Crisis Response

Responding to some of the world’s urgent needs

• Jamaica: Assisting families after Hurricane Beryl hit on July 3, 2024, we provided emergency food, water and supplies to 500 people. Roofs of damaged homes and churches were repaired and farmers who lost their crops received seeds to start replanting.
• Afghanistan: We brought tents and blankets to 7,000 people in Afghanistan after an earthquake.
• Syria: We supplied food and hygiene kits for 438 families after an earthquake that impacted Syria and Turkey.
• Zambia: We brought food, 25 kg of mealie meal for each family, to 686 families after they experienced flooding.
• Kenya: We brought emergency food and psychosocial support to 1,584 people after they experienced flooding
• Burundi: 80 households with internally displaced people were provided with food vouchers and kitchen utensils after they experienced flooding. We also helped 33 families in Burundi pay their rent, and brought 115 elementary school students affected by flooding back-to-school kits.
• India: In response to the impact of Cyclone Michaung in December 2023 resulting in severe flooding in Chennai, 3,750 individuals were supported with emergency relief packages containing food and non-food items. 2,000 people were fed hot, nutritious meals through feeding programs in several locations around the city, and 350 children were provided with essential education items as their schooling had been disrupted.
• Brazil: We brought food and supplies to people who experienced flooding in their area: 74 families,274 people, received food, hygiene products, furniture, appliances and building materials to repair their homes.
• Pakistan: We constructed 25 disaster-resistant structures to house 2,670 flood-affected people in Pakistan.
• Pakistan: Responding to violence towards Christian minorities in Jaranwala, Pakistan, we helped 50 youth with counselling, job training and education to hold peace talks within the community.
• Turkey: Providing mental health support, we assisted 500 parents and children after the earthquakes in Turkey.
• DRC: After flooding, we provided 70 families, 350 people, with two emergency food baskets containing staples including maize flour, beans, oil and salt.
• Uganda: Prolonged rains in Kasese, Uganda, led to mudslides which destroyed people’s homes and livelihoods. We provided emergency food and non-food items, including bedding and school supplies. 136 households, 835 people, received construction materials, including iron sheets, poles and nails, and psychosocial support to help them recover and rebuild their livelihoods.
• South Africa: In Sezela, 542 people were given a three-month food supply, four times throughout the year. Families received staples including rice, beans, oil, mealie meal, samp, tea and sugar. They also received soap, bleach, toothpaste and toilet paper. The packages were delivered directly to each home as transportation is an issue in the community.

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Caring for refugees and displaced families

• Bangladesh: We continued to provide trauma support to 250 children through our partners each week in a refugee camp in Bangladesh.
• Turkey: We assisted 130 vulnerable refugees by providing grocery gift cards for essential food items and supplies.
• Morocco: We provided shelter, medicine and food to 1,800 people. People were provided with items including blankets, jackets, tents, essential food, medical items and gas cylinders/burners to meet their immediate needs.
• Ukraine: Continuing to respond to the war in Ukraine, 3,360 families, 10,000 individuals, received food assistance and medical support in cities close to the front lines. Shortages of food and medicine still exist, along with destruction of basic services, so these supplies have helped people access the support they need to meet their basic health needs.

Improving healthy food availability

• Somalia: 850 households, 5,937 individuals, received monthly cash assistance over a six-month period, allowing them to purchase food for their families. At the start of the project, 71% of households were classified as severely food insecure. At the end of the project, 72.7% had acceptable food consumption, indicating a major increase in access to nutrition.
• DRC: After bringing emergency food to 1,500 of the most vulnerable families in the DRC, 77% of households were at an acceptable level of food consumption, compared to only 13% at the beginning of the project. For four months, we brought these families food packages once a month containing, maize flour, beans, vegetable oil and salt.
• Yemen: Of the 740 households in our food program in Yemen 94% of them indicated that they were severely food insecure before brining emergency food. After the project, only 1% of the families assisted reported being moderately food insecure.

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We responded to some of the world’s most urgent needs:

• Burundi: Flooding in Gatumba impacted our Wezesha business owners and temporarily shut down their businesses. We brought emergency food baskets to 750 people.
• Dominican Republic: After Hurricane Fiona, we worked with partners to purchase materials and rebuild 7 homes. These homes are now hurricane resistant and will provide shelter in future disasters.
• Malawi: Tropical Storm Freddy caused devastation in Malawi, destroying houses, causing food, water, and supply shortages. Working with a local church, we brought food and sanitary products to 100 people, gave 17 families cooking supplies, 50 people blankets, and rebuilt 3 homes.
• Mexico: After Hurricane Agatha, we helped rebuild two residential homes and provided food for 30 families.
• Myanmar: On March 14^th, Cyclone Mocha damaged homes, infrastructure, and power and water services. We helped 150 of the most vulnerable families, about 600 people, with temporary shelters.
• Turkey: Alongside a local partner, we helped distribute food and establish mobile hygiene units. We also helped construct a school for displaced children.
• In restricted areas, we responded to two earthquakes, helping 2,238 people with food and supplies.

