Christian World Service partner HQ for typhoon relief 27/6/08
The typhoon that upturned a ferry in the Philippines, leaving 850 passengers dead or missing, also hit a long-standing Christian World Service (CWS) partner. Typhoon Fengshen thrashed the Philippines with 120km hour winds and torrential rain on June 21 and 22, leaving a reported 620 dead. This number will rise.

In the Numancia region, Aklan Province, Central Philippines, flash floods killed 120 and resulted in water pouring desk-high through the offices of Developers Foundation, a community organization and CWS partner.

In a June 27 update to CWS, Developers Foundation executive director Bert Narraval reported widespread devastation among the poor rural and coastal communities around Numancia municipality, Aklan’s hardest-hit area. Oxfam GB, which is assisting in the local relief operation operation, says Aklan is one of the four worst-affected provinces in the country.

Developers Foundation staff all survived the typhoon. Some have foot wounds but the biggest health effect is shock, leaving staff afraid to see rain clouds forming or to hear rain, Mr Narraval says.

He says 60 percent of Numancia was hit by the flash floods in the typhoon’s wake. Water from five municipalities in the area drains into the nearby low-lying Aklan River, creating flash floods and destroying nearby houses. Water ran floor to ceiling through some homes. The provincial health department says the provisional number of people in Aklan killed, injured or who lost homes is 165,630 – just over a third of Aklan’s population.

Nearly a week after the typhoon, Developers Foundation is still unable to fully assess the damage as communication remains poor. Many roads are impassable, preventing access to the most severely affected areas. Power is still off in many parts of Numancia. Drinking and cleaning water are in severe shortage - some water is available from handpumps but its safety is questionable. Bottled water has increased 400 percent in price.

Numancia’s mayor bought some rice for residents but this will last only one or two days. Only 20 percent of the provincial calamity relief fund is left. The main provincial hospital is filled with mud and hospital services have been reduced to primary care, leaving staff unable to do operations or deliver babies. It has also lost use of substantial equipment like the CT scanner and the x-ray machine. Evacuees in the area are living with relatives. The major problem now is people’s inability to work - the destruction of crops has paralysed the local economy. Even groceries are hard to find.

Mud and silt pollute houses, offices, and public buildings, and the commercial centre of town is still closed. Although banks are also closed, Developers Foundation can access funds through a bank in an unaffected neighbouring province and also buy food and materials in neighbouring provinces.

The office of Developers Foundation has become headquarters for the provincial relief coordination, as the main government building is badly damaged, mud-soaked, and computers and files are wrecked. The Developers Foundation office is being run on a generator.

CWS has worked with Developers Foundation since 1993. Its programmes are aimed at giving women a louder voice in local governments and social service agencies, and economic development initiatives. The programme also works to prevent damage to the environment, and to stop violence and discrimination against women. It supports 500 people directly and 2200 indirectly but this work has been set back by the typhoon.

Mr Narraval says Developers Foundation is working hard to ensure the response operation is well coordinated and measures are in place to ensure no duplication of relief goods or relief work. As local people are ready and willing to work, agencies are gradually beginning to provide drinking water, clear roads, and restore electricity and water supplies. Resident’s priorities are delivering drinking water and rice, supplying tarpaulins and nails for temporary roofing, and providing medicines, vitamins and infant formula.

It could take the province two years to fully recover. However, CWS staff say Developers Foundation is an excellent base for the relief effort. “Developers Foundation will respond effectively to the challenge. It’s very well set up and connected, very dynamic and interested in getting results,” CWS international programmes team member Nick Clarke says.

CWS has sent an initial grant of $6300 to Developers Foundation to support relief efforts. Once the damage is fully assessed, the need will be much greater. If you would like to help, CWS is receiving donations online, by phoning 0800 74 73 72 or PO Box 22 652 Christchurch.

World Environment Day Demands Urgent Action 4/6/08
People in poor countries at risk of rising sea levels will thank Wellington people for World Environment Day efforts, a development agency says. As well as playing international host to tomorrow’s (June 5) event, Wellingtonians will be taking steps to help some of the most vulnerable people overseas, Christian World Service (CWS) says.

