Iquitos Joya del Amazonas

Iquitos Joya del Amazonas from Niels Ahmes on Vimeo.

Good Morning Belén

Sonidos del Perú ◊ 1 ◊ GOOD MORNING BELÉN from Vincent Moon / Petites Planètes on Vimeo.

Belen Iquitos, Perú

belen Iquitos. Peru from Dani Rodilla - Filmmaker on Vimeo.

Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) Notification

The State Department alerts U.S. citizens to the damage caused by the flooding and landslides in several regions of Peru.  The State of Emergency issued by the Government of Peru remains in effect.  This Travel Alert expires on May 31, 2017.  The City of Cusco, the archaeological site of Machu Picchu and the tourist areas in the Sacred Valley and Lake Titicaca have not experienced flooding to date.  The coastal area south of Lima has returned to normal conditions.  Peru's Amazon Basin has received typical levels of rainfall.

A map from the Government of Peru showing the affected districts is available at http://unasolafuerza.pe/.

You are encouraged to carefully review the safety situation of your destination and modes of transportation before travel.  Visit the link above for the latest information.

Heavy rains have resulted in extensive damage to homes, water supply facilities, schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges in several regions.  The Government of Peru continues to repair roads and bridges especially along the Pan American highway and other vital access routes in the northern part of Peru.  The Government of Peru is also working to repair water supply facilities, sanitation systems, schools, and hospitals in the affected areas.  More than 1.1 million Peruvians were affected by the floods with approximately 46,000 still residing in camps and shelters and many more living with friends and family.  In northern coastal Peru, standing water has increased the number of cases of mosquito-borne illnesses such as Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya despite fumigation efforts.  Additionally, there has been a spike in Leptospirosis and other diarrheal diseases recently in flooded areas.  Local public health authorities warn of more cases of various diarrheal diseases and mosquito-borne viral diseases in the affected areas.  Therefore, ensuring compliance with usual guidance for safe drinking water and mosquito avoidance measures is highly recommended.  The CDC website has specific guidance on these measures.

Travel to impacted areas is likely to be delayed and may be dangerous due to bad road conditions.  If you experience issues while traveling, contact local authorities at (01-574-8000) or   iperu@promperu.gob.pe, which maintains offices in cities around the country and regularly updates information on local developments affecting travelers, including alternative methods of transit.

Listen to travel alerts and safety instructions from local authorities and avoid flooded areas.Establish a plan for maintaining contact with family and friends and keep them informed of your itinerary.

The Peruvian police report traffic on the Carretera Central is now flowing normally, with a few sections experiencing delays as road crews repair damages.  Official U.S. government travel to and along areas of the Carretera Central will only be allowed on a case-by-case basis.  Travelers, including U.S. government employees, are encouraged to confirm with hotel operators located in the coastal Departments of Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, and Tumbes that sanitation systems are operational and clean drinking water is available.  All Peace Corps volunteers who were relocated from affected regions are scheduled to return in May.  Most are expected to be able to return to serve in their sites in Piura, Lambayeque and Trujillo.

For further information:

• See the State Department's travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information for Peru.
• Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
• Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
• Contact the U.S. Embassy in Peru, located in Monterrico, a suburb of Lima, at Avenida La Encalada, Block Seventeen. You can call the Embassy at 51-1-618-2000 during business hours, 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday, or dial the same number to reach a duty officer for after-hours emergencies.
• Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Perú Flooding Latest

Dear Friends,

Many of you have been asking how we are, and how you can help, in light of the nation-wide flooding and regional states of emergency in Peru.

First. All four Mission Co-Workers and three Young Adult Volunteers are safe. We write to let you know how we are responding, and to offer the link to those who want to give.

NEWS
All but one of the 25 provinces of Peru have experienced unusual flooding. The normal occurrence of ‘huaycos’ is 60 per year. (These are the flood waters that come with little warning and a lot of destruction.) We have already had 600 huaycos this year. The historic city of Trujillo has been underwater six times in the last few weeks, as have many coastal communities, particularly in northern Peru. The flooding in Lima got everyone's attention. There are amazing videos which you can find if you Google ‘Peru Floods 2017’. Peruvians have turned out to volunteer and give.

RESPONSES

The PC(USA) signed an agreement with Red Uniendo Manos-Peru (Joining Hands-Peru) that would allow us (Rusty & Sara) to work together on a new program called PERUSA; short-term mission teams with partner organizations that belong to the Red UM. We started “official” work with the Red last week as the news was breaking about all the disasters. Disaster relief became our focus. Working with the Red staff, we have developed a way for you to give through the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance directly to the work that the PC(USA) will be participating in with our partners here in Peru. The work of the Iglesia Evangélica Peruana will be in Paramongo four hours north of Lima. The work of Paz y Esperanza will be in the valley of the Carretera Central heading east out of Lima into the mountains. There is extensive flooding and damage in that area.

