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Photo: Bryan Mackintosh
Photo: Bryan Mackintosh
Photo: Bryan Mackintosh
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The Pan American Health
and Education Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Pan
American Health Organization, is collecting monies to support recovery
efforts in Guyana where over 27 inches of rainfall have caused considerable
flooding along the coastal regions, the densely populated area of Guyana.
It is estimated that there are over 70,000 people in the Georgetown
area who have been seriously affected by the floods. On the coastal
regions, it is estimated to be a minimum of 100,000. Families have been
forced to evacuate their homes and take shelter in school buildings
which have two or three floors. Access to these communities is by boat
as the roads are impassable. Many health centers remain closed as they
are flooded with possible damage to equipment and drug supplies.
Mobile teams visiting the affected communities are
providing medical services, water, bleach, disinfectant and information
to the worst-affected communities. The most common complaints are diarrhea,
skin fungal infections, conjunctivitis, and acute respiratory infections.
Those living in the coastal strip are caught between
the sea and the sea wall in the north and the Conservancy in the south.
Although the army is sand-bagging the dykes to stop the overflow of
water, they may collapse, which will cause an additional 3-4 feet of
water to flood this zone, posing serious threats to life.
A major constraint in the provision of services is
the lack of suitable vehicles and inaccessibility to some communities
due to the high water level and an unavailability of boats. Only 20%
of those who need water are receiving it.
The PAHO Representative in Guyana is presently serving
as the UN Resident Coordinator helping to coordinate the aid response
and facilitating communications between the donor community and the
government.
Your gift will support the purchases of needed equipment and medicines.
The following items are representative of immediate and urgent needs:
- Water purification systems
- Inflatable dinghies and life jackets
- Small flat-bottom aluminum boats and outboard engines
- 4 X 4 trucks
- Shelter goods: blankets, sheets, mattresses, small kerosene stoves
- Generators
- Drainage/Irrigation Pumps
- Plastic water tanks and smaller containers for carrying water
Please make a gift to the Guyana
Flood Recovery Fund where your help is most urgently needed.
To make a gift, please choose one of the following options:
- Make a gift online
; check the box "Other"and write in Guyana Flood Recovery Fund
- Mail your check made payable to PAHEF to:
PAHEF/Guyana Flood Recovery Fund
525 Twenty-third Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
- Fax your credit card information using this form to
(202) 974-3636.
- Call our Finance Office, (202) 974-3417 or
toll-free (in U.S.) 1-800-996-2970.
Your gift to the Foundation is tax deductible as a charitable contribution
within IRS regulations.
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