HOTLINE - week of April 25, 2005

In recognition of National Volunteer Week, Church World Service would like to thank our volunteers across the U.S. for organizing and participating in community CROP WALKS and other events that make our ministry possible.

Yusniar Harefa and her husband, Sagharudin Zaqoto, have brought their four-month-old twin boys, Daniel and Devrol, to a clinic of Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU), a Church World Service partner working on quake-devastated Nias Island. The boys are suffering from a cough. The family lost its home in the earthquake and has been living in a tent in a camp, where they have not received enough food or clean water.

When YEU doctor Nerminda Tarigan heard this, she sent the parents to the nearby food distribution center of another CWS partner, Yayasan Tanggul Bencana, where they were given baby food. Yusniar and Saqharudin also received medicine for the twins at the YEU clinic. YEU is providing emergency medical services – in the form of mobile clinics and medical teams -- on Nias.

CWS is supporting the relief and recovery efforts of both partners as they work on quake-affected Nias Island and in Aceh Province, Indonesia, where the December tsunami devastated many coastal communities.

In Somalia, many coastal villages were destroyed or submerged by the December tsunami, affecting some 18,000 families. Shallow wells were flooded with salt water, while others collapsed from the impact of the powerful wave. The tsunami brought further suffering to people already affected by four years of severe drought, food insecurity, lack of basic services, and years of civil strife following the 1991 collapse of the Somali government.

CWS is helping to support the work of our partners in Somalia, as they address emergency needs in the worst-hit areas. Through the project, people in two towns are working to rehabilitate clean drinking water systems for themselves, and construct and rehabilitate 20 shallow wells for livestock. In addition, community members are digging and constructing pit latrines using project-provided building materials and expertise. And, 120 fisherfolk are receiving boats, nets, and hooks, and learning better fishing and fish storage practices.

Ahmed remembers the day his village changed. People from the surrounding villages had traveled to Dagadussa, west of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, on their donkeys, horses, and camels to sell and buy things at the big market. The town was packed.

At two o'clock a crowd of people approached the town on foot. Women were carrying children on their backs. Their hands were empty. They had no food or water. They had been driven from their homes by Janjaweed militia.

"It was a day of great sorrow to see our relatives like that. We welcomed them and gave them everything we could spare from our homes," says Ahmed.

Ahmed has given shelter in his home to six of his relatives who have been displaced. He has also given up one of his huts to 15 displaced people.

"The people of Dagadussa have treated us well," says the leader of the displaced community, as his wife prepares porridge using pots and jerry cans provided by CWS-supported partner, Action by Churches Together/Caritas.

Access to water was a problem in Dagadussa, before ACT/Caritas drilled wells and installed pumps, providing clean drinking water. An ACT/Caritas health clinic is providing basic health services, and a feeding center is assisting malnourished children.

"We are very thankful for the organizations who have come to help us. Before, the children were so tired because of diseases and the lack of food. You would always hear about a child that has died. That is no longer the case," says the leader of the Dagadussa community.

CWS is helping to provide shelter, medicines, water and sanitation, agricultural inputs, and tools in Darfur for 500,000 of the most vulnerable people, as well as supplemental food for 50,000 children.

Some 5,000 families – about 20,000 people – in 23 communities in the northwest Artibonite and Central Plateau regions of Haiti are participating in a food security and sustainable development project, with the help of CWS and our partner the Christian Center for Integrated Development.

The families -- members of grassroots organizations, farmer cooperatives, and church groups – are learning about cooperative and credit management, micro-business, sustainable agriculture, and natural resource management. The food security program provides ongoing technical support to the groups. Women in particular are benefiting by receiving small credit loans, and from literacy and agricultural training.

Your prayers and support - and your participation in CROP WALKS and the TOOLS & BLANKETS Program - make possible these and other life sustaining programs. For information on how to get involved, please call your Church World Service/CROP Regional Office toll-free at 1-888-CWS-CROP, that's 1-888-297-2767.

For information about free loan videos, please call 1-800-297-1516, ext. 338, or e-mail us at: videos@churchworldservice.org.

Back to top