Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Silver Spring, Maryland--Seven months after Cyclone Nargis devastated the Irrawaddy Delta in southern Myanmar, killing at least 140,000 people and affecting an estimated 2.4 million others, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is expanding relief efforts in vulnerable areas to meet the long-term needs of residents in the region.
In collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), ADRA Myanmar is increasing food distribution activities by nearly doubling the number of targeted communities receiving food aid, from 106 villages to 197. ADRA expects that this increase in aid will benefit an additional 48,000 people, according to Douglas Havens, country director for ADRA Myanmar. This expansion comes just months after ADRA became the largest WPF partner in Myanmar, distributing in June as much as 40 percent of WFP commodities nationally.
Since Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in early May, ADRA has provided aid to 74,000 survivors in Myaungmya and Labutta located in the Irrawaddy Division, implementing more than $4.7 million in humanitarian assistance, and providing another $4.6 million in emergency food and non-food items for survivors.
ADRA also recently won a contract with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to build latrines for schools and clinics, and plans are underway to conduct added waste management, sanitation, and hygiene promotion activities to help more than 60,000 residents in the Labutta area.
Extensive work is being conducted to repair and rebuild infrastructure, particularly roads, bridges, jetties, clinics and schools that were extensively damaged during the storm. Already ADRA has installed more than 30 water purification systems to provide additional access to clean drinking water for residents, and is distributing 10,000 water filters and tablets in the targeted region. ADRA is also cleaning ponds, planting coconut trees, and rehabilitating wells.
“Since the cyclone initially hit, a lot has changed,” said Teddy Dinh, associate country director for ADRA Myanmar. “In the beginning, we were focused on basic survival, providing emergency supplies, such as food, shelter, medicine, and meeting other immediate needs. Now, we have shifted into the recovery phase.”
Since the start of this new phase, which could last for one or two years, according to Dinh, ADRA has been actively working to implement more permanent signs of rehabilitation in the region, building stronger, more disaster-resistant homes, helping families recover their livelihoods through the provision of agricultural and fishing tools, replacing livestock, planting home gardens, and reforesting mangrove trees, a natural barrier against strong winds and waves.
ADRA has also set up a large-scale health project to meet the needs of more than 40,000 people through four stationary and mobile clinics in the Labutta district.
When Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar on May 2, 2008, ADRA was among the first non-governmental organizations to respond, providing immediate aid for survivors in the remote Pyinsalu islands in the Irrawaddy Delta, the region hardest hit by the storm. Traveling by boat after surviving the powerful ocean surge, Dinh and his team provided food for other survivors, shared their own clothing, and helped bury the dead.
"They say that when a cyclone hits, it is not a disaster, but an event," said Havens. "How you respond to it determines whether it becomes a disaster. The lessons that we have learned from this disaster have made us better able to respond where it is most needed when the next disaster occurs.”
To send your contribution to ADRA’s Emergency Response Fund, please contact ADRA at 1.800.424.ADRA (2372) or give online at www.adra.org.
ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race, or ethnicity.
Additional information about ADRA can be found at adra.org.
Author: Nadia McGill
Media Contact: John Torres
Senior Public Relations Manager
ADRA International
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
Phone: 301.680.6376
E-mail: Media.Inquiries@adra.org
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