Face To Face: Praying with the 2007 CWS Calendar

COMING TOGETHER
Every baby is a miracle, but one-week-old Rusba seems particularly miraculous. Rusba was born in a refugee camp, where her mother, Najma (above), fled with her husband, six other children, and her mother-in-law (left) after the October 2005 earthquake destroyed their village in Pakistan. Immediately after the quake, they had no shelter from the cold autumn rains. "We found a place where landslides couldn't reach us and built a fire to keep us alive until help came," Najma explains. CWS workers in the camp had to convince Najma's husband to allow this child to be born in a hospital. "

Programs set up by CWS that encourage women in the camps to speak with one another about family and health issues are having a big impact," says Maryanne Havryluck, an affiliate with CWS partner Airline Ambassadors International. "Women from remote regions were traditionally and typically quite isolated from people other than their families." Najma was one of them. "This is my first child not to be born at home," she says with a smile.

“The October earthquake has brought many women together, and in settings very different for them. It's a positive thing that's happening ’”

Maryanne Havryluck, CWS partner Airline Ambassadors International

Fact of Life:
Total number of earthquake-affected families assisted by CWS in Pakistan: 30,000

	COMING TOGETHER Every baby is a miracle, but one-week-old Rusba seems particularly miraculous. Rusba was born in a refugee camp, where her mother, Najma (above), fled with her husband, six other children, and her mother-in-law (left) after the October 2005 earthquake destroyed their village in Pakistan. Immediately after the quake, they had no shelter from the cold autumn rains. "We found a place where landslides couldn't reach us and built a fire to keep us alive until help came," Najma explains. CWS workers in the camp had to convince Najma's husband to allow this child to be born in a hospital. " Programs set up by CWS that encourage women in the camps to speak with one another about family and health issues are having a big impact," says Maryanne Havryluck, an affiliate with CWS partner Airline Ambassadors International. "Women from remote regions were traditionally and typically quite isolated from people other than their families." Najma was one of them. "This is my first child not to be born at home," she says with a smile. “The October earthquake has brought many women together, and in settings very different for them. It's a positive thing that's happening ’” Maryanne Havryluck, CWS partner Airline Ambassadors International Fact of Life: Total number of earthquake-affected families assisted by CWS in Pakistan: 30,000
	From the displacement and suffering of the earthquake, new life is born and new possibilities arise. Have you ever been surprised by something good coming out of a difficult event in your life?
	Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Is. 49:15
	Mothering God, even when our lives seem desolate, you are there to support and sustain us. Bless this family and the thousands like them struggling with enormous loss. Grant the women in these communities the courage and resources to rebuild their homes. May they find strength and support in one another.
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