ADRA-UK News Update

ADRA-UK is assisting in the Ukraine as part of a network emergency relief response. The Ukraine suffered from a severe flood caused by incessant rains in July. According to latest information, there were 862 towns and 45,284 houses flooded in Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsy, Zakarpattya and Ternopil Oblasts. Many roads and bridges were destroyed. The exact number of personnel who have died as a result of the floods is currently 39.

Despite the fact that the level of water has dropped, the situation in many affected regions of Western Ukraine remains critical. The total damage of flood in Western Ukraine exceeds US$800 million, according to a Government declaration.

ADRA is distributing food baskets and hygiene kits for 1,178 of the most affected households in the Kostychany, Mamalyga and Dranythja villages (Novoselytsja District, Chernivtsy region) benefiting 4,712 persons.

The food baskets include 3kg of rice, 3kg of beans, 3kg of sugar, 6kg of flour, 3kg of buckwheat, three bottles of vegetable oil, and three cans of canned fish. The total caloric value of this food supply will be enough for household for about two weeks.

The response is part of a ADRA Network intervention. Donations to help the relief effort in the Ukraine are welcome. Please visit our website http://adra.org.uk to donate.

Following the enormous success of last year’s Flip Flop Shoebox appeal, with over 7,000 boxes collected and distributed in Madagascar, ADRA-UK is planning a repeat this year to send Christmas packages to Guyana. It is a fun way to help very poor children to experience a little joy in their lives.

Guyana, a small country wedged between Venezuela, Suriname and Brazil on the Atlantic coast of South America is a developing nation. Many citizens live below the poverty line. A lot of parents cannot afford to provide for the basic needs of their children. Numerous children have lost their parents due to death from a number of diseases including HIV/AIDS. Added to this, there are a number of female single parent homes in Guyana. It is therefore extremely difficult to make ends meet. Consequently, they have no other recourse but to turn to orphanages and other institutions, which cater for these vulnerable children. In Guyana, there are twenty-two such homes scattered across the country.

Many of these homes are privately run and have to depend heavily on outside assistance for their annual upkeep. In this regard, whatever outside help they could muster will be readily accepted. Anticipating your generous efforts this autumn ADRA Guyana says, “Thanks in advance for this humanitarian gesture which will, no doubt, have far reaching impact on the well-being of the recipients.”

Shoeboxes can be filled with toys such as play dough, building blocks, story books, clothes, toiletry items, school supplies etc. and should be nicely wrapped and clearly labelled with the appropriate age and sex. Please make sure ALL items are NEW!

Please do NOT include breakable items, food or sweets, toys that need batteries, medicines, or war-related items.

All boxes need to be received by Monday, 10 November. Boxes can be delivered to ADRA, Stanborough Park, Watford, WD25 9JZ during business hours (Monday to Thursday 9-5, and Friday 9-noon).

Please help to bring a little happiness in the lives of orphans/poor children of Guyana! For more information call our office on 01923-681743. Even the smallest gift at the orphanage will be talked about for months, even remembered for years to come. What will YOU give?

A security checkpoint, a car-jacking and armed militia transformed parts of the Newbold College campus on Wednesday, 13 August. Explosions and gunfire brought ADRA staff on a personal security training course into realistic situations where individually and as teams they were forced to plan and think on their feet for both their own and their team’s safety.

The simulation exercise climaxed four days of training organised by the Adventist Development and Relief Agencies UK office (ADRA-UK) on behalf of the ADRA network. ADRA staff in donor offices frequently travel overseas where they are managing development and relief projects. Much of that work takes place in areas of the world that can be insecure so putting staff at risk. ADRA-UK director, Bert Smit developed the training initiative after two staff were ambushed 18 months ago while on assignment overseas. He says, “From experience we know that learning how to keep secure in different situations we may be facing is important. In addition, ADRA-UK has a ‘duty of care’ for its staff and this Personal Security Training meets the UK legal requirements for providing protection for our staff.”

The four days of training was led by RedR, a highly respected agency that specialises in providing security training to humanitarian agencies. The ADRA network has been using RedR and its training materials for many years in helping implementing countries to develop security strategies. This was the first time a specialised Personal Security Training was provided for ADRA donor offices in Europe. “It’s your life, you have the primary responsibility to take care of it,” trainer Graham Flood-Hunt told the participants from Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, ADRA’s EU office in Brussels, ADRA-International headquarters in Washington DC and the UK office. As a former Metropolitan Police officer, and now as a consultant to the Swiss Army and various agencies around the world Graham had a wealth of experience to draw on in sharing the skills of self-preservation from being picked up at the airport, through checking security issues, dealing with checkpoints, minefields and crossfire to hostage situations and how to give yourself the best chance of survival. ADRA-UK Programmes Assistant, Howa Avan-Nomayo hopes that much of it stays in his mind. “The most important thing for me is planning to be in control as much as possible with the awareness that so much is uncontrollable.”

