Monkey River, a small fishing village and tourist area in southern Belize, sustained extensive damage from Hurricane Iris in 2001.  ERD built a new building for St. Stephen's Anglican Primary School to replace the one destroyed in the hurricane.  With 90 students, St. Stephen's is the only school in the area.

ERD also rebuilt St. John's Anglican primary school.  With ERD's help, St. John's School will soon expand again to provide a library, common area, and housing for staff. The school educates 150 children in the village.

In addition, ERD is working with the Diocese of Belize to develop a micro loan program so for needy families in areas around the country.  Micro loans will enable struggling families to start small businesses and make money to feed their families.

Dominican Republic
Rebuilding communities:
ERD initally responded to flooding and hurricanes in the Dominican Republic with emergency funding for affected areas.  We conducted a needs assessment in November 2004 and are currently in conversation wiht the Diocese of the Dominican Republic about long term rehabilitation and development plans for the communities it works with.  We are particularly looking to concentrate on water sanitation and micro credit projects.

El Salvador
Rebuilding communities after a disaster:
ERD is committed to providing long-term solutions to communities affected by the 2001 earthquakes through partnership with the Diocese of El Salvador. ERD provided social workers in several communities to train residents how to organize, select leaders and develop decision-making processes for the community. We constructed houses for families whose homes were destroyed using cinderblock materials which offer protection from future earthquakes. We constructed and reconstructed medical clinics and schools.

Episcopal Church volunteers from the United States have been an integral part of the rebuilding project. Visit the Volunteer section and learn how you can serve in El Salvador.

Haiti
Rebuilding communities after disaster:
Flooding along Haiti-Dominican Republic border claimed thousands of lives and devastated the fragile local economy. ERD initially responded with emergency funds to both the Diocese of Haiti and the Diocese of the Dominican Republic to help with food and temporary shelter. Since that time, ERD partnered with Water Missions International to install water systems and tanks in vulnerable villages along both sides of the border and train locals in their operation.

ERD is working with the Diocese of Haiti and an ecumenical partner to supply vulnerable children and families with food such as rice, beans, and cooking oil, as well as medicines and blankets. We work on agricultural recovery, food security and jobs, reconstruction of houses, and disaster preparedness training and trauma counseling. Through the Hospital Ste. Croix in Leogane, families are receiving medicine and emergency health care that were halted during the prolonged political and humanitarian crisis. ERD is also providing building materials to help reconstruct homes for families displaced by the violence.

Honduras
Rebuilding communities after a disaster:
In June 2002, ERD opened the community of Faith, Hope, and Joy in San Pedro Sula which provided homes for families who had lost everything in the devastation Hurricane Mitch wrought in 1998.  Two hundred homes equipped with running water and electricity were constructed out of sturdy cinderblock -- a vast improvement on families' previous homes.  The homeowners' monthly mortgage payments are put into a revolving loan that provides funds for other development projects in the community, including support of the community school, which provides primary education for 370 children.  The newly constructed community center is at the heart of the community's spiritual and social life.  ERD also constructed a medical clinic in the community which cares for about one hundred patients per month.

ERD is continuing its work in Honduras through the Amarateca Housing Project.  ERD is working to build houses for an additional 120 families left homeless by Hurricane Mitch in Amarateca, which is outside the capital city, Tegucigalpa.  The community will be equipped with roads, electricity, running water, and sewage treatment.

Liberia
Rebuilding communities after a disaster:
ERD provided emergency supplies including food, blankets, and medicines during the crisis. Partnering with the Episcopal Church of Liberia, ERD works with local communities to assess their needs. The long-term partnership will provide critical food and health care services to Liberians as they rebuild their lives.

ERD is supporting a health clinic at Bromley Mission in Monrovia. The on-site clinic will offer immunizations, antenatal services, and curative services for common diseases. The clinic will be open to students who attend the mission’s school as well as the community at large. The Bromley Mission school is comprised of day students from the surrounding Internally Displaced Persons camps and sixty boarding girls ranging in age from six to fourteen, who lost their parents and other family members in the fighting that engulfed the country last summer.

Sudan
Supplying emergency relief and rebuilding communities:
ERD is providing critical aid to help internally displaced people in the Darfur region. Through a partnership with the Episcopal Church of Sudan, ERD is helping to supply families in and around the Kass region with temporary shelter, cooking supplies, and mosquito nets. Families are receiving plastic sheets for temporary shelters and saucepans for cooking. Vulnerable women who are nursing and pregnant receive mosquito nets and blankets. ERD will work with the Church of Sudan to provide long-term assistance to the Sudanese people and help them rebuild their lives and communities.