HOTLINE - week of July 25, 2005

As a U.S. government delegation visiting Sudan this past week sought a solution with the Sudanese government to the violence in Darfur, western Sudan, CWS continued to assist partners in responding to the needs of displaced families there.

In Darfur, CWS is helping to provide emergency shelter materials, cooking utensils, medical and hygiene supplies, and clean drinking water for families displaced by conflict.

CWS is also assisting families who are beginning to return to south Sudan now that a peace agreement has been signed ending the north-south conflict.

The “Dear Sudan” campaign, a grassroots movement, is seeking to address the needs of affected families by channeling funds through CWS.

On July 10, Hurricane Dennis came ashore along the Gulf coast of Florida and Alabama, and dumped heavy rains inland over parts of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi – some areas that were already saturated by Tropical Storm Cindy, which passed through a week earlier.

In Georgia, some 500 homes were damaged in several communities in Cherokee, Cobb, and Douglas counties near the Atlanta metro area. In Sylvester, Georgia, a community of roughly 5,000 residents in Worth County, heavy rains rendered at least 100 homes uninhabitable. So far, there has been no federal disaster declaration for the state.

CWS will help organize a new long-term recovery group, and is targeting low-income Worth County for initial work with the faith community.

"Without a federal disaster declaration, a complete picture of damage and community capacity for recovery throughout the state has been difficult to ascertain," says Lesli Remaly, CWS Disaster Response and Recovery Liaison. “The faith community and voluntary agencies will have to work extra hard and pool their resources to get these communities back on their feet."

CWS is seeking funds to support long-term recovery initiatives in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

A lack of significant rainfall in the 2004 planting season, along with a massive infestation of desert locusts and years of economic decline, has caused serious food shortages, malnutrition, and potential starvation for some 3.5 million people in vast parts of Niger's Sahel region (the southern tier of the Sahara desert). The situation is expected to become increasingly more critical until the new harvest begins in late September.

Through the onset of that harvest, CWS will support partners in providing food security, health and nutrition assistance, and livestock.

CWS partners in Niger plan to provide assistance to some 50,000 people in 55 villages by delivering 600 tons of millet -- 10 percent for seed; 50 tons of milk powder (mainly for children); 475 tons of animal fodder; 4,520 salt blocks (mainly for livestock); and constructing 13 cereal banks. CWS is urgently seeking funds to assist partners in responding to the dire food needs of families in Niger.

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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