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Türkiye + 6 more

UMCOR Hotline 01 November 2011: Turkey, Myanmar, Horn of Africa, Thailand

(Extract)

TURKEY: UMCOR SUPPORTS RELIEF EFFORTS

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is providing immediate relief to the survivors of the October 23 earthquake in eastern Turkey and helping to lay a foundation for longer-term recovery.

UMCOR partner International Blue Crescent will distribute blankets, medicines, food relief packets, tarpaulins, and other much-needed items among survivors of the 7.2-magnitude quake that so far has taken the lives of 523 people, with hundreds more still trapped beneath the rubble.

As a winter chill, with rain and snow, envelopes homeless survivors, your gift to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450, can make a difference in the lives of these survivors. Please earmark your gift “Turkey Earthquake.”

MYANMAR: AID FOR LANDMINE ACCIDENT SURVIVORS

Myanmar (also known as Burma) is the only country in the world where there has been confirmed, ongoing use of antipersonnel mines by government forces, says the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

The landmines are widely used along the Thai/Burma border, where there is constant fighting between the armed forces and rebel groups. The Myanmar military also has displaced civilians from their villages, burned the villages to the ground, and moved the civilians into settlements in the same area.

This has led to many civilian casualties, although precise data is difficult to come by, as few written records are kept, for security reasons.

UMCOR is working with partner Clear Path International (CPI) to deliver assistance to 835 women, men, and children who are either survivors of landmine accidents or otherwise affected by the insecurity landmines provoke.

Services include micro-credit loans, vocational training workshops, and emergency transportation to area hospitals for landmine accident survivors, and also mine-risk education and micro-credit loans for other vulnerable people along the Thai/Burma border.

Your gift to Landmine Removal, UMCOR Advance #982575, supports these efforts.

HORN OF AFRICA: CRISIS CONTINUES

More than 320,000 children, half of them in central and southern Somalia, are suffering from life-threatening malnutrition in the Horn of Africa, according to UNICEF.

In all, more than 13.3 million people are in urgent need of assistance in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Djibouti due to historic drought, out-of-reach food prices, and extreme violence. Download a video and learn more here.

UMCOR is working with partners International Blue Crescent, Church World Service, Muslim Aid, International Orthodox Christian Charities, ACT Alliance, and GlobalMedic, to provide relief.

You can help. Please give to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450, and earmark your check “Horn of Africa.”

THAILAND: FLOODS THREATEN CAPITAL

Unusually heavy rainfall in Thailand has resulted in the worst flooding there in more than 50 years, according to the United Nations. So far, 370 people have died in the floods that have affected the country’s 29 provinces and the capital, Bangkok.

The UN estimates that some 2.1 million people have been affected. UMCOR is in contact with partners in Thailand, including ACT Alliance, and is assessing how to help. Your gift to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450, will provide urgently assistance.