NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
August 2 , 2002
For more information contact Jonathan Frerichs at (410) 230-2802.
In this news release:
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LWR Assists Africa Food Crisis
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It's an African Adventure for the Whole Family
LWR Assists Africa Food Crisis
Baltimore, August 2, 2002 – Lutheran World Relief (LWR), which recently sent similar assistance to Malawi and Kenya, is working with two more partners in Africa to respond to dangerous food shortages in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
Nearly eleven million people in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia are threatened with starvation and need immediate assistance, according to the latest information from Action by Churches Together (ACT). Most families in Zimbabwe have resorted to one meal a day, which is having profound nutritional effects on children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
In Zimbabwe, LWR is helping to provide healthful food to more than 50,000 malnourished children. LWR’s partner Lutheran Development Service through ACT also is distributing food rations to more than 11,000 families as part of a food-for-work program, and it is providing seeds for drought-tolerant crops that will help those families in the next planting season.
LWR is assisting with the needs of more than 170,000 people affected by Ethiopia’s ten years of drought. With LWR’s support through ACT, the Joint Relief Partnership (JRP) will distribute food immediately to more than 135,000 people. It also will distribute seeds and tools to some 16,000 poor farmers, as well as goats and sheep to 1,000 women, and medicines to 20,000 people.
LWR and the JRP also will help Ethiopians build springs, hand-dug wells, and ponds, and will conduct workshops to share with farmers and communities ways to cope with the devastating effects of drought.
Previously, Lutheran World Relief helped Zimbabwe deal with its emergencies by delivering some $70,000 worth of clothing and quilts provided by U.S. Lutherans.
Lutheran World Relief urges all people to pray for the health of all whose lives are affected by the drought-caused food emergencies in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Kenya, and for all who are working to address the severe food shortages.
To contribute, you may also call 1-800-LWR-LWR2, or mail a check or money order to:
Lutheran World Relief - Africa Food Crisis
PO Box 17061
Baltimore, MD 21298-9832
Please also consider making an unrestricted donation which will enable LWR to respond quickly to the next emergency.
It's an African Adventure for the Whole Family
Baltimore, August 2, 2002 - What happens when Mom, Dad, and the kids spend almost two weeks together in Africa?
Find out for yourself!
Follow the web diary with photos and reflections from travelers with a Lutheran World Relief Study Visit to Kenya and Uganda, August 8-22, 2002. Bookmark LWR's website, <www.lwr.org/study>, to view regular postings throughout the duration of the trip.
Jon Hallemeier, 17, Kate Hallemeier, 20, are traveling to Africa with their parents, the Revs. Chris and Dennis Hallemeier, members of Hope Lutheran Church in St. Charles, Mo. Eleven others from all across the U.S. join them, including a newly ordained pastor, a retired military attache, a kindergarten teacher, and more mothers, fathers and grandparents.
The group will explore answers to HIV/AIDS and its interdependence with poverty. They will meet local people who are working on innovative ways to address the disease, including prevention, education, care for the afflicted, and protection for children orphaned by AIDS.
Kenya-based LWR staff is hosting the group. All local nationals, the staff knows the projects, partners, and politics of the region well. Upon return, study visitors will speak, write and advocate on behalf of the people they met in East Africa.
