wfn.org | Lutherans Provide Funds for Refugee Relief in Angola

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 8, 2002

LUTHERANS PROVIDE FUNDS FOR REFUGEE RELIEF IN ANGOLA
02-004-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $50,000 Dec. 28
to support the work of Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in the Angola
provinces of Moxico and Lunda Sul. People there have fled their homes as
a result of civil conflict.  Angola is located on the Atlantic coast of
southern Africa, bordered by Namibia to the south.
     "For years, the civil war in Angola has created many refugees,"
said the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for international
communication, ELCA Division for Global Mission.  "Ongoing fighting
between the government and rebel forces has increased the number of
internally-displaced people in Angola," he said.
     LWF is opening a number of new camps to help "meet the needs of a
new wave of displaced" people in Moxico and Lunda Sul, Ishida said.
"The new camps have brought the total number of camps to 14 with a
population of 80,000 people," he said.
     Action by Churches Together (ACT), a worldwide network of churches
and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency
response, has issued an appeal for funds to support relief and
rehabilitation efforts among residents of Angola.  ACT is based with the
World Council of Churches (WCC) and LWF in Switzerland.  The ELCA is a
member of both the WCC and LWF.
     "The current appeal is aimed at providing kitchen sets, blankets,
buckets, soap, salt, and plastic sheeting for more than 700 families,"
Ishida said.  "Some structures can be established with grass, mud or
bricks, but roofing material [plastic sheeting] is only available at the
beginning of the dry season.  During the rainy season, plastic sheeting
is used to cover the ground to protect blankets and other materials on
which to sleep," he said.
     Water and sanitation materials will also be provided, Ishida said.
Health care centers for women and children are being set up to provide
preventative health care, childbirth training and HIV/AIDS education, he
said.
     "LWF's involvement in Angola dates back to 1985, when it initiated
an emergency and relief program for displaced people fleeing civil war.
This displaced population in Angola is about 3.8 million people.  LWF is
one of the major non-governmental organizations that continues to help
displaced people in the country," he said.
     Members of the ELCA contribute funds to the church's International
Disaster Response for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter
and other materials and supplies.  Funds are also sent to rebuild
communities and to repair structures destroyed by major disasters.
     LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition.  Founded in 1947, the LWF now has 133 member churches in 73
countries representing 60.2 million of the world's nearly 64 million
Lutherans.

-- -- --
INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:

Editors:  When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico or
the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:

ELCA International Disaster Response
PO Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
1-800-638-3522

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html