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We brought food to families living with extreme hunger:

• DRC: The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to face armed conflict, forcing families out of their homes. We provided 5 monthly food packs to 7,510 people living in 5 displacement camps.
• Kenya: Kenya is experiencing extreme hunger, especially in the northern part of the country where it is difficult for the land to produce food. ERDO partnered with a local church organization to bring 9,600 people food for 7 months through food vouchers.
• Somalia: ERDO worked with a local organization to bring emergency food to 6,000 vulnerable people for five months. The families we worked with live on the border of Kenya and Somlia, where food is extremely scarce. We also partnered to work with another 850 families in another district of Somalia.
• South Africa: Alongside a local church, we worked with vulnerable communities in remote South Africa, providing 25 families with one time food supplies, and giving another 40 families a 3 months supply of food 3-4 times a year, along with hygiene supplies.
• Uganda: After two years of poor harvests families in Uganda are struggling with hunger and malnutrition. We provided 7 monthly food baskets to 1,320 families and gave extra support to malnourished people.
• Yemen: We helped provide 6 monthly food packages to 6,013 people in a conflict area.

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We helped care for refugees and internally displaced people:

• Croatia: Responding to Ukrainian refugees in Croatia, we brought food, hygiene supplies, diapers, school supplies, and clothes to 23 families. With scarce electricity, we also provided firewood to these families.
• Czech Republic: Working with the local church, we sent food and medical supplies to Ukraine to help 2,000 displaced people. Supplies were also given to Ukrainian refugees in Czech Republic.
• DRC: The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to face armed conflict, forcing families out of their homes. We provided 5 monthly food packs to 7,510 people living in 5 displacement camps across DRC.
• Hungary: 1,000 displaced Roma families were given food, supplies and medicine in partnership with Hungarian Gypsy Missions.
• Moldova: Alongside The Pentecostal Union of Moldova, we are continuing to help Ukrainian refugees find shelter in churches. We gave out food, bedding, clothing, hygiene items and supplies to 130 people.
• Poland: Continuing to work with Life Centres, we’re providing food hampers, supplies and coaching to Ukrainian 2,000 people settling in Poland. Coaching includes helping people find employment, language courses, trauma counselling, and helping people get involved in the community.
• Romania: Working with 2,000 Ukrainian refugees in Romania, we helped provide shelter, food, clothing, support and counselling.
• Slovakia: Working with the church, we helped provide food, medicine and supplies to 2,000 displaced people in Ukraine, 1,500 refugees in Slovakia and 500 Roma people. We also provided food, blankets, generators, and sleeping bags to 8,800 people in Ukraine during the winter months.
• Ukraine: We provided food, water, shelter, sanitation and transportation for displaced people in Ukraine. In total, we worked with 42,500 people and 1,500 families.

We responded to some of the world’s most urgent needs: 

• Pakistan: Supporting people impacted by severe flooding, we provided emergency food and shelter to 3,000 families.
• Haiti: Rebuilding homes, we ensured 20 families would have earthquake and hurricane proof housing after their property was destroyed in the 2021 earthquake.
• Bangladesh: Responding to severe flooding, we brought emergency food baskets to 2,000 families.
• Yemen: Combatting the global food crisis, we provided emergency food supplies to 1,200 families.
• The Democratic Republic of Congo: Responding to families suffering through hunger, conflict and illness, we provided emergency food supplies to 1,180 families in the DRC.
• Myanmar: Partnering with families in the middle of conflict, we brought emergency food supplies to 1,320 families.
• Kenya: Working with families suffering drought, we gave cash transfers to 700 families to buy local food.

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We mobilized assistance for families fleeing war in Ukraine: 

• Serving people living in active war zones in Ukraine, we provided over 34,000 families with emergency food, water, everyday essentials and shelter. From partners in Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic, we sent supplies to another 9,543 people displaced in Ukraine.
• Poland,Slovakia and Croatia: Provided over 33,156 people with emergency food and essential items.
• Poland: Educating refugees, we helped fund a preschool to provide for 60 Ukrainian children settling into a new environment.
• Slovakia: Working with refugees, we provided shelter for 25 people who fled war in Ukraine.
• Moldova: Assisting at the border crossing, we supplied food, bedding, clothing, hygiene products and other supplies to 300 refugees.
• Czech Republic: Assisting Ukrainian refugees, we gave 200 people transportation to safety and shelter.
• Roma: Supporting vulnerable Roma groups internally displaced in Ukraine, we provided emergency relief packs to 300 people.

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We helped care for refugees and internally displaced people:

• Turkey: Assisting 2,152 refugees, we provided grocery cards, hygiene and sanitation kits.
• Myanmar: Caring for victims of violence, we provided psychosocial support to 949 families who fled their homes.
• Yemen: Bringing families together during wartime, we provided food assistance, cash-for-work initiatives, solar training and peacebuilding programs for 3,049 families.

