The Hurricane

Hurricane Felix, a category five hurricane, hit the North Atlantic coast of Nicaragua on Sept. 4, 2007 between two areas – Puerto Cabezas (aka Bilwi) and Cabo Gracias a Dios.

The Damage

The Moravian Church in Iltara

David returned from the North Atlantic Coast on Wednesday, after spending several days in Puerto Cabezas and surrounding villages as part of the AMOS/CEPAD delegation hosted by the Moravian Church. He was able to visit with leaders of the Moravian Church, local health authorities, and government disaster officials in Puerto Cabezas. He was also able to travel with others in a borrowed 4-wheel drive vehicle to outlying communities that have been devastated by the hurricane to see and speak to survivors in Santa Marta, Sangni Laya, Butku, Panua and Iltara.

Children standing over pieces of their house in Iltara

What we saw on our visits:

* A chaotic situation in which governmental and non-governmental organizations are not coordinating well.
* Widespread devastation of homes, clinics, churches and the displacement of people into local school buildings (Only the schools made out of concrete with steel reinforcement did not collapse and served as shelters for many during the 280 kilometers-per-hour winds)
* Disruption of wells, drinking water systems, sanitary systems and electric supply.
* Roads were difficult to travel due to blockages with fallen trees and other debris.
* Thousands of trees blown over or destroyed including fruit trees and crops. In most communities all crops were lost.
* Food and water shortages.
* People whose lives had been torn apart by the loss of loved ones or awaiting to hear from those who disappeared during the night of the hurricane.
* Some parents told us that the children are traumatized to the point that when it rains, the children begin to tremble, cry and run to hide under cover.

What we are planning to do:
* Travel to Puerto Cabezas and outlying communities by land, now that the road is open again, to deliver food and supplies directly to the communities.
* We have reliable census information obtained during our trip this week to the communities which will allow us to deliver supplies to each individual family on a name basis.
* Lead community health education sessions to train local people in how to prevent outbreaks of malaria and diarrhea as well as other public health risks.
* Accompany the communities in the long-term with rehabilitation and reconstruction.
* Coordinate well with existing government public health efforts.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

CEPAD is working on delivering rice, beans, cooking oil, flour, plastic sheeting to serve as roofing in the temporary homes that have been made out of scraps. They are also working on obtaining machetes, saws, chainsaws, hammers, shovels, rakes.

AMOS is addressing the health needs in affected communities. We need your help with:
* Chlorine tablets and water filters.
* Essential medications for treating acute and chronic illnesses.
* T-10 and T-20 tents (Capacity for 10 or 20 people, respectively) to set up temporary clinics until permanent ones are built.
* A four wheel drive ambulance-type vehicle that can be used to transport people, medicines or supplies into rough terrain and fuel for land trips.
* Fuel for the trips to the communities.
* Contributions for any of all of the above

Signs of hope

We saw many signs of hope during our visit:
* The dirt road from Managua to Puerto Cabezas is now open to travel again, allowing for the land transport of supplies.
* There were people in the communities cleaning up the debris, building temporary homes out of scraps of wood or trash.
* Communities that were organized and expressed their determination to work hard to survive and rebuild in spite of the shortages of food, tools and other needed resources.
* Rev. Stedman Bent of the Moravian Church in Puerto Cabezas and other leaders told us that people on the Atlantic feel encouraged that through the disaster the people of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts have been drawn closer together, building bridges over what has been a historical, cultural, linguistic, political division of the nation.

We ask your prayers for the people of the North Atlantic region of Nicaragua; for those who have lost loved ones and their homes and need all the support we can give to help them rebuild their lives out of the chaos.

Please also consider sending a tax-deductible contribution to International Ministries, PO Box 851 Valley Forge, PA 19482 with the MEMO line: "AMOS Health and Hope—HURRICANE FELIX RELIEF", and email us to let us know it is coming.

Paz,

David and Laura