Colombia: ADRA aids victims affected by severe drought in the northern region

October 14, 2014 | Guajira, Colombia | Shirley Rueda/IAD Staff

ADRA and its volunteers distribute hundreds of relief sacks to some 530 families affected by the drought in Maicao, Uribia, and Manaure communities in Guajira, Colombia, Sep. 22-23, 2014.

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Colombia recently distributed food to some 530 indigenous families in northern region where a deadly drought has claimed dozens of lives and livestock during the past few months.

“When we found out that 63,000 people were affected by the drought in the Guajira department, ADRA began to work on gathering supplies,” said Gabriel Villarreal, ADRA Colombia director.

Local mayoral and government officials thanked ADRA and the Seventh-day Adventist Church for their generous contribution to the needy families in the area and for helping their local economy as supplies were brought locally.

The 15-day relief sacks went to aid families in the Maicao, Uribia and Manaue municipalities.

Communities between Uribia and Manure in northern Colombia affected by the severe drought during the last few months.

“The governor declared it a state of calamity after the drought got worse,” said Villarreal. “That’s when we researched statistics, followed news of the region and made immediate plans to intervene with relief.”

“We were so concerned for this region as soon as we heard,” said Villarreal. “They were some region that no rain had fallen for six months and some even for two years.”

ADRA Director Gabriel Villarreal speaks on a local radio station in Guajira, northern Colombia on the relief sacks to benefit 530 families in the region.

El Tiempo newspaper reported that dozens of children have died of malnutrition and some 5,000 cattle as well because of the drought. “Less rain, means less agriculture and therefore no protein to feed communities,” said Arturo Molina Lopez, project coordinator to aid 20 communities in the region, reported the newspaper. State data shows that 35 of 100,000 children younger than five years old in the State of Guajira die of malnutrition every year.

ADRA continues to monitor the situation in Guajira, and is working on developing projects to help the people in the region.

Government officials have asked ADRA Colombia to help in the social rebuilding of these vulnerable populations said Villarreal.

For more on ADRA Colombia and its recent projects, visit HERE