ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 28, 2007  

ELCA Supports Recovery Efforts in Tabasco, Mexico
07-199-MRC

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA) provided $50,000 to support recovery efforts in
Tabasco, Mexico.  A week's worth of heavy rain, two cold fronts
and the effects of Tropical Storm Noel produced flood conditions
there, affecting more than a million people.
     The flooding began on Oct. 28 and worsened by Oct. 31 as
rivers and dams overflowed in Tabasco, a southern state of
Mexico.  About 40 different rivers run through the state, which
contains a third of the country's water reserves, said Dr.
Belletech Deressa, director for international development and
disaster response, ELCA Global Mission.
     Ninety percent of cultivated land has been affected.  People
have had to abandon their homes, lose their belongings and
livelihood, said Deressa.  The immediate needs of people include
emergency shelter, food, medicine, blankets and mattresses, she
said.
     The ELCA sent the funds to Amextra, an ELCA companion
ministry in Mexico.  Amextra has experience dealing with natural
disasters since 1985, and it has the administrative, operational
and communication structures to handle the situation effectively,
said Deressa.  Amextra is an organization that has been serving
marginalized communities in Mexico for 24 years.  It has
responded to emergency relief programs in seven different rural
and urban areas in Mexico, she said.
     Amextra will not only meet the immediate emergency needs of
people in the Tabasco region but will establish a long-term
support structure including medical support, food supply, home
rebuilding which may include land purchase for relocation, and
the reactivation of the affected people's means of production,
said Deressa.
     Coordinated by ELCA Global Mission, International Disaster
Response channels its funds through international church
organizations and relief agencies.  Funds provide for food,
medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials
for survivors of disasters.
- - -
INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:
Editors:  When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto
Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA International Disaster Response, PO Box 71764, Chicago, IL
60694-1764, 1-800-638-3522 and
http://www.ELCA.org/disaster/idrgive on the Internet.

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John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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