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, …

News & Updates | Posted Monday, March 21, 2016

Poverty is an epidemic in the Mondi area of Baringo County, Kenya. The terrain and climate of the region are rough, the road and communication infrastructure are poor and the region has been embroiled in protracted  conflicts with neighboring communities. Most important is the lack of access to safe and clean water for domestic use and for livestock, which is …

News & Updates | Posted Friday, January 8, 2016

It’s the beginning of a fresh new year, a time to make New Year’s resolutions. A time to better yourself by parting with negative habits that hold you back from your goals, while creating new healthier, positive habits to assist in making yourself into a “better you”. Our New Year’s resolutions determine the direction that our futures are headed, so …

News & Updates | Posted Friday, December 11, 2015

Pope Francis could not have been any clearer in his message: We, as humans, have a clear duty to take care of creation and protect “our common home.” It is not just about the planet, but also a concern for people, for individuals, families and communities whose lives are being transformed by climate change. Let us do unto the planet …

News & Updates | Posted Friday, September 25, 2015

I have been working for Church World Service in Iowa for almost a year and a half now. Yet, the most common way I am introduced at CROP Hunger Walk planning meetings continues to be as,  “the next Russ Melby.” I really don’t think there could be any greater compliment. If I manage to do half of the work that …

News & Updates | Posted Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Longorok Lolen looks down with a frown and adjusts the red Karamojong woven cloth hanging over his shoulder. “All of the old men say that it didn’t used to be like that.” He is talking about changes in the weather cycles essential for his livestock, farms and his own health. He is talking about climate change. Lolen lives in a remote region of Uganda, about an hour’s walk off the nearest sub-county road that can barely be meandered by car, through a rough dirt road across a sizeable river.

On the walk to our destination: a micro-watershed site that is part of the TOGETHER program implemented by CWS, MAP International and ECHO and supported by the St. Mary’s Methodist Church Foundation. Lolen passes two cows that lie dead from a tick-borne disease on the road. For the Karamojong, their cattle are the lifeblood of culture: a source of livelihood, assets, pride and a centerpiece to any community activity. Families are already dangerously short on food with crops not due until this later this month. The community chooses to deal with diseases that may result from eating the meat instead of facing continued hunger.