HOTLINE - week of June 13, 2005

Drought-ravaged parts of West Timor are facing potential famine. Church World Service, which has a long-term commitment to serving Indonesian and Timorese communities, is working to assist affected families in the region.

Sixty-four percent of South Central Timor families are poor and barely have enough food reserves to last through August. The drought has put staple foods out of reach for many, and more than a third of children under the age of five are now suffering from malnutrition. Poor access to health facilities is making a difficult situation worse.

CWS is focusing on: a supplementary feeding program; therapeutic feeding programs for children under five and pregnant women; community feeding centers; and community-based health organization training. In addition to these initiatives, CWS plans to distribute supplementary food, and as time passes will transition from the emergency relief efforts to long-term livelihood programs in the area.

CWS will also monitor other regions of Indonesia that, due to drought, are beginning to show the first signs of food shortages, and will assess the needs of various areas, and the potential for assistance, as they arise.

In addition, CWS continues tsunami recovery assistance, especially in Aceh Province, and earthquake recovery efforts on Nias Island.

More on CWS emergency response.

Before the war in Bosnia, Mehmed Hadjic built a house on his land in the village of Sevarlije. It was a pretty white house with a red tile roof, and he did much of the work with his own hands.

Then the war came and drove many people from their homes, including the Hadjic family. After the conflict ended, those who had fled the violence returned to find their homes and villages in near ruin. Mehmed and his family were among the returnees. But, the sight of the nearly total destruction was too much for Mehmed; his heart literally could not bear it.

His widow Alma and their children, now living in a rebuilt house in their old village, continue to survive these hard times. Most of the returning families have no dependable source of income and lack access to seeds and tools necessary to work the land.

Church World Service and partner the Merhamet Foundation, a Muslim non-profit organization, have distributed seeds, tools, and machinery that years of war had made almost impossible to come by. This helps families have enough food to eat and a surplus in order to retain seed stock for the next growing season. The surplus produce is also sold in the market generating income for the families and revitalizing the local economy.

Now Alma and her family can grow and harvest vegetables from their garden and fruit from their orchard again – and through the "give back" process, they are giving a portion of their harvest to be used by soup kitchens in nearby towns. One side effect of the disruption over the past ten years is the habit of receiving rather than giving and a demeaning sense of dependency on others. Now, after years of deprivation and pain caused by war, Alma and her children are returning the goodwill that gave them the means to restart their lives and passing it on to other needy families in their area.

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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