Samaritan’s Purse Responds to Help Thousands of Flood Victims in Bolivia

North Carolina Relief Group Headed by Franklin Graham Provides Clean Water, Medical Care and Food in South American Nation

BOONE, N.C., Feb. 27, 2008—In the wake of Bolivia's devastating floods, Boone, N.C.-based international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse has mobilized staff and resources to assist some of the reported 300,000 victims of the disaster.

"People in this kind of disaster situation need someone to come alongside them and let them know that God loves them," said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse. "We are there to bring them hope as well as help."

The South American nation has been inundated by heavy rains, causing major rivers to swell their banks, destroying crops, drowning cattle and leaving much of the population homeless. Immediately following the declaration of a State of Emergency by Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, Samaritan's Purse staff in Bolivia began providing desperately-needed assistance to people in the poorest and most isolated areas. The organization's current relief efforts include: 

• Distribution of 567,000 PuR water purifying sachets in Trinidad, where people living in the low-lying areas of the city were forced from their homes.
   

• Training Bolivian Water Commission officials in the use of PuR.
   

• Distribution of clean water kits to families in isolated river communities. Some of these villages can only be reached by boat.
   

• Providing medical care through a community health team. The team has reported a significant number of cases of diarrhea, respiratory infections and other illnesses caused by the contaminated floodwater.
   

• Donating critically-needed medicine, including antibiotics, to the Bolivian Emergency Operations Center.
   

• Providing hundreds of rolls of heavy-duty plastic sheeting to be used in constructing temporary shelters for those left homeless by the disaster.
   

• Distributing food to families living outside of the Trinidad area. 

To support Samaritan's Purse Disaster Relief efforts, call (828) 262-1980 or go to www.samaritanspurse.org.

Samaritan's Purse is a Christian organization that provides immediate, no-red-tape response to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations-especially in locations where few others are working. Samaritan's Purse is working in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution.

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