wfn.org | US Air Force Reserve Flies ADRA Clothing Donation to Bolivia

["Christian B. Schäffler" <APD_Info_Schweiz@compuserve.com>]

December 31, 1998
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

US Air Force Reserve Flies ADRA Clothing Donation to Bolivian 
Earthquake Victims
[98/38/05]

Andrews Air Base, USA  [APD/ADRA]  The U.S. Air Force 
Reserve's 459th Airlift Wing in Maryland is transporting nearly 
46,000 pounds (20,250 kilograms) of women's winter clothing 
from Andrews Air Force Base to Cochabamba, Bolivia, donated 
by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in 
response to those still suffering from an earthquake earlier 
this year.

The C-141B aircraft, called a Starlifter, is carrying 360 bales of 
women's winter clothing, valued at more than US$91,000, 
taken from ADRA's warehouse in Elkridge, Maryland. The 
clothing will assist victims of the May 1998 earthquake in 
Cochabamba that measured 6.8 on the Richter scale and killed 
at least 105 people and injured 800. 

"The shipment is being flown under the Denton Amendment 
Program, which allows the Department of Defense to 
transport without charge, on a space-available basis, 
humanitarian supplies donated by nongovernmental sources," 
explains Audra Murray, public affairs correspondent for 
Denton Ops, Inc. "The Denton Program is jointly administered 
by the Department of State, the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID), and the Department of 
Defense."

"This shipment is being used as a flight training mission for Air 
Force reservists, people who traditionally have full-time jobs in 
the community," explains Peggy Whitlow, director of public 
affairs for the 459th Airlift Wing (AW) for the Air Force 
Reserve. "These humanitarian flights provide critical training 
to maintain their war-time mission. It gives them the chance 
to fly into airfields and experience another country's air space 
requirements."

The 459th AW does four or five humanitarian missions a 
month and has been particularly busy with relief efforts in 
Central America, airlifting more than 300,000 pounds 
(135,000 kilograms) of relief materials to date, including food, 
clothing, medicine and reconstruction equipment.  

The clothing shipment is expected to arrive in Bolivia today. 
Gunther Wallauer, ADRA Bolivia director, says the shipment 
will be delivered within the next 10 days when his staff finish 
earthquake damage assessments in the affected areas. ADRA 
will also be delivering housing materials to victims from 
US$10,000 it collected earlier this year following the 
earthquake. 

ADRA Bolivia also operates a five-year USAID program that 
includes the following components: mother/child health care; 
an agriculture program providing improvement techniques in 
harvesting and soil use and marketing education; and a school 
feeding program for 362 schools and 39,000 school children in 
areas surrounding La Paz and Camargo. ADRA is also 
operating CERENID, a housing and education project for 
street children, serving the second largest city in Bolivia, 
Santa Cruz. ADRA's Esperanza del Oriente boat, which travels 
along the Rio Beni in the jungle of Bolivia, delivers health and 
agriculture services to remote villages, otherwise unable to 
receive such services. 

ADRA, an internationally recognised non-governmental 
organisation (NGO), to date, has also co-ordinated the 
distribution of more than US$8 million in food, water, 
medicine, clothing and shelter to assist the victims of 
Hurricane Mitch. ADRA was recently ranked number-one relief 
organisation next to the Nicaraguan government in quantity of 
donated relief materials in that country.