As hurricane season begins, World Vision pre-positions additional emergency supplies throughout Latin America and the Caribbean

July 14 2011 (Seattle, WA) – With the growing need for emergency supplies in the Latin American and Caribbean region, World Vision recently increased its inventory in Panama City in preparation for the upcoming hurricane season. The 300 new pallets of supplies include hygiene kits, water containers, mosquito nets, kitchen sets and water purification tablets as well as tarps and blankets.

“This is a strategic step for our emergency response capabilities in the region,” said John Jung, supply chain manager for World Vision’s Global Pre-positioning Resource Network based in Denver. “The new supplies will allow us to help up to 30,000 people and create Child-Friendly Spaces for up to 400 children.”

Child-Friendly Spaces, an intervention developed by World Vision and other international organizations, provide a disaster’s youngest survivors with a safe place to play, participate in structured activities, and experience healing from any loss they’ve experienced. They also allow children to return to healthy routines and experience a sense of normalcy again.

World Vision’s GPRN stores supplies on four continents, allowing teams to provide relief within 72 hours of a disaster. Last year, natural disasters displaced 8.2 million people in the Latin American and Caribbean region as reported by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, and recent disasters in the region like the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and serious flooding in Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil have again demonstrated the need to be on the ground, preparing for disasters before they strike vulnerable communities.

“You don’t know where the next disaster is going to come from,” Jung said. “But we want to be able to respond when it happens, and we are making the preparations we need well ahead of time.”

In 2010, World Vision helped 15 million people around the world as part of its emergency relief and disaster preparedness efforts and was able to provide nearly $550 million in assistance.

Written by Patricia Diaz

About World Vision
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. We serve the world's poor -- regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information on their efforts, visit WorldVision.org/press or follow them on Twitter at @WorldVisionNews