HOTLINE - week of April 17, 2006

Earth Day is April 22. Around the world, CWS is helping people to care for and improve their environment. In Burkina Faso, in West Africa, for example, some 600 members of women’s and farmers’ village cooperatives are planting vetiver grass to stop soil erosion, using compost to improve soils, planting trees to help combat desertification, and employing rainwater retention to irrigate gardens, all with the help of CWS and our local partner, the Association for Peace and Solidarity.

As warmer weather arrives and the camps in the quake-affected zones are beginning to close, many quake-affected families who stayed in emergency tent camps over the winter are returning to their homes.

Church World Service is helping people prepare for their futures and the rebuilding of their homes and communities. On April 5, 70 newly-trained tradespeople graduated from the CWS-supported Construction Trade Training Center in Mansehra. Certificates and tool kits were awarded to this first class of people to receive vocational training in masonry, electricity, welding, plumbing, and carpentry at the Center.

The Mansehra Center is one of two training centers in the Northwest Frontier Province--along with one in Bissian--that have been established by CWS and local partner Dosti Welfare Organization. Two additional centers are being planned.

In cooperation with partners, CWS is working to provide house reconstruction kits for some 20,000 families. Valued at $601 each, the reconstruction kits contains locally purchased earthquake resistant materials--15 bags of cement and six iron girders, along with windows, doors, and tin sheeting, wire mesh, steel rods, and other essentials, as well as tools for debris removal and rebuilding. The homes are being built as earthquake resistant as possible. Laborers from the affected community are being hired to assist debris clean-up and rebuilding efforts.

Support the effort in Pakistan.

"Darfur is a living hell," said CWS Executive Director Rev. John L. McCullough at a recent rally for Darfur, "and it is almost impossible for me to think of a worse… scourge of our humanity in the 21st century than the genocide that continues to unfold in Northern Africa every day."

McCullough called on listeners to advocate for the U.S. government to provide real leadership, and stand firm on the basis of our national values for substantive intervention in Darfur; lift our voices so that the government in Khartoum will be held to the standard of good governance for all of her citizens; call for a broadening of the peacekeeping mandate to allow for the protection of civilians; and demand that those in need have immediate access to food, water, temporary shelter, and medical care.

Support the effort in Sudan.

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.

Back to top