FORGOTTEN EMERGENCIES:
AN UPDATE ON
LWR'S ONGOING WORK
Background:
LWR’s calling to address the root causes of global suffering compels us to remember all tragedies, even those which fall from the headlines. In this update we focus on forgotten emergencies around the world.
UPDATE ON FORGOTTEN EMERGENCIES 10/09
SRI LANKA: In 2008, fighting escalated between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), climaxing in May 2008 with the surrender of the LTTE. Fighting drove thousands of Sri Lankans from their homes and into overcrowded camps lacking food, water, sanitation and health care. Working with partners on the ground, LWR continues to respond to the needs of the displaced, providing food through community kitchens and to people in hospitals, essential items such as hygiene kits and anti-malaria bed nets to displaced children, operating a pre-school program for displaced children, and advocating for the return of displaced people to their communities.
MYANMAR: On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis struck the Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions of Myanmar (Burma). This Category 3 cyclone, carrying wind speeds up to 120 m.p.h., brought with it an estimated 12-ft. tidal surge that destroyed most of the homes in the lower-lying regions. LWR responded to this emergency through our international partners in the global aid alliance, Action by Churches Together (ACT) International. Aid efforts have turned from rescue and relief to recovery, focusing on the country’s battered agricultural cycle in particular. Aid to farmers, by way of seeds, fertilizer, and equipment will help farmer’s continue to plant the rice crop which is crucial to feeding the small country. Efforts currently underway include: provision food, water, and temporary shelter to affected communities; cash-for-work programs to help people generate income and begin recovery; and provision of rice seed, fertilizer and farming tools to rekindle agriculture efforts in the region.
UGANDA: Malaria is responsible for more illness and death than any other disease in Uganda. In most parts of the country, ideal temperature and rainfall levels means that year-round malaria transmission occurs at high levels with little seasonable variability. Kitgum District in northern Uganda is one of these critically affected areas. The population, only recently emerging from years of conflict, is at high risk for contracting the disease, due to lack of adequate information or tools for vector control, lack of recognition of symptoms and treatment options and limited resources to access those tools or treatments. LWR is implementing a malaria prevention and awareness project in partnership with Lutheran World Federation, to reach those most vulnerable to malaria—pregnant women, children under 5 years of age, and those living with HIV & AIDS. The initial phase of the project will focus on the distribution of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLITNs), while the second phase of the project will focus on providing information on correct and consistent LLITN use, fever identification and timely health-seeking behavior for fever.
COLOMBIA: It is estimated that as many as 3.6 million people, many of them children and single mothers, have been forced to leave their homes as a result of Colombia’s 40 year civil conflict. The armed actors include paramilitaries, guerillas, and government forces. Massacres and kidnappings are an everyday occurrence. Colombia’s population of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is second only to Sudan’s, and the UN has called Colombia’s humanitarian crisis the worst in the western hemisphere. LWR is working to help IDPs establish sustainable livelihoods such as farms and small businesses, and supporting community-based activities that seek to promote dialogue, resolution of conflict, and alternatives to violence. In the US, LWR educates and empowers its constituents to advocate to the US government for a more just policy toward Colombia.
This work is made possible by undesignated gifts to LWR’s general fund.
You may also call 1-800-LWR-LWR-2, or mail a check or money order to:
Lutheran World Relief -
P.O. Box 17061
Baltimore, MD 21298-9832
USA
Thank You for your help.
Lutheran World Relief is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility. LWR is a member of Action by Churches Together.
