Ljubljana, 9th August 2023: Nine years ago, mother nature flooded the Balkan Peninsula. Hundreds of tonnes of humanitarian aid from Slovenia reached the affected areas. People were immensely grateful for water, food, cleaning products, dryers, and fresh bed linen, … Yet volunteers and aid workers recognised that people were much more moved by the message, “You are not alone. We are with you.”
Almost a decade later, on the 4th Friday, 2023, rains caused catastrophic damage in 182 of Slovenia’s 212 municipalities. Firefighters, rescuers and civil protection are still struggling to reach some settlements. Despite the destruction of roads and bridges, domestic and international aid has already reached Slovenia. Aid workers hear similar messages daily: “Thank you so much for helping us. But what means the most is that you are with us. I don’t know what it would have been like if we had been left alone.”
Adventist churches and ADRA Slovenia’s aid workers and volunteers immediately offered help and appealed for international support. On Monday morning, an ADRA team from Croatia delivered the first dryers, already drying the flooded homes by the afternoon. A larger shipment of dryers from Germany is on its way to Slovenia. ADRA Slovakia and ADRA Czech Republic are also sending teams of experts along with the dryers to help dry homes and distribute humanitarian aid. ADRA is fundraising in several European countries. The ADRA network recognises the importance of a rapid and effective response in a disaster, with the individual at the centre, regardless of nationality, race, gender, or religion.
Experts agree that reconstruction will be extensive and time-consuming, which makes international support all the more critical. ADRA Slovenia, together with international experts, is currently carrying out the humanitarian response and cleaning of homes and is already planning all further phases of medium and long-term assistance and reconstruction.
Thomas Petracek (Head of Humanitarian Aid and Development at ADRA Europe) said: “The floods that have hit Slovenia are catastrophic. We need to help the population immediately but in the best possible way. We have joined forces with our colleagues and collaborators and are in contact with our team on the ground every day, tailoring our response to people’s real needs. At the same time, we are also transferring knowledge and experience to Slovenia, as ADRA responds to floods in Europe almost yearly.”
Slovenians have shown that they care about their fellow human beings in need. People in neighbouring countries and even further afield say, “You are not alone.” Many influential people from politics, business, sports and entertainment have supported Slovenia. The European Commission’s President, Ursula von der Leyen, has also joined the message, visiting some of the hardest-hit places in Slovenia.
You want to support the help?
Donate directly to ADRA Slovenia:
📌From Slovenia: Send an SMS with the keyword LJUDJE5 to 1919.
📌Transfer funds to TRR account: IBAN: SI56 0284 3026 3945 425 BIC: LJBASI2X Reference: SI00 2023 Recipient’s name: HD ADRA Slovenia, Njegoševa 15 1000 Ljubljana Purpose: STORM 2023 Purpose code: CHAR
📌Donate via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/ 📌 Volunteers: https://forms.office.com/e/dp8xqDYpcb More about ADRA Slovenia: https://adra.si/
Donate through other ADRA offices in Europe that are collecting donations:
ADRA Austria/ADRA Österreich: Hochwasser in Europa | ADRA Österreich
ADRA Czech: SOS ADRA: POVODNĚ SLOVINSKO | Darujme.cz
ADRA Netherlands: Noodhulp – ADRA Nederland
ADRA Poland: Przekaż darowiznę | Pomóż dzieciom – Fundacja ADRA Polska
ADRA Portugal: Paypal, clicando no link https://www.paypal.com/donate/… ou transferindo fundos para o IBAN: PT50 0018 20170031025802018, com a referência: ADRA Eslovénia ou ainda através do Mbway 962 168 456
ADRA Slovakia: Slovensko | ADRA Slovensko
ADRA Sweden: ADRA Sverige – Översvämningar i Europa | ADRA
