HOTLINE - week of August 22, 2005

"A community is run by its members," notes Per Nordmark, special advisor for partner support for ACT. "What we see in Belil is a grand example of the work the Sudanese themselves are doing to care for other Sudanese who have been victimized by the conflict in Darfur." Some 17,000 people live in Belil Camp, which hugs the outskirts of Kalma Camp, the world's biggest camp for internally displaced people.

Church World Service coalition partner Action by Churches Together (ACT) recently turned over responsibility for running Belil Camp for internally displaced persons in Darfur to the local Sudanese Development Organization, SUDO.

Since the start of this CWS-supported Darfur relief program, in June 2004, more than 460,000 people have received assistance, either in camps where they have fled for safety or in their own homes. More than 3,600 shelters have been constructed, and thousands more households have received plastic sheeting for shelter.

In addition, some 27,500 malnourished children under five, along with pregnant and lactating women, have taken part in supplementary feeding programs. Seventy deep wells have been dug, 44 shallow wells dug or restored, 24 hand pumps installed or repaired, and 14 water storage tanks installed. Twenty schools have been or are being built, and 22 temporary clinics are operating that treat more than 24,000 patients every month. In addition, two rural hospitals and four clinics have been restored – all with the help of CWS and partners.

In all the camps where CWS is assisting, including Belil, CWS priorities are shelter, water, sanitation, and supplemental feeding, reports Donna Derr, CWS Emergency Response Interim Director.

CWS is also helping to provide seeds, agricultural tools, and reconstruction assistance to displaced families returning to south Sudan following the January peace agreement that ended the north-south conflict. The July 30 death of Vice-President John Garang, a leading architect of the agreement, threatened to derail the peace process. CWS has joined long-time partner the New Sudan Council of Churches in encouraging the people of Sudan and the international community to maintain their commitment to peace.

Some 3.8 million of Ethiopia's 47 million inhabitants are threatened by severe food shortages because of drought, crop failures, economic decline, and lack of infrastructure. Women and children are most at risk for acute malnutrition.

Through February 2006, CWS is supporting the efforts of partner Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, which is coordinating assistance to some 104,000 people. The project includes providing nearly 9,500 tons of cereal, 954 tons of supplementary food mix, 421 tons of seed for planting, and more than 20,700 sets of hand tools, along with medical assistance and veterinary care for ailing livestock.

CWS is urgently seeking funds to assist drought-affected families in Ethiopia.

Though rain has arrived in Niger and crops are beginning to grow, people continue to suffer severe food shortages. They have no reserves of grain to eat, and there will be no harvest until at least the end of August.

Meager diets are causing weakness and disease. Mothers do not have milk for their babies. People are struck down with diarrhea. "No one in this valley has eaten properly for three months," Fatima Sala said. The numbers of people who have died as a result of the famine can only be estimated, but reports from the villagers give a sense that many people, and especially children, have succumbed to the diseases brought on by malnutrition.

More on this story and the CWS response.

People in Wright, in Campbell County, Wyoming, are cleaning up in the wake of an August 12 tornado that left two people dead and 85 families from a mobile home park homeless. Most have no insurance. The families are in need of temporary and long-term housing, though there is a lack of available housing in the area. For now, most of them are staying with friends and relatives.

"Eighty-five families is about one-quarter of the entire city," says Davis. "This will have a huge economic impact."

CWS is providing CWS Blankets and "Gift of the Heart" Health and School Kits for the affected families. CWS also anticipates providing an emergency grant of $10,000 to support the development of a long-term recovery group.

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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