Campaign to reach $100,000 in donations continues

Ottawa, 29 November, 2011 – In response to devastating torrential rains and flooding wreaked upon El Salvador in mid-October, SalvAide has contributed $60,000 towards its partners’ relief and reconstruction efforts.  The funds will assist 166 families with basic foodstuffs and hygiene kits as they resettle in their communities; will stimulate local agricultural production through the set-up of small-scale, family-operated poultry coops; and will contribute to repairs to an organic, fair trade cashew nut processing plant.

Mid-October’s Tropical Storm 12-E produced in only ten days nearly the yearly average in rainfall in El Salvador, causing devastating floods in 85% of the coast.  Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and thousands of homes and crops were destroyed.  Fortunately, the new Salvadoran Government’s improved emergency response measures, due in large part to better coordination with community organizations such as SalvAide’s partners, kept the loss of life to a tragic but relatively modest (in comparison to past disasters) 32 deaths.

SalvAide, an Ottawa-based NGO with a Canada-wide network of supporters, immediately mobilized Canadian support for relief efforts by launching a campaign to raise $100,000.  Its sister Salvadoran organizations, CRIPDES and CORDES, were on the ground from day one helping directly with evacuations, emergency shelter, basic health needs, rescues, and further disaster mitigation.  “With more than two decades of experience in grassroots community organizing and development in rural El Salvador, SalvAide’s partners were well-suited to respond to this latest crisis,” says René Guerra Salazar, SalvAide’s Executive Director.  “Through the solidarity of our generous Canadian supporters, SalvAide will do what it can to accompany Salvadorans through these difficult times.”

The 166 families benefitted by SalvAide’s contribution are located in 5 coastal communities in San Vicente and La Libertad provinces – Las Anonas and Rancho Grande in San Vicente and La Laguneta, La Aguja, and Charcón Presa in La Libertad.

Since 1985, SalvAide has rallied Canadian support for Salvadorans as they strive to build greater social justice, democracy, and economic development.  Over the years, the organization has funded community-based projects that bolster self-sufficiency, gender equity, organic and fair trade cooperative agriculture, and genuine participatory democracy.  It also counts on a nation-wide network of Canadian supporters, many of whom have participated in SalvAide organized solidarity delegations to El Salvador.

For more information on SalvAide’s continuing $100,000 campaign, click here, phone 613-233-6215, or email info@salvaide.ca.

Contact: René Guerra Salazar
Phone: 613-233-6215
Fax: 613-233-7375
Email: info@salvaide.ca  
219 Argyle Avenue, Suite 411
Ottawa, ON  K2P 2H4

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