India: desperate needs - The earthquake disaster in Gujarat

The earthquake disaster in Gujarat has seen the mobilisation of international relief efforts. Christian organisations are in the vanguard as usual...

Following the devastating quake in January, British charities, including Tearfund, World Vision and the Christian Children's Fund (CCF), formed a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to try and co-ordinate efforts to bring aid to the stricken region.

Following the initial rescue phase, which concentrated on freeing survivors from the collapsed buildings, Tearfund's Christian partners in the devastated state of Gujarat report an urgent need for tents, food and medicines for survivors.

Speaking from the devastated town of Bhuj, which bore the brunt of the earthquake which struck the north-western Indian state on January 26, Dino Touthang, Director of Operations for Tearfund partner EFICOR, said: 'The rescue phase is all but over. Now there is an urgent need for tents. People are living in the open, too afraid to seek shelter, for fear of another earthquake.'

Mr. Touthang said church leaders, including Anglican bishops, Catholics and Protestants, met on January 31 in the regional capital of Ahmedabad. They were seeking to co-operate as the disaster moved from search and rescue to the rehabilitation phase. 'Churches have responded in a strong and positive way to this crisis, providing community kitchens, opening their buildings to homeless families and volunteering to dig out bodies and bring medical help to survivors,' reported Mr. Touthang. Tearfund's Regional Advisor for India, Prince David, stated that medical care was a pressing need.

Medical aid

While many of the severely injured were successfully transferred to hospitals away from the worst-affected areas, the medical teams of Tearfund partners, the Emmanuel Hospital Association, were kept busy by a steady stream of injured survivors. 'In almost every family there are survivors who have suffered injury, whether that is bruising or broken bones,' says Prince David. 'There is also a need for water purifying tablets and chlorine because bodies still trapped underneath buildings are decomposing in the high daytime temperatures. A cholera epidemic must be avoided at all costs.'

The Christian Medical College at Ludhiana, 700 miles from the affected area, sent an Emergency Trauma Team of 16 people led by Dr. Vijay Obed - a senior surgeon specialising in plastic surgery. The team planned to spend up to 10 days in Gujarat offering assistance wherever they were able.

It will take months for the 75,000 people receiving emergency supplies to rebuild their homes and re-establish an income, with their shops, livestock and other resources gone. World Vision is developing a 90-day emergency intervention, and then one-year plans which will include psycho-social assessment and trauma support.

World Vision development staff began distributing food and supplies where they work in Haripura community after the quake hit. Food, water, plastic sheeting and blankets for 1,000 families were trucked into Bhuj.

Brendan Gormley, Chief Executive of the DEC, said of the joint agency appeal: 'As the scale of the disaster becomes more apparent, funds are desperately needed for relief work. We must help in every way we can so that the people of Gujarat can rebuild their shattered lives.'

Gujarat is an area where Christians have suffered in recent years, with churches destroyed and Christians attacked, according to the Baptist World Alliance.

Donations to the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) India Earthquake Appeal can be made on 0870 606 0900.