Staff members in vulnerable World Vision project areas are on alert; so far, all sponsored children and their families are reportedly safe.

July 12, 2007

By Reena T. Samuel - India Communications Coordinator


Since mid-June, monsoon rains have pummeled the Indian subcontinent with a vengeance.

At least 187 people have died, and 7 million more have been affected by flooding — a consequence of annual monsoon rains across eastern, western and southern parts of India, Reuters reported.

As of July 9, some 1.3 million people were reportedly marooned in the eastern states of West Bengal and Orissa, where large swaths of land remained submerged in floodwaters. Severely affected communities in the two states are a considerable distance from World Vision projects. Reports indicate that all the children and families in our project areas in Kolkata, West Bengal's capital, are safe.

Relief on its Way

Since we reported on six World Vision project areas hit by relentless rains and flooding in June, World Vision staff members have been working hard to help affected survivors.

In the southern state of Karnataka, in the Bijapur sponsorship area supported by donors in the United States, World Vision recently delivered clothing, cooking utensils and relief packages to 215 severely affected families, including 52 sponsored children. The packages included a 10-day supply of:

• 55 pounds of rice
• more than 6.5 pounds of grains
• more than 1 gallon of vegetable oil

"We will provide housing material to 60 families who lost their houses during the floods," says Godfred Victor Singh, manager for the area. "We are also planning to buy livestock for families so they can generate income; other local nongovernmental organizations have offered to provide food to the communities."

In addition, World Vision is providing two tanks per day of clean, safe drinking water for the affected community. "We are working closely with the government in organizing medical camps to ensure children and families are safe," Singh says.

More Projects Affected

Since June, additional World Vision sponsorship communities have been affected by heavy rains and flooding in western India, mostly in and around Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtra.

On June 30, we provided 900 food packets to flood-affected people in Mumbai's slum communities. Staff members have also begun organizing medical camps, since a number of children in the area are now suffering with fevers and colds, says Amit Rathod, program manager for the East and West Mumbai sponsorship areas. Donors in South Korea support our programs in East Mumbai; our donors in Australia and New Zealand fund West Mumbai development programs.

Sulochana Ohole, the project coordinator for the Mumbai Street Children Project — supported by donors living in India and Taiwan — reports that 40 families, whose homes were destroyed by heavy rains, received tarps for temporary shelter. In addition, staff members are canvassing the area to ensure the safety of street children who may have been further affected by the flooding.

Meanwhile, plans are in full swing to assist 320 families displaced by heavy rains in a village in the Miraj sponsorship area, approximately 150 miles southeast of Mumbai, says Sanjay Adhav, World Vision's project manager for the region. "We are planning to distribute rice, oil, grains, soap, spices, flour, biscuits, salt, water purifiers, and tin sheeting." Donors in the Netherlands support development programs in this region.

All World Vision staff members in vulnerable areas across India are monitoring their communities closely in the event additional assistance is needed, says Franklin Joseph, World Vision's emergency relief and disaster mitigation director in India.