ReliefWeb

- CWS assisting families affected by severe flooding in Indonesia

- Families gain new homes in post-tsunami reconstruction in India

Indonesia

While flood waters have receded from the massive December 2006 torrential rains and flooding in northern Sumatra, many internally displaced persons remain in camps unable or too frightened to return home.

One of the worst affected areas in Aceh Province is Aceh Tamiang District, where some 200,000 people were affected.

The floods swept away people's livelihoods and belongings--their tools, food, household items and, in some cases, their homes. With their fields covered in mud and all their possessions gone, the people of Aceh Tamiang face an uphill battle.

Church World Service is assisting 10,325 people in Aceh Tamiang, and is planning to provide access to water and sanitation facilities, shelter materials and tents, and additional kits and blankets.

To date, CWS has distributed 1,000 blankets, 1,000 Health Kits, 896 Baby Kits, 1,000 School Kits, 418 tents, and 582 tarpaulins, as well as tools such as spades and wheelbarrows to help with clearing mud and debris. Church World Service has been helping to construct emergency latrines, clean wells, install a water purification unit and water bladders, and provide tankers of water, supplying around 50,000 liters of water a day through 19 distribution points.

Further support is needed, CWS Indonesia reports, for many families who were affected by the flooding--especially with water, sanitation, and shelter. Church World Service is seeking funds to assist.

India

Sushant Agrawal, director of long-time Church World Service partner Church's Auxiliary for Social Action, says CASA and its partners can be justifiably proud of the reconstruction and recovery efforts in the two and a half years since the tsunami struck Tamil Nadu state, southern India.

This includes the construction of some 4,000 permanent homes, with more than two-thirds already constructed and the remaining structures expected to be completed by June. In a number of villages, multipurpose disaster shelters, which double as community meeting centers, are supplementing the housing.

Church World Service has supported post-tsunami reconstruction and recovery efforts in India, Sri Lanka, Somalia, and Thailand, and is providing recovery and livelihood support for families affected by the tsunami in Aceh Province, Indonesia.