CRWRC, in partnership with Lutheran Health Care Bangladesh (LHCB) and Bangladesh Nazarene Mission (BNM), continues its compassionate response of aid and rehabilitation to Cyclone Sidr survivors in Bangladesh.
In December 2007 CRWRC provided essential non-food items to 2,000 families hit hard by Cylone Sidr. Blankets, clothing, cooking pots, dishes, water purification tablets, oral rehydration solution, mosquito nets, and other essentials were distributed.
CRWRC plans to help farmers living along the coastal deltas re-establish their crops destroyed by the massive tidal surge that accompanied Cyclone Sidr. Food and seed programs for farmers and day laborers in rural areas are also part of CRWRC’s long term rehabilitation plans for cyclone survivors.
The international relief community committed to providing US$120 million in relief aid, according to a Pravda online report released November 20, 2007. CRWRC, funded by private donations and a disbursement from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, distributed a month of emergency food to 10,000 families in the Bargerhat, Barguna, and Patuakhali areas immediately following the disaster.
Cyclone Sidr clobbered the Bangladeshi coastal plains on November 15, 2007 killing 3,200 people and destroying 90% of crops in low-lying agricultural regions still reeling from a deluge of rain in mid-2007. CRWRC provided emergency aid to 8,275 people affected by flooding in August 2007.
To help CRWRC financially with Bangladesh cyclone response, visit www.crwrc.org and designate your gift "Bangladesh Floods 2007," call 1-800-55-CRWRC, or mail your donation to CRWRC, 2850 Kalamazoo SE, Grand Rapids, Mich., 49560-0600 and designate it "Bangladesh Floods 2007."
For interview about CRWRC's Sidr response, contact Jacob Kramer, CRWRC International Relief Director, at 1-800-730-3490. For information about CRWRC relief, development, and justice programs, contact Beth DeGraff, CRWRC-US Media Contact at 1-800-55-CRWRC.