The Adventist Development and Assistance Agency (ADRA) worked during the months of December 2021 and January 2022 in the State of Bahia, in regions that, due to the damage caused by the floods, found themselves in a situation of calamity.

In partnership with regional authorities, civil defense, and Ação Solidaria Adventista (ASA), the assistance arm of Adventist churches in the communities, ADRA worked directly with families impacted by the recent rains. The team visited the affected municipalities and assessed the immediate needs in order to be able to offer adequate help and register the beneficiary families.

As a result of the first action, it allocated R$50,000 (approx. US$9,400) for the acquisition and delivery of 43,000 liters of drinking water in the extreme south of Bahia, and a donation campaign was mobilized. 

Registered families received kits with cleaning products, personal hygiene, and household items donated by the United States government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The donations were organized and delivered by ADRA to communities in the municipalities of Itambé and Itabuna. Other authorities from the benefited cities also participated in the delivery of kits to residents.

The donation is part of the R$750,000 (approx. US$142,000) humanitarian assistance given by the US government to the State of Bahia shortly after the floods. There were 500 kits distributed in Itambé, at Colégio Estadual Polivalente, and 389 in Itabuna, at Clube USEMI, consisting of cleaning, hygiene, and household items, such as brooms, buckets, cleaning cloths, bleach, mops, and detergent. The municipalities of Dário Meira and Ubaíra also received 229 kits each. 

"The United States is a close partner of Bahia, and we feel committed to helping the state at this critical moment. We hope that this donation will partially alleviate the needs of these families, many who, we understand, have lost everything they have conquered over many years. It is an honor for me to be able to participate in this action personally,'' said Jacqueline Ward, the country's consul general. 

The US consulate, USAID, and ADRA have a long-standing partnership. The three institutions have already carried out numerous assistance efforts in emergencies together, such as actions in Roraima to assist Venezuelan refugees.

Organized Help

In the municipality of Ilhéus, families residing in the Sambaituba region received items such as brooms, buckets, bleach, mattresses, soaps, and pans. The appeal was submitted by ADRA International after the national office raised an emergency call.

On January 28–30, in the Teotônio Vilela neighborhood, in the municipality of Ilhéus, registered families received donations of clothes, lunchboxes, in addition to laundry service, donations of basic food baskets, mattresses, and cleaning kits. The Adventist humanitarian agency also provided medical and psychological care.

According to Leonardo Mendes, ADRA's regional director for the State of Bahia, more than 4,000 families received hygiene and cleaning kits, household products, and drinking water. More than a thousand families benefited from vouchers totaling around R$490,800 (approx. US$93,000).

Check out the results of ADRA's activities in the municipalities of Bahia:

• 43,000 liters of drinking water

• 2,772 cleaning kits containing materials for cleaning houses

• 450 hygiene kits with essential items for personal hygiene

• 410 home kits with items such as pans, sheets, mattresses, and pillows

• 1,058 vouchers—a grant to help rebuild houses

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s news site