Many people have lost so much! The churches of Christ here in Guyana who were
not affected by the flood waters have pulled together with some of the
churches of Christ in the US to help get food items out to the Christians on
the East Coast Demerara as well to HCH. That has been such a great relief for
so many and has provided meals for those who have not been able to work and
provide for their families during this time. We commend these efforts and may
God receive all the Glory, Honor and Praise for all that has been done.
We are also grateful to those private organizations who were so gracious to
us at HCH with food and hygiene items. Even with all the water that is on the
ground…we have had a terrible water shortage at HOPE. Just this week, we had
not a drop of water for washing clothes, wares, bathing, flushing toilets,
etc. We are thankful to those who have helped us get water into place.
Of course with flooding, there is always the concern of water borne diseases.
We are now beginning to see the outbreaks of several of those diseases. At
this point in time the major concern seems to be with
Leptospirosis Approximately 20 persons
have died with this disease in the past 2 weeks. There are many in the
hospitals with Lepto and I’m sure the numbers will rise as the days and weeks
pass. There have been several cases of Dengue fever as well which is not life
threatening but, having had it before, I know the pain that it causes. Lots
of infected sores, funguses and other skin conditions that come with wading
through the contaminated water are starting to present themselves at the
hospital and village clinics.
Obviously, we have never experienced anything like this before in Guyana. We
pray that we will never go through it again. Much damage has been done as I
stated earlier. The water is now abating and we will think towards clean up
as the weekend approaches.
You question may be, how can I help? Interest was there to ship a 40-foot
container from Melbourne, FL and that is well into action. We were blessed by
a very generous man in Miami. This person owns a shipping company and his
statement to me was...”I would be delighted to help you ...” And has given us
free shipping on this container to Guyana. Praise God!! This container will
go out of Melbourne on February 18th. Because of the short notice and the
fact that my computer was broken from last Tuesday through last evening, we
do not have much time for you to ship things to Melbourne to assist with
filling this container for HOPE, the members at Enmore. Maybe one of the best
and quickest ways you can help is to send a check to Melbourne for HOPE Flood
Relief. In that way, the funds could be used to purchase needed items there
and packed on the 18th February. The address to send funds to is:
Melbourne church of Christ
810 Hollywood Blvd.
Melbourne, FL 32904
Attention: Debby Nickens
HOPE Flood Relief
321-723-8233
If you prefer to help in a more personal way and still want to ship boxes or
barrels to Guyana, you may do so. We will appreciate and use all that is
sent. Please Click here for a list of needed items...
Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your financial help that will
enable us to get HOPE back up and running in a normal fashion. Please pray
for our children. They have been so patient and understanding but yet they
are children and need to run about. Hopefully we will be back downstairs for
some activities by the 19th of February. We will keep you posted on the
events here as they take place.
Much Love,
Samantha Finlayson
