Institutional Strengthening for Disasters and Emergencies

Derrick Charles is the co-representative of MCC Nicaragua. This post is part of our ongoing series on climate change and food security.  

During the week of October 23-27,  MCC Nicaragua had had the privilege of bringing together MCC partner organizations from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.  One of our partners in Nicaragua, Acción Médica Cristiana (AMC, translation: Medical Christian Action), has decades of professional experience in relief and development work and a long relationship with MCC.  We invited them to organize a training/exchange on the theme of Organizational Strengthening for Disasters and Emergencies, which we would open up to various partners in the region, Anabaptist church groups and other faith-based organizations.

Derrick Charles.

AMC pulled together a full week, bringing in different members of their team to talk about a variety of themes: different kinds of disasters and humanitarian action, tools for evaluation of damages and needs, international norms for humanitarian action, and so on.

It also happened that the same week saw intense rains in parts of the region because of a tropical storm in the Pacific.  According to La Prensa newspaper, there were 7 deaths in Nicaragua (5 more in Honduras), with over 2,000 flooded homes.  In Nicaragua, the Anabaptist churches have a presence in various communities that have been affected.  Even during the training, the Anabaptist Emergency Committee (CAE) was already beginning to establish communication, assess the current situation and begin the work of networking to consider an appropriate and relevant response. Mennonite churches, among others, served as refuges in the communities of La Cruz and El Caracol in the municipality of Teustepe, and also shared food, clothing, cooking utensils, and even cots to the affected people.

Derrick Charles.

In the days after the training, CAE members traveled to various affected areas to evaluate damages and connect with the government’s disaster response agency (SINAPRED).  As many people in these areas are smallholder farmers who lost their harvests, CAE designed a response of food assistance for one month that would support 672 people affected by the two storms. Mennonite Central Committee coordinated with the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Canada to support this response together.  Afterwards, CAE will meet with AMC to reflect on the training and their response to the flooding.

Nicaragua, as many places around the world, are increasingly vulnerable with the varying effects of climate change. It will be increasingly important that groups like CAE and AMC are able to prepare and coordinate with others in their efforts.