Bolivia: World
Vision Aiding 20,000 Flood-Devastated Families
Source: World Vision - USA
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20 World Vision sponsorship projects affected; emergency teams responding.
March 9, 2007
El Niño continues to wreak havoc in Bolivia - inundating one of South America's poorest countries with severe weather. Resulting flooding as well as drought is causing disease outbreaks and food shortages. Forty-two people have died and an estimated 400,000 people in Bolivia are affected by flooding, triggered by heavy rains, hail storms, and other extreme weather that began two months ago and is linked to the "El Niño" climate phenomenon, Reuters reports. Ironically, Bolivia's mountainous Chaco Province is simultaneously suffering the effects of severe drought.
World Vision in Bolivia has so far delivered much-needed aid to the region of Guarayos, in Santa Cruz, where staff are in the process of completing immediate emergency response and rehabilitation efforts.Our staff members in Bolivia have also obtained a full assessment of the needs of communities in the Pando region, where they are constructing temporary shelters at the local university campus for flood survivors, cleaning up the grounds, and distributing much-needed medicines.World Vision staff members are also working alongside the Bolivian government's health ministry and civil defense departments, UNICEF, OXFAM, and other non-governmental organizations, to evaluate and coordinate a long-range response to pressing needs.In the meantime, moderate rains and electrical storms in several parts of the country indicate that El Niño has not yet left Bolivia, and has no plans to do so anytime soon.
Get Involved
>> Donate now to help Bolivia's disaster victims! Join us in building brighter futures for children and families who are suffering from flooding and food shortages in Bolivia.
>>
March 9, 2007
El Niño continues to wreak havoc in Bolivia - inundating one of South America's poorest countries with severe weather. Resulting flooding as well as drought is causing disease outbreaks and food shortages. Forty-two people have died and an estimated 400,000 people in Bolivia are affected by flooding, triggered by heavy rains, hail storms, and other extreme weather that began two months ago and is linked to the "El Niño" climate phenomenon, Reuters reports. Ironically, Bolivia's mountainous Chaco Province is simultaneously suffering the effects of severe drought.
El Niño Not Retreating
World Vision in Bolivia has so far delivered much-needed aid to the region of Guarayos, in Santa Cruz, where staff are in the process of completing immediate emergency response and rehabilitation efforts.Our staff members in Bolivia have also obtained a full assessment of the needs of communities in the Pando region, where they are constructing temporary shelters at the local university campus for flood survivors, cleaning up the grounds, and distributing much-needed medicines.World Vision staff members are also working alongside the Bolivian government's health ministry and civil defense departments, UNICEF, OXFAM, and other non-governmental organizations, to evaluate and coordinate a long-range response to pressing needs.In the meantime, moderate rains and electrical storms in several parts of the country indicate that El Niño has not yet left Bolivia, and has no plans to do so anytime soon.
Get Involved
>> Donate now to help Bolivia's disaster victims! Join us in building brighter futures for children and families who are suffering from flooding and food shortages in Bolivia.
>>
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