GIFTS

Here is the link to make a gift: Presbyterian Mission Agency

THE TOLL

Obviously the toll of damages continues to rise as roads are reopened to rural communities and as rivers overflow their banks in new areas. The unusual rains in the coastal desert and in the jungle are expected to continue for two more weeks. But here are the stats as of today, April 1st from the National Institute of Civil Defense (Instituto Nacional de Defensa Civll - INDECI):

LIFE AND HEALTH

• 101 people have lost their lives
• 353 people have been injured
• 19 people are missing

DAMAGES

• 149,848 persons have suffered severe damages and are in need of immediate humanitarian help (los damnificados)
• 950,498 persons have suffered minor damages, illness and are possibly in need of humanitarian help
• 18,269 houses have collapsed
• 16,315 houses are uninhabitable
• 208,076 houses have suffered damage

SCHOOLS

• 48 schools have collapsed
• 106 schools are uninhabitable
• 1,748 schools have suffered damage

LOCAL HEALTH POSTS

• 13 health posts have collapsed
• 25 health posts are uninhabitable
• 597 health posts are damaged

HIGHWAYS AND BRIDGES

• 2,443 km of highway are destroyed
• 5,991 km are damaged
• 264 bridges are destroyed (both pedestrian and vehicular)
• 418 bridges are damaged
• 1,702 km of rural roads are destroyed
• 10,302 km of rural roads are damaged

IRRIGATION AND CROP LOSS

• 4,460 irrigation canals are destroyed
• 9,224 irrigation canals are affected
• 53,656 Hectares of crops are affected (132,582 acres)
• 20,656 Hectares of crops are destroyed (51,040 acres)

As of today, our work will go forward with the Red UM, planning for both short-term relief and longer term recovery. We also will continue with work for all of the 2017 mission teams with the Iglesia Evangélica Peruana.

Thank you for your ongoing interest in Peru and in the work our church shares here. Please pray for the reconstruction and for the strengthening of our ability to respond to disasters.

Saludos y abrazos de Sara y Rusty

Misión Presbiteriana Mundial

Lima, Perú

Sara-Celular: 998 845 847

Presbyterian Mission Connections {Sara Armstrong & Russell Edmondson}

Perú Flood Update

Hello Van!

Here is some news for the Peru Mission site:

This has been a year of crazy extremes weather-wise. Between the unusual coastal rains and flooding, much of the coastal infrastructure has failed and damages are in the millions of dollars. This is the rainy season in the Andes and the jungle. However, the rains are heavier than usual this year. The Amazon River is close to overflowing and more flooding is expected in the Loretto province.

Here is recent data from the National Institute of Civil Defense (Instituto Nacional de Defensa Civll - INDECI):

• 78 people have lost their lives
• 263 people have been injured
• 20 people are missing
• 101,104 persons have suffered severe damages and in need of immediate humanitarian help
• 643,216 persons have suffered minor damages and possibly in need of humanitarian help
• 11,519 houses have collapsed
• 12,440 houses are uninhabitable
• 141,149 houses have suffered damage
• 27 schools have collapsed
• 62 schools are uninhabitable
• 1,194 schools have suffered damage
• 10 health posts have collapsed
• 16 health posts are uninhabitable
• 399 health posts are damaged
• 2,148 km of highways destroyed
• 4,554 km of highways damaged
• 175 bridges destroyed
• 290 bridges damaged
• 872 km of rural roads destroyed
• 4,884 km of rural roads damaged

We have been working with our partners to identify how Presbyterians can help. Presbyterian Disaster Relief works globally with the ACT Alliance and ACT Peru has received $150,000 for direct disaster relief. Peruvians are also showing up in astonishing numbers to volunteer and provide help. As in all disasters, some communities are inundated with help while many other communities have been totally cut off and have received no aid.

We (the PCUSA co-workers in Peru) are collaborating on relief efforts with our Peruvian partners, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and other relief agencies. Within a few days we will let you know how you can help, and which communities will be the focus of the relief work for the Red Uniendo Manos partners, and the Iglesia Evangelica Churches here in Peru.

If you want to be amazed and awed at the power of nature, Google Peru Floods 2017 and look at the videos.  Following are two links to view:  Climate State and Business Insider

Sara Armstrong y Rusty Edmondson
Misión Presbiteriana Mundial
Lima, Perú
Sara Celular: 998 845 847
Presbyterian Mission Connections {Sara Armstrong & Russell Edmondson}

Prayers Needed For Peruvian Families

It's sunny and hot in Lima. That means it's cold and wet in the Andes and jungle. The rains have come with a vengeance in the highlands. The new road from Cusco to Quillabamba is in the river and the San Martin area (Moyobamba region) is flooded.

