wfn.org | PDA launches phase 2 of hunger aid in Malawi

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Note #7391 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

20-August-2002
02307

PDA launches phase 2 of hunger aid in Malawi

Officials say floods, drought leave 7 million at risk of starvation

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has launched the second phase of a famine-relief program that so far has helped feed 25,000 people in Malawi.

Phase 2 of the Chingale Relief Program got under way during the week of Aug. 12. It is expected to double the number of residents benefiting from the eight-month, $780,000 campaign, PDA officials said in an Aug. 16 report.

The new aid, earmarked for four villages in the Chingale Division of Zomba District in southern Malawi, is being channeled through the Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. PDA said specialists are developing a plan to meet the program's long-term staff-support and -training needs.

In its initial, four-month phase, the anti-famine program included spending about $150,000 - most of it from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering - to buy and distribute grain. Overall, the first phase was estimated to be a $250,000 response. 

Millions of people in southern Africa are threatened by severe food shortages because of a severe drought in the region after two years of flooding. Officials say 70 percent of Malawi's 10 million inhabitants are at risk of starvation.

Malawi's government came under fire last year for having sold the nation's surplus from a bumper grain harvest in 2000. The severe food shortage is exacerbated by the spread of AIDS, whose victims are especially vulnerable to malnutrition.

PDA expects to be engaged in famine-relief efforts in Malawi for at least a year, and is preparing to serve a similar role in Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
PDA officials said specialists in Malawi have identified a serious problem with scabies, a skin infection blamed on poor hygiene related to living conditions in the country, where residents sleep on mud floors.

PDA has asked Church World Service to ship 26,000 health kits containing soap and other basic hygiene items to Malawi to help prevent skin ailments and limit their spread.

PDA also has distributed a video about Malawi to entities of the Presbyterian Church (USA), urging them to support its relief efforts.

The PC(USA) has a long history of partnership in Malawi. Nearly 90 percent of Protestants in southern Malawi belong to Presbyterian churches.

Contributions for Malawi may be made through congregations or mailed to Presbyterian Central Receiving Service, Section 300, Louisville, KY 40289; refer to designated account 9-2000158. To contribute by credit card, call PresbyTel at 1-800-872-3283, or visit PDA's secure Web site at www.pcusa.org/pda.
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