Relief Report on Flood Victims in Panama

Enkindling the Light of Hope
for Flood Victims

By Maritza Leone, Panama

On the morning of September 24, 2004, Panama Province experienced heavy downpours that continued through the late afternoon. And as a result of the torrential rain, the local riverbanks overflowed, causing widespread flooding that devastated the region.

The hazardous flood waters swept away everything in their path, including entire houses, and regrettably, seventeen people drowned, most of whom were children being held in their mothers' or relatives' arms. One young woman who endured the flood described how she had helplessly watched the swollen river near her home sweep away her mother and two little children while she and her fifteen-year-old daughter survived by clinging onto tree branches.

As soon as local initiates learned of the devastation, they quickly donated clothing and food to the victims, and then conducted relief activities on October 4. After receiving funds from our beloved Master, the sisters and brothers purchased relief supplies, including food, clothing for babies, children and adults, water bottles, mattresses and other items. Then at the Panama Center the relief team lovingly packed the materials in bags for almost ten thousand flood victims.

On October 8, feeling full of happiness and hope and carrying with them Master's blessings, the relief team again rendered aid to the victims and calmed the hearts of those who had lost almost all their belongings. The areas affected by the disaster were both extremely poor and also contaminated with residual flood water, which resulted in many children developing skin diseases.

Some places to which the initiates traveled were the first to be visited by an organized aid group, although it had been days since the flood had hit. So all the residents were extremely grateful to Master for Her help. Relief bags and mattresses were carried to Prados del Este, El Pantanal, Nueva Esperanza Arriba, Nueva Esperanza Abajo, Monteria, Palo Alto, Tocumen and many other settlements along the Cabra River

Then on October 11, the initiates received a surprise because another flood occurred in the nearby towns of Las Garzas and Las Mireyas. Without hesitation, the team traveled to these communities and found that more than nineteen families had lost their homes along with all their belongings. When the deluge struck, local authorities arranged for the homeless to stay in two locations, where the relief workers distributed bags of supplies to the residents.

After leaving these towns, the brother who was driving for the team inadvertently turned into an area that had been unaffected by the flood; however, it must have been Master's arrangement because the place was incredibly poor and the relief team discovered a sad situation - a needy family with eight children who had lost their father six weeks earlier and whom their unemployed mother was struggling to raise. Naturally, the initiates gave the family clothing, food and water and also built them two beds since they had previously been sleeping on the floor. The woman and her children were very grateful to Master.

On October 16, the final day of the relief mission, the initiates distributed school materials to a hundred children who were also victims of mud slides in a place called Arnulfo Arias in the San Miguelito district. The team was received by the local Evangelical pastor, who thanked Master for Her much needed help.

All the Panamanian flood victims wholeheartedly thanked Master, asked God to bless Her always and said that Her relief team was the only organized group that had gone directly to their homes, and as such they could see how members of The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association work out of love, having received relief items from them through God's mercy.

For almost fifteen days during the Panama flood relief project the local relief team worked tirelessly, feeling happy to serve God's children by bringing forth the light of hope and helping them see that even in the midst of great sorrow, God is always with us.

Thank You very much, beloved Master, for giving the initiates of Panama the chance to help their brothers and sisters in need. We hope that Your love enlightens their souls. We also thank You, dearest Master, for helping us work together in love and harmony, and thus experience the feeling that we are all one with You.

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Formosa | Mainland China | India | Russia | Grenada | Jamaica | the Domincan Republic | Florida, USA | Panama | Japan | Expenditures for Global Disaster Relief Aid by The Supreme Master Ching Hai, September and October, 2004