The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) in early February opened a new mission of direct relief and rehabilitation in the embattled Darfur region of Sudan. Top priorities include emergency aid and development services in water, sanitation, and agriculture.

The initial work will concentrate in South Darfur. A staff of three will oversee the operation. They are:

• Sashi Chanda, formerly with Save the Children in Angola, who has degrees in theology and rural development,
• Michael Tredway, a United Methodist layperson and retired military officer from Raeford, North Carolina, who has extensive experience in humanitarian aid and security issues, and
• Frederick Opuni-Mensah, a liaison for UMCOR in Washington, DC since 2004, and formerly with the American Red Cross and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.

"We are gratified to open our own ground operations inside Darfur," said the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of the General Board of Global Ministries, of which UMCOR is a part. "Working out the details of this new venture has been slow and complex. The success of our efforts is testimony to the diligence of UMCOR in all that it does in relief and rehabilitation."

Rev. Day noted that in April 2004, The United Methodist Church, acting through its legislating General Conference, gave his agency a particular mandate to provide services and work of peace in Sudan.

UMCOR won approval as a registered service provider inside Darfur in January, 2005. Its investigative team in late 2004 found need for a humanitarian mission that will restore farmland and provide seeds, tools, and technical training in South Darfur, where few agencies are working. Emergency supplies, such as soap, buckets, cooking utensils, and plastic sheeting will also be supplied to person in refugee camps.

Jim Cox, international operations director of UMCOR, pointed to the acute need for services to children. He said that the 2004 harvest was less than a short harvest the year before. World Food Program figures, he said, indicated that 22 percent of the children under five years of age are malnourished.

More than two million Africans have been displaced in the protracted conflict in Darfur.

Day thanked the staff of UMCOR for its courage and determination in paving the way for the new mission in South Darfur. He specifically mentioned UMCOR chief executive the Rev. Paul Dirdak, Mr. Cox, and Marc Maxi, regional director for Africa and the Caribbean.

The location of the new UMCOR operation in South Darfur is seen as a good staging area for the eventual reintegration of the people now in conflict.

UMCOR has worked for many months with a coalition of other humanitarian organizations to provide assistance to Sudanese refugees fleeing from Darfur into the neighboring nation of Chad. That will continue.

Donors may send their gifts to Advance #184385, Sudan Emergency, in care of UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. To donate using a credit card, contributors may call toll free, 800-554-8583

Linda Beher is communications director for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

"God leading rather than Mike leading" All the pieces are fitting together for Michael Tredway as he anticipates his new role with United Methodist Committee on Relief. He will head logistics and security for UMCOR’s newly launched South Darfur mission. Michael has taught leadership development to remote countries’ government leaders and trained host nations such as Mozambique in demining techniques. As a career military officer concentrating in specialized areas of humanitarian aid and infrastructure development, Michael hoped his new work after retirement could come from “God leading rather than Mike leading.” “I feel a deep sense of direction in accordance with the mission of The United Methodist Church,” he said. A lifelong United Methodist, he is an active layperson in Parker United Methodist Church, Raeford, NC. He looks forward to revitalizing his already-established connections in Sudan with operators of refugee camp security and contacts with logistics resources. They are welcoming him to the region. “All the pieces are fitting together,” he reflected: work, workplace, skills, community, and faith.

	See Also... Topic: Agriculture |  Christian love |  Communities |  Emergencies |  GBGM news |  GBGM programs |  Health |  International affairs |  Refugees |  UMCOR |  United Methodist Church |  Water |  Partners/partnerships |  Geographic Region: Sudan |  Source: UMCOR Press Releases
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Date posted: Feb 04, 2005