wfn.org | [ENS] Episcopalians respond with generosity to tsunami relief

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@mail.epicom.org>]

Friday, January 14, 2005

Episcopalians respond with generosity to tsunami relief;
ERD partners with South Asia communities, continues international work

First Sunday in Lent to be EAM-Tsunami Rehabilitation Sunday

ENS 011405-2

Episcopalians respond with generosity to tsunami relief;
ERD partners with South Asia communities, continues international work

Memphis parish shares in raising $102,000 through interfaith effort

[ENS] Episcopalians -- individually and as congregations and dioceses --
continue to respond generously to appeals for help with the aftereffects
of
the devastating earthquake and tsunamis in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia,
and
Thailand on December 26.

An Episcopal parish in Memphis, Tennessee, was at the center of an
interfaith effort that raised more than $102,000 for the victims.
Hundreds
of volunteers from Church of the Holy Communion, St. Mary's Episcopal
School, Temple Israel and Idlewild Presbyterian Church spent more than
12
hours on January 5 collecting donations on street corners, serving
coffee
and snacks to contributors and counting donations. Funds will be
directed to
UNICEF and Direct Relief International. In addition, $3,698 was
collected
during Sunday services on January 2 to go to Episcopal Relief and
Development for tsunami victims' relief.

Following the fund drive, about 70 people attended an interfaith worship
service in Holy Communion's Quilling Chapel, led by youth from all three
congregations. Rabbi Meir Feldman and the Rev. Tom Momberg then led an
open-forum discussion on "God and the tsunami disaster" in Holy
Communion's
youth room.

Two neighboring Hawai'i parishes -- Christ Memorial Church in Kilauea on
the
island of Kauai and St. Thomas' Church in Hanalei on Kauai -- share the
same
priest and often join forces in outreach projects. In one week the
churches
raised $18,350, which will be used to provide clothing and to pay local
tailors in Bangkok.

In Minnesota, Bishop James Jelinek has urged more than 100 congregations
to
receive special offerings to aid the tsunami victims throughout the
month of
January. Jelinek has pledged $15,000 from his discretionary fund as
matching
funds for this ingathering.

On January 2, registered nurse Sandy Stone, a parishioner at St.
Bartholomew
Episcopal Church in Beaverton, Oregon, left with a team of other medical
professionals to assist with relief efforts. From their initial
destination
of Banda Aceh, the team took a 7-hour boat ride down the northwesterly
coast
line to reach Lamno Sumatra, a small village located close to the
epicenter
of the earthquake that caused the tsunami.

During a telephone conversation with her husband January 12, Stone
reported
that "the team is treating many survivors, they are experiencing many
aftershocks and the military has made their presence known by requiring
them
to be escorted everywhere they go." This is Stone's fifteenth trip
overseas
doing humanitarian medical relief work since 1979.

Within days of the disaster, Episcopal Relief and Development provided
initial emergency relief such as food, shelter, medicine, and other
critical
supplies. As part of a comprehensive relief and development program, ERD
is
now partnering with local communities to help them rebuild.

"We are sending a team to work with affected dioceses and partners on
the
ground," said Don Hammond, ERD vice president. "The team will assess the
best way to respond to both immediate and long-term needs," The trip
includes visits to Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India, as well as the
Andaman
and Nicobar Islands.

"The totality of this disaster is so enormous. Millions of lives have
been
ruined," said Mark Spina, ERD program director. "This tragedy hit people
where they live and where they work. It is particularly difficult for
societies that depend on the sea for their livelihood."

"The problems and conditions are complex and it will take years to
rebuild,"
agreed Sandra Swan, ERD president. "We want to work at a community level
to
help people strategize and take part in their own solution. We'll remain
with communities for several years and employ our resources to restore
lives
in South Asia."

ERD is planning an integrated program to repair infrastructure, such as
homes, schools, and clinics, and to work with local partners to identify
the
best ways to spur economic growth.

"It is easy to give boats and nets to people who've lost their
livelihood,"
said Spina, "but ERD is involved in strengthening communities from
within.
That's what makes our work sustainable."

