December 16, 2008 Silver Spring, Maryland, United States…Nadia McGill/ANN
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) provided emergencyfood parcels to more than 300 displaced families after Colombia'shighest volcano, Nevado del Huila, erupted last month. The eruptionaffected 12,000 people with ADRA currently providing aid to 1,700 ofthem.
Nevado del Huila's eruption on November 20 spewed gas and hot ash intothe air, melting snow, and causing mud, rocks, and floodwater to rushdown to the River Paez, destroying homes, bridgThe Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) provided emergencyfood parcels to more than 300 displaced families after Colombia'shighest volcano, Nevado del Huila, erupted last month. The eruptionaffected 12,000 people with ADRA currently providing aid to 1,700 ofthem.es, and crops, andisolating farmland, villages, and indigenous communities in the region.
Families with disabled members, elderly citizens, women-headedhouseholds and people who lost their homes and belongings are receivingfood parcels filled with rice, red beans, vegetable oil, corn flour,sugar cane bars, and iodized salt. Each parcel will provide a family offive with enough food for two weeks.
ADRA Colombia is working with the Colombian Red Cross to bring theemergency goods from Popayán, the provincial capital of Cauca, to thetown of Guadualejo, a distance of 56 miles. The supplies aretransported by mule to the targeted area 6 miles away.
ADRA is also responding to a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, an epidemicthat has killed 783 people since August, according to the UnitedNations. They are currently providing prevention training, health andhygiene education, and distributing disinfectants, water treatmenttablets and water containers.
The organization is targeting 500 families, or approximately 2,500people, in the Harare suburb of Kuwadzana, where residents often useopen sewers for drinking water, and Chendambuya, a rural area in theManicaland province.
ADRA is also providing supplies to medical facilities, including oralrehydration tablets, latex gloves, antibiotics, analgesics,anti-diarrheal solutions and tablets and cleaning agents.
For more information, visit www.adra.org
