Family Care Foundation Newsletter: Volume 4 -- No. 1 -- February 2000

Those of our readers who are familiar with Family Care Foundation understand that we have a broad Mission Statement and therefore quite a range of activities. This issue of Family Care Foundation Newsletter focuses on one specific area, that of Disaster Relief. With more and more natural disasters and other tragedies occurring worldwide each year, we have felt a growing obligation to contribute our time, energy and abilities to help address the varied human needs that arise from these events. Featured in this newsletter are highlights of the work that a number of our FCF projects are doing in some of these situations. — Each of these presented an opportunity to alleviate human suffering and offer hope and concern.

We were jolted out of a sound sleep at 3:00 am Tuesday morning, the 17th of August, 1999. The doors to our bedrooms were knocking, but we soon realized it was more than our doors…our walls were knocking as well. Soon the stairs were shaking and heaving… This was the longest 45 seconds that we have lived through!

At that moment, none of us had any idea of just how much damage or destruction had occurred in those 45 seconds. American scientists estimated that the power unleashed in the Istanbul area was about 400 times the strength of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined!

One of our neighbors works for a major TV channel, so we were advised of the latest breaking stories. Within hours we were in touch with other friends and contacts and involved in coordinating efforts to get food and donated materials to the neediest areas. One team accompanied our neighbor by boat to Yalova, a city 80 miles from Istanbul, which was badly hit. We were able to distribute shovels, gloves, medical supplies, plastic bags, and water. As we were helping the Austrian Red Cross unload their trucks and get set up, a strong secondary tremor rumbled through the camp.

None of us had ever been in a war zone, but this is what this entire area looked like. This turned out to be the “quake of the century,” with unofficial reports as high as 40,000 dead, and hundreds of thousands homeless (many of whom are still living in tent cities). Returning to Istanbul at 11:00 that first night, we found incredible traffic jams throughout the city, as people were fleeing from congested city centers to areas that were deemed safe.

The next day a team was sent to scout out Golcuk, one of the worst hit areas. Army and police were everywhere, all wearing surgical masks as the smell of death was ever-present. Every time we heard an ambulance, it was good news, meaning someone was found alive!

There at the quake’s epicenter, we passed on food, medicine, and clothing, spending hours trying to encourage and help those in makeshift tents to get a measure of their life back together. Meanwhile, those at our home base sent out appeals for relief supplies and collected truckloads of blankets, sheets, clothing, plastic wear, school supplies, and toys, as well as fresh fruit, vegetables, and other food stuffs.

The response to us as Turkish-speaking foreigners was overwhelming. The army and management of this makeshift camp begged us to stay on and help, and thus we did, judging the need was greatest at this location. We spent the next five weeks residing in the tent camp, working side by side with the Belgian Red Cross and the Turkish military. To help lift the spirits of the people in the camp, we performed live music as well as puppet and clown shows for the children. We also organized games. Even when our hard day’s work was done and we attempted to lie down for the night in our tent, there was a constant flow of visitors late into the night seeking solace and hope. We became known as “one of the longest staying foreign groups in the Tent City.”

“Each day felt like a week” said one FES volunteer. “Every moment that we weren’t busy with physical work, we spent with survivors, listening to their stories of personal tragedy, offering a comforting hand, and just being there for them.”

Our Family Educational Services team continued active follow up at the Golcuk tent city into the Fall, when a second major earthquake struck, measuring 7.2! This then re-involved us in relief work in a new area of Turkey where we were called on to apply our practical and efficient methods of organization and coordination we had developed in the months previous.

In the early morning of September 21st, 1999, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake jolted the island nation of Taiwan. The final death toll exceeded 2,300, with 10,000 injured and more than 100,000 people left homeless.

Someone came running to tell us that one of the apartment buildings in our complex had almost collapsed. The first floor was now in the basement and the building was leaning over precariously. We moved our family to a nearby field and by daybreak were joined there by several thousand other families.

From day one we joined in the relief effort, working alongside the Red Cross and other relief organizations, while living in temporary tent accommodations ourselves. In addition to shuttling food and medical supplies to the towns and remote villages that were hardest hit and visiting the now very crowded hospitals in Taighung and Nanto City, we encouraged people’s spirits with musical performances, clown shows, and games and activities for the children in the tent camps. The army colonel overseeing the tent camp thanked us profusely, adding that our clown shows did wonders for the children who had all been very frightened and suffered various degrees of trauma. By the end of the shows, we oftentimes had to have soldiers lining up at the front, as the kids were just going wild, laughing, and crowding up to the stages.

