Title: Lutherans Assist in Mozambique Flood Relief
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
April 15, 1996
MOZAMBIQUE FLOOD RELIEF
In Mozambique flooding of the Zambezi, Pungue, Buzi, Limpopo and
Incomati rivers inundated vast agricultural areas this winter.
Following successive years of drought the 1995-1996 rainy season
in Mozambique and South Africa brought unusually high rainfall,
causing damage to infrastructures and flooding. The second cycle
of rain caused more massive flooding. Now water levels in the
southern part of the country have begun to subside. The floods
have largely affected people living in the river valleys and
depressions, where they settled during the years of scant
rainfall. Action by Churches Together (ACT) is serving families
by providing seeds and tools in order to produce a crop and avoid
a famine situation. ACT is a worldwide network of churches,
including the Lutheran World Federation, meeting human need
through coordinated emergency response. According to ACT the
population in the areas of operation includes many people
returning from the displacement of war. Some had just returned
before this crop's season. With the current harvest totally lost,
the biggest priority for farmers is to find seeds to plant as
soon as the water recedes. The next planting season begins at
the end of April for harvest in July/August. The low-lying
alluvial plains have fairly heavy soils with good water retention
capacity and are suitable for corn, beans, sorghum and millet.
Even with very little additional rainfall, short cycle varieties
of corn and the other crops can produce under such circumstances.
Through ACT the Lutheran World Federation plans to rehabilitate a
dam in the region. Relief items from LWF including blankets,
quilts and canned fish have been distributed. The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America is one of the 122 member churches of
the LWF.
For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia
Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956
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