International aid has begun to reach communities in need across Myanmar but continued heavy rain is expected to flood large parts of the low-lying southern delta region in the upcoming days and weeks. The area of most concern is the southwest region where the Ayeyarwady River and other rivers fork into a delta leading to the sea. This area is home to 6.2 million people, nearly 12 percent of Myanmar’s population.

“We’re very concerned about secondary flooding that is likely going to happen in the delta region as more water flows downstream,” said Pierre Peron, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in a recent Reuters news report about the continued flooding.

Salesian missionaries living and working in the region are responding to the situation with aid for the flood victims, many who have lost everything. The regions most affected include Chin, Rakáin, Magwe and Sagaing which the Burmese government declared a state of natural disaster. The Salesian house of Kalay, a boarding school in the region of Chin, is located at the center of one of the most flood-stricken areas but did not suffer any damage. The Salesian community in the region is already actively engaged in emergency relief work and also planning long-term rebuilding and education and social development initiatives to help flood victims.

“Because Salesian missionaries live within the communities they serve, they are perfectly positioned to respond in times of crisis,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our programs are helping to provide food, clothing and shelter to those in need and our missionaries will remain through the long recovery process helping the many families who will be forced to rebuild their homes and salvage their livelihoods.”

Salesian missionaries in Myanmar have joined local authorities and other non-governmental aid groups in assessing the damage to determine the best course of action required long-term. At this point, missionaries are addressing the most basic of needs but as the death toll rises, they are reporting massive numbers of homeless people, starvation and vulnerability to infectious diseases.

In an August 4th statement, the Salesian Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon said food and medical supplies are urgently needed to help thousands in the inundated Rakhine and Chin States and in the Sagaing Region. Cardinal Bo called for particular attention to be paid to the situation in Rakhine State which in recent years has experienced deadly religious conflicts and was already home to at least 100,000 displaced people, mainly Rohingya Muslims living in temporary camps.

“The scale of devastation is massive,” says Cardinal Bo. “In a region that is chronically poor, the poor have lost everything and have become refugees. Urgent survival assistance is needed in many villages and we are calling on everyone we can to assist us in this work.”

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Sources:

ANS – Myanmar – Floods devastate the country. Salesians help the population

BBC – Myanmar flooding affects one million

Reuters – Myanmar braces for more flooding as international aid flows in

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Salesian missionaries living and working in the region are leading a relief campaign through the Don Bosco Foundation in Peru. Volunteers at the campaign are collecting food, clothing, mattresses and other items and then delivering them directly to families in need.

“While Don Bosco Church in Chosica was heavily damaged, we are much more concerned about our parishioners there—all of whom have literally lost everything,” says Father Alejandro Arango Ramos, Rector Major of the Salesian presence in Peru.

To help support the Don Bosco Church in Chosica and provide aid to its parishioners, Salesian Youth Movement groups in Rimac and Brena, both districts within Lima providence, have organized a fundraising campaign and plan to donate the money raised directly to the church.

“Because Salesian missionaries live within the communities they serve, they are perfectly positioned to respond in times of crisis,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions. “Our missionaries know the local landscape and are providing direct relief to those who need it most and they will remain throughout the long recovery process that accompanies disasters like this.”

Salesian missionaries working in Peru have provided life-saving support and education to poor youth and their families through the years as well as helped with rebuilding efforts after the August 2007 earthquake. Salesian programs in the country focus on education and workforce development, helping to ensure that young Peruvians have access to the education and technical skills training that will enable them to find and retain long-term stable employment.

Peru has high levels of income inequality and more than a quarter of its population living in poverty, according to the World Bank. Poverty levels are significantly higher in rural areas but urban areas struggle most with inequality, most notably metropolitan Lima. Poverty in the country is made worse by a shortage of productive farmland and a lack of employable skills, specifically among young people and women entering the workforce. In addition, Peruvians lack access to adequate housing, nutrition and education.

Peru has also been plagued by hunger and disaster. According to the World Bank, close to 25 percent of children in the country are chronically malnourished. Communities continue to rebuild after the 8.0 earthquake in August 2007 which killed more than 500 people and injured hundreds more in the central coastal cities of Chincha, Pisco and Ica. The quake destroyed close to 60,000 residential and commercial buildings, leveled hundreds of acres of farmland and left countless Peruvians without means of livelihood.

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Sources:

ANS – Peru – Salesians organize a solidarity campaign for the population of Chosica

BBC News – Peru mudslide emergency declared in Chosica near Lima

World Bank – Peru

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Two of the Salesian priests live and work in Sana’a and there is one priest working at each of the other three centers in the country. They oversee the three recognized Catholic churches in Aden and care for the expatriate Catholics hailing from different parts of the world, particularly from the Philippines and India, who work as nurses in the country.

In addition, the Salesian priests assist the Sisters of Charity, the only Catholic religious congregation present in Yemen other than the Salesians. The Sisters of Charity focus their work on humanitarian activities in hospitals, centers for the aged and the infirm and homes for poor and disadvantaged youth. In Sana’a, Salesian missionaries also serve the Catholics attached to the diplomatic missions of various countries.

While the Salesian priests and Sisters of Charity remain safe, the situation is precarious. The fighting intensified weeks ago in the southern port city of Aden, where forces loyal to Yemen’s President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is now exiled, clashed with allies of the Houthis, a well-organized and influential Shiite group in a majority Sunni population, who now control the capital and forced President Hadi from power.

Aden is at the center of the conflict and was President Hadi’s last seat of power before he fled to Saudi Arabia last week. On April 2, Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen stormed the presidential palace in Aden following heavy clashes. Despite air strikes led by Saudi Arabia, the rebels pushed through Aden using tanks and armored vehicles. They attacked several government buildings including the central prison, where they freed hundreds of inmates, according to a BBC report. At least 44 people have been killed in the violence, including 18 civilians.

“As regards the situation here, so far I am safe. Of course there were frightening moments with rockets passing just above the taxi I was traveling in, shooting and yelling around our church, the sound of bombs and rocket explosions within a range of 5 to 10 kilometers,” says the Salesian priest remaining in the city of Aden.

The lack of an authoritative central power and the withdrawal of foreign missions has made the continued Salesian presence in the country all the more difficult and dangerous. India has asked its citizens, who number more than 4,000, to leave the country.

While the situation in Yemen has always been difficult for Salesian missionaries, the current fighting in Yemen, and in particular within Aden, has made it more difficult than ever.

“Even though there was a civil war here earlier, Aden was a safe place with the presence of many established embassies and their security guards and the army around. But now it is different. There are no embassies in Aden and the countries which were protecting and training the military here have pulled out. Many business firms, companies and wealthy families have left,” adds the Salesian priest in Aden.

Recently, a bomb fell on one of the nursing hostels that had just been blessed by the Salesian priest. Fortunately, none of the nurses were at the hostel during the time and there were no reported injuries. The Sisters of Charity have vowed to remain in Yemen to continue their humanitarian work. The Salesian priests remain as well assessing the situation day to day.

Sources

ANS – Yemen – The situation of the country and of the Salesians

ANS – Yemen – To leave or to stay, while war rages

BBC News – Yemen crisis: Rebels storm presidential palace in Aden

New York Times – Qaeda Militants Attack Port City in Yemen, Freeing Prisoners

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