The military was very organized in accommodating the needs of the people. The Red Cross and a large Buddhist organization, Chi Ji, were organizing meals and doing a wonderful job of supplying the physical needs of the refugees. We therefore felt that the role we were meant to major on was the spiritual side of things, such as counseling, comforting and praying for the many needy hearts around us. We also felt a burden to encourage the medical staff and volunteers we encountered, those who worked tirelessly around the clock in selfless sacrifice attending to the dying and sick. Not only were the victims of the quake in need of help and encouragement, but also those who were helping the victims.

So while we passed on supplies such as water, food, tents, and sleeping bags during the course of our days, we also hugged, held, and prayed for those who had lost loved ones and were severely traumatized: A 20-year-old who had lost his parents and sister when his house collapsed; a frightened girl who had been pulled from the mass of concrete and twisted steel that had claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother; a young mother who had lost her two-year-old child; a middle-aged woman who we spent time talking to, which prevented her from jumping from a bridge in a fit of desperation; and hundreds of others.

During our relief activities, we were introduced to Taiwan’s President Lee Tung Huei, who was visiting the hardest hit areas and who told us, “Thank you for helping my people. God bless you!”

On September 26th, 1999, a series of explosions set off in a fireworks depot, where four tons of gun powder was being stored, ripped through a crowded marketplace in Celaya, Mexico. The force of the blast completely wiped out an entire block, killing over 80 people and injuring another 350.

Our team of 12 headed off to join other volunteers and organizations, including the Red Cross. Everyone was quite shaken up when we arrived, as three of their fellow paramedics, a fireman, and a policeman had all died from a second explosion after they were on the scene. We made the rounds at two hospitals, visiting those who were in a lot of pain, both physically and emotionally, as they struggled to accept the reality of what had just happened. This was the most serious disaster this community of half a million had ever suffered. We have continued our visits to Celaya regularly.

On January 24th, 1999, the ground roared, the house shook, and our roof started shattering. While we were able to walk out of our slightly damaged house, hundreds of people in the neighboring city of Armenia had just lost their lives — thousands more were missing. It was clear that the survivors needed as much help as possible, so we loaded up our two vans and set off.

As we entered Armenia, we were shocked at the scene before us: three quarters of the city had been destroyed and 90% of its inhabitants were homeless. Over 1,000 people had died and many more were still trapped under the rubble.

Phoebe, 14 years old, distributes milk to children left without homes in Armenia, Colombia.

After coordinating with the Red Cross, our first assignment was to fill our van with relief supplies and distribute it to the neediest areas of the city, which we continued doing until nightfall. In the days following, we based out of the main distribution center near the airport. We administered the supplies, including deciding where and when truckloads of supplies should be sent for distribution.

Today, a large percentage of the population is still living in cambuches, huts with plastic sheets for roofs. Thankfully, international organizations with the means to build hospitals and reconstruct the cities have made great progress. We have initiated group therapy sessions with workshops to help survivors rebuild their lives. (Please see further details in Family Care Foundation Newsletter Vol. 3 No. 2.)

It had been raining heavily for over a week in Manila and the neighboring provinces during the last week of July, 1999, and many areas had flooded. Then on August 3rd we heard the news that a major part of Cherry Hills, a subdivision in Antipolo near Manila, caved in and houses had crumbled to the ground like matchboxes. A number of people died and others were missing, buried in the mud and rubble. We made our way to the evacuation center that had been temporarily set up at a nearby Catholic seminary, and there we distributed all of the rice, noodles, sardines, and clothing we had brought. From there we headed on to another part in the area of Antipolo where there had been another flash flood and landslide, and where we helped with the distribution of relief goods.

There are so many people who reach out to you in times like this. At the chapel of the subdivision, a number of residents were waiting patiently for some news of their loved ones. Lorna tearfully told us that she and her husband and kids had gotten out, but her husband had gone back to the house to get something and did not make it back. We were able to comfort her in her time of need. We have continued to follow up on Lorna and other folks like her that we met through this tragedy. At one such time we also spoke with the barangay (local government) councilor, who greeted us with, “You are the first ones to come when the disaster happened, and you’re the first ones to come back again! Thank you so much!”

A massive explosion rocked Nairobi on August 7th, 1998, when a car bomb intended to destroy the US Embassy totally demolished a building across the street and gutted several others, including a 22-story office building. The shock waves were felt throughout the city and the blast was heard for miles. Cars and buses in the line of the blast became twisted masses of metal. Windows within a ten-block radius shattered and rained shards of glass on hapless pedestrians. The number of casualties climbed as rescue workers pulled survivors and bodies from the debris. The final toll: 247 dead and more than 5,000 injured.

As soon as the first reliable reports of the bombing reached us, we were off to volunteer our services at the site. By the time we arrived most of the victims had been taken to hospitals. What remained was a massive search and rescue mission to free those who had been buried alive by the rubble or trapped in adjacent buildings. Our team stayed on the site that first day until midnight, working with engineers and Red Cross volunteers who headed the rescue effort.

