The Ravages of War and Challenges of Recovery in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
There are many countries in Africa where war never seems to end. The cycle of violence has gone on for so long that the world stops paying attention to it. But as a church, we know that those who suffer are God's children and thus our sisters and brothers, our children, our parents, our grandmothers, and grandfathers. Our faith compels us to be aware, to listen, to learn, and to provide whatever support we can.
These Angolans have fled the fighting in the southern part of their country. The United Methodist Church is working to provide them with shelter, food, and other basic necessities of life.
Credit: Kristin Sachen, UMCOR
People who continue to suffer the effects of war in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone want the same things that we want for ourselves and those we love-- food, shelter, safety, love, and the opportunity to lead a fulfilling life. UMCOR is working with United Methodist churches in these countries to help meet emergency needs and begin the long process of recovery.
The ongoing violence in southern Angola has driven people into the cities of Malange and Luanda, where resources are overwhelmed by the burgeoning population. A General Board of Global Ministries team visited both the East and West Angola conferences earlier this year to meet the new bishops and assess the needs for relief and recovery. UMCOR has issued grants to each conference to provide basic relief for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Containers full of health kits and school kits are being prepared for each conference.
In addition, each conference has received a Medicine Box to help address health needs. Dr. Laurindo Quipungo, the wife of Bishop Quipungo in the East Angola conference, uses the Medicine Box to care for children. As the Quipungos travel to different churches in the conference, Dr. Quipungo invites the mothers to bring their children to her after the Sunday worship service. She holds an impromptu clinic, treating the children's illnesses with whatever resources she has available. The health supplies and medicines in the Medicine Box help her provide better care for the children.
Plans are being developed for an agricultural project in Luanda where IDPs will utilize the rich soil that is available to grow vegetables and sell them at the local market. In addition to supporting this agricultural project, UMCOR will continue to help provide food, medicine, and other supplies. To support these efforts, give to "Angola War Recovery," Advance #105720-5.
These babies were born at the UMCOR-supported health
clinic for internally displaced mothers and children in
Kinshasa, DR Congo.
Photo credit: Central Conference,
UMC, DR Congo
The United Methodist Churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo are playing a vital role in ministering to the thousands of people who have been displaced by the ongoing war. The Southern Congo, North Katanga, and Central Congo Annual Conferences are all providing food and medicine.
In Kinshasa, the Central Congo conference operates a health clinic and feeding station for pregnant mothers and children. Many displaced women have given birth at the clinic. Another feeding station is operated at Mpasa, outside Kinshasa, where the children are even more malnourished because they are just emerging from the bush. Near Lubumbashi, the South Congo conference operates four feeding centers for unaccompanied children. Likewise, the North Katanga conference has a feeding center in Kamina for abandoned children who have been either orphaned or separated from their parents as they fled the violence. Many families are taking displaced persons into their own homes, and the conference distributes food packets to help support displaced families and their hosts.
UMCOR will continue to support the conferences' efforts to provide food and medicine to IDPs. Your gifts to the "Democratic Republic of Congo Emergency," Advance #198400-0, make this relief work possible.
In Liberia, UMCOR has given emergency grants to the United Methodist Church, which is providing food, medicine, and other basic supplies to IDPs fleeing the violence in Lofa County. More than 30,000 women, men, and children have been displaced. People are dying daily from malnutrition and disease. Several hundred of the displaced persons are being sheltered at the United Methodist School of Theology in Gbarnga.
In Gbason Town, Liberia, UMCOR is supporting a vocational training and accelerated learning
program for war-affected youth. Many of the young
people were child soldiers. Now they must be reintegrated
into society and learn skills that will
enable them to pursue a livelihood through nonviolent
means. At the school, they receive counseling
and academic and vocational education (training in
baking, soap making, carpentry, masonry, and agriculture). To support relief and recovery efforts in
Liberia, give to UMCOR's "Liberia Emergency,"
Advance #150300-7.
Photo: The United Methodist Church in Liberia has used UMCOR funds to provide food for internally displaced persons like this mother and child. Credit: UMC Liberia
A tenuous peace in many parts of Sierra Leone makes it possible for the church to begin working towards recovery. UMCOR provides support to the United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone and the British-associated Methodist Church for healthcare and agricultural projects.
A dozen United Methodist healthcare facilities, including clinics and two hospitals, were heavily damaged or destroyed in the years of war. UMCOR will assist in rebuilding them, finding medical personnel to staff them, and equipping them with pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. All of the clinics and hospitals will treat infectious diseases and trauma. An orthopedic rehabilitation center will be built at Kissy Hospital, and some of the people who will be served at the center include those who lost their hands, arms, and feet to rebel machetes. UMCOR will also provide training in public health and disease control for visiting village nurses and village leaders throughout the country.
In the agricultural arena, UMCOR will assist agricultural production. The projects will help villages move from subsistence agriculture (providing just enough to feed themselves) to the beginnings of market agriculture, which will enable them to improve their living conditions. To support recovery work in Sierra Leone, give to "Sierra Leone War Recovery," Advance #181605-8.
