Action by Churches Together has been in Costa Rica over the last year supporting members of the communities to rebuild their lives following the floods in December 2004 and January 2005.

|TOP|In December 2004 and January 2005 the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica was victim to the worst flooding the country had seen since 1970, with many homes and crops destroyed and with many left without drinking water and food.

ACT has been supporting the work of the Lutheran Church of Costa Rica (ILCO), a member of ACT International, in the running of its Agricultural Reactivation Project for the Upper Talamanca Zone.

The Project supports the revival of farming and provides the area’s residents with more information about disasters, by providing flood-affected families with plantain and banana shoots in order to help them revive their farms.

Part of the Project also includes a training programme for the families on how to increase productivity and earnings, organise communities and prepare for possible future flooding.

|AD|“The idea is to reactivate one hectare per family,” said Gabriela Mora, a member of the project coordinating team.

ILCO, together with the National Emergency Commission, helped in the initial aftermath of the flooding by distributing emergency food relief, before joining with members of the indigenous community in the reactivation of agriculture, and the provision of training on disaster preparedness.

“To date, we have helped 168 families, so there are still people who need assistance,” said Mora. “We intend to reach the goal of 200 families before beginning the training stage, so that in that stage everyone will be totally integrated.”

The produce is grown without chemicals, before being sold to intermediaries and packing and distribution plants.

Marco Rodríguez, a participant on the project, said: “Our idea is to work with the people to support community organisation, and to give the community better instruments to face the emergencies that have always existed and that will continue in the future, most certainly.”