ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY INTERNATIONAL

SILVER SPRING, Md. — As part of a continued effort to provide improved temporary housing to displaced earthquake survivors in Chile, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) launched a new project to assist families in two of the most affected cities.

“The earthquake has destroyed so much,” said Jorge Alé, country director for ADRA Chile.  “People who lost everything are still trying to make do, living in tents, or staying with friends and family.”

The new project, which is being implemented in the south central cities of Talca and Concepción with funding from the Government of Germany and ADRA Germany, will build temporary shelters for 100 families, or 500 people, between the months of April and June. Each pre-fabricated shelter will be made of timber and is expected to last between two to three years.

“They are designed to provide protection for displaced families while their homes are rebuilt,” added Alé. 

ADRA is working with local authorities in the targeted region to identify and select beneficiary families according to their needs.

This latest project follows the recent start of the Semi Permanent Shelter Program (SPSP), which was launched in early April with financial backing from the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) and ADRA International. By its completion in September, this 1.4 million project will provide semi-permanent housing for approximately 5,000 displaced residents in the country’s central coastal region, and give better access to sanitation facilities.

According to a report by the United Nations, more than 1.8 million people have been affected by the earthquake and resulting tsunami in the country’s four most affected regions. More than 370,000 homes suffered considerable damage or have been completely destroyed.

To support ADRA’s response, send your contribution to the Chile Earthquake Response Fund at www.adra.org, or contact ADRA at 1.800.424.ADRA (2372). To donate via mobile phone in the U.S. text the word “CHILE” to 27138, add a space followed by the amount you want to give (e.g. “CHILE 50). You will receive a call shortly to process your credit card donation.

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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.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.

SILVER SPRING, Md. —In flood-prone areas of central Bangladesh, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is working to reduce extreme poverty by improving disaster preparedness and strengthening community resilience against the massive floods that inundate the country every year.

“In a community where over 60 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty, any flooding makes them even more vulnerable,” said Elidon Bardhi, country director for ADRA Bangladesh. “When severe flooding happens, people do not have access to work and income.  This poverty cycle prohibits these communities from taking control over their own futures.”

By its completion in 2011, the Empowering Flood-Prone Poor Communities (EFPPC) project will have directly benefited more than 2,000 residents in the communities of Poila and Chakmirpur located in Manikganj District, and nearly 50,000 others indirectly.

To break that cycle and help affected communities gain the skills they need to withstand these disasters, the EFPPC project works directly with beneficiaries, teaching them methods that will help them reduce their vulnerability to the annual floods.

The EFPPC accomplishes this by providing training to local communities, helping them develop committees to increase awareness and mitigate the effects of the disaster. Communities are also encouraged to work with other local organizations and local government authorities to reach these goals together.

Since floods restrict the ability of communities to do business and disrupt travel in affected areas, EFPPC helps build structures, including homes, roads, and public buildings, that are better able to withstand floods because they are constructed above flood levels. This approach allows these raised structures to be used as shelters for people and their livestock, and roads to facilitate easy movement between villages.

ADRA is also helping communities develop and strengthen household incomes through sustainable vocations that have been identified by the local community and key stakeholders.  These activities include tailoring, bicycle and van repair, dairy farming, and vegetable gardening.

In an effort to reduce the rate of preventable diseases and deaths that occur in the region especially in seasons of severe flooding, ADRA is improving community access to clean water and sanitation through training sessions on health, hygiene and sanitation, latrine construction, and flood-resistant well installation. ADRA expects that this will improve overall community health, reduce sickness and increase worker productivity, positively impacting household incomes.

Since it first began in 2007, EFPPC has made considerable progress towards its goals, noted Bardhi, positively impacting communities members by increasing their resilience.

“Their children’s lives and health are not in jeopardy any longer,” said Bardhi.  “People are learning that the resources they need to improve their lives are in the community, and they need only to identify and mobilize them.”

The project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency/Swedish Mission Council (SIDA/SMC) through ADRA Sweden.

ADRA has been working in Bangladesh since 1971, primarily in the areas of economic development, disaster preparedness and response, literacy, primary health, and food security.

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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.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.

SILVER SPRING, Md. —In northeastern Vietnam, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is working to promote and improve the social status of ethnic minority women in the country’s mountainous Cao Bang province through a three-year educational project, the agency reports.

The Literacy Class Empowers Ethnic Minority Women (LICEEM) project, whose main goal is to reduce illiteracy rates among more than 1,500 people belonging to ethnic minorities in the region, is primarily targeting women aged 26 to 35 living in the districts of Bao Lam, Bao Lac and Ha Quang within the Cao Bang province. This initiative also aims to reduce gender disparities in basic education.

Additional components of this ongoing project include raising awareness of topics related to ethnic minority girls and women, organizing classes in literacy and numeracy for project beneficiaries, providing training for literacy facilitators, and establishing and facilitating Women’s Union Literacy Clubs as a way to provide participants with an additional venue for literacy learning.

The project’s literacy classes are based on the Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques, also known as the REFLECT approach, a well-known methodology that was established by ActionAid, a global anti-poverty charity. The program encourages students to discuss development issues within their community, while participating in literacy and numeracy classes.

The knowledge and skills gained from this training and the community development discussions, will place beneficiaries in a better position to promote gender equality and create a ‘safe place’, where women can address gender issues and receive feedback from male counterparts, according to Oscar Domato, country director for ADRA Vietnam.

“This leads to greater understanding and harmony, [in regards to gender roles] rather than tension and conflict,” continued Domato. “Ultimately, it will contribute to the alleviation of poverty in the region, as well as the marginalization of women, that is all too common among ethnic minority cultures.”

To implement this project, ADRA is partnering directly with the Cao Bang Provincial Women’s Union, and its branches in the targeted districts, as well as several indirect partners, including the Provincial/District People’s Committee, the REFLECT team, ActionAid Vietnam, the Department of Education and Training of Cao Bang Province and its offices in the targeted districts, and Cao Bang broadcasting agencies who provide technical support for the production, recording and broadcasting of the LICEEM project through various media channels.

ADRA has been active in Vietnam since 1988, and began its work in Cao Bang Province with health infrastructure and traditional birth attendant training programs in 1998.

Follow ADRA on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest information as it happens.

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.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.