Big changes and better daily lives for primary school students and teachers in Thung village, Vietnam

News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, September 13, 2017

In rural Vietnam, schools often have satellite schools – especially with the youngest grades – so young children can go to school close to their remote villages. For example, the satellite school in Thung village, where CWS supports educational development activities, is about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the larger town of Lang Chanh. The road between the town and …

Water in the Chaco

News & Updates | Posted Friday, April 7, 2017

Twice the size of California, the South American Gran Chaco is the second largest forest reserve in South America. It is an immense and scarcely populated region, many parts of which are dry and arid. The residents of the Chaco include campesino, or farmer, families and indigenous communities. The small and dispersed communities often face deep poverty. CWS has worked in …

In remote regions of Nicaragua, growing bright futures

News & Updates | Posted Saturday, March 4, 2017

The Rio Coco runs west to east and divides Honduras and Nicaragua. The longest river in Central America, it runs through a beautiful, vast, hard to reach and scarcely populated area. Poverty is deep in this area, which is made up of 70% indigenous peoples and has only a minimal presence of government services. The Rio Coco region of Nicaragua is …

Water is Life

News & Updates | Posted Thursday, February 16, 2017

In early February, there was a water main break in Chapel Hill / Carrboro, North Carolina, that created an emergency water shortage. For 24 hours, families couldn’t use clean water. This is a reflection from Jo Wyrick, the coordinator of the Chapel Hill / Carrboro CROP Hunger Walk, from that day. This morning I made my older daughter pancakes in …

We need YOU this spring

News & Updates | Posted Friday, January 27, 2017

For many of us, the world today looks drastically different today than it did a year ago. The past year has brought a tremendous amount of change in our nation and in our world. No matter what your political affiliations are, last weekend’s marches showed that millions of Americans aren’t satisfied with standing still. Each of us has a voice, …

From one neighbor to another

News & Updates | Posted Thursday, October 20, 2016

When Sherry Beard, coordinator of the Reno-Sparks CROP Hunger Walk in Nevada, left church in the pouring rain last Sunday morning, she wasn’t sure whether anyone would show up for the Walk that afternoon. On Saturday Sherry had sent me an email asking for prayers for the Reno-Sparks community. She wrote, “Please pray for us in the next few days; …

Three days in Tana Toraja

News & Updates | Posted Monday, August 15, 2016

Day 1 I am in Tana Toraja on South Sulawesi island in central Indonesia this week to meet with community and government partners. Together, we will be building on the Indonesian government’s Resilient Village initiative in a new program called SOLIDARITAS. SOLIDARITAS will address the issues that communities face as they begin to adapt to climate change. We will focus …

CWS honors United Methodists

News & Updates | Posted Thursday, May 19, 2016

by Linda Bloom, United Methodist News Service. Excerpted from http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/ecumenical-day-marks-new-relationships The Rev. D. Earl Trent Jr., chairman of the Church World Service board of directors presented the CWS 2016 Ecumenical Award to the United Methodist Council of Bishops on behalf of Church World Service. Joining the presentation were two United Methodist staff leaders with CWS — the Rev. John McCullough, President …

“This water saves us”

News & Updates | Posted Monday, March 21, 2016

Water is life. It is the first necessity for all human beings on a daily basis. It is also essential for the success of agriculture. In the communities of Ganthier and Boen, Haiti, people mostly depend on rain to water their crops. CWS and Dominican partner SSID started programs in these communities after the earthquake of January 12, 2010, a …

Water in Haiti: primary need, or luxury?

News & Updates | Posted Monday, March 21, 2016

The soil is dry and cracked, houses are dusty, animals skinny. Inhabitants of rural communities in the Northwest department of Haiti have not seen such a prolonged and extreme drought before. Water is without a doubt the one and most important primary need of people to live and to survive. Yet, even at the occasion of World Water Day 2016, …