HOTLINE - week of May 15, 2006

"Church World Service's Pakistan staff has a hardworking and dedicated team that cuts across gender and religious lines--a much needed witness in a country like Pakistan," says Johnny Wray, head of Week of Compassion for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a CWS Board member. "They deserve our support and frequent prayers," says Wray, just back from a visit to parts of earthquake damaged Pakistan.

The damage caused by the October 2005 earthquake has affected even the most basic health care needs in parts of Pakistan, and "the scope of health and medical needs that persists is troubling," continues Ann Walle, CWS Communications Director.

The only hospital in the town of Rawalakot was destroyed by the quake, leaving no healthcare and a five-hour drive to the nearest health center in Islamabad.

To help fill this void, CWS is operating a clinic and two mobile health units consisting of a traveling team of a doctor, two nurses, and related staff that visit isolated communities.

Says Walle, "The two mobile health unit teams and the clinic typically see daily more than 100 patients each, mostly women and children."

In quake-damaged areas of Pakistan, CWS is also helping in restoring livelihoods, recovering livestock, supplying water and sanitation, and supporting psychosocial recovery, including counseling groups and supporting a children's theater group offering stage play and puppet shows.

Visit CWS quake response in Pakistan for more information.

More than a year after the destruction of their home in the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, Nur Afika and her husband, Muhammad Nasir, and their four children have finally returned to their home village, Lampu Kawat, in Aceh Province. They are now living in a new house that CWS helped them to build.

Living in an emergency tent before their home was built came with challenges. Nur had to give birth to their youngest child in the tent and protect him from the weather.

"Thank God, when Falepi was born, he was healthy," Nur says. "I didn't want him to get sick. I kept him warm with a blanket given to us by Church World Service." CWS also helped provide mosquito nets to the family.

"My house was built by two carpenters," continues Muhammad. "I helped them to carry some materials and also to dig a hole for the septic tank. My wife sometimes provided tea or coffee for the carpenters," he explains.

Muhammad is also one of 36 fishermen who received boats with the assistance of the CWS livelihood program. "I share the boat with my neighbor, Adi," Muhammad explains, and he and Adi now sell their catch at the local market.

In Indonesia, in addition to ongoing housing and livelihood recovery efforts, CWS recovery assistance also includes food and non-food items, health and nutrition support, early childhood and psychosocial support for children, water and sanitation assistance, tents and houses for displaced households, and livelihood support for affected laborers.

CWS also provided tsunami-related assistance in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Somalia.

Visit CWS tsunami response for more information.

Some 514 vulnerable or newly-resettled people--mostly women--in the Bounkiling Zone, Casamance region, are gaining access to micro-enterprise loans and increasing their household incomes, with help from CWS.

The project is a joint effort between CWS, Catholic Relief Services, and Christian Children's Fund to encourage internally-displaced people and refugees to return to their villages of origin--following two decades of conflict in Senegal--through housing rehabilitation and reconstruction, water resource development, health and educational services, infrastructure development, and peace-building initiatives.

CWS has also focused on construction and reconstruction of wells and water systems in the region, and provided 5,625 "Gift of the Heart" Health Kits, and 3,750 School Kits.

CWS is asking for denominational and other groups to help replenish the supply of CWS "Gift of the Heart" Baby and School Kits and CWS Emergency Clean-up Buckets. Many kits were used to help families affected by the earthquake in Southern Asia in October 2005 and the U.S. Gulf Coast hurricanes.

For more information on the Kits and how your group can help, visit our website or call your regional office at 888-297-2767.

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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