Hello all,
Recently many people have been asking about the needs of the ILFE, in response to the flooding in Chinandega. This is the summary of disaster assistance needs, drafted by ILFE and the regional representative of the ELCA. I will update this blog if changes in needs occur, but for now this is the most up to date information. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Que les vaya bien.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE NEEDS OF ILFE COMMUNITIES
IN WESTERN NICARAGUA
Where Disaster Assistance Is Needed
Currently, ILFE has a pastoral presence in fourteen (14) different rural communities in Chinandega, the department which was severely affected by nearly two weeks of constant downpours (Oct. 10 - 21). Rainfall amounts were nearly three times greater than the seasonal averages for western Nicaragua.
- Three of the 14 ILFE communities are located in the municipality of Villanueva (Aquespalapa, El Jicote and El Bonete), an area that was particularly hard-hit. Heavy rains not only destroyed crops, but also caused two major river systems to overflow. Widespread flooding damaged homes and drowned cattle and other farm animals. ILFE has given special priority to these communities in a disaster assistance appeal to ACT International (Action by Churches Together) with reasonable prospects for funding from churches, ecumenical and humanitarian agencies in Europe and the United States (including ELCA).
- However, the remaining 11 communities accompanied by ILFE are not included in the ACT appeal. Homes in these communities did not suffer significant flood damage, but crop losses were near-total. Those communities are: La Flor, Los Balcones, Los Limones, El Caimito, El Rodeito, Enmanuel, and Sagrada Familia (in the municipality of Somotillo); and Corinto, Estambul, Grecia I, and Las Veinte (on the western outskirts of Chinandega city). ILFE is requesting support from its network of ELCA companion synods and sister congregations for the 350 families living in these communities.
Nature of Assistance Needed
The 350 families living in these 11 communities are facing severe food shortages and potential famine conditions (a looming prospect for all of western Nicaragua). The rains hit just prior to the November harvest. Severe crop losses carry a double impact for peasant farmers and their families: they neither have food to eat nor seeds for the next planting season. Consequently, two principal forms of assistance will be needed:
- Food Assistance: ILFE projects the need to provide basic food packets to 350 families for a period of up to six months. The current cost of each food packet is $35 and includes the following: corn (20 lb.), rice (10 lb.), beans (10 lb.), sugar (5 lb.), cereal mix (2 lb.), coffee (2 lb.), cooking oil (1 liter bottle) and laundry soap (pkg. of 3 balls). These basic provisions will feed an average family for 2 weeks. Absent major improvements in the food security situation, affected families will need up to 12 food packets over the next 6 months (2x per month for 6 months).
- Seeds for Replanting: In order for peasant farmers to replant next May (just prior to the onset of the 2008 rainy season), they will need seeds since the recent rains not only destroyed their year-end harvest but also their traditional source of seeds. ILFE proposes to provide each farm family with a one-time donation of seeds that will enable them to plant both basic grains (corn, sorghum & beans) as well as vegetables and fruits (squash, bananas/plantains, fruit trees, cucumbers, string beans, watermelon, green peppers, hot peppers and tomatoes). The projected cost of an agricultural recovery kit containing the appropriate quantity of these seed varieties is $55.
How Concerned Individuals and Congregations Can Help
Food Assistance: One-time donations/monthly pledges of
$ 35 Two-week supply of staple foods for a family
$ 70 Month’s supply of staple foods for a family
$ 420 Six-month supply of staple foods for a family
Replanting Assistance: One-time donations to purchase seeds:
$ 55 Seed varieties so that a peasant farmer can replant in the spring of 2008
******************************************************************
If you are not part of a congregation that is planning to send donations through another route, donations can be made directly to relief efforts in Nicaragua through the ELCA website, under "Disaster Response" link. The following information is taken from this webpage. http://www.elca.org/disaster/article.asp?id=78&mode=3
BY MAIL
Make your check or money order out to:
ELCA Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
To designate your giving to this disaster, write "Nicaragua - Hurricane Felix and floods" on your check's memo line.
BY PHONE
(with a major credit card)
800.638.3522
To designate your giving to this disaster, mention "Nicaragua - Hurricane Felix and floods" when you call.
