Silver Spring, Maryland [January 24, 2008]–In response to massive flooding in the central and southern regions of Mozambique, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is providing emergency shelter kits to an estimated 1,000 flood-displaced individuals in the Govuro district of Ihambane province.

ADRA is working with the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGC) in Mozambique and the local government of Govuro in order to meet the needs of survivors displaced by the disaster. In ADRA’s initial response, shelter kits will be distributed to nearly 200 families, (approximately 1,000 individuals). Each kit consists of one tent and three bottles of water-purifying liquid.

Heavy rainfall in Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe has caused widespread flooding throughout the southern Africa region. In Mozambique, the INGC reports that more than 87,000 have been relocated to 89 resettlement centers. Tens of thousands have lost their homes, as well as their livelihoods, livestock, and crops to the floodwaters.(more)

A challenging initiation

Paulo received a baptism of fire on his very first day on the job in 1992, when he joined ADRA Angola as its finance director. With a civil war churning and foreigners fleeing, the country was an extremely difficult place to live. “I remember my very first night in Luanda, the capital city, like it was yesterday,” he says. “Seven kilometers away from where I was staying, a huge blast woke me up in the middle of the night. The blast was so strong that the house trembled as it would during an earthquake. Later on, I learned an ammunition storehouse had exploded.” (more)