Bishop Ann Sherer hands a bag of rice to an Afghan refugee man at an emergency food distribution point operated by Church World Service in Quetta, Pakistan. Sherer's head is covered out of respect for the Muslim faith of some of the aid participants. Credit: Larry Hollon/UMNS, 2/22/02.
Changing conditions in Afghanistan continue to dislocate thousands of people. Relief agencies in this city near Pakistan's southern border struggle to adapt to new needs.
"The situation changes from day to day," said Naeem Shahid Ghauri, project director for Church World Service (CWS), an ecumenical partner of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Ghauri briefed a fact-finding delegation of four United Methodist bishops and two top church agency executives from the United States on Feb. 20.
Besides dislocation caused by the war in Afghanistan, drought, extremely cold temperatures and privation have recently set desperate people on the move to find food, shelter and safety. Three days before the delegation arrived, more than 10,000 refugees in a single day struggled into a staging camp near the city. Located in southern Pakistan's Balochistan province, Quetta has a population of 400,000.
"Many coming now lack food and clothing," Ghauri said. "They have been walking in the extreme cold for upwards of four days. They arrive carrying the few possessions they have left."
While the situation is not unmanageable, it undermines efforts at repatriation. Many of the recent arrivals fear insecurity in rural Afghanistan; they are unwilling to return until local militias have been disarmed, the relief worker said. As a result, this could mean a long-term stay for some people. About 46,000 people are currently in 10 camps in the region. Many of the refugees are women and children who have borne the brunt of much of the suffering. An estimated 3.3 million Afghans have sought safety in Pakistan, and another 3.1 million are in Iran.
CWS has designed programs to meet emergency needs, including food and shelter, as well as generate income for recently widowed women who are heads of households but lack the formal education or skills to earn a living. Many longer-term refugee women, who fled during Afghanistan's war with the Soviet Union, need those skills as well. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is supporting these programs, which include a quilt project among refugee women in Quetta, Pakistan. In partnership with the Shuhada Organization, an Afghan women's group, CWS began a quilt project for 400 economically vulnerable women. With raw materials contributed by CWS, the women organized into small work groups which hand-stitched 25,000 quilts in three months. The quilts were given to refugees along with food aid in a carefully monitored distribution program.
The United Methodist leaders visited the quilt-making project and also participated in the food distribution, which coincided with the eve of a Muslim holiday feast. Several newly sewn quilts were handed out as the bishops met with participating families and staff.
The interaction "gave us insight in a powerful way," said Bishop Elias Galvan, leader of the United Methodist Church's Seattle Area. "That CWS has given widows and children priority is an act of faith," he said. "It is living out the biblical injunction. And I am impressed that CWS has said it will be here for the long term. It won't pull out after the crisis has abated."
"Quilt-making for these women is a life-and-death matter," said Bishop Beverly Shamana of the San Francisco Area, reflecting on a woman preparing batting for a quilt. "They are so vulnerable. Yet, as I watched a woman work the batting, I think she was beating life into her quilt." [The women turn small clumps of cotton into batting and disperse it in the quilting material by beating it with large sticks.] "By expressing their handiwork in this way, these women are affirming that we have something within us that is God-given," Shamana continued. "They are stitching life into those quilts, and they are affecting the whole community."
"It brought to mind all those biblical images of women," said Bishop Ann Sherer of the Missouri Area. "Women really are 'the least of these,' just as in Jesus' day. Women in poverty, living at the edge of the culture, are so fragile. They have no handles to grab onto and move forward. Yet, through the presence of Church World Service, they see a sign of hope. They know someone else cares. To know that someone cares is to give hope, and that this hope comes through the church is so wonderful."
February 22, 2002 
Photos: Midpage right: United Methodist Bishops Elias Galvan (left) and Ann Sherer look at a quilt sewn by Afghan refugee women in Quetta, Pakistan. The quilts are distributed to Afghan refugees. Women sewing the quilts are reimbursed for their handiwork, allowing them to purchase food and clothing for their families. Midpage left: United Methodist Bishop Beverley Shamana (left) assists a refugee at a distribution center for quilts hand-sewn by Afghan refugee women in Quetta, Pakistan. The quilting is an income-generating project carried out by Church World Service. Shamana's head is covered out of respect for the Muslim faith of some of the aid participants. Right: United Methodist Bishop S. Clifton Ives hands a bag of sugar to an Afghan refugee woman at a food distribution site operated by Church World Service in Quetta, Pakistan. Credit: Larry Hollon/UMNS, 2/22/02. Click on any photo to see larger version.
UMCOR 9/11 Update September 2004: UMCOR's response to the aftermath of September 11 continues. We thank are thankful for all of contributions that United Methodists and others have so generously given.
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Source: United Methodist News Service.
Larry Hollon is the general secretary of United Methodist Communications, with main offices in Nashville, Tenn. This story has been shortened and adapted from the original UMNS version.
