wfn.org | Adventist Humanitarian Agency Establishes Office in Afghanistan

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

January 20, 2002
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland

Adventist Humanitarian Agency Establishes Office in
Afghanistan

Silver Spring, MD/USA.     The Adventist Development
and Relief Agency has established an office in Kabul,
Afghanistan, to begin meeting the needs with the
country from a central location.

"It is important to develop a long-range program that
will help people reconstruct their devastated
communities," says Byron Scheuneman, senior
vice-president for ADRA International.

Roger Kopitzke, formerly director of ADRA Vietnam, has
been appointed as acting director of ADRA Afghanistan.
Additional staff assignments are being filled.

In order to avoid duplication of services, ADRA will work
with United Nations agencies and other non-governmental
organizations to identify areas that are most in need.
Program planning will take place in cooperation with
local communities, and the emphasis will be on
long-term sustainability of projects.

Since October, ADRA has been providing emergency aid
to refugees in camps along the borders of Pakistan and
Tajikistan, distributing items such as tents, blankets,
water containers, winter clothing, socks, and underwear.
Preference has been given to female-headed families and
those with many small children. With one of the lowest
child survival rates in the world, Afghanistan faces the
beginning of winter with temperatures in the mountains
plunging well below zero.

Slightly larger than France, Afghanistan is a landlocked
country of rugged mountains. The adult literacy rate is
31 percent. The infant mortality rate is 141 per 1,000
births. Life expectancy for women is 45; for men, 47.