HOTLINE - week of December 18, 2006

An earthquake early Monday on Indonesia's Sumatra Island?the site of the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami--has resulted in deaths, damage to hundreds of homes, and displacement of families.

CWS is assessing needs in the quake-affected area and is planning an immediate distribution of 273 tents and tarpaulins, along with 400 CWS Baby Kits.

Hopes that the signing of a Darfur peace agreement in May 2006 would help settle one of the world's worst humanitarian crises have been dashed. Instead, the situation in Darfur has deteriorated steadily.

Since July 2004, CWS has supported the work of the Action by Churches Together (ACT)-Caritas coalition, a joint ecumenical operation that combines the efforts of more than 60 organizations in responding to needs in Darfur.

Successful CWS-supported efforts in the last three years include: construction or rehabilitation of 22 clinics and two rural hospitals (all providing mother and child health care), 240 wells, and 34 schools; delivery of non-food packages to over 65,000 households; supplementary feeding for children and pregnant or lactating mothers; and psychosocial and counseling programs.

In 2007, CWS will be helping ACT to assist displaced families in a number of ways, including constructing 82 new water points and rehabilitating and maintaining others; constructing 1,150 latrines and rehabilitating 2,025 others; and mobilizing communities to manage their own environment and sanitation.

Conflict-affected communities will have access to ten ACT-run clinics in camps, one in a host community, and two mobile clinics, and up to 12,000 children and 8,000 lactating or pregnant women will receive nutritional assistance.

And plans call for more than 5,000 households to participate in trainings in improved farming methods. They’ll also receive seeds, tools, and assistance in creating and maintaining 31,000 trees in community-owned nurseries--trees that will be distributed mostly to female-headed households.

Plans are also underway to build seven schools and rehabilitate and maintain others, along with the provision of school materials, recruitment of female teachers, training for administrators, and encouragement for female students.

Emergency response and preparedness training for local partners is also planned, along with assistance to communities in dealing with trauma, taking charge of their own protection needs, and supporting them in working towards building a sustainable peace.

More information on CWS response to the Darfur crisis.

CWS partners continue to respond to the unsettled humanitarian situation in Gaza.

"We can't lose hope; otherwise, it will be a disaster for the Palestinians," says Constantine S. Dabbagh, executive director of CWS partner the Middle East Council of Churches committee for refugee work in the Gaza Strip.

Dabbagh and others have tackled the humanitarian situation within the Palestinian territories and worked for a political settlement that will address the need for justice and security for Palestinians and also guarantee security for Israel.

"We want to be of continued service to the people of Gaza," says Elias Abed Manneh, chair of the MECC's committee for refugee work in Gaza.

CWS is supporting the work of the Middle East Council of Churches as it provides health care, vocational training, and other educational and employment opportunities, and community development initiatives in Gaza.

Schooling for Akha and other minority children in Phongsaly and Oudomxay provinces is improving, with the help of CWS. In three villages--Van Nam Ly, in Phongsaly Province, and Anou and Lak 17, in Oudomxay Province--30 teachers are being trained and some 350 primary school students are gaining access to improved school facilities.

CWS is also helping to build five new primary schools in the Anou area, and improve the capacity of local education departments to monitor the project through regular visits and follow-up.

Since January 2004, some 1,000 people in the region have taken part in CWS-sponsored Seminars on Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) workshops--there have been 24 in all--in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The STAR initiative focuses on providing Christian councils and CWS partner organizations with the capacity to respond to the related issues of trauma, justice, and peace-building in their regions.

The initiative also focuses on the unique roles religious leaders and organizations bring to these issues.

Five topics are explored in the workshops--trauma healing, security, spirituality, justice, and conflict transformation--with the participants gaining knowledge of the relationship and role of the five concepts in establishing sustainable peace processes.

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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