John's Blog - Lutheran World Relief

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2010-03-25T10:45:00.001-05:00

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“Without water there is no life”

2010-03-22T13:32:00.002-05:00

Guest post from Hayley Hontos, LWR's Communication Projects Coordinator, traveling in Bolivia

I am visiting LWR’s water projects in Bolivia on this World Water Day. It is especially fitting because the theme of this year’s World Water Day is Clean Water for a Healthy World. And in Bolivia and around the world, this is what LWR’s water projects aim to do – bring clean water to those in need throughout the world, so they can live happy, healthy and productive lives.

The theme was the same with each family and community we visited. The story of Marta Zalazar Beltran from Thojra Pampa Baja is representative of each person with whom we spoke.

“Before we used to drink dirty water without boiling it or taking any other precautions. But now we know how to treat water. Now we use solar purification and boil water to kill the bacteria, and now the children don’t get sick.”

LWR is working in several communities throughout Bolivia to bring clean water to children and families by installing water systems at schools and teaching children and families to use that water for cleaning themselves and preparing food and how to make water safe to drink through solar purification. It’s as simple as putting water in a clear bottle and leaving it in the sun for one to three days, depending on how sunny it is.

Ruben from Ulca Alta shows a bottle of drinking water cleaned through solar purification.

Ernesto Choque, president of the Kerhuani school board, has seen a noticeable difference in the health of the children. “Thank you LWR… We’ve learned a lot so far, and we appreciate having the opportunity to learn… The children are more healthy, and now they have the knowledge to continue to grow.”

But while LWR has reached many communities and families, it is still difficult for families who don’t have access to water systems. Delfina Yancala showed us that there is more work to be done. Dellfina explained, “here in this community [Thojra Pampa Baja], they have drinking water, but where I live we don’t.”

As Ernesto Choque reminds us, “without water, there is no life.” Help LWR Fill the Well and continue to help bring clean water for a healthy world this World Water Day and in 2010.

Capitol Hill Prayer Breakfast

2010-03-17T15:33:00.000-05:00

Guest post from Annalise Romoser, LWR's Director for Public Policy and Advocacy

Former LWR board chair Kirk Betts addresses lawmakers on Capitol Hill

LWR's former board chair, Kirk Betts, and I recently attended a Capitol Hill prayer breakfast in which we encouraged members of Congress to remember the struggling nation of Sudan when they pray and when they legislate.

Kirk served on LWR’s board for 12 years before his final term ended this January. We brought him out of retirement so he could share some Lutheran wisdom with U.S. lawmakers. And he did just that.

“The greatest accompaniment we can offer Sudan,” he told the crowd, “is to play the role of peacemaker. This includes helping to develop capacity within Sudan to achieve peace, dignity and development.”

The highlight of our morning on the Hill was meeting Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) in person. After talking with the senator about Sudan we presented him with a copy of “Humpty Dumpty,” in which an egg sits on a wall, has a great fall and can’t be put back together again. We thought it was a clever metaphor for the tenuous peace in Sudan.

Five years ago, the United States helped broker a peace treaty between north and south Sudan. Final implementation will happen (or not) within the next 12 months – making 2010 a “make or break” year for Sudan.

Learn more about LWR’s Sudan advocacy and send a message to President Obama, telling him 2010 is make or break!

Sarah's Story

2010-03-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

More from LWR International Policy Analyst Krista Zimmerman's trip to Sudan

I met Sarah in a small clearing about a mile from the town of Nzara in southern Sudan. She is the eldest of eight children and is internally displaced. This means she still resides in her home country but cannot safely return to her hometown.

Sarah used to live on a farm where she helped grow a variety of crops - including ground nuts, cassava, pineapples and bananas. Like many farmers in the area, Sarah’s family rotated crops throughout overlapping growing seasons to ensure a nutritious and consistent food supply. The family also had solid huts and the children were able to attend school and access healthcare.

But Sarah’s life changed dramatically in April of 2009 when the Lord’s Resistance Army started to loot and kill in the areas around her farm. Traumatized by the deaths and abductions of relatives and friends, Sarah’s family fled. They took what belongings they could carry and walked until they reached a place that seemed safer and had vacant land available.

Now they are struggling to make ends meet. They live in makeshift structures built with brush and plastic tarp. The children are not in school because the school fees are beyond their reach. Sarah misses the fresh cassava and pineapples she enjoyed on the farm.

Sarah says she wants people in the United States to know that the LRA are a serious problem.

“The needs of our family cannot be measured,” she told me, “but most of all we need security.”

LWR would like to thank the U.S. Senate for recently passing the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. Register to receive LWR advocacy news and action alerts so you can help ensure this bill becomes an effective law that will help Sarah and others like her.

Prospects and Pitfalls in South Sudan

2010-03-15T10:51:00.000-05:00

Guest post from LWR's International Policy Analyst, Krista Zimmerman

Buses transporting people and goods between Juba, Sudan, and the Ugandan border.

I recently flew into a small, crowed airport in Juba, Sudan as part of a policy research trip. The airport and its regular international flights are small miracles to those who live here.

A civil war that ended in 2005 left Juba virtually destroyed. But today it is something of a boom town – buzzing with air traffic, entrepreneurial activity and construction projects.

At least one resident, 20 year-old Moses, could not be happier.

Born in Juba, Moses fled to Uganda during the war. Four years ago he returned and is beside himself at the changes that have overtaken his city. He is especially pleased with new employment opportunities. Currently working as a waiter in one of the city’s popular new restaurants, he looks to a future he believes will be even brighter.

Like many young people, Moses is particularly excited and concerned about the year ahead. Sudan expects to soon hold its first national elections in 20 years, after which the south will vote on whether to become an independent nation.

