CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
EMERGENCY APPEAL: BELIZE/HURRICANE KEITH
EMERGENCY ACCOUNT #6724 for $20,000
October 18, 2000


SITUATION: Keith, a category four hurricane, hit a wide area of Central
America, Mexico and other parts of Caribbean earlier this month, causing
flooding in Belize, Nicaragua and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

With its nearly 200 miles of shoreline, as well as interior low lands,
swamps and lagoons, Belize was particularly susceptible to flooding from
Keith, which battered offshore islets and produced heavy rains in the
country's interior.

Extensive flooding resulted; floodwaters have risen along the rivers in
the Orange Walk, Corozal, Cayo, and Belize districts, displacing thousands
of families from their homes, the Belize National Emergency Management
Organization (NEMO) reports. Many of the access roads to the rural areas
have flooded, effectually isolating the communities and displaced
families. A national state of emergency continues and floodwaters are not
expected to recede for up to another six months.

Some 72,092 persons, roughly 30 percent of the total population, have been
directly affected by the flooding and are at risk for health-related
problems. The excess water washed dumpsites, sewers, lagoons, and excreta
from latrines and septic tanks into residential areas.

The water contamination and dampness have given rise to a myriad of
medical conditions, including malaria, hepatitis A, cholera,
leptospirosis, moderate-to-severe gastrointestinal illnesses, upper
respiratory ailments and skin-related irritations and dengue fever. The
Belize government has received reports that the hemorrhagic form of dengue
fever has already broken out in various rural areas, and is likely to be
of major, perhaps epidemic, proportions.

While public health conditions are of major concern and are expected to
worsen, many of the health risks can be prevented with the intensification
of existing public health programs, vector control, water quality
monitoring and treatment, public health education and epidemiological
surveillance.


RESPONSE: Church World Service, in partnership with the St. Joseph Mercy
Clinic of Belize, and in coordination with the Belize Ministry of Health,
is initiating a three-month program to procure and distribute medicines to
assist as many as 72,092 persons in Belize City and rural communities.
This is based on an assessment conducted Oct. 12-15 by CWS ERP
International Disaster Response Consultant Terry Wesbrock, Christian
Church (Disciples).

This program will ease the problems faced by the 23,033 people in rural
areas and 49,059 people in Belize City who are at risk of health problems,
particularly those who are most vulnerable, including elderly persons.

Most of the medicines to be procured will be "over-the-counter" drugs,
which can be freely distributed, though others are prescription drugs only
and will be prescribed through the Mercy Clinic bank of physicians.

Mercy Clinic is a subsidiary of the Sisters of Mercy Health Clinics, a
Catholic charitable system managed internationally by the Sisters of Mercy
and is affiliated with the Mercy Hospital system operating throughout the
United States. The Belize Mercy Clinic has been in operation since 1959,
providing medical services and general health care to the local
population, and is an integral part of the Belize health care system.
Mercy Clinic participates through the Catholic Church in the Belize
Council of Churches, a CWS partner.

Distribution of the drugs will be carried out by Mercy Clinic personnel,
in coordination with the Belize Ministry of Health or through the Ministry
of Health in conjunction with Mercy Clinic personnel.  Either way, Mercy
Clinic will be directly involved in the distribution and accounting of the
medicine dispersal.

The total proposed cost off this project is $20,000.

This is an initial appeal and is for Belize only; CWS may support an
appeal by Action by Churches Together (ACT) International for additional
needs in other countries affected by Hurricane Keith. For additional
information, including more detailed budget figures, please contact CWS
ERP.


CHURCH WORLD SERVICE, Attn. Belize/Hurricane Keith, #6724 for $20,000,
P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.  Phone pledges or credit card donations:
1-800-297-1516, ext. 222.  On-line contributions to:
http://www.churchworldservice.org

Call the CWS HOTLINE for updates: (800) 297-1516, ext. 111.

For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is
responding, contact CWS Emergency Response.

Telephone: (212) 870-3151
After-hours emergency pager: (800) 780-0853
Internet Web Site: http://www.cwserp.org


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