Less than twenty years ago the world watched as Rwanda, a small, landlocked country in Eastern Africa, erupted into violence and experienced one of the most violent and deadliest genocides the world has seen. Since those darkest days in the spring of 1994, the world has also watched as Rwanda has orchestrated one of the most impressive reconstruction projects in …
Fighting Global Hunger Knows No Sectarian or Religious Boundaries
Chris Herlinger | December 9, 2013
Church World Service is rooted in the Christian traditions of our member communions. But we are also proudly part of an ecumenical and interfaith tradition that works across lines of religious difference. In our midst are colleagues, supporters and friends of different Christian traditions (mainline and evangelical Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, predominately black church, the so-called “peace church”) as well …
The Zero Hunger Challenge
Maurice A. Bloem | December 6, 2013
Just getting to the CWS Therapeutic Feeding Center in West Timor is a challenge for many. When I visited our programs in Indonesia a couple of weeks ago with a group of CWS supporters (including CWS board member, Patricia de Jong) from the U.S., it took around 20 hours of air travel, followed by several bumpy car rides across the …
Anacleto’s Plans for the Future
Fionuala Cregan | December 5, 2013
I am surrounded by “palo borrachos” in the heart of the Argentinean Chaco. Known in English as Cieba Chodatii, their name in Spanish translates as “drunken stick,” humorously describing their swollen pot belly trunks. They are characteristic of dry regions due to their ability to retain water and are an endearing feature of the world´s largest dry forest – the …
In Remembrance of Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela
By Rev. John L. McCullough For nearly 30 years, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island and other locales for his anti-apartheid activism. Today a different shadow is cast on Robben Island as we remember and honor the memory of Nelson Mandela. Mandela’s death is not only felt as a deep emotional loss for South Africans but for people all …
CWS School Kits Help Sustain Studies of Austin Children Who Lost all to Floods
December 4, 2013
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Nearly 300 school children are among those who lost everything when Onion Creek flooded their Austin, Texas, neighborhood at the end of October. CWS School Kits are helping them keep up with their studies. Church World Service shipped 300 CWS School Kits to Austin. Most of the kits were distributed by the Family Resource Center at Mendez …
In an Emergency, Is It Best That Everyone Is a Firefighter?
Chris Herlinger | December 2, 2013
A friend and colleague of mine recently painted the following scenario: “Your neighbor’s house is on fire. The fire department is there. All the hydrants are pumping water. Would you run across the street with another fire truck and more water?” Of course you wouldn’t. But if you saw images on television of a huge disaster, like the one right …
Blessed to be a Faster
Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston | November 27, 2013
As originally published on the Fast for Families blog. (http://fast4families.org/blog/rev-ken-langston-blessed-to-be-a-faster/) As Eliseo Medina, Dae Joong Yoon, and Christian Avila enter their seventeenth day of fasting on Thanksgiving, I am humbled by their sacrifice. I ended my second day of fasting early this morning. I wanted to fast for a third day, but unfortunately I was too sick because my medications …
No Major Natural Disaster in the U.S. This Year?
Susanne Gilmore | November 26, 2013
Thankfully, the United States didn’t suffer a Katrina- or Sandy-scale disaster in 2013. Or did it? An incessant string of regional disasters has affected thousands of households. There was not a neat “spring storms” or “fall tornadoes” season this year. Instead, since the spring, the disasters have just kept on coming and the toll has mounted in deaths, injuries and …
Flood Recovery Workshops to be Held in Greeley, Loveland, Boulder
Day-long workshops on long-term recovery from disaster will be held Dec. 10 in Greeley, 11 in Loveland, and 12 in Boulder, Colo. The focus will be on meeting unmet needs of survivors of devastating storms and flooding in September. The free “Recovery Tools and Training” workshops, developed by the ecumenical humanitarian agency Church World Service, are for long-term recovery leadership, …