At 7:30 the next morning one of our teams was at the national hospital where the largest number of wounded had been taken. We helped to oversee the distribution of supplies as they came in, as well as dressed wounds and fed those who could not feed themselves, and not least of all, offer words of comfort and reassurance to each person we attended. “We worked in the wards where the bomb victims were treated,” remarked 18-year-old Joy, who administered first aid. “I was happy that we were able to head directly to the need.”

Meanwhile, the bulk of our team continued to help with search and rescue at the bombsite, while others organized and manned the food lines so that the weary rescue workers could get meals.

“I was surprised by the extent of the damage,” said David, one of our 21-year-old volunteers who spent most of his time in and around the demolished buildings searching for survivors. “Not only was the damage great, but people were in shock and there was very little organization. The situation was so chaotic that when we would come up with a solution or possible answer to a problem, right away we were depended on to take charge.”

This tragedy, which took place some time ago, is by no means over, as Nairobi’s population struggles to come to grips with the loss of life, suffering, and trauma that affected the lives of so many. We continue to help and counsel those who remain in the hospital and those who are trying to piece their shattered lives back together.

In January of 1999, eight volunteers from the FCF project Cheer Up Mission in Louisiana (two of whom are pediatricians) traveled to Central America to bring cheer, medical treatment, and humanitarian aid to victims of Hurricane Mitch.

Part of the Cheer Up Missions team from Louisiana, Florida, and California that volunteered their services in Honduras and Nicaragua.

This was the first trip of several we were to take to the area. In Honduras and Nicaragua we performed our clown and musical shows 16 times in 10 days, encouraging thousands of people, as well as counseling and comforting hundreds individually. On this first trip, we distributed $10,000 worth of medical supplies and thousands of dollars worth of clothing, food, and toys that we had brought with us. Drs. Bob and Margarita Guy provided free medical exams and treatment for hundreds of needy children.

On our second trip to the area we met with the First Lady of Honduras, Mary de Flores, to present her with medical supplies for the hospitals she works with there in Honduras.

On our third trip to Central America, we visited El Salvador and Honduras, distributing food, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid. We also participated in a “feed the homeless” mission in San Salvador.

On our fourth trip to the region, we were able to accompany well over $100,000 worth of equipment donated by a New Orleans hospital, including hospital beds, monitors, IV pumps, traction units and various other medical machines. These are designated to help re-equip and modernize hospitals they are still rebuilding after the 1998 disaster.

Right before Christmas, we sent down two containers with 10 pallets of medical supplies, 50 wheel chairs, and 120 mattresses. For Christmas we prepared a special program for the children of Honduras and El Salvador. We also met with the First Lady of El Salvador. (Further details in Family Care Foundation newsletter Vol. 3 No. 3.)

In early October of 1999 intense rains pounded southern Mexico, causing severe flooding in six states. This calamity was declared “the tragedy of the century” by Mexico’s President. The floods left hundreds dead, damaged thousands of homes, and caused gigantic landslides. Continued rain and broken dams inflicted further damage. It has taken months for the floodwaters to drain.

Maria with part of the food shipments for the stranded flood victims in Serrito de Tlacotepec.

When the flooding began, a team of H.E.L.P. volunteers set out to aid flood victims in the remote town of Metztitlan, Hidalgo, three hours north of Mexico City. This area had received hardly any food aid up until then. From the road, we saw mile after mile of flooded fields, with only treetops and rooftops rising above the muddy waters. Just days earlier these fields had been fertile crop lands, filled with black beans, corn, pumpkins, and other vegetables that are the main staple of the local economy. Now, it was all a lake that stretched for about 20 kilometers (12 miles).

	Leonel, Samuel, Pedro, and driver unload the aid truck at water’s edge.
	Marines helping us to ferry food to stranded villagers on the mountain top.

We learned of a stranded town that all donated goods had bypassed, some of these even being misappropriated, sad to say. The army captain in charge of the area asked us if we could personally distribute the food we’d brought to the stranded flood victims, and he arranged for motor boats to transport the supplies and us. While passing on the provisions, the looks of gratitude and joy that we received from mothers with children, empty bags in hand, more than melted away our tiredness.

With officials having estimated that it will be eight months before the last of the floodwaters drain, project H.E.L.P. continues helping those whose lives have been severely affected by this disaster.

If you are interested in contributing to Family Care Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund, kindly contact us as per the information below. If you wish to designate your gift toward any of the specific projects mentioned in this newsletter, please mention the project by name. Make all checks payable to “Family Care Foundation.” Thank you for your manifest concern.