Photo gallery: CWS honors mothers everywhere Church World Service salutes mothers around the world, who are at the heart of the human family.

Millions of people worldwide live on the edge of subsistence, at the will of fragile economies, struggling to escape the crushing grip of poverty and powerlessness. Most are hungry--and they need more than a handout. They need a way out.

Hunger means different things in different places... In Southern Africa it may mean crop failures, food shortages, and famine resulting from prolonged drought. Families and communities may need emergency food, as well as seeds for replanting. In the highlands of Bolivia, it may mean malnutrition resulting from inadequate protein in the family diet. There training in fish farming can mean improved health for parents and children. Our bodies also need an adequate supply of clean water to survive and thrive. So, in many communities, clean water wells--along with improved irrigation for gardens--can mean life and health.

The CWS Social and Economic Development Program helps create pockets of education and innovation, enterprise and collaboration, powered by local ingenuity and nurtured by the self-respect that inevitably flows from it. Creative initiatives by impoverished people are making a difference. If we work together, we can build a world that works for all.

Photo Gallery: CWS Chaco Initiative Photos about this South American program which works to defend and promote the rights of the native peoples of the the Gran Chaco region. Photos by Paul Jeffrey.

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