Disaster Relief/Preparedness $30

How this gift is green:

As deserts creep further into farmland, rising ocean levels cover low-lying lands, and unpredictable weather patterns alter traditional planting cycles, climate change is affecting the world's poorest communities. TEAR's partners are helping them to prepare and manage regular weather changes such as drought and flood cycles. Entire villages are encouraged to develop disaster plans to reduce loss of life and property, and throughout the year they build up alternative incomes to survive the economic dip during the drought or flood. So, when disaster does strike, communities are better prepared. TEAR's partners are still ready to help with emergency supplies for those who need them.

More information and images (pdf)

TEAR Australia supports development projects which focus on the poorest and most marginalised people and give priority to their rights, interests, needs and initiatives. These projects are implemented in partnership with local agencies. EFICOR is one of TEAR's partners facilitating both disaster preparedness and relief, when needed.

EFICOR

For the past forty years, EFICOR's disaster response unit has responded to communities in India affected by floods, droughts, cyclones, tsunamis and earthquakes. Their team is well trained and well equipped to gather supplies quickly, enlist community members to help, and deliver the right goods to the right people. But their disaster work isn't just about response, it's also about equipping local people to be prepared for regular disasters like flood and drought. So often, EFICOR has seen that with some training and simple equipment, the villagers themselves can minimize loss of life and property, well before any official emergency supplies could be accessed.

EFICOR helped the community at Ghandrain Mushahri, in Bihar, to develop a disaster management plan so they could cope with the annual flooding. They ran workshops so people like Sita Devi could learn how to handle a rescue boat. In one of the drills she rescues a girl 'drowning' in the lake. She pulls the boat up alongside, and strong hands haul the girl over the side of the boat and secure the life jacket. Together, they get the young woman to safety on the bank. Come the wet season, Sita and her disaster management team will swing into action, getting families and livestock to high ground and rescuing those swept up in the floods.

Ghandrain floods every two years or so, as snowmelts from the Himalayas gush down the rivers, inundating their unprotected crops and earthen houses. Sita's team has learnt how to provide early warning, rescue, first aid, shelter and fair distribution of relief supplies. EFICOR also work with the community to strengthen literacy skills, build awareness of women's rights, increase income-generation capacity and build leadership skills in the community. Through these programs, women like Sita are able to protect their families from the devastating effects of flood - and improve their whole community in the process.

In July and August 2007, their preparations were put to the test. Massive flooding, the worst for thirty years, inundated northern India and Bangladesh. EFICOR's emergency relief team swung into action and distributed 6,000 relief kits to families in Bihar. For these floods, a standard EFICOR relief kit included rice, dahl (lentils), oil, salt, onion, wheat, bajra flour, potatoes, mat, 2 plates, 2 bowls, 1 glass, 1 water container, 1 mosquito net, and some cash for groceries. EFICOR's connections with local churches and communities, like the disaster management team in Ghandrain, helped them to distribute the supplies quickly and fairly.

OTHER TEAR AUSTRALIA PARTNERS PROVIDING THIS ITEM:

HEED Bangladesh, Discipleship Centre (India), Muneer (India).