The training was a mixture of theory and practical with Graham being joined by Paul Wooster of the Norfolk Fire Brigade. Paul is part of an emergency response team that is often early on the scene of major disasters world-wide. His practical and calm manner in helping develop appropriate strategies balanced with his sense of humour as he tossed a hand grenade into the middle of the group who immediately scattered as the blank exploded. Perhaps it was fortuitous that he also spoke about dealing with stress in one of his later workshops.

As a Technical Assistant of Emergency Management, Sasha Ross joined the training from head-office. “I came because security is integral to the good management of projects - and my own safety,” she said. She saw the simulation exercise as a good insight into safety and security and has learnt to “be more intentional in planning and ready for those split second decisions.”

Jahn Fisher from ADRA Germany has faced danger first hand, being driven by a local driver through a mine-field. It is not an experience he wants to repeat. “I’ve learnt not to rely entirely on the local office for security,” he said. “I need my own guidelines and limits on what I’ll accept.” As an added bonus he saw the ADRA network family coming closer together during the training. “Team building and good communication was one of the real side-benefits of the exercise,” he said.

Bert is satisfied with the outcome of the course. “It has made the participants aware that in all situations one’s own safety matters most. Even though we were, for instance, introduced to mines and how to react when under fire, the most important lesson was to make sure you never face such situations. Preparedness and anticipation are key to travelling in safety.”

And how did the Newbold community react to guns, grenades, car-jacking and hostage taking on the college campus? “Newbold is a peace loving community,” Berit Lisle, College Bursar, states, but she was comfortable with the campus being used for these exercises. “We have a wonderful campus with plenty of open space and excellent conference rooms for this kind of training,” she added. “The college has had a long association with ADRA and we were more than happy to facilitate training that will protect ADRA personnel as they carry out their humanitarian programme in some of the more dangerous parts of the world.”

Following the recent outbreak of fighting in Georgia, in the eastern European Caucasus region near the Black Sea, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is preparing to respond to the needs of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who fled the violence. Already more than 2,000 people have died in the first week of fighting and nearly 100,000 have been uprooted from their homes, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The latest conflict, which has been centred in the South Ossetia region and has involved troops from the countries of Georgia and Russia, caused widespread destruction as a result of air strikes and shelling. This has created a humanitarian crisis, particularly in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia’s regional capital, and in nearby Gori, home to thousands who fled to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, located 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the southeast.

“The situation on the ground is deteriorating, sparking a significant movement of population,” said Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Meanwhile, ADRA is coordinating relief efforts with UN agencies and international non-governmental organisations in order to address the current emergency situation. In Tbilisi, where a rapid influx of displaced persons fleeing the fighting has strained the city’s food supply, medical, and shelter capacities, ADRA plans to provide medical assistance to those affected.

Approximately 56,000 displaced persons are currently inside Georgia, according to the UN, of which more than 40,000 are from Gori. An additional 12,000 residents of South Ossetia have been left homeless inside Georgia, while 30,000 others have crossed into Russia’s North Ossetia region. The UN also reports that 1,000 ethnic Georgians from the upper Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia, a region by the Black Sea that borders Russia, have become displaced following violence there. Because many areas under conflict remain inaccessible, the number of IDPs is expected to rise. Food, water, shelter, and medical supplies are becoming difficult to find, intensifying an already difficult situation for local residents.

For the past eight years, ADRA Georgia has worked in the South Ossetia region, implementing health projects from its local office in Tskhinvali.

Updates will be released as ADRA’s response efforts expand.

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is teaching women’s groups how to increase food production through a one-year drip irrigation project in the town of Gao, located deep in the semi-arid Sahel Belt in eastern Mali.

The Dripping Irrigation Pilot Project (DRIP) utilises a low-pressure and low-cost drip system, which is especially effective in more arid regions, such as northern Mali, where food scarcity is common. The technique reduces the use of water and fertilizer needed, allowing water to drip directly onto plants’ roots through a low-pressure piping system. Using Food-for-Training and Food-for-Work initiatives, participants are trained in these new techniques and also receive seeds and tools in order to grow and harvest their gardens, providing the food necessary to feed their families as well as market their produce, thereby substantially increasing their household income.

