wfn.org | Lutherans Assist Earthquake Survivors in Afghanistan

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 2, 2002

LUTHERANS ASSIST EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS IN AFGHANISTAN
02-69-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) continue to provide shelter, food, water and medical
assistance for refugees and displaced people in and around
Afghanistan, especially for survivors of earthquakes and aftershocks
that struck the northern part of that country Mar. 26.
     "More than 1,000 people there have died as a result of the
earthquakes," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for
international communication, ELCA Division for Global Mission.
     More than 3,000 people were injured after an earthquake shook
villages north of Kabul in the Hindu Kush mountains, Ishida said.
"People there live in mud-brick homes.  The areReceived: from ELCA52-MTA by elca4.elca.org
        wa is now devastated.
Some 30,000 people are homeless," he said.
     Since last fall, International Disaster Response fund, ELCA
Division for Global Mission, committed $300,000 to Action by Churches
Together (ACT) for implementation by the Church World Service and
Norwegian Church Aid (members of ACT) to support humanitarian relief
efforts in Afghanistan.  The ELCA also responded to an earthquake
there that killed more than 5,000 people in May 1998.
     Coordinated through the ELCA Division for Global Mission,
International Disaster Response helps relief agencies provide funds
for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other
materials and supplies.  Funds are also used to rebuild communities
and to repair structures destroyed by major disasters.
     ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies
that meets human need through organized emergency response.  It is
based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) in Geneva, Switzerland.  The ELCA is a member of
both the WCC and LWF.
    ACT and its members, including the Middle East Council of
Churches (with field offices in Iran) and Christian Aid (with field
offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan), are providing emergency relief
to people in need and on the move in Afghanistan.
    "Specific work includes providing water and sanitary materials,
shelter, blankets and medical assistance.  ACT members are also
distributing food provided by the United Nations World Food
Programme.  Oil, rice and sugar are being distributed through local
partners in Afghanistan," Ishida said.
    "The U.N. World Food Programme puts the number of people in
Afghanistan who rely on and are in urgent need of food aid at more
than 7 million people," he said.
    "Providing aid to those affected by the former Taliban regime
and the current U.S. military campaign continues.  Despite the
lingering security problems throughout the country, supplies are
reaching the targeted people," Ishida said.
    In southern Afghanistan, refugees are attempting to flee aerial
bombing and ground combat "that continues sporadically," Ishida said.
    "Most are unable to cross the border into Pakistan, which for
months has officially prohibited the entry of new arrivals from
Afghanistan.  Border guards are nonetheless letting some elderly and
women refugees across, and others are sneaking into the country on
foot via smuggler routes.  At least 60,000 internally-displaced
people remain inside Afghanistan," he said.
    For the past 24 years, Afghanistan has been hit by human-caused
and natural disasters that have severely affected the lives and
livelihoods of the entire population either directly or indirectly,
Ishida said.
    "The severity of the situation owes its origins to the
widespread destruction of the social and economic fabrics of the
Afghan society as a result of the ongoing armed conflict, extreme
poverty and absence of social services.  The collapse of state
institutions is a contributing factor to the worsening of the
humanitarian situation in Afghanistan," he said.
---
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

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html