HOTLINE - week of December 05, 2005

Hundreds of thousands of people affected by the earthquake in South Asia--particularly in Pakistan--are still without shelter.

"Of course we're all working night and day to provide as quickly as we can whatever temporary shelter we can get from governments' and aid organizations' contributions," notes Church World Service’s Marvin Parvez.

"The demand for winterized tents [like those provided by CWS earlier in November] is bigger than the supplies available," Parvez says. "For those reasons, CWS also began providing alternative shelter materials early on in the rescue and recovery mission." CWS is providing corrugated tin sheeting to survivors--some of which is being reused from the roofs of mud brick homes that are otherwise rubble following the massive quake. The metal sheeting is fireproof and can withstand strong winds.

"There are no perfect solutions and none seem quick enough or in sufficient quantity to accomplish the unprecedented task at hand," says Parvez, eyeing the descending Himalayan winter.

For children who already have shelter in CWS's tent village in Bisyan, near Balakot, school and recreation is the order of the day. School is a welcome respite as the children write in their new notebooks, play in the world of the alphabet and numbers, and hope for normalcy to return to their lives.

Many of the children in the CWS school--established in collaboration with UNICEF--and other tent schools being set up in Pakistan have not received any formal education prior to this. Coming from remote villages, attending school is a source of interest for them, and helps them overcome the trauma of their loss.

Additional support is urgently needed for these efforts.

December 1 was World AIDS Day. Church World Service is helping many of its partners around the world to address the AIDS crisis through education and other services for those at risk of infection or already HIV-positive. Communities are being educated about the virus to help alleviate the stigma attached to it. HIV/AIDS is a priority of the CWS Africa Initiative, along with peacebuilding, displaced people, hunger and poverty alleviation, and water.

In Rwanda, for example, a grandmother who is taking care of seven grandchildren whose parents died of AIDS, is taking part in a CWS-supported program to educate others in her community about AIDS. She has also learned skills to help grow a garden for her family's needs.

In Pakistan's Sindh and Punjab provinces, some 750 women and men are learning about HIV/AIDS prevention and care and are passing what they learn along to others in their communities.

In Chile, women's groups in the El Bosque and San Ramon communities of Santiago, the capital, are learning about the risks and their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

And, in Sierra Leone, a three-year agricultural support program in Kambia and Bombali districts for some 360 women and youth-led families is also providing education on HIV/AIDS.

"It's nice to be having a house again," says Tiadineng with a smile. She and her neighbors in the village of Meue lost their homes and livestock in the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. CWS is helping them rebuild.

The tsunami affected a number of countries. Hardest hit was Indonesia's Aceh province, with a confirmed death toll of some 130,000 people, and more than 37,000 still missing and presumed dead. In response to this disaster--and to the March 2005 earthquake that rocked Nias Island, off the Sumatran coast--CWS has provided emergency shelter, food, and water and is helping with the reconstruction of homes and livelihoods.

Tiadineng, 25, and Mustafa, 45, have three children--and they are newlyweds. Mustafa lost his first wife in the tsunami--which took a disproportionate number of women and children. (Tiadineng lost her husband some time before that.) Now they are a new team: He fishes each day, and she peddles the wares. For three years Tiadineng has been buying fish each day from the fishermen as they come in. She packs the fish, shrimp, and crabs with ice and salt, and then goes by bicycle, selling them throughout the nearby villages.

Told that she sounds like quite a business woman, she replies, "It's not enough. I can just buy food for the day, and have a bit for the children's school fees”--about $2 per month for the three.

Mustafa's boat and net and those of other fishermen in the village--five boats in all--have also been provided by CWS.

More personal stories and photos of tsunami recovery.

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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