Phoenix, Ariz. — Refugee children new to the United States may never have learned to swim, let alone seen a swimming pool. That can make the pool at their apartment complex all the more fascinating – and dangerous, even fatal, as it was earlier this year for a refugee child resettled to Phoenix, Ariz. The child’s drowning a couple months …
Starting life again with respect and dignity
Chanda Timsina often gets asked why she is still living with her parents. Her American-born peers say, “You are 24 now. Don’t you want to get your own apartment?” For her, the choice to stay home is clear, this refugee from Bhutan replies. Solidarity with her family is more important right now than asserting her independence. “We just came to …
Growing food and protecting the land
August 7, 2012
Even in the face of the grinding poverty that is a fact of life for indigenous people living in climate-challenged regions of northern Nicaragua, some families are not just using new techniques to grow bigger and better crops, but also working to generate income by selling their surplus produce. That was the message from a delegation from Nicaraguan organization Christian …
In a joint earthquake response, “a lesson in working ‘smart'”
Chris Herlinger | July 27, 2012
NEW YORK — Earlier this year, Donna Derr, who coordinates CWS’s humanitarian and development programs, and Patrick Bell, formerly Christian Aid’s emergency program officer, visited programs funded by both agencies that are assisting communities with housing along the Haitian and Dominican border. CWS, Christian Aid (CAID) and Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID), CWS’s long-time partner in the Dominican Republic, …
Church World Service, rights groups and NGOs hail Congressional call for UN response to Haiti cholera
July 20, 2012
Washington, D.C. -– Humanitarian agency Church World Service is among a coalition of human rights groups, faith-based organizations and NGOs working for just and sustainable post-earthquake recovery in Haiti who commend a letter sent by 104 members of the U.S. Congress to Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, requesting that she urge the world body to act decisively …
CWS having a clear impact on recovery and reconstruction in Haiti
At the two-and-a-half year mark following the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, CWS can claim that the impact of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction is clear, both for CWS and its Haitian partners: 396 homes, housing more than 2,000 people, have been repaired and built in fifteen different small communities and throughout the vast area of greater Port-au-Prince. Three thousand …
East Africa drought: CWS emergency appeal update
July 16, 2012
Appeal #: 642-L Appeal goal: $1.2 million Situation: A severe drought struck the Horn of Africa last year, and millions of survivors are still in crisis. Conditions improved in areas of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia following rains in late 2011 that allowed crops and pastures to recover in early 2012. However, rains have been uneven and later than normal in …
CWS Emergency Appeal: 2012 Summer Storms and Wildfires
July 9, 2012
Appeal #:627-U CWS Appeal Goal: $30,000 Situation In recent weeks, communities across the United States have been affected by diverse disasters, including severe storms, wildfires and a tropical depression. This appeal summarizes several disasters and describes the CWS response. Minnesota: Severe storms struck the Duluth area in late June, dumping as much as 10 inches of rain in some areas …
Still more needed to protect immigrants, CWS CEO says
June 25, 2012
New York, N.Y. – By striking down three out of four provisions of Arizona’s anti-immigrant law SB 1070, the U.S. Supreme Court today “has gotten some points right, but has unfortunately left the question of racial profiling to another day and thus prolonged civil and human rights abuses in Arizona,” according to the Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and …
Child Survival Summit: ‘We’ll be held accountable,’ says CWS head
June 20, 2012
New York, N.Y. – In the afterglow of the energy that characterized last week’s two-day international “Child Survival Call to Action” summit in Washington, D.C., the head of CWS has welcomed the advances shared and commitments made by some 57 countries to end preventable child deaths in our lifetime, but he is voicing a cautionary note. “The world is watching …