ON THE WEB
(with a major credit card over a secure connection): by following this link: https://www.elca.org/scriptlib/DS/giving/featuredgiving.asp?pageid=2
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Tropical Storm Barbara
Nicaragua has hit another rough spot in the road, and once again finds itself in a declared state of emergency. Several communities in the northwestern part of the country are experiencing severe flooding, due to Tropical Storm Barbara. This has been a terrible blow to the country, especially considering that Hurricane Felix swept through just barely over a month ago, destroying crops, homes, and taking lives.
The saying, “when it rains, it pours” couldn’t be more accurate here in Nicaragua. I have been here for almost a month now, catching only the end of the rainy season, but even in Managua when it rains it can be extreme. During the rainy season it rains pretty much everyday, down pouring and then stopping quickly. Streets flood, people can’t leave their homes for a few hours, and life outside of shelter is temporarily put on pause. While the rain certainly affects people in the city, its effects are multiplied in the more rural communities where there are no paved roads. Dirt roads turn into muddy rivers that you couldn’t cross even if you had all the ganas in the world (even if you wanted to).
Currently, there are about a dozen communities of the Lutheran Church that have been affected by severe flooding in the region of Chinandega. The official Action by Churches Together (ACT) report cites 3,600 people affected by the flooding, with over 2,000 people evacuated into temporary housing outside of the region. Several of these communities were also hit hard back in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch came through the country. In efforts to rebuild those communities almost ten years ago, the church went out and built homes that were capable of surviving harsh weather. Fortunately, this time around the houses themselves, and the people who live in them, have stood strong during these past few days of terrible rains. Unfortunately, most everything in these houses did not. People have lost food, clothing, furniture and belongings, and farmers once again lost crops and animals. Cars and cattle were swept away in the rains. Most of the buildings are still standing, but almost everything that was once inside of them is gone and will need to be rebuilt.
The situation began to get serious this past weekend, and yesterday (Sunday) Bishop Victoria went to Chinandega to assess the situation. Today (Monday), the church, working with the relief agency ACT (Action by Churches Together) purchased food items and packaged them to send to Chinandega. The packages, which are enough to last a family 15 days, include beans, rice, sugar, soap, corn, cooking oil, matches, oatmeal and coffee. We will deliver the packages to the communities tomorrow (Tuesday), in order to address their immediate short-term need. The pastors of the communities, along with at least one representative of the community board from outside the church, will have assessed the situation and assist with the distribution of food, giving priority to those most in need. In crisis situations like this, food and relief items are distributed to those with the largest need, regardless of whether they are part of the Lutheran Church.
The short-term need for food and supplies is being addressed, but considering that all of their current crops have been lost, thousands are now left without a steady source of food for the months to come. ACT and ILFE are working on plans to sustain them in the near future. As far as the longer term goes, the best-case scenario would be that conditions in November, the last month of the year to plant crops, are adequate. That would then allow the crops to be harvested in February. If November conditions are not adequate for planting, it will be even longer before the communities have the opportunity to see a sustainable harvest.
The communities of San Luis and La Carbonera in Somoto were also affected, but have not been inundated themselves. At this time they are unreachable because the roads to get there are inaccessible. They can survive for now on the food and provisions they have in their houses, provided that the rains do not worsen in the next few days. If conditions worsen, well… we’ll take it one step at a time.
The following is the translation of the informative letter Bishop Victoria, bishop and president of the Lutheran Church of Nicaragua, sent out to alert community leaders:
Managua, October 13, 2007
Dear brothers and sisters:
Once again I am writing, to share with you the sad situation that our Lutheran communities of the west are finding themselves in, especially in Chinandega. This whole week has been one of constant rain. They say that continually low pressure in Pacific Central America is causing this period of rain.
We are very worried because according to the meteorological service, tropical storm “Barbara” is already being felt in Nicaragua. As of right now, we have eleven flooded communities, nine of them without communication; some of which have been impossible to get to because the rivers have overflowed and the routes to enter into the communities are flooded.
For now, we are trying to prepare emergency packages that include basic food and some items of clothing.
Brothers and sisters of mine: thank you for reading my account, of which most is sad news, because it is hard for me to understand why the misfortunes fall upon the smallest, the excluded, the poorest.
I don’t lose my faith in our God of life, that He will move in the hearts of everyone to help this population that is suffering the ravages of rain.
SOLIDARITY IS THE PRESENCE OF GOD ON EARTH!!!!
With love, Your sister in Christ,
Bishop Victoria Cortez
President
That is the latest news for now. I’ll post more information as it comes along. The church is now asking for your thoughts and prayers to be with the people of Nicaragua, especially those affected by the rains, as the end of the road to recovery from a long string of natural disasters seems to be continually just out of reach.
