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Victims in the Philippines Battered by Storms Need Your Help

Bill — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:51:09 +0000

In eight days time, two powerful storms, typhoons Ketsana and Parma (or Pepeng as it is know locally) have battered the Northern Philippines Islands just north of the heavily populated Manila area. As of 6:30 a.m. today, Manila local time, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) of the Philippines reported 243 dead with several others missing. An estimated 390 thousand persons in the flooded areas are staying in 561 evacuation centers located in areas near Rizal, Marikina, Quezon City, Taguig and Pasig.

While clean up efforts will take months, relief efforts have already begun.

Evacuation from flooded parts of the Philippines. Photo source indianexpress.com

Sheree Ann, a local ministry youth worker, living in Baguio City, 127 miles north of Manila is ready to help. “I got news from friends and church workers from different areas of Manila especially from those churches who were with the Luzon Convention of Southern Baptist Churches. Resoundingly they said they need money to help the victims of the typhoons.”, Sheree Ann said. She is taking up a donation for the victims in Manila and surrounding areas in which all of the money donated will go to help the people displaced by the flooding. You can contact Sheree Ann via her Facebook page.

According to their website, World Vision of The Philippines is also aiding relief efforts. To donate to World Vision, click here.

News articles and video resources:

World Vision Launches Relief Efforts in the Philippines and Pre-positions Supplies in Taiwan

seniorSOY — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:21:39 +0000

ISABELA PROVINCE, Philippines /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — World Vision will begin relief operations this evening in Isabela Province, one of the areas wracked by Typhoon Parma.

“We are not waiting for sunrise,” says Fe Olonan, World Vision programme manager in Northern Luzon. “We will begin distributing rice and other food, as well as candles, in the next few hours.”

Some 200 families in Isabela had been evacuated Friday night in preparation of Typhoon Parma. The typhoon, however, changed its course and speed and made landfall in Cagayan Saturday around 3 pm (local time). Olonan said that much more assistance will be needed in Cagayan, a nearby province four hours’ drive from Isabela. World Vision staff have also reported that Cagayan’s capital, Tuguegarao, is being hit hard by Parma’s severe winds, with gusts of 204 kilometers per hour (167 mph). Roofs are being blown off homes and other buildings.

“We also are worried about the flooding in low-lying areas alongside the Cagayan River,” she said from Isabela. “World Vision has pre-positioned 350 sacks of rice in Cagayan for possible relief distribution. Additional food items will be provided by the local government. However, as of this time, we have no means to say if the supplies are enough.”

According to Olonan, it is currently impossible to assess the needs and extent of damage in Cagayan. “Assessments will be conducted as soon as the weather calms down.”

There are 10 coastal municipalities in Cagayan Province, which, as of 2007, had a population exceeding 10 million. World Vision is also concerned about the long-term recovery for survivors of Parma and Typhoon Ketsana, which slammed into the Island nation last Sunday. With extensive crop damage on farms, many livelihoods will be lost for several months and food will be at a premium. In Manila, survivors of Typhoon Ketsana said the cost of some food had doubled. Six days after Ketsana struck, some communities around Manila remain submerged in waist-deep water. Moreover, the presence of stagnant water raises concerns about waterborne diseases.

Meanwhile, World Vision is monitoring the path of Typhoon Parma and is launching preparations for a possible relief response in Taiwan. The relief organization has already pre-positioned supplies and staff in rural areas of southern Taiwan, especially in places previously affected by Typhoon Morakot. In some villages, World Vision has prepared up to two weeks worth of supplies, such as clean water, food, and gas for electric generators.

World Vision has been actively responding to the devastation from earlier Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines, in most affected areas of Manila where thousands of families were submerged in the recent flood. The organization is delivering aid to 20,000 families in Marikina, Cainta, Pasig and Rizal and also opening Child-Friendly Spaces and a medical mission.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.

Click here to Donate to World Vision Flood relief efforts.

World Vision Says Asian Disasters Should Be Wake-Up Call For Global Leaders

seniorSOY — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:19:14 +0000

BANGKOK /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — World Vision, one of the world’s leading emergency response agencies, says the recent series of disasters throughout Asia should be a wake-up call to the global community to fund efforts that reduce risk and save lives. The aid agency, an expert in disaster risk reduction (DRR), works with communities all over the world to help reduce their vulnerabilities to disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, and says that DRR funding must be a priority for global governments and donors.

“Disasters are becoming increasingly costly in terms of lives and destruction,” said Melisa Bodenhamer, World Vision’s expert in DRR. “There must be a paradigm shift in the way that organizations think about development work, but the goal is to be systematic about building up the resiliency of communities before a disaster hits. DRR activities can help reduce the toll on human lives and government budgets. In fact, research has shown that every $1 spent on disaster risk reduction activities saves nearly $7 in emergency response funds.”

For DRR to have a significant impact on lives and livelihoods, action needs to be taken at a number of levels. Ongoing success in DRR will involve a mix of structural elements, including more and better designed infrastructure and housing, and non-structural elements such as education and early warning systems.

World Vision advocates for a minimum of 10 percent of development funding to be set aside for risk reduction activities. Natural disasters have always occurred, and the poor suffer most from them. But DRR activities can — and do — help communities identify and reduce the vulnerabilities families faced by natural disasters. The risk of disaster impact can be reduced by helping communities develop early warning systems, establish risk mapping techniques and hold trainings to teach communities how to reduce their vulnerabilities and protect themselves in the event of a disaster.

