CEDAR’s staff Serena and the women in Kashmir.
“Thank you so much for coming… for your help and for your support in this time of need. These materials will really help us a lot in the coming days, but more than materials, thank you for coming and visiting us and spending time with us. That itself is a source of comfort for us…” said Zainab expressing her joy.
Zainab and her family belong to the Gujjar community, one of the poorest communities in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India, and are totally dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. The recent floods washed away the agricultural field and their home situated on the banks of the river, leaving the family homeless with no source of food and income. CEDAR’s partner EFICOR (The Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief) provided Zainab’s family with blankets and food items so they can sustain themselves.
In September, torrential rains caused massive devastation and severe distress in India, particularly in the states of Jammu and Kashmir. It was the worst flood in the last 106 years. The Prime Minister of India even declared it as a “national calamity”.
CEDAR has received a grant of HKD2,889,000 from the Disaster Relief Fund of the Government of HKSAR, to provide emergency relief to flood victims through our partner in India, EFICOR. In October, CEDAR’s staff Fountain and Serena went to India to work with the EFICOR’s relief team. 8,000 most vulnerable households in Rajouri, Pulwama, Punch, Srinagar and Shupiyan, the 5 most badly affected districts, received emergency food supplies and non-food items such as blanket and the Pheran (the traditional dress of Kashmir).
Pray for the flood-affected families in Northern India:
- Thank God for giving us a faithful, trustworthy and competent frontline partner in India. Through the EFICOR’s relief team, the affected families are comforted by the relief materials and their caring love.
- Pray that the relief materials can help the flood victims to withstand this winter.
- Pray that God will open the next door for EFICOR to implement post-disaster rehabilitation work in Jammu and Kashmir.