In the two weeks since Cyclone Phailin ravaged eastern India, World Renew and its longtime partner EFICOR have begun a multi-faceted response to meet the urgent needs of the families most severely impacted.
“We are thankful that many lives have been spared. However, infrastructure in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh States, as well as peoples’ livelihoods, have been severely hampered,” explains Grace Wiebe, World Renew Senior Project Manager.
Immediately after the disaster, World Renew’s partner EFICOR assessed the needs of community members in order to design an appropriate response. Within a few days, EFICOR (with other donors in addition to World Renew) began to provide food, temporary shelter, clothing, hygiene items, and water purification tablets to 2,000 severely affected families in Ganjam District.
This response enabled people to feed and shelter their families. One of the women from Ganjam District, Naveen Das, said “World Renew’s relief kit contained all that we needed at this moment.”
The food assistance also allowed families to focus on rebuilding their homes and lives.
“We are proud of the local staff who have worked closely with the community to design this disaster response, which ensured that the most urgent needs of people were met,” said Wiebe. “Staff have also been working day and night to be able to rapidly reach the people most affected.”
World Renew and EFICOR have also trained volunteers from the local church in disaster response management, and have worked with the local district government to inform them of their plans and enlist their support.
Funding permitting, World Renew and EFICOR plan to scale up their response to reach a total of 5,000 families impacted by Cyclone Phailin. The next stage of the response will include cash-for-work initiatives, rebuilding damaged homes, and restoring livelihoods through projects such as goat restocking and business loans. This stage will also include training communities in how to better prepare for and mitigate against the impacts of future disasters.
Your support is urgently needed. Please continue to pray for World Renew, EFICOR and the cyclone response in India. Please also consider supporting this effort financially.
