On Monday the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs gave a press release on the situation in the Horn of Africa. Reading it this morning, I was struck by some familiar echoes to the response of the ELCA.

The release notes that though the situation has continued to worsen and stories of tragedy continue to roll in, this tragedy did not take us by surprise. The ELCA, like the UN, had pre-positioned funds and partners on the ground well before this crisis hit the news. I also heard in the release’s description of the UN’s continued work, how the ELCA has continued to respond through our partners and companions as the situation worsens. And how like the release, the ELCA acknowledges more must be and can be done.

What I was really hit by, and what I saw as the main message in the release, is that the situation is not hopeless nor our responses futile. We have the resources to reduce and alleviate much of the suffering in this crisis. But the need is great and the time to act is now. This is at the heart of it the message I hear echoed in the ELCA’s response. We are the church, this is our purpose and we will continue to respond.

To learn more about the ELCA’s response, check out our disaster web page Horn of Africa Drought. The situation report(s) located under the “ELCA Response” give a great overview of the church’s response.

And here is the UN OCHA press release (pdf) if you’d like to read it.

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

Late last week the ELCA committed over $500,000 to help the Lutheran Church in Haiti as it continues to respond to the cholera epidemic that has affected the country since October 2010. As of May almost 125,000 people have been hospitalized resulting in over 5000 deaths. The main cause of the epidemic has been linked to poor access to drinking water and insufficient waste management. This newest commitment by the ELCA is on top of an original designation of $525,000 for cholera prevention and education made last November.

The Lutheran Church in Haiti is responding in two of the hardest hit areas, targeting 17,000 families (approx. 100,000 people), by providing management of patients and prevention education and efforts. This new phase, running from May to October, is a continuation of an earlier phase that ran from February to May. The focus of both phases is on educating and supporting families by sharing ways to prevent the spread of cholera and what to do once a person becomes infected. As part of this effort a mobile medical and paramedical team of 90 health agents, 2 doctors and 4 nurses has been mobilized. So far the earlier intervention has led to 430 lives saved and 3,100 cases of cholera contained.

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

It has been almost one year to the day since what has been described by UN General Secretary as a “slow-motion tsunami” struck Pakistan. With heavy monsoon rains in mid-July 2010, bodies of water throughout the country began to overflow their banks leading to flooding that started in the north and wound its way southward causing a domino effect of floods lasting from July to September. In total an estimated 18 million people were affected by flooding, with 14 million needing humanitarian assistance.

As the work to help the Pakistani people rebuild their lives continues, this is a great resource to take stock of how things have progressed. I really appreciated the map explaining the progression of the flood as well as the timeline. Also of note are the amazing pictures that do more to tell the story than words sometimes can. Interspersed throughout you will find informative reports and heart-wrenching and -warming stories of those affected by the flooding and those who have dedicated themselves to the relief effort.

I recommend taking some time and giving the report, “Pakistan – One Year On“, a read.

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), which runs the Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya, recently extended one its three camps to allow for an greater intake of arriving Somalis fleeing the drought. This new extension of the Ifo camp is part of a two-step extension process that will allow for an additional 50,000 refugees to be housed in tents, instead of makeshift structures outside of the camp. Camp officials are grateful for the opportunity these extensions give to create a more secure environment for incoming refugees, where they can receive the services they need and are entitled to.

To learn more, read the LWF newsletter, Lutheran World Information, article.

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Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response allow the church to respond globally in times of need. Donate now.

In a news release from the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveist, WCC General Secretary, lamented the tragic events that have unfolded in his homeland of Norway. He called on the international community and the church worldwide to pray for the people of Norway, especially for the families of the nearly hundred people killed in the set of tragic attacks in the Oslo area.

Though the ELCA is not planning a specific response to this human-made disaster, we continue to be in solidarity with our partner in Norway, the Church of Norway (Lutheran), and continue to lift up prayers on their behalf as well as the rest of the Norwegian people. Also, as a member of the WCC we pray with and for Rev. Dr. Tveist in this trying time.

Please take a moment to read the full release where you will also find a link to helpful prayers at the bottom of the page.

This report from Lennart Hernander describes how the LWF goes about receiving new arrivals. Highlighted is the role of incentive workers, refugees employed by the camp. These individuals have an intimate knowledge of what it means to be a refugee, usually come from the same background as incoming refugees and have a strong knowledge of how the camps work. These gifts make them invaluable to creating and implementing the best possible arrival process for new arrivals.

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The largest group of LWF incentive workers is the Social Assessment Team. Once the newly arrived refugees have been received, they receive a ration card from the UNHCR. The most vulnerable persons such as pregnant women and persons with special needs come to the LWF for an assessment. The LWF social clerk carries out what is known as a “vulnerability assessment” of all new arrivals. Depending on the assessment, the refugees receive various Non-Food Items (NFI’s) and can also be referred to other agencies working in the camp, agencies with the necessary expertise e.g. medical partners. “When refugees come here they are all in a very vulnerable situation. It is our job to identify the most vulnerable,” explains one of the LWF incentive workers, Mohammed Duale Gure, who carries out assessments on a daily basis.
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