wfn.org | CWS Continues to Respond to Hurricane Mitch

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Internet: news@ncccusa.org
Contact: Wendy S. McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

123NCC11/25/98  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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EDITORS: When listing organizations receiving funds for 
humanitarian response to Hurricane Mitch, please include:

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE, Attn. Hurricane Mitch, #976717, P.O. 
Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.  Phone pledges or credit card 
donations: 1-800-297-1516, ext. 222.

CWS works in more than 80 countries, including the U.S., in 
disaster relief, human development and refugee assistance.  
It is a ministry of the National Council of Churches, the 
nation's preeminent ecumenical organization, which includes 
35 Protestant and Orthodox member communions with a 
combined membership of nearly 52 million.
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CWS CONTINUES TO RESPOND TO HURRICANE MITCH
At Thanksgiving Time, CWS Brings Team of Doctors to Honduras

 NEW YORK, Nov. 25 ---- As Americans give thanks for the 
bounty in their lives this week, Church World Service (CWS) 
staff and a team of volunteer doctors are spending the 
Thanksgiving holiday with Hurricane Mitch survivors in Latin 
America whose own lives and crops have been devastated by this 
disaster.

 Three weeks after one of the most catastrophic disasters 
to strike Latin America this century, an emergency situation 
remains in many areas, reports CWS Latin America/Caribbean 
Director Oscar Bolioli, who visited with the Christian 
Commission for Development (CCD) in Honduras last week.  But 
the major concern among the churches and many in the Honduran 
government is that a social crisis and political instability 
are looming because of projected mass unemployment. "The 
desperation of people could result in extreme situations," Mr. 
Bolioli said. "There are already signs of this, as seen in a 
significant exodus of people in the north who are going toward 
Guatemala."

 In the face of such profound destruction, Bolioli said, 
"the question becomes whether to reconstruct the country or 
use this juncture to build a new country."  Bolioli foresees 
CWS and other agencies being engaged in a two-year 
reconstruction effort in Honduras that would continue through 
the end of the year 2000.

 The continuing CWS response, as part of its expanded 
$300,000 appeal, includes the following elements:

  This week, the first CWS team of volunteer medical 
personnel -- two doctors and four nurses -- arrives in 
Honduras to work with CCD. Don Sibley, a member of the 
Presbyterian Church (USA), has been working with CCD in 
preparations and Lonnie Turnipseed, former CWS director, 
has been working in the Latin America/Caribbean Office to 
handle the application process. Further information about 
additional visits will be available later, but it appears 
medical teams will be sent through January. Interested 
volunteers (doctors and nurses who are certified and who 
are preferably bilingual) may contact the Latin 
America/Caribbean Office (212/870-3200) for further 
information.
  Chris Herlinger, CWS/Emergency Response Office Information 
Officer, and Dave Young, a photographer and member of the 
Presbyterian Church (USA), will be traveling with the first 
medical team this week, and will also be in Honduras to 
cover CCD's response to the disaster. Acting on behalf of 
both CWS and the Action by Churches (ACT) International 
network, they will, during their one-week stay in the 
region, also visit Nicaragua to report on the local 
response by CWS/ACT partners there. Stories and photographs 
from the trip will be made available to the CWS and ACT 
networks.
  The Nov. 20-22 visit by Bolioli and a delegation including 
Linda Petrucelli of the United Church of Christ included 
visits not only to CCD staff, but also with a number of 
officials, including President Carlos Flores and Msgr. 
Oscar Rodriguez, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa and 
president of the Roman Catholic Latin American Episcopal 
Conference.
  An initial shipment of $308,000 in material goods - 
including 8« tons of rice, 5 tons each of beans and 
powdered milk, as well as 20,000 health kits, 750 layettes 
(baby kits), 65 family tents and nine water purifiers - 
arrived Nov. 12 to assist CCD in Tegucigalpa.  On Nov. 23, 
a CWS-arranged shipment of goods donated by International 
Relief Development (IRD) arrived in Honduras.  The cargo, 
valued at $582,756, included 40,000 pounds of medical 
supplies and 5,000 pounds of medicines and IV fluids and 
5,000 pounds of new clothing.  Additional shipments planned 
include an ocean shipment later this week and another early 
the following week from Miami bound for Nicaragua.  The 
$261,766 shipment will be sent to the Council of 
Evangelical Churches (CEPAD) and include health kits, baby 
kits, soap, hand tools, tarps and 44,000 pounds of rice.

 "CCD has a deep appreciation for CWS's response since 
our funds were the first to arrive when they had no resources 
and ours was the first flight to bring material aid," Mr. 
Bolioli says.

 Although emergency assistance is needed and received 
with gratitude, Bolioli continues to stress the long-term 
needs in the region. "The creation of alternative jobs is a 
priority," he explains.  "Banana and pineapple plantations 
will not be in full production for about a year-and-a-half. 
According to President Flores, the large fruit companies have 
not given any signal that they want to invest in 
reconstructing the plantations. The fear is that the fruit 
companies may move from being producers to traders of the 
products. The Honduran state does not have the capacity to 
recover the plantations."

 "This disaster has revealed the underlying disaster of 
poverty that already existed," Bolioli says.

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