HOTLINE - week of May 02, 2005

As people of faith in the U.S. observe National Day of Prayer on May 5, CWS invites you to join in prayer for a world of peace, justice, and well-being for all God’s children.

Many young people in Old Cairo are training for non-hazardous jobs, with the help of CWS and our partner, the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS). Egyptian child labor law says that young people under age 18 cannot work in hazardous jobs. Despite this law, many young people in Old Cairo are still found working at kilns, tanneries, and in other hazardous businesses.

In response, CEOSS, which is working on children's rights issues in Egypt, hopes to positively affect the lives of some 1,800 low-income young people by providing alternatives to hazardous work. It is giving priority to girls and youth working in extremely hazardous conditions.

CEOSS is working with local organizations to find the best ways to combat child labor, and is raising awareness among community residents and public bodies about the negative aspects of child labor and that children should be removed from performing hazardous tasks.

In this project, 300 low-income children ages 7-12 will be removed from the labor force, and their families' needs will be addressed in other ways. In addition, 500 young people ages 12-18 are taking part in vocational training in non-hazardous professions such as pottery, plumbing, hairdressing, sewing, weaving, decorating, carpentry, ironwork, saddle-making, leatherwork, appliance repair, car electrical and mechanical repair, and satellite installation.

CEOSS is also working to prevent another 1,000 children from joining the workforce, providing better work opportunities for the families of working children, and helping to ensure safety in workshops employing children.

More than 25,000 boys and girls in Ghazni province, in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, are getting an education with the help of Church World Service and our partner the Shuhada Organization.

Shuhada has run schools in Ghazni since 1991, and today is responsible for 34, providing primary and secondary education for 25,232 girls and boys. The high quality of Shuhada's schools was demonstrated in 2003, when 300 students from Jaghori district passed the university entrance exam – the highest number of students of any district in the country.

Education for women and girls was banned during the years that the Taliban was in power. However, Shuhada persevered and provided educational opportunities for both girls and boys. Its schools in Jaghori district, in Ghazni province, were the only high schools for girls in the country that remained open under the Taliban.

Today, after the many years of war and repression in Afghanistan, public support for education for both girls and boys is increasing, though the new government, which is supportive of education, has neither the resources nor the capability to assume full responsibility for it. The Afghan government pays the salaries for a small number of teachers in some schools. In order to maintain the educational quality, with funding from CWS, Shuhada pays for additional teachers.

Shuhada is also responsible for administration of the schools, books, equipment, materials, and teacher training, and has also invested in school infrastructure improvement.

More than 1,600 people displaced by the earthquake on Nias Island have received rice, canned fish, and cooking oil through Church World Service. This distribution represents about one-fourth of a 30-ton shipment, the remainder of which CWS is continuing to distribute to families in need – families whose lives were torn asunder by the March 28 quake. In addition, CWS is providing tents, medicines, cooking items, sheets, and clean water for quake-affected families on Nias.

CWS also continues to support relief efforts in Aceh Province, where the December tsunami devastated many coastal communities.

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.

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