Conflict surrounding these events, especially all out war, could destroy much of what was rebuilt.

In the years to come, young Sudanese say they hope the United States will continue to support and strengthen southern Sudan as it struggles to sustain a fragile peace.

Lutheran World Relief is supporting Senate Resolution 404, calling on the U.S. Government to increase efforts to assist Sudan and to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. It encourages the President to develop contingency plans for all eventualities – and to focus on long term development in the region.

Find out if your senators are co-sponsors and either thank them for their support or ask them to add their names to this important piece of legislation.

A Tiny Grain, A Big Difference

2010-03-12T10:54:00.000-05:00

Dan Lee, LWR’s director formarketing, is in West Africa visitingdevelopment projects.

Maimowna Boire, the president of the fonio society

LWR approaches its work in Mali,West Africa with an eye toward genderequity. By focusing energy on women,we have seen time and again that empowered women become catalysts for changewithin their families and communities, changing oppressive traditions andcultural norms that deprive people of dignity. These projects mean fewer peopleare hungry. They mean more girls go to school. They mean being able to spendadditional time working for a better life.

We spent four hours todaydriving from the capital city of Bamakoto a rural community on the outskirts of Segou. There, an association 184 womenare harvesting a tiny grain called fonio. This traditional grain is making ahuge impact in the community because it is high in nutrients and safe fordiabetics.

Communities had moved away from fonio because it was so labor intensiveto thresh and husk. The process used to take one woman 45 hours and 15 days toaccomplish. With your donations LWRpurchased a husking machine, and the process now takes one woman one hour tocomplete.

It is inspiring to see the work LWR is able to do in West Africa. Working to promote the status and well-being of women is not only a moral imperative - it's a wise investment of our resources for reducing poverty and building healthy families and communities.

Fonio can reach maturity in 6-8 weeks, making it one of the fastest growing grains in the world. Your gifts to LWR help purchase things like the husking machine and allowcommunities to move beyond isolating poverty.

Merci, Merci, Merci.

2010-03-03T18:23:00.002-05:00

More from LWR's team in Haiti. Photographer Jonathan Ernst shares his observations.

Tuesday I observed a food distribution in the village of Masson, justoutside the very hard-hit town of Leogane. At a small church across theway from a large expanse of sugar cane, one of LWR's sister agencies in the ACT Alliance, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, trucked inbags of beans and rice and oil - enough food for each of the 1050families in the village to eat for about a month. The rice and beanswere from Canadian Foodgrains, a group of farmers who grow 10 percentof their crops each season to give away.

Men from the villageeagerly volunteered to unload the goods and neatly stack them in thechurch. First was the beans, then the two loads of rice. One of thetrucks of rice limped in with a flat tire, and listed heavily tostarboard under the weight of its cargo. When the door to the ricetruck opened up, the men erupted in laughter like schoolchildren. Iassumed they were amazed by the scale of the task. Instead of aquick-moving bucket brigade they set up for the 17-pound bags of beans,now they would have to heft 110-pound bags of rice. And a lot of them.But it wasn't the size of the task that got them giddy, it was theiramazement at the size of the gift they were being given.

"Receivingthis food today is the biggest thing to happen in their lives since theearthquake," CRWRC's local project coordinator Henry Emmanuel Alexistold me. "Some of these families had sold their meager possessions tobe able to feed themselves, others shared what little food they hadwith friends and family members."

As people formed an orderlyline, walking through the church, they marked their names off the themaster list and went station to station, quickly being handed a sack ofbeans, 2 gallons of vegetable oil and the huge sack of rice. One olderwoman, a gallon of oil already in each hand, had a helper place thesack of beans on her head. She expertly balanced it, took a few steps,saw me taking her picture and paused.

"Merci," she whispered. "Merci. Merci."

Oneof the helpers took her by the arm and hustled her over to the rice,and then out to the courtyard where some people waited with bicycles orwheelbarrows to help with the load.

"I thank you for what I have received"

2010-03-02T15:43:00.004-05:00

More from Emily Sollie in Haiti

Marie Sylsalve receives a layette from LWR for her newborn son McAnley.

I am sitting in the Port-au-Prince airport, just an hour and a half away from boarding a flight back to the U.S. I'm coming home a few days later than I had planned, due to a canceled flight. But the extra time here meant that yesterday, I witnessed a special gift of being present when new mothers received LWR layettes in one of the displacement camps here.

Marie Sylsalve gave birth to her son McAnley in a tent camp, just twelve days after the earthquake. She and the newborn, plus her three older children, ages 3, 4 and 7, are still living in a tent. She hasn't seen her husband since the earthquake.

Opening the kit while McAnley napped on the matress next to her, she held up each item as we explained that the kits were made by Lutherans in the U.S. who want to make sure that she and other mothers like her have the things they need to take care of their babies.

"I thank you for what I have received," she said. She didn't have any clothes for the baby, so someone in the camp gave her a baby blanket and a few outfits. She was glad to have things of her own to help her care for McAnley.

Marie has a lot of challenges ahead of her, figuring out what will be next for her young family and how she will support them. Recovery is a long way off for thousands of families like hers who, right now, are just trying to survive. But a gift of love from so far away served as a reminder that Marie is not alone.

As my time in Haiti comes to an end for now, I, too, am thankful for the gift I have received: the gift of witnessing firsthand the difference that LWR's generous supporters are making in the lives of people here, and the gift of being able to share just a few of their stories with you.

2010-02-28T11:34:00.002-05:00

More from Emily Sollie in Haiti

Feb. 28 - Yesterday morning, as we were preparing to head out into the countryside for a day with one of LWR's local partner organizations, we learned of the 8.8 earthquake that had struck Chile in the early morning hours. After witnessing here the devastation that a powerful earthquake can bring, my heart goes out to the people of Chile, and they are in my prayers.

