Archive for June, 2010
Please pray for families affected by storm
As many of you may know already, Tropical Storm Agatha hit Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador this weekend with devastating results.
Today, we received word that five sponsored children from CFCA’s Atitlan project in Guatemala are confirmed dead from mudslides, with four sponsored children still missing. This is updated from our news story posted yesterday. Our policy is not to release names of the deceased until we are able to contact their sponsors. Projects in Honduras and El Salvador have not reported any deaths.
Staff members in all three countries are still assessing damages. We will update you as we receive more information from the field.
Please pray with us for the precious children who lost their lives and for the healing and comfort of their families, communities and sponsors. We also pray that the four missing children will be found, and for the recovery of all those affected by the storms.
For more details, please see the news story on our website.
Sponsors and others wishing to help may donate to CFCA’s Disaster Assistance Fund. One hundred percent of donations to this fund are sent to CFCA projects to help individuals and families affected by disasters. Funds donated are used where they are most needed, and CFCA retains discretion as to the use of the funds. In addition to emergency relief, contributions may be used for long-term assistance.
June 1, 2010 at 3:29 pm Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) Leave a comment
Dan’s early report from Guatemala
Dan Pearson, CFCA’s director of international operations, was at the Hermano Pedro project in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala, when Tropical Storm Agatha hit. Dan will continue visiting projects in Guatemala and helping staff assess damages from the storm. The following is Dan’s experience this past weekend.
We ended up receiving 150 people last night. Some of them are from around here and have lost their homes or were evacuated, others got stuck in San Lucas when the roads were blocked, and some were from a bus that slid off the road during the rain.
This morning the rain has stopped, and the clouds briefly cleared enough to see the volcanoes behind the CFCA center. We could see at least half a dozen mudslides on the volcano closer to us. Then the clouds came back. The radio says the worst of the rain will start early tomorrow morning and run all morning. They are also reporting that already some of the rivers around here are running higher than they were during Hurricanes Stan and Mitch.
Some people who had been separated from their families left on foot this morning to find their families. Others took advantage of the break in the rain to try to get to the houses of relatives or check on their homes. Everyone is afraid of having their things stolen while they are away. We still have at least 100 here. The city said they would bring food for them this morning, but nothing has arrived yet. We made coffee for everyone, and Brother Jorge (Hermano Pedro project coordinator) is now cooking some porridge for them. Actually, some of the mothers are cooking the porridge because none of us knew how to make such large quantities, and we didn’t want to ruin the batch.
After the devastation of Hurricane Stan in 2005, the Hermano Pedro project implemented the practice of holding two quetzales (about $0.25) per child per month for disasters like this. That fund will be used for immediate response. Because this storm has hit some parts of the country where CFCA has a lot of sponsored children, it is likely many have been affected.
Unless the weather clears up considerably, we probably won’t know until at least mid-week how many sponsored families are affected or what the exact damage is. Some of the Hermano Pedro staff live in different parts of the country than where they work. The storm hit on the weekend, so some of those staff members will have difficulty just getting back to their subprojects with so many roads blocked by mudslides. We heard that the costal route from San Lucas to Guatemala City is closed indefinitely because a bridge was washed away. Other routes in and out are also blocked by mud, rocks and trees. I don’t think it’s possible to get to Guatemala City from San Lucas at this time.
Related links:
Read more about the storm.
Visit CFCA’s Facebook page to see photos from San Lucas Toliman.
Sponsors and others wishing to help may donate to CFCA’s Disaster Assistance Fund. One hundred percent of donations to this fund are sent to CFCA projects to help individuals and families affected by disasters. Funds donated are used where they are most needed, and CFCA retains discretion as to the use of the funds. In addition to emergency relief, contributions may be used for long-term assistance.
June 1, 2010 at 2:08 pm Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) Leave a comment
Opening the window
Last fall, a string of fierce typhoons deluged metro Manila and displaced thousands. Fathers of sponsored children in CFCA’s Antipolo project, members of a group known as ERPAT, which stands for “Empowerment and Reaffirmation of Paternal Abilities,” helped with rescue and relief efforts. Their work impressed international relief officials and as a result, the ERPAT fathers received two UNICEF grants to help non-sponsored children traumatized by loss cope with their feelings. The following account illustrates one father’s success and demonstrates why UNICEF chose to recognize the fathers for their efforts.
By Malou Navio, CFCA Antipolo project coodinator
An ERPAT father named Federico shared his experience in helping Allan, 10, overcome the trauma caused by Typhoon Ondoy. Allan and his family stayed in one of the Antipolo evacuation centers until April.
Children used artistic means to express their loss after the typhoon.
The ERPAT fathers held activities for the children on the second floor of the center. Allan was always silent and withdrawn. He glued himself to the window, staring toward the direction where his family’s home was. He refused to take the meals served at the activities.
Then, there was an artwork activity Federico facilitated that allowed the children to express their feelings. Allan, while staying at the window, was encouraged by Federico to draw what he was thinking about and talk about his feelings. Federico is a sculptor and construction worker.
When the children finished their artwork, they sat around where Allan was. They were encouraged to share their drawings and feelings. Many children expressed loneliness that their homes were destroyed and their belongings that were lost. The group influenced Allan to talk. Allan cried because he saw his pet dog struggling from the current of floodwater until the dog disappeared. After that, their home and the surrounding homes were sinking. He cried and cried.
After his sharing, Federico asked him how he was feeling, and Allan responded that he felt better. Federico deepened the value of the activity: emphasizing that life is more precious than anything else, the acceptance of the natural disaster, the letting go of the losses, and the love of nature and God.
Federico closely observed Allan in the follow-up activities. As the day went by, Allan was interactive. He played with other children and joined them in meals. Allan and his family returned to their newly repaired home assisted by the government, and Allan resumed schooling.
Read more about the ERPAT fathers on our website.
June 1, 2010 at 12:58 pm Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) Leave a comment
