El Salvador: Housing, Disaster Relief Aided by ERD, L.A. Diocese
Episcopal News Service. May 26, 2005 [052605-1-A]
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) and the World Mission Group of the Diocese of Los Angeles broke ground May 23 on a joint project to build new housing in El Salvador, where an earlier ERD project assisted last week's hurricane response.
The launch is ERD's fourth Anglican Village to accommodate the many who are still homeless following the devastating earthquakes of 2000 and 2001. Each village includes 40 houses, a medical clinic, a school and an Anglican church.
Each of the 10 deaneries of the Diocese of Los Angeles is being asked to consider sponsoring at least one house, at $4,000 each, as a part of its 2005 outreach work. Deanery 5 and deanery 3 have committed to this goal, and are considering the possibility of raising funds for more than one house.
Further information may be obtained from the Rev. George Woodward, chair of the World Mission Group, at St. Edmund's Church, San Marino, California, or email GFWTRES@aol.com.
Last week, a radio-based early warning system -- implemented by ERD and the Asociacion Mangle to assist in emergency situations in the region of Bajo Lempa -- was put to the test when reports of Hurricane Adrian were made.
Adrian, the first tropical storm of the 2005 Pacific hurricane season, battered El Salvador the morning of May 20 causing the evacuation of 14,000 people from low-lying coastal areas. The eye of the hurricane made landfall on the southern coast south of the capital of San Salvador, washing out roads and cutting off power.
According to reports from the U.S. National Hurricane Center, the hurricane hit with sustained winds of almost 75 miles per hour.
"This seems the perfect time to thank ERD once again for its support of Bajo Lempa, specifically for the project to strengthen our early warning system," said Miguel Ramirez, a staff agronomist at Asociacion Mangle. "The system has allowed us to operate with haste during this difficult time."
Archbishop Martín Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Central American Region, closed and evacuated the diocesan office May 19 and instructed parishes in the diocese to act as shelters.
ERD program associate Coe Economou said at this time relatively little damage has been reported and Barahona and Bishop Lloyd Emmanuel Allen of Honduras have not requested emergency funds from ERD.
ERD will continue to monitor developments in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and other Central American countries affected by the hurricane.
Contributions to help people immediately after disasters around the world may be sent to Episcopal Relief and Development, Emergency Relief Fund, P.O. Box 12043, Newark, NJ 07101, or visit www.er-d.org.