wfn.org | CRWRC Presence Brings Swift Aid in Padang and Beyond

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

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Jacob Kramer, CRWRC Disaster Response and Rehabilitation Director,  905-336-2920
Bill Adams, CRWRC Disaster Response Services Director, cell 616-560-2782
Beth DeGraff, CRWRC Media Contact, 1-800-55-CRWRC or cell 616-6478-7821

CRWRC Presence Brings Swift Aid in Padang and Beyond

OCTOBER 6, 2009?The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
(www.crwrc.org) is building a multi-phase response to two powerful
earthquakes that rocked Indonesia last week, including Padang,
Sumatra, the city at one quake?s epicenter.

?Right now, we?re giving out water, food, and clothing just to keep
people going," says Jacob Kramer, from CRWRC?s disaster response and
rehabilitation office.  "We?re distributing tarps as temporary shelter
so families have a roof over their heads. Many are still desperately
seeking family members who are believed buried under the rubble.?

Consultant Nick Armstrong and tsunami program manager Mona Saroinsong
are in Padang and nearby Pariaman this week, coordinating the response
with local and international relief organizations. Relief managers
Marvin and Lorraine Vander Valk will land in Sumatra on Wednesday to
lead a base camp set-up and mobilize staff on the ground.

At the same time CRWRC is distributing food, water, blankets, and
shelter tarps to desperate survivors of two typhoons that swept over
the Philippines in the last 10 days. CRWRC?s long-standing work in
disaster preparedness and response training were a key to quick action
at the community level in Metro Manila, where 80 percent of residences
were underwater after Typhoon Ketsana dropped a deluge of water on
September 26th.

With the extensive flooding in Manila and the heavy rain associated
with the slow-moving typhoons, swamped sanitation systems and
stagnated water are increasing outbreaks of water-borne and infectious
disease. CRWRC is in contact with Medical Teams International, a
partner through the Global Relief Alliance, to plan health
interventions at response sites in Manila. Managers Jack and Elly
Dalmaijer arrived in the Philippines today to oversee assessments of
the extensive needs and implement possible water and sanitation
interventions.

American Samoa, on the other side of the Pacific, was also hit hard by
an earthquake, resulting in four tsunami waves that washed over the
island late last month. President Obama declared the U.S. Territory a
federal disaster area on October first. Forty villages were damaged in
that event, and 20 villages were totally destroyed.

CRWRC Disaster Response Services director Bill Adams is working with
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to evaluate long-term
housing reconstruction needs. The Government of Samoa estimates early
recovery costs at around $147 million according to the U.N.
Humanitarian Affairs office. Adams expects that CRWRC Disaster
Response volunteers may be called on to assist in the reconstruction.

CRWRC is requesting donations for Indonesia earthquake response.
Financial gifts can be given online at www.crwrc.org, or called in to
1-800-55-CRWRC, to give by credit card. Checks made out to CRWRC can
be designated, ?Indonesia Earthquake 2009,? and mailed to CRWRC at
2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49560-0600.

CRWRC is also requesting donations for Philippines disaster response.
Financial gifts to CRWRC designated, ?Philippines/Asia Floods 2009,?
can be given online, by phone, and by check as noted above.

Members of the Press wishing to interview Jacob Kramer, Disaster
Response and Rehabilitation Director, regarding Asia disaster
response, call 1-800-730-3490. To interview Bill Adams, CRWRC Disaster
Response Services Director, regarding response in American Samoa, call
616-560-2782. For interview and information about any of the above, or
for more information about CRWRC?s relief, development and justice
ministry, call Beth DeGraff, Media Contact, at 1-800-55-CRWRC or cell
616-648-7821

To learn more about CRWRC?s relief, development and justice programs,
go to www.crwrc.org.

Audience members interested in CRWRC Work Teams in the Philippines
responding to flooding on Mindanao Island where CRWRC will build 15
homes in 12 months, go to www.crwrc.org/volunteer or email
servicelearning@crcna.org.

CRWRC is a non-profit agency of the Christian Reformed Church in North
America, ministering to people in need around the world with relief,
development, and justice since 1963.

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