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Hotline 8/04/2003
churchworldservice.org
8/4/2003

Displaced Liberian families wait for distribution of food from CWS partner, the YMCA of Liberia. Photo: YMCA of Liberia

Liberia - On Saturday, August 3, Liberian church leaders and others convened an All Liberia Consultation in Accra, Ghana - a meeting of Liberians in exile in Ghana - to discuss strategies and possibilities for peace in their nation. CWS helped to sponsor this important gathering.

As part of ongoing peace-making efforts, the CWS emergency assessment team now in Ghana has also met with representatives from both the government and rebel forces.

"God is watching us. Where are the peace-loving countries, where are the peace-loving peoples? Who cares about Liberia?" asks Bishop John Innis, of the United Methodist Church of Liberia and a vice president of the Liberia Council of Churches, a CWS partner. Bishop Innis expresses the frustration of Liberian church leaders on the terribly slow pace of international attention to the crisis there.

"The world has forgotten us; let's return back home and appeal to the conscience of our people," continues Bishop Innis. "It will be up to us to solve our problems."

Bishop Innis was among the Liberian church leaders representing CWS partner agencies who met with the CWS team this past week in Accra to coordinate the next phase of an ongoing humanitarian response in Liberia by CWS.

The church leaders were clear about what needs to happen. Fighting must end between the warring factions and some type of international peacekeeping force must be in place to guarantee both security for the Liberian people and for the flow of humanitarian assistance. (Reports indicate a force of West African Peace Keepers may arrive Monday, Aug. 4.) Aid such as emergency food rations, medicines, and clean water must also arrive, as Liberia is facing an unparalleled humanitarian crisis in which perhaps all of its 3.3 million citizens will need some kind of emergency assistance in the coming months. And, the churches must be involved both in current peace efforts and in long-term peace-building work, taking a central role in efforts to galvanize a shattered society, with particular concern for teenagers and those youngsters who have fought in the current conflict. For more on Liberia, visit: http://www.churchworldservice.org/news/Liberia/index.html.

China - The CWS TOOLS OF HOPE & BLANKET Program is helping our partner, the Amity Foundation, to purchase locally-made quilts for vulnerable flood-affected families in southeast China.

Violent June rainstorms caused landslides in mountainous areas, killing some 300 people, displacing nearly two million, and destroying some 650,000 homes, along with crops and other property in several southeast provinces, including along the Huai and Yangtze rivers.

CWS will assist the Amity Foundation in providing for the emergency needs of some 9,000 displaced families (31,500 people).

The Amity emergency program includes medicines for the treatment of diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems, skin infections, and other common communicable diseases; 15 kilos of rice for each of 10,500 people in some 3,000 of the displaced and severely-affected families; two quilts to each of the 9,000 families; repair of houses for about 300 of the families; rebuilding of houses for some 250 of the families; rebuilding of five village schools; and reconstruction of three village irrigation facilities. Amity will also coordinate long-term rebuilding projects.

Along with providing $25,000 in TOOLS OF HOPE & BLANKET Program funds, CWS is seeking additional funds to assist Amity with flood-related needs in China.

Egypt - Women and men in the village of El-Redisia, about 500 miles south of Cairo, have organized to solve their wastewater problem. Because the village has no sewage system, families disposed of their wastewater in the streets. This has caused many health problems.

With the help of CWS partner, the Coptic Orthodox Church (COC), the community developed a donkey cart waste management system. The donkey cart, designed by the villagers in collaboration with COC engineers, is narrow enough to negotiate village streets and can collect wastewater and other disposable items.  The community designated a dumpsite outside the village, and families pay a small monthly fee for the disposal service. The cart worker owns the donkey, so he takes good care of it and feels responsibility for the project.

The village development committee says the donkey cart system is a successful combination of community participation and appropriate technology. Their streets are cleaner, and their health is improving noticeably. In addition, the participation of women in the decision-making is a first for the village.

In the past year, CWS has provided more than $57,000 to support development projects like this one through the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt.

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