Hurricane Ivan battered the island between September 10 and 11. This section of Hart Street in Montego Bay was not spared. (Photo: Conroy Walker)

When 39 year-old Paul Bender struggled to save the roof of his two-bedroom wooden house in Bull Bay from Hurricane Ivan's ferocious winds, he was forced to accept a painful realisation - how limited man's power is against nature's rage.

After unsuccessfully trying to secure the flapping roof with ropes, Bender and his wife decided to seek shelter in their neighbour's home. As the couple left their home, the entire structure collapsed.

But thanks to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the Benders have started to pick up the pieces. ADRA has given its commitment to help with re-roofing their home, donate two mattresses and other supplies.

ADRA, the humanitarian and community development arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church worldwide, has been active in providing disaster relief to many who bore Hurricane Ivan's onslaught. On Monday, about 150,000 pounds of emergency supplies arrived in the island to be distributed to affected persons. The supplies included bedding, soap, powdered milk, oil, rice and salt, baby cereal, tarpaulin and rope.

ADRA's director Pastor Claude Brown said the delivery represents a combined effort between ADRA and the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Americare, one of ADRA's international donor partners, delivered another shipment on Tuesday. According to Brown, that batch of supplies included medical supplies and nutritional products.

In Jamaica, ADRA concentrates its activities around disaster relief management, coordination and distribution by working in tandem with the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM). The agency sits on the disaster and health committees of the 13 parish councils and the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation.

It channels its relief supplies through teams posted at each of the 600 Seventh-day Adventist congregations. The teams comprise community service workers, master guides, pathfinders and health-care workers. The community service workers provide relief for the sick and needy, while the master guides are trained in search and rescue effort, first aid application and need assessment. The pathfinders, who are made up of children and teenagers, also make visits and distribute supplies, but they do not participate in need assessment exercises. From each church, ADRA draws on doctors and nurses to form its health teams. The pastor of each church coordinates the activities of the different teams.

Pastor Eric Nathan, co-ordinator for ADRA's relief efforts in the eastern region of the island, explained that the agency was born out of a desire to continue Christ's ministry on earth.

"We believe that if Christ were on earth, He would be integrally involved in helping those who are less fortunate. Therefore as His representative on earth, the church is supposed to do what Christ would have done if He were still here," he noted.

Created in 1984 in the United States, ADRA eventually expanded into a global effort, spanning 120 countries. It partners with governments and NGOs around the world to carry out development initiatives aimed at improving the lives of millions of people. For example in Malawi, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, ADRA trains health workers how to deal with high-risk pregnancies, and how to prevent the transmission of HIV during labour.

The most recent phase of the programme benefited 1.2 million people. And in a landmark achievement in 1998, ADRA was the first agency to carry out rehabilitative work in Upper Khokana, a secluded leper colony in Nepal. The agency built homes and provided education and counselling for the lepers. Its aggressive drive to educate the lepers about hygiene led to the eradication of leprosy in the area.

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