The saying, “when it rains, it pours” couldn’t be more accurate here in Nicaragua. I have been here for almost a month now, catching only the end of the rainy season, but even in Managua when it rains it can be extreme. During the rainy season it rains pretty much everyday, down pouring and then stopping quickly. Streets flood, people can’t leave their homes for a few hours, and life outside of shelter is temporarily put on pause. While the rain certainly affects people in the city, its effects are multiplied in the more rural communities where there are no paved roads. Dirt roads turn into muddy rivers that you couldn’t cross even if you had all the ganas in the world (even if you wanted to).
Currently, there are about a dozen communities of the Lutheran Church that have been affected by severe flooding in the region of Chinandega. The official Action by Churches Together (ACT) report cites 3,600 people affected by the flooding, with over 2,000 people evacuated into temporary housing outside of the region. Several of these communities were also hit hard back in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch came through the country. In efforts to rebuild those communities almost ten years ago, the church went out and built homes that were capable of surviving harsh weather. Fortunately, this time around the houses themselves, and the people who live in them, have stood strong during these past few days of terrible rains. Unfortunately, most everything in these houses did not. People have lost food, clothing, furniture and belongings, and farmers once again lost crops and animals. Cars and cattle were swept away in the rains. Most of the buildings are still standing, but almost everything that was once inside of them is gone and will need to be rebuilt.
The situation began to get serious this past weekend, and yesterday (Sunday) Bishop Victoria went to Chinandega to assess the situation. Today (Monday), the church, working with the relief agency ACT (Action by Churches Together) purchased food items and packaged them to send to Chinandega. The packages, which are enough to last a family 15 days, include beans, rice, sugar, soap, corn, cooking oil, matches, oatmeal and coffee. We will deliver the packages to the communities tomorrow (Tuesday), in order to address their immediate short-term need. The pastors of the communities, along with at least one representative of the community board from outside the church, will have assessed the situation and assist with the distribution of food, giving priority to those most in need. In crisis situations like this, food and relief items are distributed to those with the largest need, regardless of whether they are part of the Lutheran Church.
The short-term need for food and supplies is being addressed, but considering that all of their current crops have been lost, thousands are now left without a steady source of food for the months to come. ACT and ILFE are working on plans to sustain them in the near future. As far as the longer term goes, the best-case scenario would be that conditions in November, the last month of the year to plant crops, are adequate. That would then allow the crops to be harvested in February. If November conditions are not adequate for planting, it will be even longer before the communities have the opportunity to see a sustainable harvest.
The communities of San Luis and La Carbonera in Somoto were also affected, but have not been inundated themselves. At this time they are unreachable because the roads to get there are inaccessible. They can survive for now on the food and provisions they have in their houses, provided that the rains do not worsen in the next few days. If conditions worsen, well… we’ll take it one step at a time.
The following is the translation of the informative letter Bishop Victoria, bishop and president of the Lutheran Church of Nicaragua, sent out to alert community leaders:
Managua, October 13, 2007
Dear brothers and sisters:
Once again I am writing, to share with you the sad situation that our Lutheran communities of the west are finding themselves in, especially in Chinandega. This whole week has been one of constant rain. They say that continually low pressure in Pacific Central America is causing this period of rain.
We are very worried because according to the meteorological service, tropical storm “Barbara” is already being felt in Nicaragua. As of right now, we have eleven flooded communities, nine of them without communication; some of which have been impossible to get to because the rivers have overflowed and the routes to enter into the communities are flooded.
For now, we are trying to prepare emergency packages that include basic food and some items of clothing.
Brothers and sisters of mine: thank you for reading my account, of which most is sad news, because it is hard for me to understand why the misfortunes fall upon the smallest, the excluded, the poorest.
I don’t lose my faith in our God of life, that He will move in the hearts of everyone to help this population that is suffering the ravages of rain.
SOLIDARITY IS THE PRESENCE OF GOD ON EARTH!!!!
