HOTLINE - week of August 14, 2006

"Every time I hear the aircraft, I think, who has been shot now, who has died, who will be the next target? It is hard to sleep," says 26-year old Hana, who is eight months pregnant, fled her village in south Lebanon, and is now living in a center for displaced people.

Long-time Church World Service partner the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) is distributing 500 food and non-food parcels in Saida and Jezzine, in south Lebanon, and, with another CWS partner, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), is working to provide water and sanitation support in centers for the displaced.

International Orthodox Christian Charities is distributing food and hygiene parcels to centers for people displaced by the conflict, as well as in schools. So far, 695 families have received parcels from IOCC, with the rest of the parcels to be distributed near the time of this writing to meet the IOCC goal of assisting 892 families.

Contributions to support humanitarian efforts in Lebanon may be made by calling (800) 297-1516, or by credit card online.

Thirty community and faith leaders from the Equatoria region of southern Sudan, recently participated in a six-day Strategies in Trauma Awareness and Resiliency (STAR) training at the regional ecumenical center in Maridi, Sudan. The workshop, which was hosted by CWS and partner the New Sudan Council of Churches, will help to strengthen local peace initiatives in the south’s devastated communities.

The facilitation team included two trainers from Eastern Mennonite University, as well as CWS International Disaster Response and Recovery Liaison Ivan DeKam. CWS and the New Sudan Council of Churches are planning additional STAR workshops in Sudan.

Since the January 2005 signing of a peace agreement that ended a 21-year-long war in southern Sudan, CWS has been helping partners in the region as they assist families returning to their homes. The STAR training is part of the CWS strategy to help bring peace back to the region.

CWS is also supporting the work of partners in the Darfur region of western Sudan, as they provide water, seeds, training, a school and school materials, a clinic, and social programs for uprooted families in the region.

"I've been really inspired to see so many people concerned with our work in Indonesia," says Maurice Bloem, CWS-Indonesia program director. "Thank you to all those who have contributed to relief efforts for families affected by emergencies in Indonesia," from the December 2004 tsunami to the May/July earthquakes and tsunami on southern Java Island. He reports that CWS staff continue to provide emergency food and water to recent quake survivors on Java.

In addition, housing and livelihood assistance continues in quake- and tsunami-affected areas of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, northern Sumatra Island, and on Nias Island. Most recently, CWS, working with local carpenters, completed 124 of the 450 houses planned for families in Banda Aceh who lost their homes to the tsunami.

Eighty-two low-income individuals and families will soon be returning to homes that were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita because of a grant for housing repairs from Habitat for Humanity to CWS. The first-time partnership between the two international organizations is helping to repair homes in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, by providing grants to nine local CWS partner organizations.

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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