaria. (Flooded areas) are also
increasing the danger of waterborne diseases such as cholera and
diarrhea. Children are especially vulnerable to these threats," she said.

ELCA funds were sent to the denomination's companions -- the
Lutheran Church of Senegal and Communiter Center of Galle Nanondiral
(CCGN), which has been working in collaboration with the government to
secure immediate health, hygiene and sanitary needs, Bradfield said. She
said the CCGN will distribute supplies like soap and detergent for
cleaning homes, mosquito nets and medicines to prevent the spread of
disease, and food, bedding and other supplies for displaced families.

>INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:

Editors:  When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico
or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA International Disaster Response, PO Box 71764, Chicago, IL
60694-1764, 1-800-638-3522 and http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/idrgive 
on the Internet.

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog