HOTLINE - week of August 13, 2007

Through southern and central Asia, flooding in recent weeks has been the "worst in living memory," according to the United Nations. Across northern India, countless villages have been flooded, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

Church World Service is supporting the efforts of long-time partner Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA), as it provides initial relief assistance to 17,500 flood-affected families.

Assistance includes cooked food for families; a woolen blanket, dhoti (men's garment), and sari (women's garment); dry rations (rice, lentils, cooking oil, salt, chili powder, turmeric powder) and cooking utensils; tarpaulins for temporary shelter; water purification tablets and bleach. CASA also plans to help 5,000 families to repair or reconstruct their flood-damaged homes.

In Pakistan, Church World Service continues to assist more than 20,000 of the most vulnerable flood-affected households, providing food packages, plastic sheets, reconstruction materials, health services, hygiene kits and training, counseling and community services, and training for aid workers.

In parts of China, torrential rains, flash floods, landslides, and mudflows are affecting millions of people.

The Amity Foundation, a long-time Church World Service partner, is assisting vulnerable families in the municipality of Chongqing and in the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu. Assistance includes a blanket, quilt, and mosquito net to each of 4,000 families, and 15 kilos (about 33 pounds) of rice per person for 4,000 people from 1,500 severely affected families.

In the next year, Amity will also help communities rebuild 500 houses, six school buildings, five clinics or hospitals, five drinking water systems, and six irrigation systems.

Monetary contributions are urgently needed to support these relief and recovery efforts.

South American Chaco--Martha Segundo (l) and Griselda Aria pair up to do handiwork. Photo: Paul Jeffrey for CWS

Martha Segundo, Griselda Aria, and other participants in a Wichi women's empowerment group in the Argentine Chaco are doing handiwork together and developing new marketing channels for their wares.

Sponsor Foundation for Development in Justice and Peace, FUNDAPAZ, is one of five organizations partnering with Church World Service in the region, which includes parts of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

Indigenous communities are gaining access to land and developing livelihoods via training in sustainable agriculture, seed bank development, improved goat and hog raising, and heightened focus on education.

Disciples Week of Compassion, Presbyterian Hunger Program, the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and individual CWS supporters help make this program possible. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America also helped to provide initial support for the initiative.

Read more.

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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