It also had a human toll. Approximately 100 people lost their lives as a result of the storm and 52,000 were left homeless. Those that survived the storm continue to struggle today. Approximately 117,000 people are affected as the rains in Madagascar continue and people are unable to return to their homes or work in their fields.
World Renew is responding. Before the storm, World Renew already had a history of working in Madagascar in partnership with the Church of Jesus Christ of Madagascar (FJKM)’s development organization known as SAF.
In response to a previous cyclone (Haruna) and locust infestation, World Renew International Relief Managers, George and Toni Fernhout, spent six months in Madagascar providing emergency food to 1,000 families in three villages. They also provided seed for the next cropping season.
Now, in response to this latest disaster, World Renew has set up a Rapid Response Project to once again provide emergency food and non-food items — this time for 1,200 households. The funding for this response is being provided by World Renew and the Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB).
World Renew is also helping an additional 2,500 families repair damaged irrigation systems, reclaim their rice fields, and repair other infrastructure in exchange for weekly food rations and rice seed. The goal is to make it possible for the farmers to plant rice by the end of April in time for a harvest in July. Besides receiving instruction on clearing and repairing irrigation canals, the farmers will also receive instruction on growing rice that would provide a harvest of up to four times greater than through traditional methods of growing rice.
“As IRMs we continue to experience God’s providential plans for us to be placed in the position of working with a fellow Christian partnership organization as representatives of World Renew,” said Toni Fernhout, whose experiences in Madagascar last year helped her and George design World Renew’s current response plans.
Please keep these efforts in your prayers.
