HOTLINE - week of April 07, 2008

April 7 is World Health Day, and clean water is essential for health. Without clean water and effective sanitation, people and communities find it virtually impossible to escape poverty and disease. Church World Service works to increase communities' access to clean, safe water for drinking and domestic use--as well as access to education and training for water system management and improved community health, hygiene, and sanitation.

In northeast Vietnam, some 33,000 people in three mountainous communes in Pho Yen district, Thai Nguyen Province, northeast Vietnam, are benefiting from a new clean water supply and sanitary latrines, with the help of Church World Service.

Lack of access to clean water and sanitation is one of the leading causes of illness and death among the poor in Vietnam, where many in rural areas suffer from waterborne disease. More than one out of four people in Pho Yen district suffers from a water-related disease. Even the health clinics there lack access to clean water, which makes treating patients suffering from water-related illness particularly difficult.

In response, Church World Service is helping to construct water supply facilities and hygienic latrines for three clinics, and lay pipelines for water distribution to 150 households. Training is being provided on the operation and management of the systems, on prevention and transmission of water-related diseases, and on good hygiene practices.

Donate to help bring clean water to people around the world.

This year, 1,350 women in seven provinces are gaining literacy and more, through a Church World Service-supported program of the Angolan Council of Christian Churches.

Angola's educational system, along with other social services and economic opportunities, was disrupted by a 30-year civil war. As many as 60 percent of adults in Angola are illiterate. For girls and women, the illiteracy rate is even higher--estimated at 70 percent.

In post-conflict Angola, women are being called upon to participate in the rebuilding of their country. The women's full participation in this reconstruction depends upon gaining education and training.

Facilitated by Church World Service and ProLiteracy Worldwide's Literacy for Social Change program, the women are not only becoming literate, but are learning about peacemaking, human rights, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, and family savings programs. Through group learning, the women are gaining development skills, new confidence in their abilities, and new hope for the future.

Church World Service partner Meninos e Meninas da Rua (boys and girls of the street), in Brazil, is celebrating its 25th year of working with children and teenagers living on the streets.

Meninos e Meninas da Rua and the other programs that are part of the CWS Latin America and Caribbean Regional Program on Children and Youth work with urban poor children and youth who are at great risk--street and working children, and child victims or potential victims of sexual abuse, exploitation, and rights violations, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The programs are helping to educate and mobilize governments, communities, and families to respect, promote, and protect children's rights, and to provide vulnerable children with opportunities to move out of extreme poverty and escape violent situations.

Through the programs, children and youth gain educational support, health care, legal assistance, counseling, classes on parenting and life-skills, rights education, and recreational activities in sports, the arts, or at summer camp.

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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