Starfish Community

Friends,

I received two emails from Margaretha Adiwardana ( meiske@terra.com.br ), our IDR partner in Brazil (please see excerpts below). Any help and support that anyone can provided will be much appreciated:

We are really overloaded now with things to do, it is like two disasters at the same time as we need to send help to two states and different towns.

You may also remember that airtickets to the northeast are quite costly.

Our Rapid Assessment Team is already there. The IDPs need urgently medical help, mattresses and baby clothings.

In one town at least people are going hungry. We intend to serve hot meals.

We would appreciate very much if you can help in any way.

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Brazil is undergoing its biggest disaster ever as heavy rains and two rivers overflowed flooding several dozens of towns in two northeastern states, Alagoas and Pernambuco. In some towns the destruction is similar to tsunami, up to 90% of the buildings destroyed, 45 deaths so far, 607 missing, 834 wounded just in one state, over 100.000 IDPs. We are sending the first medical teams tomorrow, one to each state. Please uphold us in your prayers as we start our fifth disaster relief this year, one per month, while we are still engaged in sending teams to Haiti and Piaui.

Margaretha

This post was edited by the author July 2010.

I am so glad I found you. I have not heard of anyone working in Brazil. and want to be connected on several levels. I am a professor of Sustainable Development and work with disaster preparedness in Hawaii. So I am hoping to help build a nexus in Hawaii and the Pacific. Generally speaking we are off everyones radar screen. I also want to work with any groups that are involved in Brazil or Latin America. I speak Portuguese (and Spanish) Falo Portugues (y Espanol) Tenho familia e colegas no sul do Brazil e no Rio, e em Colombia. I have family and contacts in The south of Brazil, Rio and Colombia.

Here is an update:

Margaretha tells us that the situation is chaotic. The Civil Defense and the authorities are overwhelmed and have asked her group (AME) for assistance. AME is working with local authorities, the Army, the Fire Brigades, Civil Defense, Medicin sans Frontier and local churches. Local authorities are asking for help to design the rebuilding or even re-location of the town since most buildings were totally destroyed in the wake of the river.

They (AME) have sent 20 Disaster Response volunteers to the two states the last 12 days. Most have been medical/psychological personnel with others, in one state, serving hot meals. They have started to organize distribution of donated things and children programs. There are many children among the IDPs, but most of the schools have been destroyed.

She reports further that in the State of Alagoas, there are enough donations for the most basic needs (food and clothing), but the distribution is totally unorganized and, therefore, the population is angry and, at times bordering on becoming violent. Yesterday, the Army declared a State of Emergency, since they are the only ones who can restrain the people.

In the State of Pernambuco, they suffered from another heavy rain and flooding last week. The children are catching colds, some are getting pneumonia since they have been sleeping on the floor in school buildings and have only with papers or bed linens cover to themselves. AME will be sending 20 tons of donated goods there - mainly mattresses. One mattress costs US$25. They need to send cleaning materials and personal hygiene items, but food, clothing, and even medicines have been donated in sufficient amounts.

This is a huge project and AME and the state and local authorities need help and wisdom to know how to proceed.

I want to give another update on one of the disaster areas in Brazil. Margaretha tells me that she is pleased to report that she has sent a team these last days to Cocal, Piaui, where the dam broke, working with various organizations, for holistic ministration.

She says that people were broken emotionally after one year of suffering, both victims and public workers and that after only four days of their team's involvement there, 42 people have had deep personal life transformation. There team plans to stay for two weeks.