With love, Your sister in Christ,
Bishop Victoria Cortez
President
That is the latest news for now. I’ll post more information as it comes along. The church is now asking for your thoughts and prayers to be with the people of Nicaragua, especially those affected by the rains, as the end of the road to recovery from a long string of natural disasters seems to be continually just out of reach.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Just the beginning
I’ve arrived in Nicaragua and everything is going well. Life is busy these days, as Rachel (who is finishing her two years here and is now training me in on the job) transfers her knowledge to me during her last couple weeks. My job has a million descriptions, but I’m the ELCA /South Dakota Synod Representative/ Delegation Coordinator/ English Communications Liaison for the Lutheran Church of Nicaragua (La Iglesia Luterana de Fe y Esperanza), among other things. One of my primary jobs is to plan and organize trips for different groups that come from the US to visit. Once they get here, I am also their guide and translator while they traveling around the country. The delegations that visit usually go out to different church communities to participate in home stays for a night or two, so tomorrow I’ll head out for a couple days to orient myself to some of these communities before actually taking a delegation. I’m currently working on plans for getting a medical delegation to the Atlantic coast to have clinics where last month’s Hurricane Felix hit the hardest, so that should be an interesting trip. I’ve also started working with the youth/young adult group at the central church. Their major project for the time being is CONCASIDA (The Central American Conference on HIV-AIDS), so for now I’m tagging along to see how they run their show. I have an office at the central building, so when I’m not with delegations, you’ll find me in there, listening to salsa music and working on a variety of things. Random written translation projects, email communication with delegations, weekly meetings with all of the pastors from various communities, and the CONCASIDA drama team I just joined, to name a few.
In other news, I’ve settled into a house across town with Rachel and a couple new volunteers from Germany. I now find myself in the midst of three different cultures and languages, but it somehow blends together. I was initiated into the Bavarian culture with a home-cooked meal of schweinebraten, kraut, and knödel last Saturday. My housemates are really fun. Approximately one hour arriving in Managua, they had already planted a banana tree, some type of flowering tree, birds of paradise, ginger flowers, and European tomatoes on our back patio. They are now looking for vegetable seeds so they can grow their own cabbage to make sauerkraut. No, I’m not lying.
I’m exploring my way around town and have become quite skilled at some of the best strategies for stabling myself while standing on a city bus that exceeds capacity by about 97 people. I am also learning the careful balance between watching the ground while I walk so I don’t fall into the four-foot open rain gutters, and watching what’s going on around me. If you weren’t watching, you could literally disappear into the earth. Seriously.
The hand-washing laundry skills that I picked up in Tanzania are once again coming in handy; as washing machines are not something you see much of here. Nicaragua might be one step up on Tanzania though, and the addition of the washboard is something I’m getting used to. I generally just stick to a bucket and my sun-scented soap. I was not previously aware that the sun had a fragrance, but the Xedex Multiacción company has apparently been able to capture it in a detergent. I guess you learn something new every day.
Well, friends, I believe that is all I have in me for now. Feel free to send email and fill me in on the happenings of the northern part of the Americas. I’ll update this blog as often as possible, and if you have questions, comments or suggestions for what I should write about, just let me know.
In other news, I’ve settled into a house across town with Rachel and a couple new volunteers from Germany. I now find myself in the midst of three different cultures and languages, but it somehow blends together. I was initiated into the Bavarian culture with a home-cooked meal of schweinebraten, kraut, and knödel last Saturday. My housemates are really fun. Approximately one hour arriving in Managua, they had already planted a banana tree, some type of flowering tree, birds of paradise, ginger flowers, and European tomatoes on our back patio. They are now looking for vegetable seeds so they can grow their own cabbage to make sauerkraut. No, I’m not lying.
I’m exploring my way around town and have become quite skilled at some of the best strategies for stabling myself while standing on a city bus that exceeds capacity by about 97 people. I am also learning the careful balance between watching the ground while I walk so I don’t fall into the four-foot open rain gutters, and watching what’s going on around me. If you weren’t watching, you could literally disappear into the earth. Seriously.
The hand-washing laundry skills that I picked up in Tanzania are once again coming in handy; as washing machines are not something you see much of here. Nicaragua might be one step up on Tanzania though, and the addition of the washboard is something I’m getting used to. I generally just stick to a bucket and my sun-scented soap. I was not previously aware that the sun had a fragrance, but the Xedex Multiacción company has apparently been able to capture it in a detergent. I guess you learn something new every day.
Well, friends, I believe that is all I have in me for now. Feel free to send email and fill me in on the happenings of the northern part of the Americas. I’ll update this blog as often as possible, and if you have questions, comments or suggestions for what I should write about, just let me know.
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