South American Division

Over 1,000 Families Affected by Floods Receive Support from ADRA in Alagoas

ADRA provided food, clothing, hygiene and cleaning items, as well as shopping vouchers.

Brazil

Rebbeca Ricarte
Families show donations received from ADRA (Photo: Rebbeca Ricarte)

Families show donations received from ADRA (Photo: Rebbeca Ricarte)

With the return to their homes after the heavy rains of early winter in Alagoas, Brazil, flood victims now face the difficulties of starting over. Since July 20, 2023, a task force from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has been bringing support to families through donations. So far, more than 1,000 families have been assisted with food baskets, clothing, hygiene and cleaning items, as well as shopping vouchers.

The focus of the emergency campaign was to support the regions that suffered most from the floods. To this end, ADRA launched a campaign with three in-person donation points in Alagoas, in addition to the contribution of people from all over the country with cash values. The amount collected was 5 tons of non-perishable food, 4 tons of fruits and vegetables, about 2,000 pieces of clothing, and 575 purchase vouchers worth R$160.00 (approx. US$33) each. Victims from the cities of Maceió, Marechal Deodoro, Uniāo dos Palmares, Rio Largo, and Matriz do Camaragibe were assisted with the donations.

A Little for Those Who Lost Everything

One of the beneficiaries with a voucher was Maria Aparecida, age 49, a resident of the village of Auxiliadora, in Marechal Deodoro. Unemployed, she lived in a small mud house of two rooms, which was totally deteriorated after the floods. Without a roof and with the structure of the walls damaged, it is impossible to inhabit the place at the moment. "I am in a temporary house owned by the City Hall, living with other people who also have no way of returning to their homes. This money will already help me recover some of what I lost," she says.

In a community neighboring Maria’s lives Cícero da Silva, a 64-year-old boatman. He has lived in the region for 13 years and faced other floods there. Every day, he transports residents of the Riacho Velho community to Marechal Deodoro. However, with the flood this year, the water rose more than a meter in his house. He was unable to find a place in one of the few shelters in the region, so he decided to stay on the boat for a week until the water level receded. "It's very painful, but it's the life we have here. This help came at a good time, not only for me, but for everyone around here, who lives very close to the river and who lost a lot," he says.

Patrícia Inácio, 37, lives with her husband and five children in the same community in which Cícero lives. The family, which lives exclusively from fishing, has lost almost everything. With a four-month-old baby at home, according to Patrícia, the aid already has a certain destination: "It will be to buy food, which is what we need most at the moment, and diapers for the baby. I cry a lot when I remember everything that happened here, but unfortunately, I have no other place to live. If not here, it will be under a bridge. I was very moved because these people came here to help us."

From Emergency to Shelter

The ADRA Alagoas Regional Center continues to monitor the most affected regions and offer support to victims. However, according to Carla Fontes, the coordinator of the regional unit, it is not just emergency support. "We identified that the need of families at this time of return to their homes was cleaning and hygiene material. With the voucher, they can purchase these items in local markets, also generating movement in the region's economy," she points out. 

Donations Came from Many Fronts

From ADRA's international and South American fund, through cash donations in regional and national campaigns, aid arrived directly at the collection points. However, it doesn't end there. The assisted families were previously registered, and this will serve for the next step: the reception. "ADRA has this work of attending during the emergency, but we have social and community development projects, seeking to work with these families so that they can get mechanisms to get out of this situation of social vulnerability," concludes Carla.

Check out some photos of ADRA's action:

The original version of this story was posted on the South American Division Portuguese-language news site.

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