Representing the Episcopal Church and ERD, Bishop Johncy Itty of Oregon
will
extend a pre-arranged trip to India later this month to visit
tsunami-affected areas in Chennai and Sri Lanka, offering solidarity and
observing the relief efforts of the church. "The earthquake and the
resulting tidal waves in the South Asia Pacific region have presented us
with an urgent need to work together," Itty said, in a pastoral letter
to
his diocese January 4.

The Episcopal Church's missioner for Asian American Ministries, the Rev.
Dr.
Winfred B. Vergara, and the Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry-New York have
been
in coordination with the staff of ERD in keeping up with news and
updates in
relief and rehabilitation efforts. Various EAM congregations and
ministries
-- such as the Church of our Savior (New York, NY); the Church of the
Holy
Spirit (Safety Harbor, Florida); the Metropolitan Filipino Ministry (New
York) -- have responded with fund-drives and are remitting their
contribution to ERD.

"We commend the generosity and readiness of our people," said Vergara.
"While global efforts are still being done, the focus in long-term is to
move from relief to rehabilitation, that of rebuilding homes and
communities
ravaged by the calamity, restoring the livelihood of fisher folks and
farmers, starting cooperatives and providing loans, etc. so that the
survivors can have the needed tools to get back on their feet and move
on."

In the first two and a half weeks following the tsunamis, ERD raised
$2.1
million for its South Asia Relief Fund and donations continue to come in
daily. ERD was able to send life-saving assistance to vulnerable
families
immediately after the disaster and before the outpouring of Episcopal
compassion from both individuals and churches.

In the meantime, ERD continues to work with other communities affected
by
war and natural disasters:

Sudan

ERD is working with partners to provide emergency assistance to Sudanese
in
the Darfur region of Sudan and neighboring Chad, after a 19-month
conflict
in the region which has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than
one
million people. More than 100,000 have fled across the border.

ERD is providing humanitarian assistance to refugees in three camps in
Farchana, located in central region of the Chad border. ERD is also
partnering with Church World Service to provide food, medicines,
emergency
health care, and access to clean water. People will receive supplies
such as
fortified cereal, oil, and soap. The program will also give families
tools
and seeds.

Through another partnership with Christian Outreach Relief and
Development,
vulnerable children and women will receive mental health care services.
Children will attend school at the camps and their mothers will receive
both
life skills and health education.

Haiti

The Haitian economy is one of the most underdeveloped in the world, with
a
per capital income of only $250 per year. Political unrest and violence
in
early 2004 crippled many communities. Several cities in northern Haiti
most
affected by the unrest are struggling to rebuild.

ERD's food security program gives people living in poverty skills,
training,
and education so they can earn money and support their families. During
and
following the post-coup crisis period, ERD continued to help the Diocese
of
Haiti with food security interventions and emergency assistance in areas
where the church can make a difference. As food supplies in Haiti became
scarcer, ERD helped arrange shipments of rice and cooking oil for
distribution by parishes to needy communities in western and southern
Haiti,
specifically in the Leogane and Port-au-Prince areas. Funds for
clothing,
emergency food, shelter and education needs of vulnerable populations
were
also provided to the Artibonite and northern regions, centered in the
cities
of Gonaives and Trou du Nord.

ERD is working in partnership with the diocese to supply vulnerable
children
and families with food such as rice, beans, and cooking oil. Through the
Hospital Ste. Croix in Leogane, families receive medicines and other
emergency health care that were halted during the prolonged political
and
humanitarian crisis. ERD is providing building materials to help
reconstruct
homes for families displaced by the violence.

For the long term, ERD and the Diocese of Haiti are building the Bishop
Tharp Business and Technology Institute in Les Cayes, Haiti's second
largest
city. The goal is to produce skilled technicians who participate in
creating
new businesses in Les Cayes and fill mid-to senior-level positions with
local companies. Modeled after associate degree programs in the United
States, the Institute's first year curriculum includes basic business
skills, literacy, and English as a Second Language training. In the
second
year, students attend college-level courses in business management and
computer systems. By developing a pool of educated and skilled workers,
the
Institute's business management and computer technology programs will
have a
profound impact on the entire Les Cayes region. A broader goal is to
attract
new businesses to the region and bring further opportunities for
economic
development.

