GiftsThe Portland Business Journal, August 9, 2004
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From the The Portland Business Journal:
Mercy Corps' newest global emergency operations team member, MaryBeth Morand, is leading the Portland delegation's trip to Sudan, which left Aug. 6. Once there, she -- and assistant program officer Su'ad Jarbawi, also from Portland -- will join two other GEO team members working in Darfur. The agency's emergency response plan includes a team of 14 staff in Sudan by fall.
Morand is the first GEO member to be based in Mercy Corps' international headquarters in Portland. Sudan becomes the 36th country in which the agency is administering humanitarian aid and economic development programs. In Africa, Mercy Corps is also operating in Liberia, Eritrea, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
"Our GEO staff on the ground in Darfur describe a scene of misery, fear and widespread suffering -- hundreds of thousands of lives are in jeopardy. Ninety-three percent lack adequate sanitation, 88 percent lack shelter, 67 percent are without water and 49 percent of displaced lack food," said Morand. "We've talked to women who have been raped, beaten and threatened and things seem to be getting worse. Our help is desperately needed."
Mercy Corps' work will focus on the town of Zelingie, one of the most remote and underserved places in the western region of Sudan. First priority is to help the city manage a cleanup after the large numbers of people relocate from downtown areas to refugee camps.
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