wfn.org | Cooperation lends hope in a devastated land

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Jan. 28, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York (212) 870-3803
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NOTE:  A photo is available for use with this story.

By Paul Jeffrey*

CARMEN DE URIA, Venezuela (UMNS) -- As he makes his pastoral rounds through
Carmen de Uria, Felipe Colmenares is welcomed by the dogs who stand guard
over the eerie rubble.

Weeks after floods and mudslides assaulted the north coast of Venezuela, the
few animals that somehow survived here are still waiting in vain for their
masters. The dogs timidly greet the Catholic priest as he picks his way
through the hardened mud and gigantic boulders that cover what was once a
bustling seaside resort town.

As many as five thousand people died here during the mid-December floods --
roughly half the town's population. The exact numbers will never be known,
as many bodies were swept out to sea or buried under a four-block wide swath
of debris that extends 300 meters into the muddy Caribbean.
	
The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working together with Church
World Service, the relief agency of the U.S. National Council of Churches,
and Action by Churches Together, an ecumenical coalition, to provide
assistance to flood victims in Venezuela.

Colmenares is pastor of the neighboring parish of Naiguatá, just five
kilometers to the east, but since the disaster has taken charge of three
other parishes in this northern state of Vargas, the most devastated portion
of Venezuela.

In one parish, the priest broke a leg during the flooding and is away
recuperating. Another priest took a leave to help his family relocate after
their home was destroyed. And the priest in Carmen de Uria left in a daze,
having helplessly watched half his flock disappear in a few minutes when a
torrent of water, mud, boulders and tree trunks poured off the steep
hillsides that loom around the town.
	
For Colmenares, there's not much to do in Carmen de Uria. The town is under
military control. Government leaders suggest turning what remains into a
memorial park. Most of the survivors live in emergency shelters elsewhere. A
few residents come back to dig vehicles out of the muck. When bodies are
found, the priest prays over the remains.

For the most part, Colmenares just walks, remembering the people he knew
here. At the ruins of one house, where relatives have pasted a photo of the
family that once lived there and is now disappeared, Colmenares leans
against the wall and breathes heavily. "I baptized that child," he says,
pointing to the photo. He pauses, wanting to say more, but instead can only
walk off into the silence of a town that today belongs mostly to the dead
and disappeared.

In the priest's home parish of Naiguatá, however, life has begun again. Not
as hard hit as Carmen de Uria, with better community organization allowing
neighbors to more quickly spread the alarm, only nine people died in
Naiguatá. Perched safely on a hill over the town, the Our Lady of Coromoto
parish school at first served as a refuge for residents fleeing rising
waters. School Director Teresa Pacheco, a Sister of Charity of St. Anne,
said she couldn't even walk though the Building -- there was no free space
to set her feet.
	
In the weeks that followed, the school became a way station, a stopover
point for families making pilgrimages along the shattered coastline. While
some survivors trekked out, hoping never to return, others arrived on foot,
hiking for days through mud to search in vain for their loved ones. The
coastal road, covered in places by six meters of mud and plagued by fresh
slides, is just now opening up to four-wheel drive vehicles.

Colmenares, who was swept by the current for 100 meters the night of the
disaster before grabbing onto a doorway and climbing to safety, admitted
it's been hard. "My feelings have failed me at times. I had to leave once to
spend time with my family," he said. "I'm human. Yet I'm the only pastor in
these communities, so I have to be strong to strengthen others, be a
fortress for those who are weak."

Colmenares said much of what has kept him going is the solidarity that has
come from all corners. Cuban physicians set up a clinic next to the church.
Students from a nearby university, their campus covered with mud,
volunteered to sort and distribute emergency food. UNICEF provided school
supplies so that classes in the parish school could begin in mid-January,
welcoming dozens of new students from neighboring towns where schools no
longer exist.

And a church-sponsored organization based in Caracas has also lent a helping
hand. Ecumenical Action-ACT (EA-ACT) has provided emergency food, water, and
medical supplies for distribution by the parish. On January 21, EA-ACT
airlifted several thousand pounds of supplies into Naiguatá on a French
helicopter operated by the Venezuelan Air Force.

On a separate helicopter flight, EA-ACT Director Manuel Larreal, accompanied
by three representatives of the Christian Commission for Development (CCD)
in Honduras, surveyed the disaster from the air. They flew into Naiguatá and
Carmen de Uria to meet with parish workers and government officials leading
the relief effort.
	
The three CCD staff, veterans of emergency work following Hurricane Mitch in
Central America at the end of 1998, are helping Venezuelan members of ACT
--- a Geneva-based international coalition of churches and church-sponsored
relief agencies-- set up an organized response to the emergency and make
long-terms plans for the months and years of reconstruction ahead.
	
After the trip to survey damage throughout Vargas, Maynor Ceron, CCD's
director of policies and strategies, said he was impressed with the level of
cooperation among government agencies, churches, non-governmental
organizations, and the Venezuelan military. "It's particularly fascinating
to see the church and the military working together to help people," Ceron
said.
	
Such cooperation seems strange after a recent war of words between President
Hugo Chavez, a former military officer elected to office a year ago, and top
Catholic leaders like Caracas Archbishop Ignacio Velasco. The prelate
opposed a new constitution, which Chavez submitted successfully to voters on
December 15, the day of the most seriously flooding. Velasco afterward
claimed the president's arrogance "provoked the wrath of God," resulting in
the disaster. Chavez in turn suggested that Velasco needed an exorcist.
	
At the grassroots, however, such name-calling seems far away. While the
military is in control of the region, Colmenares is treated with respect,
even deference, by both officers and troops. "The armed forces asked the
church for help," he said. "This tragedy is bigger than any single
institution can manage, and we work well together. There may be political
problems at times between some bishops and the president, but when the words
end, we extend the hand again."
Donations for Venezuela relief work can be made to UMCOR Advance No.
9826450-8, earmarked for Venezuela floods, and dropped in church collection
plates or mailed to 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115.
Credit-card donations can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.

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*Jeffrey is a missionary with the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries.	

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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