Iran

In December 2003, a devastating earthquake in southeastern Iran killed
almost 45,000 people and destroying almost 70% of homes, businesses, and
hospitals in the area. Many of the people in the city of Bam and
surrounding
villages were left homeless as well.

ERD's initial emergency assistance gave critical supplies such as tents,
blankets, medicine, and water to affected families. As the city
rebuilds,
ERD is committed to long-term rehabilitation in Iran through a
partnership
with Mercy Corps. ERD is also building temporary shelter for displaced
families and constructing schools and health clinics. The program will
renew
damaged agriculture and repair the city's irrigation system. Families
will
receive psychological and trauma counseling.

ERD is helping reestablish at least 25 health care centers in the
region's
rural communities. The centers will offer health education, vaccines,
maternal and child healthcare, and basic disease control such as
sanitation,
to over 5,400 people. Before the earthquakes, the centers were a main
source
of health care for the city's rural population. Local health promoters
will
be hired to work with communities, families, and social service
providers,
which include caring for the chronically ill.

Honduras

ERD has committed a little over $800,000 to continued work with people
left
homeless by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. With these funds, ERD is currently
working on a 112 house housing site in Amarateca that will house
families
whose homes were swept away in Tegucigalpa and who were then shunted
from
shelter to shelter in search of permanent housing since the storm. The
Episcopal Church's Amarateca site will also include a school, a church
and
clinic, and facilities for water, sewage, electricity, and rain water
drainage.

The population, originally settled in an area known as Nueva Esperanza
(a
neighborhood of Tegucigalpa), lost 3,000 of its members when the
hillside
collapsed due to heavy rains. The Episcopal Church has been accompanying
them, feeding, and tending to them ever since.

ERD got involved with Amarateca in the fall of 2002 after completing its
community of over 220 houses in northern Honduras, outside of
Tegucigalpa.
ERD continues to accompany these very same families to whom it is
committed
even though it has begun a new housing program. The burgeoning community
of
Faith, Hope and Joy now has over 300 children in its school, an active
clinic which sees 100 patients a week, a social worker stationed in the
community, and numerous church-led community activities. The population
has
swollen in the area of Faith, Hope and Joy to serve about 3,500 people.

El Salvador

ERD has been working alongside the Episcopal Church in El Salvador since
earthquakes destroyed 90% of the rural infrastructure in January and
February 2001. In response to the devastation, ERD began a $2.2 million
integrated community development project that includes housing, schools,
water provision, electricity, psycho-social counseling, medical care,
and
economic investment in four sites in the country. Two housing sites have
already been completed in Izalco and El Congo, which house about 450
men,
women and children; three schools have been built or rebuilt; and the
medical program has recently opened its 12th clinic. ERD has also
rebuilt
the economic livelihoods of farmers in about 20 additional villages with
investments in new livestock and training and vaccination for animals
among
other kinds of agricultural support.

- - - - -

First Sunday in Lent to be EAM-Tsunami Rehabilitation Sunday

The first Sunday in Lent -- February 13, 2005 -- has been designated by
Episcopal Asian American Ministries as EAM-Tsunami Rehabilitation
Sunday.

"On this particular Sunday, we appeal to congregations to have a Special
Collection or a Second Offering and designate the collection towards the
work of tsunami rehabilitation," said the Rev. Winfred B. Vergara, EAM's
missioner. "We are asking that you include a Prayer/Intercession for the
victims of the tsunami and for the efforts of those who minister to the
affected communities." Checks may be sent to "Episcopal Relief and
Rehabilitation-South Asia" in care of the Asian American Ministries
Office,
The Episcopal Church Center, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017 or
directly to the South Asia Relief Fund at www.er-d.org or
1-800-334-7626,
ext. 5129. Gifts can also be mailed to: Episcopal Relief and
Development,
South Asia Relief Fund, PO Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101.

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