National director Jonathan Fletcher says that while most New Zealanders are worried about the future impact of global warming, it is already affecting our neighbours. Some of the world’s poorest island and coastal nations now feel the brunt of global warming through rising sea levels, increased land and sea temperatures and extreme weather.

As a development agency working in the Pacific, CWS knows the impact in that region.

“The most vulnerable people are affected by our actions. CWS is pleased to see New Zealanders looking at how they can reduce their contribution to climate change.”

In 2006, the people of the low-lying Carteret atolls of Papua New Guinea were the first to be officially evacuated because of climate change. Like the Carterets, the 26km square Tuvalu is also sensitive to changes in sea levels.

A Tuvalu church minister, Reverend Tafue Lusama, says that while developed nations quibble over what to do, Tuvalu is drowning. “Climate change is not a future concern. It is an immediate regional, and for Tuvalu, national security threat.” Over the last 10 years the high tide in Tuvalu has increased at least 25cm, he says.

Tuvalu sits on average 1.8m above sea level. It is 4.5m above sea level at its highest point. Sixty per cent of ground water is affected by sea salt, forcing some people to grow root crops in buckets, he said. Most Tuvaluans who have left have relocated to Auckland.

Last year, the world’s most respected body on climate change research, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made its strongest expression against global warming. Climate change was "very likely" to have a human cause, it said.

Depending on how effectively we act, earth temperatures would probably increase between 1.8degC and 4degC by the end of the century. Sea levels would rise between 28cm and 43cm, and global warming was likely to influence the intensity of tropical storms, the panel said.
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Burma: Aid needed 8/5/08
Christian World Service has expanded its emergency response to a full scale appeal after Cyclone Nargis hit large sections of coastal Burma.

An estimated one million people have been made homeless by the worst cyclone in the region since 1991. So far a reported 21,500 people have been reported dead and another 40,000 missing although the true toll may never be known in a country that has not held a full census since 1937.

The storm that first hit Burma in the evening of May 2 struck the country’s main agricultural region, the Irrawaddy delta. Profiteering is already starting to grip those coping in the storm’s aftermath, with prices on food, fuel and building supplies shooting up 300 percent.

Christian World Service has received initial reports of the widespread devastation from local organisations working through ACT International (Action by Churches Together). Without power or telephone lines communication is difficult. CWS is anticipating receiving a fuller assessment with the arrival of regional international emergency response personnel today.

“The first priority is food,” says Jonathan Fletcher, National Director. ACT partners are already distributing the small supplies available to them and are looking to source larger quantities in a way that doesn’t adversely affect local food markets in light of the food crisis that existed prior to the devastation.

“In such wide scale disasters it is critical to work with local people who know the situation best - even more so in Burma where the military government’s control over the local economy, political life and communications has hindered development for so long,” he adds.

Darfur: Five Years On
In April, the world marked five years of ongoing conflict in Darfur. Despite the publicity, international action has failed to protect the millions of people caught up in the humanitarian crisis. They are dependent on aid for their survival as a political solution remains out of reach. CWS is continuing to support relief efforts and asking that the people of Darfur not be forgotten. A workable peace agreement must be found so people can return to their homes and rebuild their lives.

Ethnic violence in Darfur, western Sudan has displaced over 2.5 million people since 2003. In the last year alone, 250,000 people were forced from their homes. Fleeing for their lives, they are now living in camps, hosted by poor communities without the resources to support them. Over 400,000 people have already died.

CWS is supporting the ACT International/Caritas Internationalis Darfur response, which is assisting more than 250,000 people in South and West Darfur. This represents the vast majority of the world’s Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches. Despite ongoing insecurity and funding difficulties, the relief effort is continuing. ACT Caritas is providing food, safe water services, latrines, health clinic, hygiene training, schools, shelter, household necessities, trauma counselling and a variety of training courses including peace building, livelihood skills and farming. In addition to immediate aid, the organisations are committed to building capacity of local organisations and people so that post conflict, they are able to rebuild their communities. But until they get that chance and a peaceful solution is reached, humanitarian aid must be ongoing to ensure Darfurians have the right to life. The CWS Darfur Appeal remains open. To donate phone 0800 74 73 72 or click here
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