wfn.org | Re: Cambodia

[Mennonite Central Committee Communications]

TOPIC:  MCC workers safe following violence in Cambodia
DATE:   July 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

AKRON, Pa. -- All Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) workers in
Cambodia are safe following a week of violence between troops loyal
to feuding Prime Ministers, Hun Sen and Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

At this point, the MCC workers are not planning to evacuate the
country.  Allen Harder, who directs MCC's Cambodia programs,
attended a July 9 meeting of non-governmental organizations in Phnom
Penh, Cambodia's capital.  This group agreed it is important to stay
with Cambodians during this difficult time.     Last weekend, July 5
and 6, the MCC workers had gathered in Phnom Penh for a previously
scheduled team meeting.  Harder reported Sunday was "extremely
noisy" as several weapons were fired from a military base about 1
kilometer/half mile away from the MCC workers.  A tank shell landed
some 300 meters/330 yards from the MCC office/house where they
were staying.

By Monday, July 7, however, Harder said the city felt calmer.  By
Wednesday, the MCC workers were "itching to get back to their
projects," reported Harder.  Today most MCC workers were planning
to travel back to Prey Veng and Takeo provinces, several hours drive
from Phnom Penh.  Harder predicts these rural locations will be safer
than the capital.
        MCC requests prayer for the MCC workers' safety, and for the
Cambodian people who have known so much war.  The current
fighting likely ends the coalition government formed in 1993 following
United Nations (U.N.)-supervised elections.  The U.N. effort sought to
bring peace to the country, which had been torn by 20 years of war. 
Some fear the latest events in Cambodia mean renewed civil war.  

The following MCC workers are in Cambodia:
Allen Harder of Clearbrook, B.C. (Harder's wife, Elsiana Hutabarat-
Harder, and daughter, Karmila, are currently in Indonesia visiting
relatives.)
Lee and Marilyn Brockmueller of Freeman, S.D., with their children,
Sara and Benjamin
Larry and Sherry Groff of Kinzer, Pa., with their children, Tyler and
Nicole
Date Mulder and Elly Hoeven Mulder of the Netherlands
Susan Reesor of Markham, Ont.

                                  -30-

pls11july1997TOPIC:  Haitians eating sugar-coated clay bricks to kill hunger pains
DATE:   July 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Emily Will
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

AKRON, Pa. -- "Times are getting harder in Haiti.  Hunger is
spreading in the countryside and into the city as the rains that normally
come in April did not arrive in time to save the bean and corn crops.

"Many market women in downtown Port-au-Prince are now selling
bricks of clay covered with a little sugar; people are eating the bricks
to kill their hunger pain," writes Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
Haiti co-director Dan Wiens.

Although several large food-aid programs are operating in Haiti's
hardest-hit northwest area, workers report some of the poorest of the
poor are "falling through the cracks."  MCC is helping 200 of these
impoverished families, who are still hoping for a September harvest.

MCC has provided $10,350 Cdn./$7,370 U.S. to long-time
missionaries Carol Ann and George Truelove who, along with
personnel from two other partner mission agencies, are purchasing
food locally and distributing it to people in danger of dying from
starvation without such assistance.

MCC funds are buying rice, beans, oil and salted fish; the Trueloves
and their colleagues are making six distributions every two weeks.
They are also distributing MCC canned beef.  Some MCC beef is
already in Haiti and another shipment of 1,900 kilograms/4,200
pounds, valued at $11,800 Cdn./$8,400 U.S. is on its way now.

MCC workers in Haiti's northeast, in the Bwadlorens zone, continue to
concentrate on local leadership development for ongoing programs in
agriculture and health.  They believe this work will reduce the causes
of crop failure and hunger in the long run.

Fourteen veterinary agents, for example, recently completed a course
in animal husbandry, including how to give vaccinations.  "This has
been some of MCC's finest work in the zone, as animals are so vitally
tied to people's existence," notes MCC worker Rebecca Kurtz.  Kurtz,
of Harrisburg, Pa., most recently of West Chester, Pa., is a member of
Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in West Chester.

Kurtz sees other hopeful outcomes of MCC's 13 years of work in the
region to build local leadership as well.

