Blog: Disaster Relief

In some ways, natural disasters are like taxes: Just as inevitable, but easier not to think about until they’re directly on the horizon. But while tax season may prove painful for a while, the aftermath of typhoons, famine, contagion and political conflicts can be devastating and even permanent—and they occur daily around the world.

Iraqi Refugee Families in Jordan

As we sat on the mats lining the walls of the bedroom, *Leina attempted to tell us her story. There was heaviness in the room and the baby was restless in his mother's arms, interrupting her as she tried to recount her tragic past. The older children came home from school and sat quietly next to Leina. They smiled when we gave them candy.

Floods and mudslides, blustering snowstorms, earthquakes and fires: natural disasters devastated hundreds of thousands worldwide in 2014. Add in other humanitarian crises like the Ebola outbreak or the war in the Middle East, and the victim count rises to the millions. There’s no reason to think this year will be any different.

Below is an update from Mike Parks, Disaster Relief Director at GHNI, who recently visited refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East.

It was a busy day visiting refugee and IDPs. One camp was a mix of Syrians, Yazidis and Christians - three locations where Yazidi families have settled, and one camp of Christians (set up on the land of Orthodox churches)

Disaster Relief

“Late monsoon rains in northern Pakistan have washed away communities, devastated farmland, and brought the risk of a ‘super-flood’ moving across the country, leaving millions of people potentially vulnerable,” our partners, with whom we have worked in the floods of 2010 and 2011, have reported.

Saturday, August 2, 2014, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake rocked China's Yunnan province. Global Hope Network International announced immediate response to the disaster and was ready to move as soon as roads were cleared. GHNI will bring immediate relief needs to those furthest from major populations, allowing others, including China's Army and Medical teams, to work with the largest population.

An urgent email sent recently to Hal Jones, President of GHNI, from a GHNI leader in the *Holy Land stated:

“In the disaster area...more than 500 people are killed, 3500 injured, and ninety thousand people left their homes and evacuated up to this moment...there is lack of emergency medicine in hospitals. Everything you offer, it helps. Many children are orphans without families.

From the desk of Mike Parks, GHNI’s Director of Disaster Relief

Syrian women have grieved often for the sons and husbands who have been killed in the fighting or executed by forces on either side of the conflict. These women weep not only for their lost sons, but they weep for themselves and their daughters, too.

They fled in search of safety and shelter, but now they find themselves exposed to exploitation. This happens in dusty refugee camps in Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon or overcrowded apartments in cities where the numbers of refugees grows every day.

Our disaster relief team is working hard to help Syrians displaced within the borders of their own country. Mike Parks, GHNI’s Director of Disaster Relief, shares the following realities with us:

The harsh and complex civil war in Syria continues. Even as there are talks going on in Geneva, millions of Syrians are suffering and a nation is being torn apart at its foundation.

Urgent Appeal from the President of GHNI

Dear Friends,

This is Hal Jones, President of GHNI. I just returned from another week in Jordan and meetings with our partners and friends in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.  As a father and grandfather my heart was broken as we extended love and help to Syrians.