As a second massive storm bears down on the Philippines, a proposed national law on DRR in the Philippines is stalled at the committee level at the Lower House. The DRR Bill would put a priority on disaster risk reduction and management, and it also seeks to institutionalize the disaster risk reduction plans in the federal budget.

“We have been pushing for the passage of this bill for over a decade now,” said Minnie Portales, World Vision’s advocacy and communications director in the Philippines. “We cannot afford to have another Typhoon Ketsana destroy our property or cause so much suffering to our children and families.”

World Vision is the lead agency of the Disaster Risk Reduction Network (DRRNet) in the Philippines. DRRNet is a network of disaster risk reduction advocates and practitioners throughout the country. According to DRRNet, the Philippines’ vulnerability to disasters has increased immensely throughout the years, resulting in the loss of lives, livelihood, and property.

This call to action comes as a second massive storm bears down on the island nation. Ensuring sustained political commitment to DRR is critical, not only to reduce losses in a more disaster prone world, but also to prevent natural disasters unwinding progress already made in reducing poverty and suffering.

World Vision has been working with the world’s poorest people for nearly 60 years to ease the impact of disasters when they occur and implement strategies to reduce the effect of future disaster events. World Vision uses its past experience to help the most vulnerable, particularly children, recover from natural disasters and increase their resilience to future climate induced setbacks. The agency works in 100 countries, and it currently has DRR programs in Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, among other nations.

World Vision will release a full report on its DRR call-to-action for the global community in Bangkok on 6 October 2009 at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference.

Just Launched: Family Volunteering Web Portal for Christians

seniorSOY — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:38:07 +0000

/Christian Newswire/ — Family.ChristianVolunteering.org was recently launched to connect families with local ministry opportunities, short term family mission trips and volunteering resources. The website, a joint venture between SixSeeds.org and ChristianVolunteering.org, has attracted thousands of organizations–all looking for families to donate their time in helping the disadvantaged.

The partnering organizations hope to aid families in their search for purposeful family time, while touching those in the community with Christ’s love and compassion.

For families, the new website makes the following activities simple:

Search for short term family mission trips: In today’s economy, family vacations are increasingly harder to afford. “Staycations” offer a replacement but are certainly not be the only option. Many opportunities listed on Family.ChristianVolunteering.org are short term trips with unique opportunities to serve. While the cost is not fully funded, these trips often include room and board and can offer families the option of meaningful, selfless travel to new destinations.
Find local opportunities: Search results for local family volunteering opportunities. This may include serving food at a local mission, throwing an ice cream social at a nursing facility, visiting children in the hospital, or even construction (older teens).
Download free training resources, missions- oriented devotionals and other materials: The new family-focused volunteer opportunity search is only one aspect of the website. Free resources include videos, books, links and articles about volunteering with kids, the importance of serving, and how to talk about issues with younger volunteers (poverty, sickness or homelessness).

For ministries in need of volunteers, there is now a place to recruit healthy families willing to serve and touch others. At Family.ChristianVolunteering.Org, ministries and organizations can create an account and post volunteer opportunities in under 10 minutes.

About ChristianVolunteering.org:

ChristianVolunteering.org is the largest Christian volunteer matching website on the internet. With over 5,500 volunteer opportunities partnering together and listing opportunities, the website has become a place for Christians to match their interests to the volunteer position that’s a correct fit, all to further the Kingdom., ChristianVolunteering.org is a ministry of TechMission, which is a Christian nonprofit social service organization located in Boston, MA. With partners that include World Vision, Association of Gospel Rescue Missions and Gospel.com, TechMission has served over 1.3 million visitors to its websites (SafeFamilies.org, UrbanMinistry.Org, ChristianFreeware.Org and others).

Typhoon Morakot Hits Taiwan Hard How You Can Help

seniorSOY — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:18:16 +0000

Taiwan, an island country 1,246 miles east of China and home to 23 million people was hit by typhoon Morakot on Friday August 7th. Initial reports are that at least 7 people have been killed and several hundred are missing including an entire village of 600 completely wiped out by mud slides.

A missionary serving in the area is reporting: “Our church family came through fine, though our church did suffer some serious cosmetic damage to the face of the building from the wind. They are saying that this was a 50 year typhoon. It was not the strongest typhoon in strength, but it did more damage to the southern end of Taiwan (where we are) than any typhoon in the last 50 years. It basically camped on top of us for more than 48 hours before finally moving on. Very powerful sustained winds and torrential rains brought trees down everywhere and some areas have had severe flooding.

Needed Prayer

We just heard the news report about a remote mountain village in our own county which had its communications cut off by the storm. Today, a day after the storm, when some one finally went out to check on them they discovered that the whole village had simply been wiped away by landslides and flooding and not a single person remained. The death toll could top 800 people.

Please keep us in your prayers as our church is experiencing an amazing growth spurt and tremendous spiritual blessings. But the pressures are great on our family and team as we try to train workers to help carry the load of ministry.”

Relief Organization on the Ground in Taiwan

World Vision is responding with help to the victims.

From their website: In the wake of Typhoon Morakot, World Vision is providing food, clean water, and cleaning materials to affected households in southern Taiwan.

“The most pressing needs now are providing shelter, food, and clean water for those who have had to evacuate their homes,” says Hank Du, executive director for World Vision in Taiwan. “We also want to make sure the children are secure and have a safe place where they are cared for.”