CEDAR received grants from the Disaster Relief Fund to distribute aids to flood-affected families in Kerala through our local partner
The Kerala State of southern India experienced the worst floods in a century in August this year, killing nearly 500 people and affecting more than 5.4 million inhabitants.
The survivors’ needs are huge. Our partner EFICOR* continues to distribute flood relief, such as food, clothing and hygiene items to them. Several weeks ago, we sent an officer to Kerala to inspect the progress of emergency relief.
Following our allocation of around US$10,000 to EFICOR’s relief work, we were recently granted a total of HK$3.613 million from the Disaster Relief Fund by the Government of Hong Kong to further assist the survivors. Through our partner, we provided immediate assistance to survivors of the severely affected Alappuzha District. Until 5th November, approximately 8,000 families were benefited and we target a total of 13,060 flood-affected families to be supported. Based on the calculation of an average 5 family members per household, we estimate the number of beneficiaries would be about 65,000.
Relief materials received by each household include:
- “Food Kit”: rice, green beans, salt, Indian tea
- “Household Kit”: clothes, bed-sheets
- “Hygiene Kit”: toothbrushes, toothpaste, bath soaps, sanitary napkins, shampoo, water purification tabs
EFICOR went through a rigorous process, such as surveying and registration of beneficiaries, before distributing the relief materials. Besides, EFICOR’s team set up a complaint box at the distribution point to enable flood survivors to express their views. Apart from on-site observation, our staff visited several flood-affected households to understand their needs and listen to their struggles.
The path to post-disaster recovery in Kerala is long. Please continue to pray and donate to support us.
Let us pray:
- Thank Lord for the good weather condition for our partner to do the distribution
- Praise Lord for the faithful work of EFICOR benefiting 8,000 families
- Remember all survivors and hope they will not be further stricken by the spread of water-borne diseases
- Keep the health of EFICOR’s team. May they be strong to deal with huge needs of flood-affected regions
*EFICOR in full is the Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief.
**The above relief work is funded by the Disaster Relief Fund, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. If you’d like to support CEDAR and our partner’s disaster relief work, you can select the “Relief” option on the donation page to fund our “Emergency Relief and Disaster Preparedness Fund”.