Chile is Latin America's most developed country, with a mature and highlycapable civil-defense and social-service infrastructure. Haiti, on theother hand, is the least developed and poorest country in the WesternHemisphere. Thus, LWR is keeping Haiti our top priority. I'm glad to know that my LWR colleagues in Latin America have already reached out to friends and colleagues in Chile to offer prayers and solidarity, and to know that we stand ready to send quilts and kits if they are needed.

Here in Haiti, the whole country is still feeling the effects of last month's earthquake, and our day yesterday out in the countryside really brought that point home. Nearly a three-hour drive away from Port-au-Prince, in a remote and hard-to-reach farming village in the mountains, we talked with families who have taken in loved ones and willingly shared what little they had, even resorting to eating the seeds they had set aside for the upcoming planting season.

We met a young man, Anice St. George, who had been a medical student in Port-au-Prince, who said he lost everything in the earthquake. "My books, all my money, even my ID card that certifies that I am a student. Everything." He made his way back home to Ivoire, where his parents are subsistence farmers struggling to live on what they can coax from the earth.

"I cried when I saw him," his father, Odige, told me. "It was like a gift from God." With no way to communicate immediately after the earthquake, they had feared the worst and imagined their son was dead. So when he walked up the mountain to his childhood home on January 13, they felt unimaginable relief.

But as happy as they were to see Anice and to welcome him back into their household, along with a nephew who was also displaced, they now worry about having enough to go around.

"It's very difficult to have enough to eat," Odige said. "We eat what we grow, because we don't have money to buy food. I'm very worried."

It's good to know that LWR's work will help families like the St. Georges -- in addition to our emergency response in the immediate wake of the earthquake, we'll be providing rural communities with seeds and tools, training them in soil and water conservation, and working with them to increase agricultural yields ... helping them cope with the immediate need of extra mouths to feed, as well as making them stronger and more resilient for the long term.

Helping Haitian Children Heal

2010-02-25T09:47:00.004-05:00

More from Emily Sollie in Haiti.

Rosedaline Revolis, 8. (Photos by Jonathan Ernst/LWR)

She’s small, but her smile easily lights up a room. Eight-year-old Rosedaline Revolis grins as she plays the tambourine for capoeira, a martial-arts inspired dance native to Brazil that is now helping Haitian children cope with the changes in their lives since the January 12 earthquake.

The capoeira training is part of a comprehensive psychosocial program by Viva Rio, a partner organization of ACT Alliance. Kay Nou, the space formerly used as Viva Rio’s community center in Port-au-Prince’s downtrodden Bel Air neighborhood, is now a tent encampment housing about 1600 people. Children living in Kay Nou are benefiting from daily opportunities to learn creative endeavors like art, music and dancing, helping them deal with the stress of being displaced.

Following the Water

2010-02-24T11:31:00.001-05:00

More from Emily Sollie in Haiti.

Trucks from NCA local partner Viva Rio load up with water and deliver it to residents of the Kay Nou tent encampment in the Bel Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Photos by Jonathan Ernst/LWR/ACT Alliance)

Last week, we had the chance to spend some time with one of LWR's local partners who is delivering clean drinking water to several of the camps here in Port-au-Prince. With support from LWR through the ACT Alliance, Viva Rio, a Brazilian nonprofit that has worked in Haiti since 2006, is providing 180,000 liters of water per day to thousands of displaced people in camps in and around Port-au-Prince.

Our day started before dawn, when we met the driver of the water truck to follow him out on his first run of the day. He and his assistant make up to 7 trips a day, filling their truck's tank with water, then driving to sites where 10,000 liter water bladders have been installed to supply the encampments.

I spent a while chatting with Sainte Philippe, the driver's assistant, while we waited for the truck to fill. The sound was deafening, as dozens of diesel trucks waited their turn underneath the massive overhead spouts. Over the din, he told me that he too had lost his home in the earthquake, and since then had been living in Viva Rio's office. And that he and the other delivery truck drivers and assistants typically work 12 hour days, sunup to sundown, and haven't had a day off since the earthquake. But he said it with a smile - he wasn't complaining, he was proud.

"People need the water so much," he said. "It feels good to do this work. We have jobs, we get paid, and we are helping people."

The Unstable Earth

2010-02-22T11:12:00.002-05:00

More from Emily Sollie in Haiti.

February 22 - I woke up early this morning, at 4:36 a.m. to be exact. That was when the earth moved. It was subtle, but enough of a tremor to rouse us from sleep. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that it was a 4.7 magnitutde aftershock, one of dozens of smaller quakes that have continued to rattle Haiti since the big one on January 12. Another tremble came just a few moments ago as I sat at my desk writing.

No damage or injuries have been reported from this morning's quakes, but they underscore one reason why so many Haitians now prefer to sleep outdoors, even if their homes are undamaged. They are afraid.

Though the likelihood of another large quake like the magnitude 7 one that hit last month happening in the coming days is small, it's not impossible. The USGS, in a statement issued last month, said aftershocks in Haiti would continue "for months, if not years," and that while their frequency will diminish over time, "damaging earthquakes will remain a threat."

People who lived through the traumatic events of January 12 and the days and weeks after, who lost friends and family and homes and livelihoods, continue to live with the stress of the unknown. Where will they live? What will they do? Will there be another big earthquake? USGS scientists say it's likely, and that Haiti's rebuilding effort "should take into account the potential for, indeed the inevitability of, future strong earthquakes."

Though the scientific community is fairly certain another big earthquake will hit Haiti, they cannot predict when - it could be soon, or it could be years away, beyond any of our lifetimes. For now, living in Haiti means living with uncertainty.

