It has been over three years since the 2010 Haiti earthquake, yet when walking down the streets of Port-au-Prince there are moments when you feel like it just happened. You turn the corner to look over the mountain and see hundreds of blue tents lined up back-to-back. There are still a half million Haitians living in tents. It’s a heartbreaking …
Breastfeeding and Early Childhood Nutrition
Felci Sanam Opat | August 6, 2013
Breastfeeding is the world’s most effective way of reducing early childhood deaths and is vital for proper infant nutrition. In Indonesia, CWS is helping mothers learn about the benefits of breastfeeding and empowering them with the tools they need to ensure their children get the proper nutrition they need to thrive. New mother Felci Sanam Opat tells her story: I …
The Short- and Long-Term Benefits of Breastfeeding
Meagan Church | August 5, 2013
When it comes to newborn and infant nutrition, breast is best. Numerous studies have shown that when a mother chooses to breastfeed, she provides herself and her child with a variety of short-term and long-term health and wellness benefits. Not only do the positive effects cover simple factors, such as convenience, but also even more impressive ones. Breastfeeding is the …
Taking Out the Trash
James Landis | August 2, 2013
I am perhaps the only smiling garbage man in all of Mathare slums in Nairobi, or for that matter in all of Kenya. But there are great reasons to smile. Those young folks who were trailing the garbage “truck” are part of the Giving Hope youth program that is supported by CWS in Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. In Africa the percentage of …
Back to School Shopping Made Awesome
Angela Rupchock-Schafer | August 1, 2013
It’s that combination of dread and joy: going back-to-school shopping with your kids. Dread at the thought of not having your little ones at home all day… joy at the thought of not having your kids home. (I kid.) Some conflicting emotions to say the least. But at the end of the day, it’s a time of excitement. The things …
Fundraising Safari: Hunger Fighters Just Wanna Have Fun
Nick Kiger | July 31, 2013
Hunger is a serious issue and those of us who work to end it are serious about our mission. That doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun while doing it! A colleague and I recently staffed the CWS booth at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium held at Purdue University. Some 5,000 Presbyterians from Alaska to Maine came together for a …
I See People, Not Problems
Tom Hampson | July 29, 2013
I’ve worked for CWS for over 30 years and will retire in January 2014. What an amazing privilege. To do meaningful work with committed colleagues who make the world a better place – it doesn’t get any better than that! As an added bonus, under CWS auspices I’ve travelled to dozens of countries and met some of the most remarkable, …
No Child Should Go Hungry
Mary Catherine Hinds | July 27, 2013
Ending hunger is my passion. I have seen real hunger. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa in the 90’s I looked into the sunken eyes of starving children and even today, many years later, I still feel tight in the chest when I think of my beloved students – Tsegeweini, Samuel, Ghenet, Tesfalem, Gebre. Knowing them and the struggles …
Not All Agencies Support Such Processes
Luciano Cadoni | July 25, 2013
“Not all agencies support such processes.” I´ve been thinking about this phrase since I came back from CWS Latin American and Caribbean regional team meetings in the Dominican Republic. After the meetings I visited our long-standing partner in the Dominican Republic, Caminante Proyecto Educativo. While there, I talked with Yesica (a social Worker), Yocasta (a psychologist) and Martha (the Chairwoman …
Coming Together to Help in Upstate New York
Rev. Leslie Foltz-Morrison | July 23, 2013
In Fulton and Montgomery counties in upstate New York, long-term recovery following 2011’s Tropical Storm Irene was floundering until four members of the Fulton Montgomery Long-Term Recovery Group took the CWS Recovery Tools and Training workshop. The group didn’t exist before Irene. After the storm, it took a long time to get organized. A small group limped along for a …