Community Centers Provide Help that heals People living in camps in Darfur depend on humanitarian-aid agencies for all their basic needs: food, water, shelter and essential household items. But with community centers in eleven camps, ACT-Caritas is providing something more: These centers help people overcome trauma. Funds from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering and designated gifts are supporting this important ministry.
Pigs, Pigs and more Pigs What does One Great Hour of Sharing® have to do with pigs? Well, in 2005 One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) provided a grant to the Ikengo Agriculture and Training Center located in Ikengo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, under the direction of Mr. Celestine Engelemba.
Sierra Leone hosts seminars on trauma awareness and recovery Two years after the end of its brutal decade-long civil conflict, West Africa's Sierra Leone is balancing its still-fragile reconstruction and reconciliation with a persistent cry for justice—a cry many are concerned will accelerate into future recriminations. But global humanitarian agency Church World Service, supported by One Great Hour of Sharing is teaming up with West African church and civic leaders this month to avert that recurrence, by forging trauma counseling into a conflict prevention tool for the region.
Educating children in Mindanoa Mindanao, Philippines was once known as the "land of promise" because of the land's rich bounty. Despite that richness, however, the majority of the people in Mindanao are poor and living conditions are getting worse each day.
Providing humanitarian assistance to the people of North Korea ACT International, in which the United Church of Christ holds membership, has been providing humanitarian assistance to the people of the Democratic Republic of North Korea since the 90s, when a flood in mid-1995 devastated the country. The flood marked the beginning of a drawn-out and ongoing "emergency," in that the country simply could not cope with the natural disasters that followed.
Donated sheep bring hope to shepherds of China's Inner Mongolia Si Qing spends most of his days herding his goats and sheep. Like many other shepherds of Inner Mongolia (Autonomous Region), he is still recovering from the devastating snowstorms of two years ago that killed many animals and laid waste to vast tracts of grazing land.
Improving Health Through Clean Water Batey Cinco Casas, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic – In partnership with the Rotary Club Mirador in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA Dominicana) launched in December a new water project called “Saving Lives with Purified Water.”
Food + Education = Hope in Haiti There are many children in Haiti, but only 20 percent of them have the opportunity to attend school or learn to read and write. Parents who can barely feed their families only dream of providing their children with an education. Girls in Haiti have even less of a chance of getting an education.
Casa Bette (Betty's House) Casa Bette (Betty's House) in Venezuela is another example of how One Great Hour of Sharing dollars help make the lives of everyday people better.
Neighbors around the World Two of our UCC partners in Egypt – CEOSS and Bless are utilizing One Great Hour of Sharing gifts to employ a model of integrated community development whereby all members of the community are empowered to help themselves create a better life.
All our children' launches theater project in Baghdad BAGHDAD—An 'All Our Children' coordinator reported today on the first performance of the children's theater project in Iraq's only institute for the autistic. The institute's director said, "I saw something spark in the children I haven't seen in five years," the entire length of her tenure. Affectless children laughed for the first time. A child who would never approach strangers eagerly went to the actors. The staff was also electrified.
Potatoes, payback, and peace dividends in the Balkans As the embers from the Balkans wars continue to cool down, and the region settles into a still somewhat tenuous peace, UCC/Church World Service is moving away from emergency-related work and into longer-term development projects. "We know what the risks are in creating dependence on paternalistic relief aid," said Vitali Vorona, CWS Balkans Director. "That is why we focus on assistance that empowers people and helps them generate their own resources."
Growing Mushrooms for a Better Life In India, a group of women are working together in a mushroom cultivation project that requires little space and can be done inside the house. A single woman can cultivate mushrooms and can earn an income without much strain.
Another day to remember About 230 people attended the celebration of the Opening of the second Nahay Children's Development Center on February 10, 2004. Students from Nahay Primary School along with children, principals, and teachers from other nearby schools came to the opening.
Church of Bangladesh - Community Development Project First as part of British India and then of Pakistan, the area now constituting Bangladesh suffered from chronic economic neglect. Health and welfare services in Bangladesh are limited. In 1999 the country had one physician for every 6,028 residents and one hospital bed for every 3,279 inhabitants. Much of the welfare work in the country is administered by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
New Neighbors from Somalia One day Sadiyo told Allie that 13 members of her family, all refugees, would be arriving in two days. They were being resettled by Community Refugee & Immigration Services (CRIS) in Columbus. Sadiyo asked if Allie could help.
A family vacation in Florida, again! Four hurricanes hit the state of Florida in the year 2004. Recovery continues as homes are repaired and rebuilt. Volunteer work groups faithful to the needs of people impacted by these storms continue to travel to Florida.
Relocation to Chicago for some Hurricane Survivors Just a few weeks ago, the Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries (IRIM) office had the pleasure of handing over a set of keys to an evacuee family from Louisiana, survivors of the Gulf Coast Hurricane. The family has decided to make Chicago their new home.