More Heavy Rains

2010-02-19T16:02:00.004-05:00

More from Emily Sollie in Haiti.

Similkar Matilde, 40, who lost both her home and her husband in the earthquake, is now struggling to care for her six children in a makeshift tent in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, February 18, 2010. This week Haitians have experienced their first substantial rains since their January earthquake. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/ACT Alliance/LWR)

Feb 18 – Last night and into this morning, Port-au-Prince experienced its heaviest rainfall since the earthquake on January 12. While the rainy season isn’t supposed to start until later next month, it feels like it is getting an early start. In order to respond, ACT Alliance members are prioritizing the delivery of shelter items in hopes of reaching as many people as possible before the rains come.

Similkar Matilde, 40, who lost both her home and her husband in the earthquake, is now struggling to care for her six children. She does not know what she will do when the rainy season comes.

“I don’t have any plans, so I hope maybe I will receive a tent,” she said. “I’m very worried about the rainy season.”

Click here to read the full story.

When the Rains Come

2010-02-17T09:41:00.001-05:00

More from Emily Sollie and LWR's assessment team in Haiti.

A woman sweeps the walk outside her residence in a tent community set up by Diakonie in downtown Jacmel, Haiti. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Lutheran World Relief)

Feb. 17 - It's early morning in Port-au-Prince, and things are coming to life here at the Lutheran World Federation office, where we are camped out on the terrace along with colleagues from other ACT member agencies. As we settled into our tents last night, a quick downpour soaked the city, and a soft rain was falling when I woke up this morning. We stayed dry in our tent, but I couldn't help but think of the many thousands of people with no shelter. Where could they go? What would they do?

It was just a foreshadowing of things to come. Quick downpours aside, the true rainy season doesn't start until the end of March. It will be critical to have people in tents or other temporary shelters by then to help maintain health, sanitation and dignity to the displaced.

And in addition to the people living in displacement camps, the rains will also pose a threat to the infrastructure. On the road between Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, there are large piles of dirt that have been pushed aside by bulldozers. After the first heavy rain, these areas will become a mess and possibly make the road impassable again.

It's a problem everyone knows is coming, and it's a race against time to be ready for the rains. To help beat the clock, we are quickly working to provide temporary shelter to those in need.

Moving On

2010-02-15T09:49:00.004-05:00

More from Emily Sollie and LWR's assessment team in Haiti.

A sign in English, French and Spanish asks for help for residents at a tent encampment in Gressier, Haiti. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Lutheran World Relief)

Feb 15 - Our time in Jacmel comes to an end today. We'll be on the road to Port-au-Prince shortly, where the two communicators in our assessment team will be working with the Lutheran World Federation and other partners in the Action by Churches Together (ACT) network. Bernard, our program colleague, will be meeting with some of LWR's local partners in Haiti to start the task of mapping out our long-term response here.

We already know that we'll be responding to the needs created by this earthquake for years to come. We know that much of our work will be based in the north, where LWR has worked for nearly 15 years and where families and communities are now struggling to provide for the many thousands of people who have flooded into their homes and their villages from Port-au-Prince and other devastated areas. We know that we will focus on our proven areas of expertise, where we can have the biggest impact: working with small farmers to increase agricultural production; supporting seed banks; ensuring access to clean water by working with communities to install water systems and hygeine facilities. And we'll be doing all of that and more through local groups and community organizations, building their skills to meet their own needs, as well as those of their displaced friends and family members.

A man uses scraps of wire to attach sticks as he builds a shelter at a tent encampment in Gressier, Haiti. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Lutheran World Relief)

I don't know what awaits us in this next phase of our travels here, but I can say that during the last several days in Jacmel, I have been moved by the resilience and positive attitudes of people I have met. The members of the Lutheran church here, many of whom lost their own homes, are working to package bags of emergency food rations to give to those who don't have enough to eat. Visitors to the Mercy Medical Team's clinic, waiting patiently for their turn with the nurses and doctors, sitting on hard chairs in the hot sun without complaint. Children in the tent village flying homemade kites with huge smiles on their faces. A Sunday morning worship service with maybe 300 people, voices raised in jubilant praise. The people here have experienced trauma and tragedy, but they are looking forward, not back.

A Day of Mourning

2010-02-13T09:47:00.000-05:00

More from Emily Sollie and LWR's assessment team in Haiti.

A woman cradles her baby at their home in the largest tent encampment for earthquake-affected people in Jacmel, Haiti. The camp houses about 4,000 Haitians on the site of a soccer field, a situation which will become unviable as the rainy season begins at the end of March. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Lutheran World Relief)

Feb. 13 - Yesterday, on the one-month anniversary of the devastating earthquake here, Haitians observed a national day of mourning. Churches all over the country held special worship services to mark the day and remember those who lost their lives - some 212,000, according to the latest figures from the Government of Haiti.

At 4:53 p.m., the exact moment the eatth moved on January 12, many in the country paused for a moment of prayer or silent reflection.

Most businesses closed for the day, which threw a wrench into our team's plans for a day trip to Leogane, a town about an hour's drive from Jacmel. There was nowhere to buy gas.

At the Lutheran church here, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti president Rev. Marky Kessa held an evening remembrance service that stretched late into the night.

Though there were plenty of opportunities for Haitians to participate in official observances to mark the somber day, the reminders of what happened on January 12 are everywhere. At the exact moment of the anniversary, we were in the largest tent village here in Jacmel, where they had held a remembrance service earlier in the day. A more pressing concern for the head of the camp's residents committee was finding medical care for the 100+ pregnant women living in the camp. When we identified ourselves as Lutheran World Relief staff, her eyes lit up with recognition — she had heard about the medical clinic at the Lutheran church and hoped we could help her with her dilemma.