Prayers are needed for many partners and their extension ministries in these areas: http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-san-martin-in-state-of-emergency-due-to-flooding-105135

Thanks for sharing this!
Sara

Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmondson
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Coordinadores de Alianzas y Delegaciones con las Iglesias Reformadas de Peru'
Celulares: Rusty-975189205 Sara-998845847
http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/missionconnections/armstrong-sara-and-russell-edmondson/

Liberty Island Reopens - Ellis Island Remains Closed

Debris Left From The Storm Surge On Ellis Island

The article below is posted to honor the hard work of the National Park Service and this year's mission participant Diana Pardue.

Resource:  Yahoo News

By Holly Bailey

For more than 100 years, Ellis Island has been an important symbol of the nation’s immigration system, a place where more than 12 million people passed through between 1892 and 1924 seeking a better life in America. And since 1990, when Ellis Island reopened as a museum, millions more have walked through its doors, seeking to understand its role in creating the nation’s “melting pot” of culture and their own family roots.

But for the past eight months, Ellis Island has been eerily quiet, another victim of the rage of Superstorm Sandy. The Oct. 29 storm flooded the island with what National Park Service officials say was at least an 8-foot wall of water, destroying its electrical system and damaging many of its historic buildings—including the immigration museum.

“We went back through the historical records, and Ellis Island has never seen a storm like this. … We thought the buildings were on high enough ground, but nobody imagined water coming over the walls like it did,” Diana Pardue, head of museum services for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, said. “It was a very damaging storm.”

Neighboring Liberty Island, home to the Statue of Liberty, also sustained major damage from Sandy—adding up to a combined $59 million in damage to both islands, according to the NPS. But after months of renovations—including the rebuilding of its electrical system, walkways and boat docks--Liberty Island will reopen Thursday in time for the Independence Day holiday.

Yet Ellis Island will remain dark, closed until at least next year. Park officials, who had put all their focus on getting Liberty Island back open, say they will soon turn their attention to Ellis Island, where they will undertake a massive renovation aimed not only at repairing Sandy damage but protecting the island from future storms.

“The decision was made early on that we didn't just want to put everything back where it was so that if there is another storm like this” the island is better prepared, Pardue said.

While park officials say they are only now beginning to plot the exact details of the rebuilding process at Ellis Island, their early decisions mirror those made by building owners in Lower Manhattan who are being forced to bring their structures, many of which are more than 100 years old, into the modern age.

Read more...

World Water Day

A Life-Saving Solution To Waterborne Illness

Resource:  UNICEF

By Sabine Dolan

In Amazonian Peru, A Simple, Life-Saving Solution To Waterborne Illness

Drinking water is fundamental to human life. Yet, thousands of children die every day from diarrhea and other waterborne diseases because of limited access to safe water.

As the world observes World Water Day on 22 March, we look at the Loreto region of Peru. Although the Amazon, the world’s largest river, flows through this part of the country, safe water here is limited.

IQUITOS, Peru, 21 March 2013 – Cinthia Alado is worried about her son Andy. The 7-month-old has been suffering from stomach pain.

Safe Water At A High Price

Cinthia and her family live in a crowded community by the Amazon River in Iquitos, Peru. Last April, the area was devastated by what local inhabitants say were the worst floods in more than three decades. The waters have long since receded, but people in this impoverished neighborhood have limited access to clean, safe water.

As a result, residents, especially young children, have suffered from bouts of severe diarrhea and various infections.

“My son has had diarrhea already five times today because I don’t have clean water in my house,” says Cinthia, holding Andy in her arms. “Water costs a lot of money, and I just can’t afford to buy it every day.”

“For thousands of families in Peru, the only option is to buy water supplied by tank trucks and store it,” explains UNICEF Representative in Peru Paul Martin. “This lack of access to safe drinking water translates into children having skin problems and exposes them to stomach viruses which produce recurrent diarrhea.”

The community of Masusa is in Iquitos on the Amazon River. It is extremely poor. Eight in ten families don’t have safe drinking water, and almost no one has access to sanitation. Masusa was severely affected by floods, which contaminated local water supplies.

Read more...

We Will Survive

Resource:  Amazon CARES

By Molly Mednikow

Founder and Executive Director

We wish to apologize for the delay since our last blog. Amazon CARES has made incredible progress during 2012, and we want our work to continue long past 2013. However, financially, like many charities, we are suffering greatly. I am sad to state that for the first time we will not be printing an Annual Calendar. This keepsake had always doubled as a form of an Annual Report for CARES. Despite Sponsorship money to pay for the actual printing, we had to measure reality vs. the costs and reality won. Amazon CARES, it seems, is always hanging by a thread. I can assure supporters that our costs are low. I do not earn a salary and 90 cents of every $1.00 donated goes directly to our animal and human welfare projects. This year, due to the destruction of our jungle shelter facilities due to flooding and the resulting influx of abandoned animals, we utilized all our resources.

