HOTLINE - week of July 30, 2007

Hafeeza Bibi, 70, lived with her nephew before flooding caused their mud house in Balochistan Province to collapse. All of her belongings were ruined. Bibi, who is blind and suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma, has no family of her own. Her husband left for work in Dubai in the 70s and never returned. "I have no children and no companionship; only God is my protector," she says.

"Before the disaster, our community was helping me," Bibi continues, "but the floods have had a devastating impact on everyone. People are barely able to look after their own families; how can they support me as well? Now I am living in a school building, which is vacant due to the summer break. But once the schools reopen, where will I go?"

Bibi's story, like many others in flood-affected parts of Pakistan, is one of loss and fear for the future. According to the UN, flooding caused by torrential late-June rains affected some 2.5 million people in Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

Church World Service is providing assistance to more than 20,000 households--vulnerable families, widows, children, and the elderly--in Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Assistance includes reconstruction materials for 1,300 of the families; health services for 33,750 people; hygiene kits and training for 2,000 families; training for 500 aid workers; and counseling and community services for selected families based on need. Church World Service has also provided a total of 1,250 food packages and 1,320 plastic sheets for families in Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

Monetary contributions for flood-related needs in Pakistan are urgently needed.

Heavy rain in central Sulawesi has caused landslides and flooding that has displaced some 20,000 people and killed at least 60. Others remain missing. Bridges in the area have been damaged, disrupting transportation.

A Church World Service-Indonesia emergency team is assessing needs in the area. Church World Service is distributing 400 blankets and 400 Hygiene Kits and is working closely with other Action by Churches Together coalition members.

This week, Church World Service Emergency Response Specialists Heriberto Martinez and Lesli Remaly-Netter are providing training for leaders of emerging long-term recovery groups in flood-affected parts of Texas. Church World Service is appealing for support for the provision of material resources, additional training, project support, and emergency grants for a response that covers flooding in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

Five-hundred fifty-eight students at the Quan Chu Junior Secondary School (grades 6 to 9), in mountainous northern Vietnam, are gaining access to clean drinking water, restroom and washing facilities, and hygiene education, with the help of Church World Service. About half of the students are ethnic minorities. The Quan Chu community consists of 19 villages, with a population of more than 3,500 people.

Teachers and school administrators at the school are training in construction design, project management, and monitoring. Parents, along with the students and teachers, are learning about health and hygiene through the project.

In the past year, Church World Service has also helped to construct classrooms; and provide teaching aids, a new water supply, toilet facilities, and health and hygiene promotion for the community's kindergarten and primary school.

With the new facilities and training, the students and families are improving their health and well-being.

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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