Vol. 8, No. 2 Summer 2000

A Closer Look at the Price of War

Armenia Family - 9592 Bytes

UMCOR programs in Armenia reach out to people like this family; which has sold everything of value-- including windows, doors, and all household fixtures-- to provide food. See larger picture.

Traditionally, the three program areas of UMCOR have been emergency response, world hunger/poverty (including health care), and refugee assistance. A fourth emphasis is emerging: assisting people who are living in the midst of conflict or are recovering from violence and war. War recovery has elements of the other three emphases in that emergency assistance is required, people often need food and new ways of generating income, and many people may become refugees, but it is a unique situation requiring a specific response.

UMCOR was formed in 1940 as a means for the church to respond to the plight of war refugees in East Asia, Europe, and Africa. Now, 60 years later, we find that a large part of UMCOR's ministry is once again response to the plight of people living in or fleeing from war-torn areas. In the last several years, UMCOR has spent millions of dollars and developed extensive programs to help people recover from war.

UMCOR's ministry in this area began in earnest in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the early 1990s. While conflict was still raging, UMCOR was there working with displaced persons, helping to re-establish health care and agriculture, rebuilding war-damaged houses and community buildings, and establishing vital programs through youth houses, community organizations, and training programs. After the conflict subsided, these UMCOR programs expanded and many of them are still operating today.

When civil conflict erupts, people are driven from their homes. They become displaced persons forced to relocate to another area within their home country, or refugees forced to flee to another country. They live in camps or crowd in with relatives or friends. Often they live in poverty, in crowded conditions, and they struggle to maintain adequate shelter, feed and clothe their families, and find employment. They live on a bare minimum, and struggle to meet not only physical needs but emotional needs as well. Children are unable to go to school, farmers are uprooted from their land, people have to leave jobs, communities and families are torn apart-- entire lives are thrown into turmoil.

UMCOR NGO (nongovernmental organization) staff oversee war-recovery projects in Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Tajikistan. This unit of UMCOR uses funds given by United Methodists to carry out recovery programs. Because United Methodists and other individuals give so generously, the UMCOR NGO unit is able to leverage substantial grants from other nongovernmental agencies, such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and from governmental agencies like USAID.

Whom Do these Projects Serve?

Displaced children and youth, who are able to go to local youth houses to learn languages, computer skills, and peace-building strategies; play sports and games; dance, draw, write, sing, act, and do crafts.
Women whose husbands may be off fighting in the war, or killed, or taken prisoner in the conflict. They learn new skills to generate income, or receive sewing, cooking, or agricultural supplies so that they can establish small businesses using skills they already possess.
Small communities that have no accessible health care. Medicines are distributed, clinics are opened, and people learn valuable preventive measures to ward off disease and illness-
Farmers who have to begin again-not only to re-establish crops and livestock but also to market their products in an area disrupted by war.
Orphans and children whose parents can no longer care for them because the war has stripped them of all resources. UMCOR programs provide food and medicines for orphanages, and training for older children to give them skills they will need when they are adults.
Families who must repair or rebuild homes that were damaged or destroyed in the war. UMCOR provides building materials and skilled advisors to help oversee the rebuilding.

To support these war-recovery ministries implemented by its NGO unit, UMCOR has established a special Advance program, "Global Peacebuilding and Reconciliation," Advance #982353-7.

In addition to directly implementing projects through the NGO unit, UMCOR works through local Methodist and United Methodist churches and through partner agencies like ACT (Action by Churches Together, the relief and development arm of the World Council of Churches) to minister to the needs of people in war-torn areas. Some of the countries where such ministries are being offered are Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and East Timor. Programs include feeding stations for refugees, prostheses for land-mine survivors, peace-building and reconciliation seminars, reconstruction of water systems, agricultural assistance, and support for re-establishing schools.

One of the most recent examples of this kind of work is UMCOR's response to civil strife in the Philippines. The island of Mindanao is experiencing ongoing civil unrest. More than 300,000 people have been affected-many of them uprooted from their homes. The United Methodist Church in the Philippines is one of the three denominations in this region that is responding to the crisis. UMCOR is providing financial support so that our United Methodist partners in Mindanao can reach out with food, health and hygiene kits, sleeping mats, blankets, and medical assistance. In addition to providing these emergency supplies, UMCOR is assisting farmers whose crops have been destroyed and is helping to repair and rebuild houses that have been damaged.

Gifts to UMCOR's "International Disaster Response," Advance #982450-8, enable UMCOR to support our church partners who are responding to suffering caused by war in places like the Philippines.

World leaders and people on a grassroots level are working hard for peace and reconciliation in many places-- yet millions of people living in war-torn regions continue to struggle. UMCOR's war-recovery ministries expand as the needs grow. Your gifts will help bring hope and a new beginning.

Checks may be placed in United Methodist church offering plates or sent directly to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, N.Y. 10115. Call (800) 554-8583 to make a credit card donation.