CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Torrential rains caused heavy flooding in four of nine regions of Chiapas, Mexico, last month. "As many as 1.5 million people have lost homes, crops, land, livestock, clothes and whatever possessions they might have had," said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, international communication director for the Division for Global Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
"The majority of the people affected are those who were already living in extreme poverty and struggling to survive," said Ishida. "This disaster has left their homes buried, and whatever means they had of making a living have now been destroyed."
Ishida said water sewage systems have been seriously damaged, resulting in outbreaks of intestinal, respiratory and skin infections.
Chiapas, Mexico's southernmost state, includes 5,000 communities in 22 different municipalities. In Montozintla, located within the La Frailesca region, 1,200 homes were buried by mud slides.
The Mexican Association for Rural and Urban Transformation (AMEXTRA), a companion institution with the ELCA, is working in Montozintla to provide food, water, clothing, emergency supplies and medical attention.
"The ELCA provided $5,000 to assist AMEXTRA working in Montozintla," said Ishida. "About 4,500 people from 750 families will benefit from this assistance. There are no other forms of relief being offered to the people of Montozintla."
AMEXTRA is an organization made up of 2,202 families seeking to identify and address the causes and effects of poverty and marginalization in both rural and urban communities of Mexico. It was founded in 1984.
For information contact:
Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Director (773) 380-2955 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
