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World Vision Aids Taiwan Quake Victims
A death toll of at least 2,000 people continues to rise following the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Taiwan on September 21. Severe after-shocks measuring above 6.0 have hampered relief efforts. Seismologists predict such aftershocks to continue for another two weeks.
More than 5,200 people are injured and 2,622 remain trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. The quakes destroyed or damaged at least 30,000 homes affecting more than 110,000 people.
Corpses piled quickly in hospital morgues. Health workers began laying the dead by the roadside, wrapping them in blue plastic sheets due to power outages and a lack of freezing equipment.
Power outages also hampered transportation, communications, and water supplies.
World Vision has established 12 relief centers and two emergency shelters in the most seriously affected areas in central and northern Taiwan. Each of the shelters houses 1,000 people.
World Vision’s relief centers are collaborative efforts, making use of volunteers from local churches and Christian organizations. World Vision is currently distributing food, water, tents, sleeping bags, and medical supplies.
World Vision has allocated $625,000 from its emergency relief reserve to assist victims of the quake. But a total of $2 million is needed for the entire relief and rehabilitation project.
More than two thousand 7-Eleven convenience stores in Taiwan have pledged to raise money for World Vision’s emergency response.
Our relief staff in Taiwan request prayer support from partners around the world for the many thousands of people affected by the earthquake. World Vision seeks God’s wisdom and power in this, our largest relief effort ever undertaken in Taiwan.
World Vision One of Two Aid Agencies in East Timor
World Vision continues to increase its emergency aid for victims and refugees of the recent violence in East Timor.
World Vision is assisting thousands of refugees in West Timor, and will increase its presence in East Timor once security is restored there. As of Wednesday, September 22, four World Vision staff are in Dili and another four will arrive this Saturday. World Vision and the Red Cross are the only two humanitarian agencies currently in East Timor.
United Nations officials estimate that more than half of East Timor’s population of 800,000 is now displaced. Many are hiding in nearby hills and more than 190,000 have fled into West Timor.
World Vision distributed 3.3 tons of food on Thursday and will distribute an initial 2,000 family survival kits on Saturday. In West Timor, World Vision is providing refugees with clean water, cooking supplies, eating utensils, clothing, and soap. World Vision will soon begin distributing monthly food rations of rice, fish, green beans, and vegetable oil.
The distribution in West Timor will ultimately benefit 7,000 families, or 35,000 people, and will run for three months.
World Vision also will distribute a special soy/corn cereal for children under age 5, and measles immunizations for more than 2,000 children under 5.
Meanwhile, additional World Vision relief workers are ready to return to East Timor on 24-hour notice, and have pre-positioned $450,000 worth of gifts-in-kind in Darwin, Australia, and Kupang, Indonesia. A large shipment of rice from the U.N. World Food Program is waiting to enter Dili’s harbor, where World Vision will assist with the distribution.
World Vision needs to raise $590,000 from its partners in the United States for this initial phase of assistance.
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