Read more...

Lesotho: A Nation Struggling To Feed Its People

Resource: Business Day Live

By Khulekani Magubane

LESOTHO, grappling with food shortages, is banking on South Africa to make good on its pledge to assist its landlocked neighbour.

Lesotho is in the throes of a food crisis, the result of weather shocks including flash floods and drought over the past two years. South Africa undertook to assist the mountain kingdom following a visit by Prime Minister Tom Thabane last month. However, the amount and extent of the pledge is not yet known.

Read more...

Lesotho Pins Hopes On Conservation Farming

Resource:  Business Day Live
By Mamello Masote

With Lesotho in the grip of a food security crisis - declared an emergency by Prime Minister Tom Thabane in early August - conservation agriculture is being expanded aggressively in the country.  Matshidiso Mojake, head of the national disaster management authority in Lesotho, said food production has fallen 77% in a year.

About 725,000 people, or 40% of the population of 1.9 million, are said to depend for a living on subsistence farming.

Read more...

Flooding Displaces Peruvians

Continuous heavy rains during the first half of 2012 have led to widespread flooding in Loreto, Peru, displacing approximately 208,000 people.

An estimated 52,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed and, as of April, 15,000 people were still being sheltered in tents, schools and other public facilities.  Nationwide, the floods have affected some 650,000 Peruvians.

More...

'In Christ We Are Not Alone'

MISSION PARTNERS, WORKERS IN JAPAN FEEL SUPPORTED BY PRAYERS
March 28, 2011

General Assembly Mission Council
by Judson Taylor, Communications Associate

In the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami catastrophe on March 11, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s global partners and mission co-workers have been buoyed by the transformative power and solidarity of prayer.
The Presbyterian World Mission ministry area has been in contact with several of its partner organizations and churches and with all of its mission workers in Japan since the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Messages from PC(USA) mission partners and institutions have expressed thanks and provided information about specific situations and responses. “[Your] encouragement makes us realize in Christ we are not alone,” wrote the Korean Christian Church in Japan Many tell about churches and members suffering from the disaster, refugees living in shelters, and the shortage of food, relief supplies, and fuel. But they are organizing to assess the needs and help get aid to those in the greatest need. A spokesman for the Reformed Church of Japan wrote: “We would like to be effective witnesses to the Lord in the midst of devastation.”

The United Church of Christ (Kyodan), the church the PC(USA) works most closely with, reported a number of members missing and at least one confirmed death. A staff member of a nursery school related to Iwaki Church died on the day of the earthquake while communicating with the children’s parents. Some of the churches have hosted refugees. The chapel of Shinsei Kamaishi Church in the coastal fishing city of Kamaishi was reportedly filled with mud and oil. Built in 2000, it was known as a pioneer “eco-church,” with a solar-power system and transparent glass roof.

Rev. Isamu Koshiishi, moderator of the National Christian Council in Japan (NCCJ), is thankful for the prayers of so many in the United States. He says the NCCJ’s assessing the damages and recovery will take some time, but “we have been encouraged and strengthened by the many messages of support from our Christian brothers and sisters all over the world. Our immediate request is for you to continue to keep us in your prayers as we are coordinating a network of local support for those most severely affected. At this time of our great need, we want you to know how grateful we are for your expressions of support and solidarity.”

“We are touched by your prayers,” wrote an officer of the Kyodan. Yodogawa Christian Hospital in Osaka, one of the institutions with which the PC(USA) has had a strong relationship, wrote: “Thank you so very much for your prayers. Our hospital patients and staff and their families are all safe, but our hearts ache as the earthquake disasters are spreading in other parts of Japan. We are praying for God’s protection and comfort over those people in the earthquake-affected areas.”

Responding To The Japan Earthquake And Tsunami

PDA is responding to needs from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan and the ensuing tsunamis across the Pacific rim.

PC(USA) has mission partners in Japan. World Mission has received positive reports on the welfare of mission coworkers. Read updates on the World Mission Japan page.

PDA staff and National Response Team members are contacting potentially affected presbyteries to offer assistance.

One Great Hour of Sharing funds have been sent to support an initial response through our ecumenical partner. We are meeting with a PC(USA) mission worker with experience in Asia to determine a response with our mission partners.

Read reports as they become available, and find resources on the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami index.

Denominational leaders have issued a Call to Prayer for those impacted by the earthquake and tsunami.