We made a call to find out if the Mercy Medical Team knew who she should contact about prenatal care, and soon two of the MMT volunteers showed up on site to give an impromptu lesson in delivering babies. About half a dozen women watched and listened. Although medical care is available at the camp during the day, the midwives are the only ones available to help if a woman goes into labor at night. And with 26 women in their 9th month of pregnancy, it's not unlikely that some of them will give birth in the wee hours during the coming days.

It was a day of remembrance that ended as a day of preparation to welcome new life into the world.

Creating a Home

2010-02-12T12:42:00.010-05:00

More from Emily Sollie and LWR's assessment team in Haiti.

Two residents walk through a tent community set up by Diakonie in downtown Jacmel. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst for LWR)

Feb. 11 - Today we visited with one of LWR's sister organizations in the ACT alliance, Diakonie. ACT is a global alliance of Christian aid agencies; Diakonie is an ACT member from Germany. The response to this earthquake is most certainly a global effort.

Diakonie is focusing on providing shelter, and the sea of their crisp white and blue tents looked like a kind of oasis in the midst of the destruction here in Jacmel. On the grounds of an elementary school, 113 tents are providing shelter for 226 families - two per tent. Another school site not far away houses a second, smaller encampment of 36 tents.

A boy flies a kite over the residences at a tent community set up by Diakonie in downtown Jacmel, Haiti. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst for LWR)

"The schools were a good location for us because they already had working latrines," said Teodoro Anicceto, Diakonie's emergency coordinator in Jacmel. Diakonie is making sure the latrines stay sanitary.

For now, these tents are home for these 300 families, and all throughout the camp we saw little personal touches that show people are making the best of the situation and doing what they can to create a homey atmosphere. Some people have arranged small pebbles in a half-moon shape outside their tent's zipper, creating a little patio. Others have put plants in the ground in front of their tents. Mosten Louis, who's house was "flattened" in the quake, was able to salvage a welcome mat, which now sits outside his tent.

Little touches like this indicate the hope and resilience of people here, showing that even though they may be homeless, for now, they are not without dignity. They may not know what comes next, but for now they are creating a home where they can.

Haiti: Observations on the Ground

2010-02-11T11:21:00.009-05:00

Emily Sollie, LWR's director for communications, arrived in Haiti Tuesday as part of a 3-person LWR team, and offers these initial observations.

Our LWR team arrived in Haiti this week, to observe and assess the situation one month after the devastating earthquake and lay the groundwork for a long term response.

Currently we are in Jacmel, on the southern coast, along with a Mercy Medical Team from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. What a great example of the reach and scope of the Lutheran response to this disaster. While the dedicated doctors and nurses are tending to people here in the south, LWR's partners are already doing assessments in the north, where hundreds of thousands who have fled the devastation in Port-au-Prince are now settling and will continue to need assistance. A colleague from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was here in January, working with the Lutheran World Federation and other partners in the Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance. The Lutherans are covering a lot of ground in Haiti.

Here in Jacmel, approximately half the buildings were damaged or destroyed, according to the Rev. Marky Kessa, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Haiti. People are sleeping in tents even if their homes are still standing, he said, out of fear another earthquake could strike.

Yesterday afternoon, Rev. Kessa took us downtown in Jacmel. Homes, hotels, restaurants, offices, churches - many are now reduced to piles of rubble. A school downtown collapsed in the quake, killing 120 children. Many of the buildings that remain standing now have gaping cracks and remain unsafe.

It will be a long road to recovery here. With the miracles of modern technology, as we were driving through the ruined streets, my cell phone began to buzz. It was a message from a colleague back in Baltimore about Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' member match. Through a 50% match for members' contributions to Lutheran World Relief and the three Lutheran church body relief organizations, $3 million dollars has been raised for Haiti from Thrivent and its members. Those donations are already providing food, shelter and water to meet immediate needs, and are equipping LWR to prepare for the road ahead. What a heartening message to receive as I stood before a crumbled home, talking to its owner about how he and his family are coping. Lutheran generosity is already making a difference here in Haiti, and will be for a long time to come.

Photos by Jonathan Ernst for LWR.

Home Goods - Burkina Faso Style

2010-02-11T09:30:00.012-05:00

Lisa Bonds blogging from Burkina Faso:

A home goods store - the Burkina Faso version of Home Depot.

How would you buy tools for your lawn and garden if you couldn’t go to Target, Fleet Farm or the local hardware store? Where would you get what you needed to make home repairs or to build something if you couldn’t just drive over to Home Depot, Lowes or Menards?

If you live in Bagre, a village in Burkina Faso, there is no Fleet Farm or Home Depot near by. And there are also no locally-owned, mom and pop shops selling farming equipment or tools. As a matter of fact, there are no “stores” in the American sense. There are a few stalls that sell gasoline, rice, soap and other necessities, but that’s it (see photos).

Bagre looks like most places LWR works around the world—a “main street” (which is usually a larger pathway) lined with a few stalls selling very basic necessities and women selling produce from tarps and mats placed on the ground or in basins that they carry on their heads.

As I visited with the rice growers’ union in Bagre and asked them about the challenges they face, I heard many things. But one answer came up over and over again. The problem is two fold: first, the farmers find it difficult to earn enough income to buy the tools, fertilizer and other implements they need to grow the rice. Second, even if they have the money for essential tools and equipment, they have no easy way to get to a village large enough to buy what they need.
LWR is working with the union to increase the quality and yield of their rice, so they should soon have more income. But even if you do have money, the nearest village that sells what you need might be 50 to 75 kilometers away. When you don’t have a car, a motor scooter, a donkey, or even a bicycle, getting to a town that far away to purchase the goods you need to make a living is almost impossible. You may not have the money you need to ride a small bus into town. Even if you can pay for the bus ride, you have to hope that the return bus has room for you to place what you’ve purchased on its roof for the journey back to your village.

