Since hurricane "Dennis" caused
severe damage on Cuba at the beginning of July 2005, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe
(German Agro Action) has provided 125 families with repair materials for
their houses as well as cooking utensils and mattresses. Water tanks will
also be provided, destroyed wind turbines rebuilt and seeds supplied. Particularly
badly hit is the province of Matanzas in the north of the island, where
German Agro Action has worked for many years.
When the hurricane swept across the
Caribbean, some 1.5 million people, including 17,000 tourists, had to be
evacuated from the danger zones on Cuba. Eight people died, over 46,000
houses were destroyed and more than 6,000 people lost their entire belongings.
Together with its partner organisation ACPA, German Agro Action is providing
victims with water tanks, corrugated iron roofs and repair materials such
as cement and construction steel.
Hurricanes repeatedly cause extensive damage on Cuba. In the past few years, German Agro Action has erected 40 plastic greenhouses in Matanzas. As soon as the first storm warnings were issued, the plastic sheets were simply rolled up and the poles dismantled so that no damage occurred. Seedlings are now being cultivated here again for small-scale farmers.