"Several foreigners and Haitians from a U.S. mining corporation `set
up shop' for a couple of weeks in Bwadlorens earlier this year," Kurtz
relates.  "They noticed as they walked the ravines and stream beds for
gold samples that there was no fecal matter by the rivers here, unlike
every other area they had been in in Haiti.  This was testimony to our
sustainable health work and latrine promotion."

MCC has eight workers in Haiti, with openings for five more.  In
addition to rural work in agroforestry and health, workers in the capital
serve with children's programs and support the development of Haitian
organizations seeking solutions to their country's problems.

Contributions to MCC's work in Haiti, as well as for immediate food
assistance, are welcome.  Send checks, designated "Haiti program," to
MCC, PO Box 500, Akron, PA 17501-0500.

                                  -30-

Emily Will, MCC Communications

11july1997

MCC photo available:  A Haitian farmer.  Farmers in Haiti work
incredibly hard under adverse conditions; their strenuous efforts do not
always result in bountiful harvests, however.  (MCC photo by Howard
Zehr)  TOPIC:  Guatemala's war is over but scars remain 
DATE:   July 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

First-of-its-kind conference addresses domestic violence

GUATEMALA CITY -- Most of the colorful carnations strewn on the
floor went unnoticed and were trampled underfoot.  Then as the day-
long, first-of-its-kind conference on healing family violence in
Guatemala drew to a close, the speaker asked every person to pick up
a flower, remembering a woman who has been abused.

Each wilted flower represented a bruised, battered women.  Each
attender prayerfully placed her or his flower in a water-filled vase at
the altar of Casa Horeb Mennonite Church where the conference was
being held.  "Rape," "beatings," "incest" -- the softly spoken words
named the horror endured by the woman symbolized by the flower.

Then as the stems sucked up the refreshing water, a miracle occurred. 
Flowers were revived; the freshened blossoms held promise of healing
that is also possible in human lives.

About half the 60 to 70 people attending "Mujeres hacia la Sanidad"
(Women moving toward health) on May 31 were Mennonites; others
worked for social service agencies in Guatemala City.  All had a
common goal:  to learn more about abuse and to find ways to help
suffering women and children.

Discussing domestic abuse is new in Guatemala.  Although
Guatemala's 36 years of armed conflict ended with peace accords in
December 1996, there is now a growing awareness that violence
remains, including within families.  Many Guatemalans have learned to
view violence as the answer in difficult situations.   
        "One big scar of war is that it has taken from us the forms we
used to have, such as talking, to resolve our problems," explains Olga
Piedrasanta de Azurdia, an organizer of the conference.  (See "Sidebar: 
Sowing new life in Central America," article #4 in this news service
packet.) 

Ruth Krall, a Goshen (Ind.) College professor, was one of several
North Americans at the conference.  She reported studies show an
apparent correlation between countries that have experienced war and
increased abuse of women and children.  During a keynote address
Krall also shared what North Americans have learned about cycles of
abuse.

Another cause of family violence in Guatemala is widespread poverty. 
This can create feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness, which in
turn can increase violence, especially when people seek escape through
alcohol.  This is often true within Guatemala's 22 indigenous groups,
whose communities tend to be the poorest.  Maria Elena Ca'al was one
of six Kekchi Mennonites -- all leaders of women's groups -- who
made the four-hour bus ride to attend the conference.  In her
community, Ca'al reports "fighting, beating and putting the women
down with words, not respecting each other like the word of God
says."

Many Kekchi are still reluctant to discuss abuse, fearing they will
embarrass their families.  Ca'al, however, is hopeful.  "I think as I
study and share what I've learned, women will have the confidence to
talk about their problems and I'll be able to help," she says.  

At one point the gathering broke into small discussion groups.  The
Kekchi women stayed together so they could use their own language,
rather than Spanish, which most conference attenders spoke.  Their
discussion was animated:  Should we advise a battered women to leave
the situation in God's hands?  Should we counsel a woman to forgive
when abuse continues?  What should we do if we know a woman is
being hurt but she doesn't want to talk about it?  How can we protect
incest victims from their families?   

