HOTLINE - week of February 04, 2008

At least 55 people died, and homes, businesses, and public facilities were ripped apart when strong storms and tornadoes cut a swath of destruction across Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, and Indiana on Feb. 5 and 6.

CWS Emergency Response Specialists are in contact with denominational and disaster response partners, and CWS is providing material resources--CWS Blankets, Clean-up Buckets, and Hygiene Kits--to fulfill partner requests. CWS anticipates deploying staff to assist in training and project development, and issuing emergency response grants to long-term recovery groups forming or re-activating to respond to needs in the affected areas.

The situation in Kenya remains uncertain and tense in the wake of continuing violence that has displaced more than 300,000 persons and killed at least 800, following the disputed December 27 national elections. Among the worst-affected regions is Kenya's Rift Valley.

“I have run away from Burnt Forest [a town in the north Rift Valley] in order to seek peace,” says Jane Kingora. “A group of people came and burned my house. Some I knew, others I didn’t. The ones I knew were my own neighbors.”

From the remote areas of the Rift Valley to the slums of Nairobi, scores of impromptu camps have sprung up. Jane Kingora is one of 4,000 people staying in the Nakuru Show Grounds, about 94 miles northwest of Nairobi.

“I am here with my children and grandchildren,” Kingora says, “but my husband is still out there somewhere. I am so bitter because I was born there [in Burnt Forest]. Now it is not possible to return home. I’m wondering what to do next because I was born there, married there; I had kids, grandchildren… So I’m wondering what I should do. I can’t get employed. I’m too old.”

Church World Service is working in coalition to help meet the needs of some 30,334 families with supplementary feeding for children five years and younger and elderly people; water tanks and plastic latrine slabs; tents and plastic sheeting; support for economic recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction; and psychosocial care.

Church World Service is also working with partner National Council of Churches of Kenya to provide 800 households with a two-month supply of maize and beans, cooking oil, two blankets, as well as some educational assistance. With Church World Service support, CWS partner Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church will be providing 1,500 people with food and non-food items, shelter reconstruction, livelihood recovery, and trauma healing.

Earlier in the response, Church World Service worked to meet the immediate needs of some 42,400 displaced people with such items as food, blankets, and mattresses, as well as psychosocial care for some of the most traumatized.

Read more about or donate to the CWS response to the crisis in Kenya.

Without communicating the urgency and stressing the need to relieve Gaza of its present conditions, nothing will transpire," says Dr. Bernard Sabella, executive secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches’ Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees.

Sabella also says that there is need for a political solution to the situation in which rockets from Gaza are hitting towns in southern Israel; however, he says, imposing a siege on Gaza and punishing 1.5 million inhabitants will not help in stopping the launching of rockets. He is encouraging Palestinians to unite in seeking a political solution.

As part of continuing emergency response in Gaza and the West Bank, CWS is supporting partner efforts to provide supplementary food and health services to the most vulnerable families. CWS is also advocating for a two-state solution--a secure Israel and a viable Palestinian state with recognized borders.

Donate to the CWS humanitarian response in Gaza and the West Bank.

At CWS Child Rehabilitation Centers in Kabul and Bamyan, 400 students are learning to overcome their traumatic experience of war and violence. The children belong to very poor and vulnerable families that are facing further hardships due to war, the harsh winter, and a nationwide food shortage. Caring teachers provide a healthy learning atmosphere. Free medical checkups are arranged to monitor malnutrition cases and other ailments. The Child Rehabilitation Centers are also equipped with computers and library facilities.

Ten-year-old Mursal and 12-year-old Meerwias attend the Center in Kabul. Mursal, whose mother earns a meager income stitching clothes, enjoys the company of friends, plays outdoor games, and learns good social behavior, cooperation skills, and hygiene practices. She is also learning how to avoid landmines.

Meerwias, who lost his father, wants to become an engineer and carry out construction projects in Afghanistan. He enjoys learning about environmental protection and is gaining social skills at the center. He also has the opportunity to use the computer and read books. He shares what he has learned about health and hygiene with his family.

In the Hazarajat region of Afghanistan, CWS is assisting 450 families who have been displaced by a growing Taliban presence and the harsh winter. The families are receiving food packages that include wheat flour, cooking oil, beans, peas, a stove, and wood for fuel. The packages are helping the families to live more comfortably in their shelters for a month during the winter.

Donate to help provide emergency winter assistance to displaced Afghans.

Church World Service is providing some 4,000 CWS Blankets and 1,170 CWS School Kits to partner Christian Care, for needs of vulnerable families in Zimbabwe, where many families are affected by economic decline.

Find out more about Church World Service Kits.

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.

Back to top