Disaster Preparedness

Planning for monsoons in Sri Lanka

Planning for monsoons in Sri Lanka

The monsoon season will be arriving in Sri Lanka shortly. No one knows how powerful the winds and rains will be, but one thing is certain – it’s best to not be living in a tent when they arrive. Tens of thousands of people are still living in temporary shelters following the end of Sri ...

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Peru after the earthquake

Peru after the earthquake

In the course of a few minutes, Peru’s massive 2007 earthquake destroyed everything that some communities had spent years building.Houses collapsed, roads crumbled and essentials such as food and drinking water were suddenly hard to come by for many of the 650,000 people affected. Caritas launched an emergency appeal in the aftermath of the earthquake. ...

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Hugo Diaz Gutierrez, Caritas Tabasco Logistics Officer during the Tabasco Flood

Hugo Diaz Gutierrez, Caritas Tabasco Logistics Officer during the Tabasco Flood

Life since the 2007 floods has been a learning curve for Hugo Gutierrez. Last year he was one of the three part-timers working for Caritas Tabasco when the disaster happened. Father Saul hired a few more people so Gutierrez became a part of a team of seven, but there was still no denying the enormity ...

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Emilie Della Corte, Emergency Programme Officer during the Tabasco Flood

Emilie Della Corte, Emergency Programme Officer during the Tabasco Flood

Soon after the Mexican floods hit, Caritas launched an appeal for US$2 million to help the people of Tabasco. Emilie Della Corte works for Caritas Internationalis’ (CI) Emergency Response team in Rome. She and another colleague went to Mexico City to support Caritas Mexico in developing their emergency appeal. The document would request donations from ...

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Myanmar Archbishop praises Caritas relief efforts

“Without Caritas and the Church in Myanmar, many people would have starved after Cyclone Nargis hit,” said Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon on a recent visit to the Caritas offices in the Vatican. Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady Delta region of Myanmar (also known as Burma) on 2 May 2008, causing death and destruction beyond ...

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Lessons learned in Tabasco floods

Lessons learned in Tabasco floods

It is a year since heavy rains caused massive floods which affected one million people in Tabasco, Mexico. Caritas was on the ground and made sure people had food, water and shelter during the worst part of the disaster. Once the emergency was over, Caritas turned its focus to building people’s knowledge and resources to face any ...

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Stories of hope from Bangladesh

Stories of hope from Bangladesh

She is a sweet baby. All people in the neighbourhood love her. She is Sidora Folia. She was born in the fateful night of Sidr. Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh on November 15, 2007, killing over 3,000 people, causing a billion dollars of destruction and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Previous storms had killed people in ...

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Changing women’s lives in Chad

Changing women’s lives in Chad

By Antoine Adoum Goulgué, SECADEV for Caritas The Al-Nadjah centre is a handsome building in the Chadian town of Adré, about 5 km from the border with Sudan’s troubled Darfur region. With finanancial and technical support from Caritas, the centre provides training for local women, a nursery school, and a playground. The 235 beneficiaries in ...

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Caritas making a difference three months after Myanmar cyclone

Caritas making a difference three months after Myanmar cyclone

By Tim O’Connor Saturday, 2 August 2008 marks the three month anniversary of cyclone Nargis. And despite the difficulties, Caritas’ immediate response, through the Church and other partners in Myanmar, has saved many lives and brought urgent relief to 82,700 children, women and men. Mr Jamie Isbister, adviser to the Caritas response in Myanmar said: “Despite ...

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ACT/Caritas prepare for the coming rains

ACT/Caritas prepare for the coming rains

By Emad Eldin Ali, with contribution from Catherine Dennis Life in Darfur can be harsh at the best of times, but during the rainy season it can be particularly challenging. Many families who have lost their homes because of the conflict are now living in makeshift mud huts and straw shelters. Ensuring people have shelter, ...

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