Eastern Sri Lanka is experiencing the worst flooding they have known for the past 100 years. In the first 13 days of January 2011, some areas received as much as 5' 11" of rain, resulting in more than 1 million people affected and lost of housing for around 320,000. The death toll is at least 250 and climbing with many people missing, and more lives are expected to be lost due to water-borne diseases.
The photo on the right was taken on Feb 3rd of the Ampara YMCA. Obviously, there is still a good deal of flooding in the town of Ampara. Not all of the YMCA is flooded (other photos inside the YMCA can be seen below), but this part appears to have a lot of water. Electricity in the area is often not available during this time of flooding.
Sewage and other contaminants have made drinking water wells unsafe and flood waters have caused widespread damage to crops and homes. Many people are still living in tents at tsunami and civil-war refugee camps which were also flooded. Some of the people have had to contend with poisonous snakes and crocodiles in their homes and in the floodwaters that they must wade through to get around. Food, water, and medicine have been in short supply, and thousands of people are staying in temporary shelters - sometimes in schools and tents. Many of the people had already been displaced from their original homes due to the civil-war that finally ended in 2010, while many others were still trying to recover from the tsunami which happened on Dec 26, 2004.
Many of the people that we helped during in my Missions of Hope in 2005 & 2007 (and many thousands more) are going through many of the same challenges once again because of the current flooding. They have lost their homes, belongings, and their meager incomes. They need our help in order for them to have basic necessities and hope.
The YMCA in Ampara has been struggling to help feed flood victims, but they need our financial support. I have lived and worked with the YMCA's in Ampara and Kalmunai, helping tsunami and civil-war victims, and I know that they are committed to doing all that they can with their limited resources.
I have already sent a personal donation to the Ampara YMCA to help the flood victims, and I will continue to do what I can to help. If you would like to join me in this effort, I would be happy to include your donations with my own. I can also provide the contact details for the Ampara YMCA if you wish to donate directly to them. For more information, you can send me an email at fblove@yahoo.com or you can also find me on facebook.
I will be in Sri Lanka, helping flood victims and working with the Ampara YMCA for the next 30-days on another "Mission of Hope". Plans for this trip include training in First Aid/CPR, distributing First Aid supplies, and assisting my friends at the YMCA to distribute food & water.
"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4
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