HOTLINE - week of December 19, 2005

In this season of hope, Church World Service prays peace and well-being for neighbors here at home and around the world. Merry Christmas!

Northern Pakistan, hit by the devastating October earthquake, is the coldest part of the country. With the onset of winter, it is more important than ever that families there find appropriate, safe shelter.

With your support, CWS is urgently working to assist some 20,000 families with emergency shelter and food, and has thus far provided some 9,400 families with shelter kits and some 6,300 families with month-long food kits.

CWS (which has worked in Pakistan for more than 50 years) is also running a basic health unit in Rawalakot and assisting 184 families (1,281 people) at the Shohal Najaf tent village. Sixty latrines, 29 washrooms, and five water-collection points (two of which are separate for use by the women of the village) have been set up in the tent village. CWS is also working to provide electricity to the residents there.

With subfreezing temperatures and snowfall setting in, CWS is going village-to-village to reach those still in the mountains in the earthquake-affected areas--people still in desperate need of emergency assistance.

More information and stories. Additional funds are urgently needed for these efforts.

"CWS and our partners in Aceh have been focusing on people first, and on community needs," says Maurice Bloem, CWS Indonesia Director. However, Bloem notes that the reconstruction process will take many years.

The Indian Ocean tsunami that struck in December 2004 claimed some 275,000 lives, and there is a continuing need for housing, water resources, and livelihood recovery – needs that CWS is working with local partners in the region to help address.

CWS is implementing post-crisis work -- focusing on long-term reconstruction, rehabilitation, and capacity building projects. This second-phase response is targeting the most vulnerable households and will continue through 2006. CWS has provided more than $14.2 million in cash and supplies to address emergency and recovery needs, and is now appealing for $15.23 million to address long-term recovery needs.

Celebrating the work CWS has been able to accomplish, Bloem notes that much work still needs to be done in the devastated region. Explains Bloem, "Long-term recovery means just that, and proper financial and programmatic support will be the 'make or break' of this region's future."

Your continued support is needed. More personal stories and photos of tsunami recovery.

170 rural women from 30 communities are learning how to better provide for their families with help from CWS and local partner the Council of Evangelical Churches of Nicaragua.

Through training and technical assistance, the women are learning soil and water conservation techniques, sustainable agriculture methods, and efficient patio gardening.

The women will receive small loans to help them improve their gardens, buy livestock, and start small businesses as well – allowing them to improve their family’s diets and food security, and learn better fiscal management that will benefit their families and communities.

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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