• Responded to the August 14th earthquake in Haiti by providing emergency food baskets, hygiene and household supplies to approximately 900 families.
• Continued to assist 800 families facing insurgence in Myanmar with emergency food. Many of these families were ethnic minorities, threatened with violence and facing extreme poverty.
• Helped after the St. Vincent volcano eruption, through a daily meal for evacuees and helped reconstruct damaged homes and roofs.
• Partnered with the ChildCARE Plus team and local pastors to provide food, supplies and housing repair to 150 families after flooding in Cambodia.
• Debris removal, emergency food, and hygiene supplies for families affected by Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Honduras and Guatemala.
• Roofing materials and other supplies to repair or replace the roofs of 125 houses damaged by hurricanes in Philippines.
• Assisted Zimbabwe after years of drought through emergency food for 4,550 people in need.
• Emergency food for 7,800 people in Yemen. We also developed a cash-for-work program to employ 6,400 locals and develop community building initiatives.
• Responded to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we helped deliver emergency food packages, household items and medical supplies to 400 of the neediest families in Chennai, India.
• Supported the Kolkata Mercy Hospital and the GEMS hospital in Chennai with two breathing machines, an ICU ventilator, and an oxygen generation unit.
• Provided hygiene and sanitation kits to care for 1,300 refugees in Turkey who fled their home countries due to conflict.
• Replaced 15 wells that had been destroyed in a fire to bring clean water to approximately 8,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
• Assisted 3,600 South Sudanese refugees living in Uganda with psychosocial, trauma healing and peace building support in the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement.

All of ERDO’s existing programs required adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We ensured that all program staff had the required adequate personal protective equipment to administer programs. We also had to incorporate social distancing and other safeguarding procedures (including for food preparation/distribution). Restrictions on movement and on the market availability of goods also impacted our programs.

Despite the challenges we were able to:

• Respond to flooding in Uganda with emergency hygiene kits while helping the community plan for future disasters with emergency preparedness training.
• Provide emergency food for 11,000 children in Zimbabwe, 6,400 people in Yemen, 2,550 pregnant and nursing mothers, and other vulnerable refugees in Uganda.
• Provide emergency food vouchers for 1,690 people in the wake of the Beirut explosion.
• Work through our ChildCARE Plus locations to provide emergency food to sponsored children and their families.

• Food assistance for South Sudanese refugees was a priority in 2019, as five years of violence and insecurity took a toll on women, children and vulnerable individuals. ERDO’s partner, the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Uganda, provided supplementary feeding through a fortified corn and soy blend cereal to save lives in Rhino Camp and Imvepi Refugee Settlement.
• PAG Uganda and ERDO identified pregnant and nursing mothers as falling into a nutritional gap when it came to life-saving food distributions. Focusing on providing nutritious food for these women, we also provided fortified cereal to children separated from their parents, the elderly, the vulnerable, those with chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS, TB, Hepatitis B and people with disabilities.
• With the trauma of being uprooted from one’s home, another aspect of our programming was to build the capacity of 31 community facilitators. These community leaders are refugees trained to support the psychosocial needs of over 3,700 South Sudan refugees living within 10 villages in Ofua and Ocea zones of Rhino Camp, Northern Uganda. All 31 facilitators have been trained on how to know when people need extra support, including identifying post-traumatic stress disorder, and knowing who to refer them to.
• We also assisted South Sudanese refugees in the Ugandan Rhino Refugee Camp with school supplies. Many refugee children struggle to find the tools they need for their education. In partnership with PAG Uganda, we helped to equip 490 students with the supplies, backpacks and books needed to succeed in school.
• In response to the devastating food crisis in Yemen, ERDO launched a six-month food assistance program along with a trusted local Christian partner. To address the onset of famine conditions in the south, monthly food basket distributions were provided to 800 vulnerable households, about 5,120 people. This project received a 4:1 Canadian government match through our membership in the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
• A severe drought in Somalia left two million people facing starvation in the summer of 2019.  Thanks to the response of supporters, ERDO provided emergency food to approximately 4,000 people per month for three months through our local partner. The total program provided over $325,000 in emergency food supplies, when matched by the generosity of the Canadian government.
• ERDO continued meeting the needs of Rohingya refugees who poured into Bangladesh to escape persecution. With our partner, The Pentecostal Assemblies of Bangladesh (PAOB), families were provided with food (rice, lentils, oil and other essentials) and emergency kits including flashlights, replacement clothing, hygiene kits and supplies for other basic needs. In addition, we saw clean water was a priority, so the installation of over 40 deep tube wells within the refugee camps took place.
• A Guatemalan volcano relief project was completed in February 2019. In June 2018 the Fuego eruptions devastated several towns around the active volcano. This housing reconstruction project served 35 widows and their families in in San Andreas, Osuna. The project was in partnership with PAOC Global Workers Hector and Ruth Aragon, who have been serving in Guatemala for over 20 years.
• Food needs in Zimbabwe continued to be a focus. ERDO and our partner the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe (PAOZ) provided fortified cereal to 11,575 children under 5 and youth with special needs.  These children were at risk of malnutrition due to severe drought conditions in 30 communities throughout Tsholotsho District. As this drought was ongoing, and the worsening economic situation left families unable to afford food, we expanded this project to the Gutu and Zaka Districts. We provided families with ten kg of ground maize, two kg of beans and one L of fortified cooking oil per family member per month.