I left the village of Bagre realizing, yet again, just how much we take for granted in the United States. I know that our love of and demand for convenience, easy access to a multitude of products, and the low prices we pay for goods all come at an incredible cost to many around the world. And I know that too often we take for granted how “easy” it is for most of us to find and buy what we need in order to do our work or take care of our homes.

So, the next time you head out for a new rake, a bucket, a briefcase, a broom or a screw driver, think about the people of Bagre, and remember those whose lives aren’t as easy as yours.

A tool store - the Burkina

Faso version of Fleet Farm.

Breaking Barriers with He Qi

2010-02-10T15:14:00.000-05:00

A He Qi piece at Concordia Seminary.

The gift of ethnic identity can easily become the scandal of racism when any one group of people imprisons a belief only within their own language, or confines the confession of faith only to their own thought structures, or restricts the truth only within their own cultural context. It’s a sort of idolatry really. This was a point I tried to make last week at a Multiethnic Symposium on the campus of Concordia Seminary. I’m not confident I communicated so well what I was thinking, not nearly as well as the painter He Qi communicates it. http://www.heqigallery.com/

My friend, Travis Scholl, the editor of Concordia Journal, while he’ll never take credit, instigated this fabulous show. Travis took me by to see He Qi’s work, currently being exhibited on the campus, in a particularly classy space in the Concordia Historical Institute building.

This prominent Chinese Christian integrates vividly, with animating passion, references not only from multiple classes of Chinese society, but also inviting in symbols and styles from many eras and global sources. He then deploys them all as resources for his energetic, multiethnic artistry. He Qi retells the old story with refreshing boldness. Looking at his work makes me desire to believe the biblical narrative more strongly. Thus, I hope He Qi’s way of speaking with a paintbrush can be heard by more people. It’s a voice that will help break the race barriers that continue to menace the church and compromise our mission.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that He Qi serves also as an artistic exemplar of Lutheran World Relief’s way of accompanying communities around the world in our relief and development strategies. We are committed to being inter-national and inter-Lutheran as well as ecumenical and integratively ecological in the best senses. We innovate by engaging with critical and self-critical inquiry. We walk with global communities inter-generationally in a multi-year manner. Haiti, for example, receives huge amounts of foreign aid, but little is dedicated to sustainable development. LWR pays attention to excellent practices that are cross-disciplinary and multi-lateral that transform communities over the long haul. We strive always to honor the deep cultural dignity of all people.

Multiethnic mission that co-creates strategies for people to work their own way out of poverty depends on false idols being smashed and holy symbols rising anew from that dust—even from devastating earthquakes.

The Difference is clear: No nets = more malaria. Nets = less malaria.

2010-02-10T11:05:00.001-05:00

Lisa Bonds from Burkina Faso.

You might have noticed that LWR has started to mention a lot more about malaria. Why? Certainly not because we just found out about malaria and certainly not because it is a new problem. Malaria is a very old problem, and it is a preventable and curable disease that affects many of the people with whom LWR works, especially in Africa.

A few days ago, I visited with a collective of over 60 women who have their own shea butter processing facility. After learning about how they process shea butter – which is, by the way, incredibly labor intensive – we talked about many aspects of their day-to-day lives.

Near the end of our time together, a group of the women wanted a group photo taken. I was happy to oblige. While they were standing together for the photograph, I asked them to answer two simple questions. They raised their hand if the answer was yes.

Question: How many of you have had malaria in the last 12 months?

Answer: ALL hands raised.

Question: How many of you sleep under a malaria net?

Answer: TWO hands raised.

Sure, you might argue that this “survey” isn’t scientific or otherwise tested, but, the findings were clear to me. Given what we know about the effectiveness of controlling malaria with the proper use of insecticide treated bed nets, I am pretty sure that if all of the women had been educated on the proper use of nets and were sleeping under them each night, the number of hands raised when I asked who had suffered from malaria would have been drastically reduced.

Help us contain malaria, join in the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. Visit lwr.org/lmi for more information.

Betts Celebrated

2010-02-09T19:38:00.000-05:00

Kirk Betts and me at Kirk's recognition dinner.

Quite fittingly, the board of directors of Lutheran World Relief took the occasion of their recent board dinner to shower recognition upon Kirk Howard Betts and show their appreciation for him as the outgoing chair of the LWR directors. A parade of speakers recognized Kirk’s indelible accomplishments, thanked him for his consistent and wise time at the helm and bid him farewell from a distinguished board career. We look forward, with eagerness, to how the Lord will lead Kirk into a new way of serving through LWR.

Rick Nelson, the senior pastor of Central Lutheran Church in Minneapolis was elected as the new chair, Gloria Edwards continues as the vice-chair, and Jonathan Schultz will be the secretary. Congratulations Kirk, Rick, Gloria and Jon!

Good News for Haiti

2010-02-09T11:31:00.002-05:00

A post from LWR’s Annalise Romoser, Acting Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, on advocacy efforts that bring greater hope for Haiti’s future.

A camp for homeless families set up on a golf course in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which was ravaged by a January 12 earthquake. Photo by Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance.

This past weekend, seven of the most powerful nations in the world made an unprecedented decision to help Haiti rebuild, not repay over $1 billon in crippling debt owed to the international community.

At a meeting on January 6, in the small arctic town of Iqaluit, leaders of what are known as the G-7 countries (Japan, Italy, Germany, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and France) announced they would lift all debt owed them by Haiti and work with multilateral institutions to ensure they also cancel Haiti’s debt. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner played a critical role in helping the G-7 make this wise decision.

