Situation:
As it did with the Philippines and Cambodia, Typhoon Ketsana struck Vietnam in late September, causing serious damage. The storm, hitting Vietnam on September 29, killed 163 persons in 14 provinces in central Vietnam. More than 258,000 houses were destroyed or damaged; flooding affected nearly 295,000 others, more than 100,000 of them in the central province of Thua Thien Hue.
Other infrastructure damaged included roads, schools, health clinics, agricultural land, irrigation systems and dykes. Non-harvested crops and livestock were lost and fruit trees and commercial forests damaged. Another major concern: sand and salt damage on fragile rice and vegetable fields.
CWS response:
Church World Service and other members of the Action by Churches Together network are focusing efforts on the central province of Thua Thien Hue, where there is a need for rehabilitation and recovery work with a strong, pro-active, rather than reactive, focus on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
The primary implementer of the CWS-supported ACT program is partner Norwegian Church Aid. CWS staff in Vietnam is providing technical and monitoring and evaluation expertise.
The response focuses on up to 5,000 households in 10 villages and includes upgrading shelters; improved food security through strengthened livelihoods, including seed distribution; construction of wells and education on health and sanitation; and emergency preparedness training.
Six areas of priority for this response include:
1. The lives and property of poor families are better protected from annual floods and storms, because they have repaired and/or upgraded their shelters.
2. Families have access to and/or can purchase sufficient quantities of food because their livelihoods have been restored and strengthened.
3. Poor families have improved water and sanitation facilities and practice good hygiene resulting in better overall health.
4. Vulnerable families have less risk of damage to their livelihoods, because the local physical environment is more resilient to storms and floods.
5. Communities are better prepared and experience fewer deaths/injuries and loss of property through improved local emergency preparedness and response to reoccurring natural disasters.
6. Villages are more resilient to natural disasters through strengthened community organization and action.
How to help
Contributions to support Church World Service emergency response and recovery efforts may be made online, by phone (800.297.1516), or sent to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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