HOTLINE - week of April 03, 2006

One year has passed since a powerful earthquake ravaged Nias Island, off the southwest coast of Indonesia's island of Sumatra. Barely three months before, the December 2004 tsunami had also devastated some parts of Nias.

Church World Service is working to help meet the needs of affected families.

On a recent evening, after working the whole day, a small group of farmers in the village of Lasarabagau rested in a hut belonging to the Sejahtera Bersama ("Collective Prosperity") farmer group. The group consists of 13 families – part of a CWS livelihood program on Nias.

"Our first yield was rather successful," says Ama T'ae, treasurer for the farming group. "We collected four tons of rice. From the profits, we contribute ten percent to our farming group to help it grow in the future. Now we are waiting for the second harvest."

The tsunami destroyed many rice paddies in Lasarabagau village. CWS has provided paddy seeds, a water pump, and tools to assist the farmers there. Ama explains that CWS also trained farmers in applying fertilizer and using a hand tractor.

"We are happy with the yield," Ama says, "because we have gotten some money from selling rice at the market." Ama adds that although the first harvest was a success, the farmers still hope that the second one will be bigger. They hope that by working together they can achieve this.

World Health Day is April 7. Church World Service is helping to equip children and adults around the world to live healthier lives through basic health care, clean water, nutrition training, and more. Here are some examples:

In an isolated area of central Nicaragua, 20 community leaders are receiving training and equipment through CWS partner Acción Médica Cristiana, to monitor the health of farm families and their children in their communities. Each community also is establishing its own garden for basic medicinal plants, and community members are learning about their rights so they can interact with local government agencies and ask for the health services to which they are entitled.

In the city of Lahore, in Punjab Province, Pakistan, CWS is working with partner Punjab Lok Sujag to improve family health by helping to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders. The project is creating awareness about iodine deficiency through mass educational campaigns, while increasing the use of iodized salt. This is the third year that CWS is assisting the project.

Clean drinking water is essential for good health. In the West Bank, CWS is working with the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees of the Middle East Council of Churches to provide in-ground water cisterns for 41 low-income families – some 246 people – in the village of Yaseed, whose water storage structures are destroyed and who can no longer afford to spend more than 15% of their household income to purchase water from commercial tankers. The project also provides a year’s work for some 800 skilled and unskilled laborers.

"Although there have been some rains, the situation in the drought-affected areas remains bleak," says Dan Tyler, CWS representative for East Africa. "Communities are still very fragile, thus continued assistance is vital."

CWS is helping to support partners who are providing food assistance, while also focusing its efforts on distributing seeds and tools, and on the construction of earth dams. The dams will hold water for livestock in areas where there has been some rain.

Your support for these efforts is urgently needed.

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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