The announced debt cancellation frees millions of dollars for Haiti to use on reconstruction and long-term development of critical public services and institutions. The G-7’s decision is one of the most promising moves made toward recovery in Haiti since the January 12 earthquake, and Lutheran World Relief‘s supporters helped make this happen!

A petition addressed to Secretary Geithner was circulated prior to the G-7 meeting calling on him to push for a complete cancellation of Haiti’s onerous debt. Over 400,000 people signed this petition including hundreds of LWR supporters who responded to an LWR action alert. The magnitude of public support for debt relief in Haiti played a major role in the G-7 decision. Melinda St. Louis, Deputy Director of Jubilee USA, a faith-based coalition working for debt relief in Latin America, Asia and Africa, explains, “We are glad that global leaders responded to the sensible and caring call of the grassroots. Thousands upon thousands of people agree that at this critical time all available resources should be used for reconstruction in Haiti and not to repay international financial institutions.”

The G-7 decision means that bi-lateral debt between Haiti and the G-7 nations will be lifted. More significantly, it means G-7 leaders with crucial influence over international financial institutions will work to cancel debt owed to these institutions. This is yet to be achieved, but we are confident the G-7 leaders will make this happen.

In addition to LWR constituent pressure on the U.S. Treasury Secretary, other effective advocacy efforts are taking place to free Haiti from Debt. In January, LWR and 80 other organizations sent a letter to Geithner asking that the U.S. government support the cancellation of Haiti’s debt and work to ensure that any disaster relief assistance be provided as grants, not loans to be re-paid. And members of Congress responded to their constituents’ call by pushing for debt relief. On February 4, for example, 94 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives led by Democrat Maxine Waters and Republican Ileana Ros Lehtinen sent a strong letter to Geithner calling for “the complete cancellation of debts owed by Haiti to multilateral financial institutions…and the provision of assistance to Haiti in the form of grants so that the country does not accumulate additional debt.” Senate initiatives to ensure Haiti’s debt cancellation were also gaining momentum and creating pressure on Geithner when the G-7 announcement was made.

Powerful global leaders made a compassionate and wise decision this weekend. It is clear they did so because they heard the voice of caring Americans, responded to the pressure of committed politicians and heeded the advice of experienced relief and advocacy organizations. Amidst the unimaginable destruction and sorrow experienced by Haitians, it is difficult to know how best to help from afar. But LWR supporters have not been paralyzed by a sense of inadequacy. On the contrary, you have offered critical financial support and volunteer efforts making quilts and kits to bring comfort to the people of Haiti and to help them recover. And through your advocacy actions this past week, you have helped the country break free from crushing debt. Your advocacy means that Haiti will be better poised to care for its people — to build new schools, educate medical doctors, plant more crops, strengthen local economies and develop with an independence and dignity that burdensome debt simply would never allow for. YOU are helping Haiti rebuild and not repay.

More on Haiti’s debt history and cancellation:

Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of its citizens living in abject poverty. When the January 12 earthquake hit, Haiti was saddled with a $1.051 billion dollar debt. On average, the Haitian government was spending $58 million a year in debt payment, diverting precious funds away from fighting poverty. Over half of the country’s debt was owed to multi-lateral banks such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. The rest consisted of bi-lateral debt owed to other countries such as Venezuela and Taiwan. Prior to January 12, it was projected that over the next decade, Haiti would pay $100 million to the IMF and World Bank alone.

Most disturbing about Haiti’s crippling debt is that 45% of it was incurred under the Duvalier dictatorships — a time when the Haitian people had almost no say in government decisions or control over how national resources were spent. Decades after the dictatorships, it is the Haitian people still paying for the damaging decisions of an undemocratic regime. In addition, Haiti’s original debt has largely been repaid. The $58 million Haiti now pays each year, represents debt service payments —essentially high interest rates that make complete debt repayment illusive.

Soon after the earthquake, Venezuela promised to forgive a considerable portion of Haiti’s debt, and in the last weeks of January advocacy efforts with Congress, the Administration and U.S. Treasury lead to a government announcement that the U.S. would work to cancel Haiti’s bi-lateral and multi-lateral debt.

Debt forgiveness means that Haiti’s own resources and contributions by foreign governments can now be used to re-build, develop and sustain a stronger, more independent Haiti. In the midst of destruction and despair, the decision of G-7 leaders to cancel Haiti’s over $1 billion debt, represents new hope for Haiti’s future.

More from Rev. Harrison

2010-02-02T20:56:00.001-05:00

LWR's board member Matthew Harrison, Executive Director of LCMS World Relief and Human Care, returns to Haiti

Today(February 1) we made our way slowly through the refugee camp at Jacmel,south of Port-au-Prince. An area some 175 yards square, encompassed bya high concrete wall, surrounds perhaps a thousand makeshift tentshelters. At one end of the camp, smiling ten-year-old boys fly kitesmade from garbage (soaring to amazing heights), indicative of theresilience of the human spirit in dire crisis. All around the camp inthe heart of the city, home after home is collapsed. The rubble hasbeen pushed and swept aside so that cars can pass. Tents (Coleman is avery popular brand) pop up everywhere and fill the streets toimpassibility in the evening. Most feel unsafe sleeping insidebuildings, even three weeks out. A great many of the buildings leftstanding are not safe.

PastorMarkie Kessa’s eyes betray fatigue. “All this happened in 28 seconds…”He shakes his head as tears well. The LCMS Mercy Medical Team commenceda clinic this morning and treated some 150 patients by afternoon. Wehad been alerted to critical need at a local hospital and diverted ourorthopedic surgeon, one emergency doctor, and a nurse to assist. Therewere 300 there today, including an infant with head injuries who hadsurvived three days buried in the rubble. While her mother clutchedher, not 25 yards away another large family was on death watch fortheir beloved mother. Children and the elderly, and all in between,occupied makeshift beds outside under tarps. There was deepappreciation for our prayers and pastoral care.