One woman had sheltered her sister from her abusive husband,
eventually helping her escape the marriage. "If we're happy in our
homes but see others suffering and don't help, what does that say
about our faith?" she pondered.  

During a panel discussion Guatemalan women listened intently as a
U.S. lawyer told how protection from abuse laws in the United States
keep batterers away from their victims.  Guatemala recently passed a
family law but has yet to implement it.

Another panel member, a Guatemalan social worker, said Guatemala
City has only one shelter that can serve as a refuge for battered women
and their children.  Elaine Zook Barge, Mennonite Central Committee
(MCC) Guatemala co-representative, later commented that perhaps
someday churches could consider operating a shelter to help fill this
need.  Zook Barge of Harrisonburg, Va., is a member of Shalom
Mennonite Church in Guatemala City.

At the end of a long, emotional day, organizers read the conference
evaluations and were glad to note interest in future educational events.
"The desire for follow-up is a confirmation from God that now is the
right time to address domestic abuse," concluded Olga Piedrasanta de
Azurdia.

This conference was made possible through the collaboration of
various North American Mennonite organizations, including MCC,
Eastern Mennonite Missions and the Lancaster and Franklin
Conference WMSC groups as well as the Central American Mennonite
organizations of Kikoten and Semilla, and local churches. 

                                  -30-

Pearl Sensenig, MCC Communications

11july1997

MCC photos available:
1)  "Rape," "beatings," "incest" -- as each person added a flower to the
vase, she or he named the abuse endured by a battered woman this
flower represented.  The emotional ritual was the culminating event of
a day-long, first-of-its-kind conference on healing family violence in
Guatemala.  (MCC photo by Mark Beach)
2)  "You who carry your child and firewood at the same time; You
who wash in the river and from this river carry water for your house
... ," Maria Elena Ca'al's voice broke as she read these lines of a poem
at the conference opening.  She wiped her tears, explaining, "That's
really the way it is for women I know."  Ca'al and five other Kekchi
Mennonite women leaders attended the first conference on healing
family violence in Guatemala.  The Kekchi are one of Guatemala's 22
indigenous groups, whose communities tend to be the poorest.  (MCC
photo by Mark Beach)TOPIC:  Sidebar:  Sowing new life in Central America
DATE:   July 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

GUATEMALA CITY -- The wars that racked Central America in the
1980s and earlier this decade have now ended.  However, violence
remains.  "One big scar of war is that it has taken from us the forms
we used to have, such as talking, to resolve our problems," explains
Olga Piedrasanta de Azurdia, a family counselor in Guatemala.

Re-learning how to live in peace is a continuing challenge.  Azurdia
works at this, one family at a time.  Other peacemakers in the region,
such as Willi Hugo Perez, work through community and church
groups.  "To evangelize is to work with people, to teach them how to
live in peace," he says. 

Now is the time to build peace in Central America.  Central Americans
trained to resolve conflicts peacefully and those who teach the gospel
of peace are sowing new life in their communities.  Mennonite Central
Committee's (MCC) goal is to raise $275,000 Cdn./$200,000 U.S. to
support these seeds of peace.  To contribute, send your check, marked
#5940-7220, to your nearest MCC office.

                                  -30-

pls11july1997
TOPIC:  Sidebar:  Delegation learns about Guatemalan women's lives
DATE:   July 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

GUATEMALA CITY --  From May 22 through June 1, a delegation
of 13 Mennonite women from the United States and Guatemala City
came together to learn more about the reality of Guatemalan women's
lives.  On May 31 the delegation also participated in the first
conference on healing domestic violence in Guatemala City,
performing a skit based on the Genesis story of Adam and Eve.  (See
"Guatemala's war is over but scars remain; First-of-its-kind conference
addresses domestic violence," article #3 in this news service packet.)   
The women's delegation traveled to areas that are home to two
Guatemalan indigenous groups, the Kekchi and Quiche.  In Alta
Verapaz the women attended a meeting on violence against women
held at the Kekchi Mennonite church in San Pedro Carcha.

"One of the most satisfactory experiences for me during this delegation
was to see the interest of the Kekchi women to come together and hear
about the theme of violence against women," said Albertina de
Barrientos, a participant from La Brigada Mennonite church.

