Disaster Relief

World Accord is not a disaster relief organization – there are many international relief organizations and NGOs who have the resources and expertise to provide large scale responses to disaster situations around the world.

That doesn't mean that we don't help.

When disasters affect our projects and our partners, World Accord makes every effort to respond to their needs with whatever help and resources we have available. Upon hearing of a disaster, many of you respond with generous donations and entrust us to find the best way to deliver assistance in the field.

Hurricanes in Central America

The 2005 hurricane season was devastating for Central America, with two hurricanes, one from the Atlantic side and one from the Pacific side, slamming into the region in the same week.

El Salvador

We have received an emergency appeal to provide short relief in the aftermath of the hurricane-related flooding that affected the project participants. The need is for food and personal supplies for the many families that have no food and no employment due to the flooding. A few have lost absolutely everything and must start over.

Part of the PERC office complex has been damaged. The security wall has collapsed but the buildings are still standing and sound. There is no reported loss of life, “just” livelihood and property.

Guatemala

A reporter from the United Nations interviewed Jaimi Gardner, a World Accord intern currently in Guatemala, as part of an article published in the UN Chronicle.

Two areas in Guatemala have been affected. The first is the mud slides in the area where Mujeres en Accion (Women in Action) have agricultural projects. The women rent their land and plant crops using credit loans from the Mujeres en Accion fund. (World Accord provides loan capital from the Community of Christ World Hunger Fund and matching funds from the Government of Canada through CIDA.)

We expect they will need help with bridge financing to cover the loan losses from the mud slides. We have no numbers yet but estimate that a third of the loans cannot be repaid, which will affect the loans that will be available for the next crop cycle.

A 3-ton truck washed away!

The second area is in the south, where World Accord is supporting a cooperative construction project that is part of a federation of women with Mujeres en Accion. The concrete block building will provide a training centre, a pharmacy and grain storage. The agricultural output of the cooperative participants had been sufficient to sustain the families, but now all their crops have been washed away in the floods. World Accord would like to assist these farmers to quickly return to their economically sustainable agriculture work.

Pakistan Earthquake

The Oct 2005 earthquake that struck in the mountains of Pakistan has created a disaster that threatens to dwarf the death toll and destruction of the December 2004 tsunami.

With the onset of winter, thousands who survived the initial earthquake now face the freezing temperatures without homes, clothing or family. We have immediate requests for funds to help the relief workers purchase food, tents, clothing and bedding for the people in the communities they can reach.

Two partners that have previously worked with World Accord, South Asia Partnership-Pakistan and INSAN Foundation have spent all of their own meager resources on supplies, gathered locally donated materials and mobilized their staff and supports to take shipments to the north.

World Accord would like to help and asks for your help too.