“Currently, the biggest concern for everyone is how to deal with the current food crisis,” said Fabiano Franz, ADRA Mali country director. “One of the main ways to address food insecurity and malnutrition is through agriculture, this being the main activity that women take part in, and can become their main source of income.”

The success of many farmers in Mali is almost entirely dependant on rainfall and environmental conditions, which can vary significantly from year to year, causing unexpected food shortages. The DRIP project is expected to provide consistent irrigation throughout the planting season, improving the food needs of 120 women farmers and 720 family members. Once the project is successfully completed, ADRA plans to expand operations to other regions of the country. Since 2005, ADRA Mali has been partnering in Gao with different local communities to fight malnutrition, implement activities including food distribution at health centers and schools, and emphasize health education for women. This project, which is scheduled to end in December 2008, is funded by ADRA UK, ADRA Germany, ADRA International, and the World Food Program (WFP), and is valued at more than $35,000.

In the Gao Region food availability remains stable despite high global food prices, the onset of the lean season which lasts from July to September, and an escalating rebellion by the nomadic Tuareg which has resulted in repeated raids and clashes in areas surrounding Gao, a town 745 miles (1,200 km) north of the capital, Bamako. Currently, Gao, with a population of 57,000 and located along the River Niger, remains under an unofficial curfew, according to a report by the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Because Mali is self-sufficient in millet and sorghum, which are an important part of the diet of most Malians, this Sahelian nation has not been as affected by the current food crisis, because it is not as dependant on rice as some of its neighbors. But concerns still remain. The price of rice, which has soared primarily in urban areas such as Bamako, jumped 27 percent in March 2008, its highest increase in the last five years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Mali, with a total population of approximately 12 million, is the largest West African country in terms of landmass and is considered one of the poorest nations in the world, ranking 175 out of 177 countries, according to the Human Development Index published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The country also has low literacy rates, weak public administration, low per capita income, food insecurity, limited infrastructure, and one of the world’s lowest life expectancies and highest under-five mortality rates.

Twelve weeks after Cyclone Nargis struck southern Myanmar, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) continues to meet the needs of survivors, providing emergency food aid, shelter materials, sanitation, water, health care, and other assistance to thousands of survivors displaced since the deadly storm that struck the night of May 2 and killed approximately 85,000 people, with more than 53,000 still missing, according to the latest assessment.

In June alone, ADRA provided food aid to more than 49,000 people, including nearly 400 metric tons of rice, legumes, oil, and salt. On June 4, ADRA expanded its relationship with the World Food Programme (WFP) and agreed to distribute an additional 4,526 metric tons of food rations over six months in the Labutta and Myaungmya Townships. ADRA is the largest partner of WFP in Myanmar and distributes as much as 40 percent of WFP commodities nationally.

In the Labutta Township, ADRA is partnering with various donors including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the British Government to increase access to clean water among vulnerable cyclone-affected people by cleaning the local water reservoirs or “ponds,” and providing water purification units, jerry cans, household kits, shelter materials, tool kits, and other goods prior to the end of the rainy season. Its efforts focus on Pyinsalu Sub Township, one of the hardest hit areas in the Irrawaddy Delta where approximately 65,000 people survived. At present, ADRA is helping clean-up water reservoirs in 106 villages throughout Pyinsalu, funded by DFID, and plans are underway to desalinate approximately 50 additional reservoirs.

ADRA has also increased its sanitation activities through a second grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which will further combat the spread of waterborne diseases in the township and reduce illness through improved sanitation. The project will construct a total of 1,550 latrines and more than 350 waste disposal pits and cement washing areas. ADRA has developed and is distributing child-focused coloring books, information labels, and other educational materials to reinforce good hygiene practices in conjunction with its distribution of hygiene kits and water jerry cans to more than 7,500 families. In addition, ADRA has distributed plastic sheeting, household kits, cooking sets, mosquito nets, clothing, baby hygiene kits, and additional aid.

Cyclone Nargis highlighted Myanmar’s vulnerability to high-impact, low-frequency natural hazards, as well as the need for the country to undertake a range of actions for reducing, mitigating and managing disaster risks in the future to avoid similar catastrophes. The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA) report released by the Government of the Union of Myanmar, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations (UN) on July 21, 2008, confirmed that the cyclone caused widespread destruction to homes and critical infrastructure, including roads, jetties, water and sanitation systems, fuel supplies and electricity. A large number of water supplies were contaminated and food stocks damaged or destroyed. The winds tore down trees and power lines, while the accompanying storm surge submerged countless villages.

We are still welcoming your financial assistance as the need to help is still great. Please donate online here or call us on 01923-681743 for other options to donate.