Re: India Tsunami Report # 2, Andhra Pradesh Adventists

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
We have now been able to get into the coastal villages of Andhra Pradesh to assess damage to our Adventist members. (Report # 1 was for Tamil Nadu only)
DEATHS
In our 20 churches on the Bay of Bengal near Ongole in Southeast Andhra, six women and three children from our membership perished.
LOSSES AND DAMAGES
We have a list of the 20 churches and the number of Adventist
families and the amount of loss for each family.
In Binginapalli church nine adventist families had their standing rice paddy crops destroyed at a total loss of US$ 947. (We have the names and amount of crop land destroyed and value for each family).
Sixty-five families in the 20 churches had their simple cottages damaged and the estimates for repair are noted as $162 per house or a total of $7,558 needed to help them make their homes liveable again.
Forty-one families had their fishing nets and boats either lost or damaged. The cost of repairs is estimated at $7,558 or an average of $184 per family.
The local mission would like to give one blanket to each of the 980 families for a cost of $3,418. They would like to distribute 25 kg of rice and 5 kg of lentils to each of the 980 families . That would cost $12,092.
The total expenses to meet this emergency in the church in
Southeast Andhra is US$ 36,551.
It would be good if we could make a one time payment of $250
equivalent to each of the families where a death has occurred. This would come to US$ 2000.00
RESPONSE FROM CHURCH IN INDIA
Today the Division Committee has voted to ask every worker of the SDA Church within India, including pastors, hospital workers, and school workers, and retirees, to contribute a minimum of one day's wages to the relief effort and rehabilitation of victims of tsunami. So we are doing
whatever we can with our inadequate resources to meet the need. The first Sabbath in February has also been set aside to take an offering in all of the church in India to cntribute to the relief fund to help our own members. However, this total will come to a very small
portion of the total needed, because of the low salaries of workers (Less than $100 per month) and the average income of members which is around $30 per month. Therefore we are so appreciative as to what the world church is doing in this terrible disaster. Thank you so much for what you are doing
to help. The need is great both within and without the church. Funds sent to ADRA will assist the general public wherever local governments have permitted them to work. We are so grateful for this. We want to do that and we have contributed our share as a division to that effort. But they
cannot target needs of our members. We are thankful for what the world church and many friends are doing and will do to help us rehabilitate our members.
Sincerely yours,
Ron Watts, President
Southern Asia Divsion

LSUC Note: Thailand
January 4, 2005

We will be wiring over what money has already been given today or tomorrow. If you have more you wish to give and get it in as part of this wire ($45), bring it to the church office right away. If more comes in later, we will try to clump it into one wire and get it over there.
Thanks for all who have given!
God bless--

Dear Church leaders and members

It is now just over a week since the tsunami devastated Southeast Asia. You will have read the news reports and since the footage on television. We thank the many generous people around the world who have responded to the urgent need here in Thailand. We thank you for your prayers and donations.

Thailand Adventist Mission is glad to announce that at the moment we know of no church members lives lost although there have been deaths reported of relatives of the students from our Phuket school. Our sympathies are with the families who are affected. The Mission property has been unaffected by the tidal wave and in fact has been of great assistance to people in the area. The Phuket Adventist Hospital, known locally as Mission Hospital ? Phuket, has been inundated with patients and has cared for them the best way that they can. The hospital staff has worked tirelessly to help where they can. The Phuket Church is open for use by those who managed to survive the disaster, but whose homes have been destroyed. Today the Phuket church school staff and school students have contributed to the cause by assisting to pack care packages for those who have lost everything.
ADRA Thailand has also been active. You can read reports of their efforts on the ADRA International website, but I will briefly let you know what has been done. Mr Greg Young, the ADRA Thailand Country Director flew to Phuket for four days last week to assist and assess the situation and see where ADRA can help and fit in with the much wider efforts of the other relief agencies.

Last week ADRA teamed up with Mission Hospital and purchased supplies for 1,000 care packages which the hospital staff helped to pack and distribute in the Khao Lak area. When the need for food and water was not so great ADRA supplied some of the workers with gloves and protective clothing as they worked to find, identity and repatriate those who had lost their lives. ADRA was also able to assist with the supply of medical supplies to the hospital in this time of unprecedented need.
Greg returned to Phuket yesterday morning with a team of workers to further assist. There have been promises of a water purification plant and assistance to rebuild schools to name just two of the specific donations. The team will again assess what the community needs and liaise with donors and the other agencies to ensure that there is no duplication and fill any needs there might be. There is a need for long range plans to be put in place to assist, especially with those who have lost their jobs because the businesses no longer exist and also to assist the local population with rebuilding their homes and lives.

LSUC Note: Thailand ADRA Report
January 4, 2005

Greg Young, ADRA director, Thailand:

Today the ADRA Thailand assessment team split into 3 groups in order to cover the widespread area affected by the Tsunami. The first group visited one of the worst affected areas in Ban Nam Kem, a Thai village that was nearly completely destroyed in the Tsunami with water reaching as far as 1km inland. The team conducted interview with many
villages who have lost part or all of their families and have had all of their belongings destroyed.
ADRA is assessing the livelihood issues that appear to be a large concern for the remaining inhabitants of the coastal towns. Boats and fishing equipment, the tools of the primary industry in this area, have been completely lost and account for a substantial investment. ADRA is exploring means by which they can assist these people to restore their livelihoods.
The second group visited with the Ban Bang Sak village and held discussions with the village leader. He indicated that although the majority of their immediate needs were been met by the government relief effort, the villagers had concerns regarding their communities small enterprise. The village
operated a small water filtration system which they used to package clean water for their villagers and also to generate income for their community from sales of the water to surrounding villages. The building housing the water filtration system, as well as the water source, have been totally destroyed and the government has indicated that they will not be able to provide assistance.
The third group went to visit Ban Kamala school which was almost completely destroyed by the Tsunami. The sub-district government indicated that they still require an extra 3 million baht on top of what the government has provided for the rebuilding of the school buildings and facilities.

Reports received by the assessment team indicate that the conditions on outlying islands where the government is said to be the only responding entity may require more urgent attention, however boats along the coast were lost or destroyed in the Tsunami and arranging passage to the islands has proven difficult. The ADRA team will be visiting some of these Islands tomorrow, January 5th, to ascertain the needs of the communities on these Islands.
The Government of Thailand is assisting extensively in the affected areas, and will take responsibility for rebuilding and refurnishing people?s homes.
In Thailand also, the signs of psychological distress are emerging and may prove an area for attention during the next period of activity.