wfn.org | CWS RESPONDS TO INDONESIA CRISIS

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

Church World Service Responds to Indonesia Crisis
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
USA
Contact: Wendy McDowell, NCC News, 212-870-2227
Internet:  news@ncccusa.org

85NCC8/18/98            FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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EDITORS: When listing organizations receiving funds 
for humanitarian response to the Indonesia drought 
and/or food crisis, please include:

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE, Attn. Indonesia Emergency Food 
Program, #976909, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.  
Phone pledges or credit card donations: 1-800-762-
0968.

CWS works in more than 70 countries, including the 
U.S., in disaster relief, human development and 
refugee assistance.  It is a ministry of the 
National Council of Churches, the nation's 
preeminent ecumenical organization which includes 34 
Protestant and Orthodox member communions with a 
combined membership of 52 million.
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CWS RESPONDS TO CRISIS IN INDONESIA WITH
$2.5 MILLION FOOD-FOR-WORK PROGRAM

 NEW YORK, August 18 ---- To address the crisis 
in Indonesia wrought by drought, forest fires and 
economic and political turmoil, Church World Service 
(CWS) is implementing a comprehensive food-for-work 
program funded by the United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID).

 With the $2.5 million USAID grant, CWS will 
work with its longtime partner the Communion of 
Churches in Indonesia-Sulsera (CCI) to provide rice 
to 27,300 persons (7,500 families) in central 
Sulawesi for a year, supplying 45 percent of their 
caloric needs and freeing up resources so people can 
purchase other food items such as eggs and milk.

 In exchange, recipients will repair terraces, 
roads and bridges, build water conservation systems 
and plant trees, all of which will strengthen the 
rural infrastructure to increase food security.  
About one-third of the beneficiary families will 
also receive seeds and tools. 

 "No country in the world has experienced such a 
rapid deterioration of its economy than Indonesia," 
said the Rev. Larry Tankersley, CWS Southern Asia 
Director.  "It's shocking.  There is a return of 
conditions once prevalent in the 1960s.  People are 
desperate."
-more-

85NCC8/18/98
INDONESIA FOOD PROGRAM/Page 2

 Illustrations of need are everywhere.  A 
Jakarta taxi driver reports that rice costs one-
fourth of his $1-a-day earnings.  The only protein 
many villagers can afford is one egg a day per 
family.

The World Bank estimates that up to 50 million 
people will have difficulty maintaining a minimal 
level of food intake in the coming months.  By the 
end of the year, fully 40 percent of the population 
is expected to be living below the poverty line, 
Rev. Tankersley reported.

 Indonesia's economic and monetary problems are 
partly to blame for the current crisis, but forest 
fires and El-Ni¤o-related drought in rural areas are 
worsening the situation.

  Sulawesi, one of Indonesia's five largest 
islands, has been particularly hard hit.  Farmers 
accustomed to exporting rice to the rest of 
Indonesia now must import it for their own survival.  
The price of rice has doubled in the last three 
months alone and people cannot afford to buy rice at 
local markets.

 The 12-month CWS emergency food program will 
increase food supplies through rice importation 
until the next harvest and ensure that children 
under 5 and lactating mothers do not become 
malnourished.  Indications show that the most 
vulnerable populations will be at highest risk from 
now until the annual November and December planting 
season, and continue to be at risk until the harvest 
in April 1999.

 Indonesia's churches are sponsoring 
complementary projects, such as the community-based 
free food distribution program in Tana Toraja, 
Sulawesi.  This small program is funded through 
weekly church collections and reaches about 100 
families a month, regardless of religious 
affiliation.

Indonesia is the world's fourth largest nation 
with more than 200 million people. It is very 
religiously diverse.  It contains the world's 
largest Islamic population and Asia's largest 
Protestant population.  "Indonesia is one of the few 
places in the world you can go and experience five 
major living religions side by side," Rev. 
Tankersley said.

 CWS is seeking $300,000 in denominational 
support for this appeal.  Because of the precedent-
setting nature of the U.S. government, support from 
CWS member denominations is crucial, said Linda 
Hartke, CWS Director of Operations.

 Action by Churches Together (ACT) International 
members are supporting the CCI's efforts as part of 
an overall appeal (ASID81, Indonesia - Drought 
Crisis and Resettlement for $436,239).

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