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October 26, 2004
Sudan: UMCOR Team Heads for Darfur
The United Nations calls it "a crisis out of control." A 14-year-old resident of an internally displaced persons' camp in the region told an aid worker, "We have lost everything." To this place of loss-- the Sudanese region of Darfur-- UMCOR last week dispatched a team of workers. Over the next three weeks, the team will explore ways to expand the agency's involvement in delivering aid. United Methodist donations are already supporting UMCOR aid in the area. The agency is currently partnering with an international ecumenical alliance in Chad refugee camps where 130,000 Sudanese have fled from their burned and looted villages. To assist in a meaningful way, please give to Advance #184385, Sudan Emergency.
Haiti and Grenada: UMCOR Assesses Unmet Needs
UMCOR's assessments of the storm-wracked regions of Haiti and Grenada earlier this month have identified unmet needs in both island nations. Recommendations for Grenada included quick-impact grants to support rehabilitation of the chief agriculture industry, nutmeg production, and distribution of school kits. For Haiti, recommendations ranged from distribution of school and health kits to assistance in reconstruction of washed-out housing in the underserved areas north of hard-hit Gonaïves city. UMCOR currently is assisting ecumenical partners to clear debris, rehab schools, and provide fresh water. The agency will announce additional plans in the next weeks and months. Your prayers for the people of Haiti and Grenada and your generous contributions to UMCOR Advance #982410, Hurricanes 2004, will assist in a meaningful way. Donors may designate their gifts toward either nation or both.
United States: Flood Buckets Urgently Sought!
Recovery efforts continue in areas of the Atlantic seaboard and Gulf Coast that were thrashed by multiple hurricanes earlier this fall. UMCOR continues its urgent call for flood buckets, the supplies volunteers use to clean up post-hurricane debris and water. Flood bucket assembly is a great hands-on mission project for your congregation or church school class. Your gifts of money enable specially trained disaster workers to minister in hard-hit areas; provide direct assistance such as rent payments; and underwrite purchase of building supplies. UMCOR anticipates that long-term recovery from these severe storms will take several years. Please give generously to UMCOR Advance #982410, Hurricanes 2004.
Resources: UMCOR Launches World AIDS Day Electronic Bulletin Insert
"Some children collapse when their parents die. Others decide to do what they think their parents would do. That's how they hold on," says Dr. Peter Fasan, dean of the health sciences faculty at Africa University and lead implementer of UMCOR's new program with AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe. Sustaining the program is participation of both Zimbabwean annual conferences, community representativesand a broad-based board of directors. A new E-bulletin insert that can be used for World AIDS Day, December 1, or another time is now available to download and print locally. The theme for this year's global emphasis is "Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS." The insert focuses on a new program that pays the school fees of vulnerable AIDS orphans, many of whom are girls who head their own households. Use this new resource to raise awareness-and share in one of the church's AIDS ministries. Give to UMCOR Advance #982842, AIDS Orphan Trust; #101218, AIDS Awareness and Children Impacted by HIV/AIDS in Africa; and #982345, Global AIDS Fund.
Resources: UMCOR Posts Annual Report
For the first time on the web-- UMCOR's 2003 Annual Report! Read and share it with others. The report describes the work of UMCOR with beneficiaries in nearly 100 countries around the globe. Impelled by the compassion of Jesus, UMCOR transforms, comforts, restores hope, and builds trust. Thank you for engaging in these miracles of connection with us.
UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out
more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.
And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.
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Featured Photos
United Methodist Committee on Relief
In Sudan, Guahir ran for her life after the Janjaweed attacked the camp where she was staying. Her youngest child, Nidal, was lost in the chaos but found a day later. Credit: Hege Opseth, ACT/Caritas, October 13, 2004.
The city of Gonaïves in northern Haiti was the hardest-hit by the effects of Tropical Storm Jeanne, which caused massive flooding. Credit:LWF-Haiti/ACT International, September 2004.
In Zimbabwe, Margaret Masawi, age 13 and now "head of the household," cooks for her two brothers. Four years ago, their parents died of AIDS-related causes a month apart. Credit: Andra Stevens/AU Today, 2004.
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