Pakistan emergency : field sitrep
20 Aug 2010 @ 05:00 am
Since 21 July 2010, heavy monsoon rains across Pakistan have led to the worst flooding in 80 years. Current estimates suggest that 20 million people have been affected by the disaster, and 6 million (half of whom are children) are at risk of cholera and dysentery. Following his visit to the affected areas UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said I will never forget the destruction and sufferings I have witnessed.
Christian Aid is working through ACT Alliance partner Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan. Listen to this podcast from Kelli Siddiqui, who speaks about the short-term response and the long terms needs of the affected communities.
Sudan reflections: Mango trees and militia
19 Aug 2010 @ 03:53 am
When Christian Aid communications officer Antoinette Powell visited Sudan just six months before the country’s south votes in a referendum on whether to remain united with the north or to separate and form a new state, she was struck by the determination of the people she met to shape a strong and lasting peace.
In the first of a series of three reflections recorded during the trip, Antoinette talks about the hopes of those she met in southern Sudan and their urgent need to see tangible benefits of the peace process through the basic services they still lack.
Sudan reflections: The road home?
14 Aug 2010 @ 09:02 am
Episode 3: During her recent visit to Sudan, Christian Aid's Antoinette Powell travelled from Juba in the country’s south to Khartoum in the north and down to Wau. Her journey, covering hundreds of miles and giving some sense of the scale of this vast country, also brought into focus the distances people covered to flee conflict during Sudan’s long-running civil war.
While many have already returned, many more will face the decision of whether or not to make the journey home in the coming year. In her final reflection from the trip, Antoinette talks about people she met for whom this is no longer a simple decision and why more needs to be done to cope with the likely scale of movement.
Sudan reflections: Dignity and discrimination
14 Aug 2010 @ 08:58 am
Episode 2: When Christian Aid communications officer Antoinette Powell went to Sudan during the final year of its Comprehensive Peace Agreement, there was a clear need to focus energy and resources on supporting the process. But there was also a sense that action must be taken to address other issues that will affect the country’s development after the referendum in January to decide whether the country will remain united or separate into two separate states.
In the second of her reflections recorded during her visit to Sudan, Antoinette talks from Khartoum about the experiences of people living with HIV and the pressing need to challenge attitudes that discriminate against them.
As Colombians head to the polls this Sunday 30th May, Christian Aid is calling on all Presidential candidates to end human rights abuses and for the new elected President to fully commit to human rights. In the last two weeks, two community leaders and human rights defenders have been killed in Colombia.
Hear the podcast or view the interview with Kelly Nicholls from the US Office on Colombia talking about an international campaign to defend human rights defenders and the forthcoming elections.
A severe cyclone carrying heavy rain and winds up to 120kmph killed at least 27 people and affected a further 1.1 million in India’s Andhra Pradesh state on Thursday 20 May. ‘Cyclone Laila’ is the worst storm to hit this region in 14 years. Thanks to government efforts to evacuate close to 100,000 of the most vulnerable people to cyclone shelters – some of which were constructed with Christian Aid’s help in 1990 and after the tsunami – thousands of lives have been saved. Click the link below to listen to the situation report recorded live during a Christian Aid emergency alert meeting today.
A similar cyclone in 1977 carried a 10,000 figure death toll. But while lives have been saved, there remains an urgent humanitarian need. Tens of thousands are unable to return to their homes and are in need of food, hygiene kits, clean water and bedding. Vital crops and livelihoods have been destroyed across the region leaving day labourers without the opportunity to earn an income. Fisherfolk have lost boats and nets.
80 volunteers from Christian Aid partner SNIRD are helping the state government in the rescue and relief efforts. CASA began providing food items through three feeding centres from Thursday evening within hours of the cyclone hitting. COVA is also assessing needs in coastal areas and preparing a response.
Reaching beyond Port-au-Prince. Almost one week after Haiti was hit by a 7.0 Richter earthquake, aid is beginning to get through to people in the country’s capital Port-au-Prince.
In this brief sit rep, Christian Aid’s country manager in Haiti Prospery Raymond updates us via Skype on the current situation in the country. Prospery talks about the need to support communities in rural areas that have been devastated by the earthquake and how Christian Aid partners will be addressing those needs in the coming weeks.
Haiti earthquake: Eyewitness account
15 Jan 2010 @ 11:18 am
When Haiti was hit by an earthquake
measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, Christian Aid country manager Prospery
Raymond was trapped in rubble as his office collapsed.
In this interview, Prospery describes the earthquake and its aftermath. With aid yet to arrive in the country's capital Port-au-Prince, supplies are running low and Prospery's wife, a doctor, reports finding no medicine available in some of the city's hospitals when she went to offer help. But Christian Aid staff and partners are already doing what they can to help those affected - for example by sharing out their limited food and water, and by persuading pharmacies to immediately release any supplies they have to the hospitals.
Haiti earthquake sitrep 120110
13 Jan 2010 @ 10:20 am
A major earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Haiti hitting 15 km southwest of the capital just before 5pm local time 12 January. Thousands are feared dead with many more left homeless. Whilst Christian Aid staff were directly affected by the earthquake they have already begun to coordinate an emergency response with partners.
Listen to a sit rep from Christian Aid Caribbean Regional Manager Judith Turbyne. She shares latest information from colleagues in Haiti including the experiences of Haiti Country Manager Prospery Raymond and Abdonel Doudou Programme Officer who had to be rescued following the collapse of the Christian Aid office.
Indonesia earthquake - field sitrep #2
6 Oct 2009 @ 06:08 am
A major earthquake in Indonesia last week killed at least 1,000 people and affected thousands more. Early indications are that millions have been affected. In some areas 90% of houses have been destroyed. Christian Aid partners are responding to the crisis and are helping to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of those affected providing access to shelter, clean water, food, clothing and medical assistance
The Director of Christian Aid’s partner YEU, has spent the last few days in Padang. In this interview she explains how people are surviving by sleeping under plastic sheets out in the open and the urgent need for more emergency shelter. She also explains how YEU are responding and how they are planning to provide assistance to mobile medical clinics for rural areas which will need extra capacity in the coming months.