Whatstrikes me most about today is that the Haitians here south ofPort-au-Prince are overwhelmingly alone. The Canadians occupy the smallairstrip and were certainly cordial and supportive of our presence. Thesoldiers we spoke to in the refugee camp looked exhausted. I asked,“What’s the most significant need you are dealing with?” One quipped,“The need for a shower.” They’d been on the ground nearly from thebeginning of this three-week marathon. Everything about them longed forhome--or at least longed for anything but this muddy, noisy,foul-smelling, makeshift camp.

Wedrove through the traumatized streets of Jacmel. We saw no police, nomilitary, and no heavy equipment to remove rubble--no governmentpresence whatsoever. A few NGO vehicles passed by now and again. As faras Jacmel is concerned, what struck me was that the Haitians arehandling this virtually alone. Passing by block after demolished block,I was struck by the massive nature of this problem. If this hadoccurred in the U.S., the entire area would be cordoned off, surroundedby military. Building by building would be demolished. But I sawnothing of that. Individuals digging in mountains of concrete staredblankly as we passed, gloved hand hanging in fatigue by their numbedsides. Still the streets in places are bustling withactivity--makeshift shelters, street carts, shops, and the omnipresentColeman pup tents.

It’srather obvious to me that there will be no grand solution to Haiti’sills. There will be pockets and places that receive attention and a lotof it. There will be fantastic aid given and capacity increased. Therewill be confusion and chaos. There will be hundreds of thousands, yesmillions, who go about their lives “falling between the cracks,” as itwere, with homes neither totally leveled nor safe for continueddwelling. They’ll patch the cracks as best they can and turn to thefuture. In other words, Haiti will be Haiti.

Iam struck again by the kindness of the Haitians--their ready greetings,their deep appreciation for a word of love, a touch, and a prayer, ablessing in Christ’s name. This graciousness has been universal thusfar. I’ve seen thousands upon thousands of traumatized people. I’vespoken to hundreds and not been put off, not sneered at, not jeeredonce--not a single time.

Everyonehas a story. Every story is filled with significance and meaning andpain and death and lives spared. The most significant factor here inHaiti is a people who--in the midst the greatest chaos, corruption, andgovernment dereliction in the hemisphere--manage to rise each day to anew task, a new opportunity, a new hope. And the majority of those I’vemet are Christians, know they are baptized, and say things like,“Pastor, I don’t know… I just trust in God.” Or, “I know Jesus.”

Honestly,I feel exhausted and empty tonight. We will be able, are able to helpsuch a relatively small number of those affected. For some reason,Jesus’ parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek theone, turns in my mind and has been doing so all day today. Our vocationis not to save the ninety-nine, but to seek the one. One at a time. Onehere and one there. One child cared for. One person nursed to health.One life saved. One hurting soul comforted with the name of Jesus. Oneman loved. Our vocation is not to change Haiti, or to change the wholeworld, or to change the economic realities with which Haitians wrestle.Our vocation is to act and make a life-changing difference one at atime. And acting one at a time, we find that over some hours, over afew days, and over a couple of weeks, the flock of those helped in thename of Jesus has grown to be surprisingly large.

Pastor Matthew Harrison
Executive Director, LCMS World Relief and Human Care
Board Member, Lutheran World Relief

Luterana

2010-02-02T09:43:00.000-05:00

Community gathering place built with LWR funds

Pastor Meredith Keseley traveled with a Lutheran World Relief study tour to Nicaragua on a Marian Stegemoeller Memorial Scholarship in 2005. She recently led a group from her congregation (St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Washington, DC) on a mission trip to Nicaragua. She is preparing to take a new call at Lutheran Church of the Abiding Presence in Burke Virginia.

Pastor Meredith shares her reflection on the impact of Lutheran World Relief in Nicaragua:

Luterana

What a difference five years makes! Five years ago, I first visited the cooperative project in La Reyna. The community had just started the eco-tourism project when I visited with a group from Lutheran World Relief on a fair trade coffee growing tour. This week I visited the community again, this time with the St. Paul’s Mission Team.

There have been many changes to this rural coffee growing community. When I stayed with them five years ago there was no indoor plumbing whatsoever. There were latrines and bucket showers. Now, all the homes that hosted members of our team had a working toilet and some had a shower. A new pavilion had been built as a gathering place for when groups like ours come to visit. Many of these improvements had been the result of a partnership with Lutheran World Relief.

To my knowledge there is not a single Lutheran in the cooperative at La Reyna. There are two churches associated with the community, one Catholic and one Evangelical. Yet, when you mention the word “Luterana” (that’s “Lutheran” in Spanish) everyone knows what you mean. Luterana is how they refer to Lutheran World Relief, one of the international outreach organizations supported by Lutherans in the United States.

To this community “Luterana” means toilets (indoor ones) and better wet mills for coffee that reduce pollution from the “honey water” that released during the process. “Luterana” means funds to build a community gathering place and a new shrine to the community’s patron saint after the old shrine was knocked down by a tree. “Luterana” means training in English and tourism for their young people and funds to help build homes in the cooperative. “Luterana” in the cooperative doesn’t necessarily mean a group of people who gather by themselves on a Sunday morning in a church, it means a group of people who stand ready and willing to support when the community identifies a need.

This isn’t a bad definition of “Luterana”. In fact, it is a definition of our faith community that I wish more people had. For those who are interested, you can learn more about what Lutheran World Relief is doing not only in Nicaragua, but also around the world at www.lwr.org