HOTLINE - week of June 27, 2005

Nearly six months after December's deadly tsunami struck, assistance for affected families in Aceh Province still revolves largely around sanitation and access to water and food, though CWS and others are also helping people to re-establish their livelihoods.

CWS is helping to assess livelihood needs in the Aceh Besar region, and is already providing fishing boats in one village. In another village, CWS worked with the Indonesian Livestock Department to increase the number of the village's breeding chickens, and thereby its income.

CWS Associate Director for International Emergency Response Programs Donna Derr says, "A major focus continues to be the health and psychosocial needs of children. Supplemental feeding programs are continuing to be an important part of our assistance."

Derr says the CWS Health and Nutrition Team and the CWS Mobile Clinic are continuing to monitor food deliveries and feeding programs and to work with community health centers who were initially overrun by the needs of a scattered, injured, and traumatized population. Capacity has improved with the delivery of "Gift of the Heart" Health Kits, mosquito nets, mattresses, and CWS blankets. The CWS medical team trains local health centers in how to treat malnutrition, respiratory infections, diarrhea, and worms. In addition, CWS is providing psychosocial support to those still suffering from traumatic stress and therapeutic play activities for affected children.

CWS is also providing some community-based organizations with revolving funds to support businesses. In return, the beneficiaries are required to share some of their profits with the rest of the community.

In just one recent week's effort, CWS assessed the livelihood programs in eight villages, delivered emergency supplies to 377 people in one location and 1,500 in another, reviewed 27 water and sanitation projects, made assessments in six others, and provided supplementary feeding for 70 mothers and 98 children in one camp.

CWS is seeking additional support for ongoing tsunami recovery efforts. "We are focusing at this point on mid- and long-term recovery needs," says Donna Derr, "and we know this is going to take time, across all of the affected areas."

Church World Service has received a $1 million grant from United Way of America (UWA) to aid construction or rehabilitation of housing in the wake of the 2004 hurricane season.

"CWS helps local communities identify and serve the most vulnerable disaster-affected families, especially with their housing needs," says Linda Reed-Brown, CWS Associate Director for Domestic Disaster Response.

"Elderly persons, those on limited income, families with small or school-age children and single-parent families are vulnerable populations and in many instances not only were their homes destroyed, but they also lost jobs. They have very limited resources for recovery," Brown explains.

CWS has helped organize more than 50 long-term recovery groups in eight states – Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia - most affected by last year’s hurricanes and tropical storms.

In Puerto Rico, CWS is supporting Camp Noah, a program of Lutheran Disaster Response which is helping children process their feelings following the 2004 hurricane season, and is giving them an emotional break from recovery through play and recreation. The program is taking place in several cities from mid-June through July 8. CWS is providing translation for some of the materials being used in the program, and is providing 200 "Gift of the Heart" School Kits for children attending the camp.

Severe flooding this spring has devastated vast areas of southern China, washing away villages and destroying more than 76,000 houses. More than 17 million people are affected.

The Amity Foundation, a long-time CWS partner, is planning to provide emergency items according to the varied needs of some 5,000 of the worst-affected families in Hunan and Guizhou provinces -- about 20,000 vulnerable men, women, children, and elderly people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged, or who lost at least two-thirds of their crops due to flooding. The response includes providing medicine against waterborne diseases for some 1,500 families; 33 pounds of rice each for some 10,000 people (2,500 families); one quilt each to 2,000 families; and one mosquito net each to 2,000 families. Amity is also helping to rebuild 400 houses, six schools, and 5,000 meters of irrigation canals.

CWS is seeking funds to assist with the urgent needs of flood-affected families in China.

CWS is providing $54,600 worth of Church of the Brethren-donated canned chicken for vulnerable rural families in the Dominican Republic, through our partner Social Service of the Dominican Churches. In addition, vulnerable families in 23 rural communities in the West Bank are receiving 8,930 CWS Blankets. And, children in Romania are receiving 26,625 CWS "Gift of the Heart" Health Kits, delivered through CWS partner International Orthodox Christian Charities.

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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