HOTLINE - week of August 01, 2005

August 9 is the UN’s International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. In support of indigenous people, CWS has recently embarked on a four-year program to assist more than 250 indigenous communities in the Grand Chaco region of South America.

Reports from Niger say thousands of children could soon starve to death unless emergency food aid is provided.

Some 3.5 million people in parts of Niger’s Sahel region (southern Sahara Desert) are short of food and at risk for severe malnutrition. CWS is supporting partners in efforts to provide millet, milk powder, and animal fodder for some 50,000 people in 55 villages. CWS partners are also constructing 13 cereal banks for use in the region. CWS is urgently seeking funds to assist partners responding to the severe food shortages in Niger.

Caribbean countries, Mexico, and parts of the U.S. continue clean-up and recovery efforts from two July hurricanes -- Dennis and Emily. Dennis hit Haiti, Cuba, and the southern U.S., while Emily affected Jamaica, Grenada, Mexico, as well as parts of Texas.

Cuba was hit hardest – Hurricane Dennis devastated 11 provinces and caused the evacuation of 1.5 million people. Some 120,000 homes were affected and the nation's agricultural production suffered severe damage, impacting Cuba's food security. This marks the fourth year in a row that Cuba has been seriously affected by hurricanes."

CWS is providing 6,250 CWS Blankets, 7,335 “Gift of the Heart” Health Kits, and 1,050 Baby Kits for distribution by its long-time partner, the Cuban Council of Churches. CWS is also participating with an Action by Churches Together assessment team in Cuba, helping the Cuban Council develop their response with those affected by Hurricane Dennis.

In response to Hurricane Emily, CWS is providing 5,535 Health Kits, 510 Baby Kits, and 7,000 CWS Blankets for distribution by Catholic Social Services in San Juan, Texas, to hurricane-affected families on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. CSS works in Matamoros, Mexico, and has identified several thousand people in shelters in Mexico who were affected by Emily.

In the southern U.S., CWS has provided 300 CWS "Gift of the Heart" School Kits, 270 Health Kits, and 105 Baby Kits for Hurricane Dennis-affected families in Sylvester, Georgia. "Without a federal disaster declaration, the town is really struggling," says CWS Disaster Response and Recovery Liaison Lesli Remaly. "The Kits will mean a lot."

CWS is also assessing hurricane-related needs in Alabama.

"In the last few days we've heard Darfur is getting better," said CWS’s Moses Olé Sakuda to hundreds gathered at a July 26 rally in Boston asking for more support from the U.S. on finding a resolution to the situation in Darfur. "Yet in the last 24 hours we've just heard about more bombing by Sudanese government forces on villages in Darfur." Sakuda is Associate Director of the CWS Mission Relationships and Witness Program.

Read more on this story.

In Darfur, CWS is helping partners to provide emergency shelter materials, cooking utensils, medical and hygiene supplies, and clean drinking water for families displaced by the 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 grassroots “Dear Sudan” campaign is mobilizing around the U.S. and responding to the needs of affected Sudanese families by channeling funds through CWS.

CWS International Response and Recovery Liaison Steve Weaver has returned to Jordan, where he is facilitating CWS-supported projects in Iraq. The newest of these is a one-year program developing the abilities of local Iraqi organizations to respond to needs of the most vulnerable Iraqi families through training and technical assistance, and helping them to implement small relief projects.

Last year, CWS provided more than $1 million in medical supplies and other basics for Iraqi children.

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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