The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is expanding its response in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, committing $265,500 in emergency funds for immediate disaster relief, and providing food assistance and medical supplies to communities in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta region in southern Myanmar. These funds are complemented by an additional $100,000 from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
In an effort to assist survivors, the ADRA network is funding an emergency response project that will provide food rations (rice, pulses, and salt), temporary shelter materials (tarpaulins, bamboo, and nylon rope), 5-gallon water containers, kitchen sets (bowls, spoons, and cups), tool kits, and hygiene kits to approximately 20,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who escaped low-lying villages in the delta region during the May 2 and 3 storm. Donors to this project include ADRA International, ADRA supporting offices in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Portugal, Netherlands, Japan, and HELP International.
Working in conjunction with the World Food Programme (WFP), ADRA has already distributed 25 metric tons of rice and power biscuits to an estimated 50,000 IDPs in Labutta, a rice-trading town in the delta, which has become a refuge for thousands of people. Additionally, the distribution of 45 metric tons of rice is currently underway in 14 Labutta IDP camps where approximately 20,000 people have taken refuge. In the Piensalu islands south of Labutta, a separate ADRA food distribution program has provided nearly 5,000 lbs. of rice and a supply of clean drinking water to affected villages. Food distributions are expected to increase in coming days.
ADRA International, through a partnership with World Emergency Relief (WER), is shipping 20 medicine packs containing medical supplies valued at approximately $129,000 to be used by a medical team already providing first aid assistance to residents of an isolated part of the delta. Each pack provides about 1,500 treatments from mixed medicines, antiseptics, and antibiotics. In a separate shipment donated by Heart to Heart International, ADRA has sent 150 lbs. of medical supplies, including broad-spectrum antibiotics, analgesics, vitamins, topical creams, oral rehydration salts, anti-amebic drugs, bandages, and disposable vinyl gloves. Additional donations include 250 medical kits provided by Germany-based Johanniter International Assistance, which have already been transported to the disaster area, together with a new shipment of plates, spoons, and cooking equipment for IDP camps.
ADRA has also received water filtration units capable of providing clean water for 46,000 people a day, three small water systems that will help purify water for up to 2,000 people each, and one million water purification tables. These items, donated by Global Medic and Muslim Aid, are currently being delivered to Labutta, where residents can only fetch water from a 15-acre pond. Training for the water equipment will also be provided. In the last few days, ADRA has distributed 10,000 sets of plates, spoons, cups, and other kitchen equipment for cooking rice to 10,000 IDPs in various camps in Labutta. Another shipment is expected to be delivered May 13, the same day that ADRA will transport and distribute 20 large tents and tarpaulins donated by SDC.
Downed trees, debris, and widespread flooding have hampered transportation efforts to and from affected areas in the delta. In many instances, reaching villages has only been possible by boat. On May 12, ADRA brought approximately 250 people by boat to Labutta from remote low-lying areas.
ADRA’s emergency response is centered in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta region, which suffered the most damage as a result of cyclonic winds that reached more than 120 mph (193 km/h). Although officially at least 31,000 people have died and 29,000 remain missing, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates, as of May 13, that between 63,000 to 101,000 people have died, while some 220,000 remain missing, and at least 1.5 million have been severely affected and left vulnerable to diseases.
On Sunday, May 4, a state of emergency was declared across five regions, including Yangon, Irrawaddy, Pegu, Karen and Mon, in which 24 million people live. Today, the most urgently needed items include food, water purification supplies, plastic sheeting, cooking sets, mosquito nets, fuel, and emergency health kits.
ADRA is present in 125 countries, providing community development and emergency management without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race, or ethnicity.
Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.