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August 4, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States…[Nadia McGill/ANN/IAD]
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing food for more than 1,000 families in Guatemala displaced by recent flooding in the central and eastern regions of the country.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church also joined efforts with ADRA Guatemala to sort and distribute food bags to the victims who lost their homes due to the heavy rains. The church's rescue unit “Unidad de Rescate Adventista” has also teamed up to assist the victims affected by the rains.
Weeks of heavy rain have destroyed homes, roads and crops, and toppled electricity and phone lines. According to the Guatemalan government, food losses total a half million dollars. Nearly 4,000 people are displaced and living in shelters, according to the United Nations.
Several schools have been turned into temporary shelters for hundreds of families in the Zacapa region some 180 kilometers of Guatemala City, where the constant rains provoked a large mudslide leaving people there homeless, according to Juan Lopez, communication director for the church in the Metropolitan church conference in Guatemala.
“Every time it begins to dry up another storm comes and it starts all over again,” said Otoniel Trujillo, ADRA Guatemala director.
The food baskets provided by ADRA include enough rice, beans, oil, sugar, salt, and cornmeal to feed a family of five. The distribution, which began July 31, is expected to continue for a week.
For more information, visit www.adra.org
