Silver Spring, Maryland--Thirteen months after a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck southern Peru, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) continues to provide development assistance to affected residents. The latest project, which will install water and irrigation systems, is expected to benefit communities in the arid Chincha and Pisco provinces, two hard hit areas where the quake destroyed much of the local infrastructure.

This new four-year ADRA water and irrigation initiative, launched on July 1 with funding from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and collaboration from ADRA Spain, will install and refurbish valuable irrigation, drainage, and water systems, organize water committees and farmers' groups, and help them manage, maintain, and operate those systems. In addition, health promoters will work with families, schools, and communities to educate them on health-related issues critical to their wellbeing, such as personal hygiene and water sanitation. Through this project, ADRA plans to help 10,000 residents.

"The project will create more jobs, providing the communities with greater financial resources, resulting in a domino effect on the economy of the entire region," said Isabel Asca, a spokesperson for ADRA Peru. "It will also motivate a new knowledge about farming in the population based on the cultivation of products of great demand in the marketplace."

Farmers will also receive assistance through agri-business techniques training, in order to improve crop production, prepare them to enter the commercial agricultural markets, and, ultimately, increase family incomes.

ADRA plans to ensure the sustainability of this project through a formal agreement with local community leaders and partners, including representatives of the Peruvian Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture, and provincial and district municipalities, who will work with water committees and the health sector to ensure the maintenance of quality water standards, the promotion of good health practices in their communities, and the creation and implementation of water management and environmental sanitation strategies.

Among the communities benefiting from this project are many that suffered the full intensity of the August 2007 quake, including Mayta Cápac, Huáscar, San Jose, Huamanpali, Juncal, Santa Rosa, San Columbano, Campo Alegre, Santa Luisa, Pozuelo Norte, Mariposa, and Alto Larán, all located in the Chincha province, and Cabeza de Toro, Pampano, and Agua Santa in neighboring Pisco province, in the coastal Deparment of Ica.

ADRA Peru, which began work in 1965 as Obra Filantrópica y Asistencia Social Adventista (OFASA), is recognized today as one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in Peru. It works in several key areas, including Basic Infrastructure, Basic Education, Economic Development, Health Care, Democracy and Governance, and Agriculture.

ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

Additional information about ADRA can be found at www.adra.org.

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Author: Nadia McGill

Media Contact: John Torres, Senior Public Relations Manager, ADRA International 12501 Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD 20904 Phone: 301.680.6357 E-mail: Media.Inquiries@adra.org