"The church was packed and overflowing.  This made me realize rural
women just like urban women need more information and education
about the rights of women," she said.

Another highlight of the delegation was getting to know Quiche
women who had suffered, been healed and then became a blessing to
others.  During Guatemala's more than three decades of war, many
atrocities were committed in the Quiche area.  Often Guatemala City
residents were unaware of these events taking place in the countryside.

"It was surprising for me to hear the testimonies of indigenous women
like Maria and Chonita in the Quiche and how they had struggled to
survive in the midst of a war that brought both of them much pain and
anguish," commented Barrientos.  Both women's husbands were
brutally killed:  Maria's by the Civil Defense Patrol and Chonita's by
the army.

"Most surprising was their courage to begin a new life in the same
place of the tragedy, and to struggle for other sisters who are suffering. 
Healing for Chonita began as she started working with orphan children
and realized how many other women were suffering like herself,"
explained Barrientos.  "These two women confronted their pain and
fear and began to bloom.  There are opportunities for all of us as
human beings to overcome and we must help each other look for the
needed changes in each situation."

This women's delegation was truly an extraordinary event.  Many
memorable exchanges took place and many people were "connected"
during these 10 days.  The Guatemalan women in the group
commented numerous times how good it was for them to get to know
each other better ... even several who attend the same church.
        Additionally, the educational events on domestic violence
provided an opportunity for Ladino Mennonite and Kekchi Mennonite
women to get to know and host each other.  (Ladino is a term used for
Guatemalans of mixed Indian and European heritage.)

And lastly, it was also a good North/South exchange as well.  Many
times during the delegation, North Americans and Guatemalans
discussed themes of racism, ecumenicism and violence, learning from
each other's experiences.

This delegation was made possible through the collaboration of various
North American Mennonite organizations, including Mennonite Central
Committee, Eastern Mennonite Missions and the Lancaster and
Franklin Conference WMSC groups as well as the Central American
Mennonite organizations of Kikoten and Semilla, and local churches. 

                                  -30-

Elaine Zook Barge, MCC Guatemala

pls11july1997

Elaine Zook Barge of Harrisonburg, Va., is a member of Shalom
Mennonite church in Guatemala City.
TOPIC:  Hampered by severe shortages, Iraqi doctors struggle to care for their patients
DATE:   July 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

AKRON, Pa. -- "On sheer willpower and hope" -- that's how Iraqi
doctors are coping now, some seven years into a crippling international
embargo against Iraq, says Dr. David Wiebe.

Wiebe of Kearny, Neb., and Dr. Jim Snider of Cambridge, Ont., spent
several weeks in Iraq on a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)-
sponsored medical team.  They performed several surgeries and
distributed medicines and supplies.  Wiebe and Snider returned home
in June and are now helping MCC staff plan further responses to Iraq's
staggering medical needs.   

Wiebe and Snider traveled throughout the country, visiting eight
hospitals.  Everywhere the story was the same:  Iraqi doctors,
hampered by severe shortages, are seeing their patients die from
treatable diseases.

Wiebe was particularly struck by Dr. Victoria Alhan, assistant director
of a Baghdad hospital, who was "passionately" trying to care for sick
children, despite the lack of medicines.  "She was most courteous to us
but her heart was broken because of her inability to treat as she knew
was necessary," recalls Wiebe.

At a clinic in Basra, southern Iraq, Wiebe and Snider were told that
each doctor is issued five bottles of antibiotics daily.  The doctors then
see 50 to 100 patients, and have to make Solomonic decisions about
who should receive these life-saving medicines.  At another location an
administrator said he no longer wants to admit women in labor because
if they develop complications his hospital is no longer equipped to
handle the situation.  

Children have been particularly affected.  The annual infant and child
mortality rate from selected diseases appears to be five times higher
than pre-Persian Gulf War levels.  Nutritious food, sometimes the best
preventive medicine, is simply unavailable to many.      Outside of
Baghdad some sanitation systems are in disrepair, leaving many Iraqis
with a poorly treated water supply.

"We saw many patients -- primarily infants and young children -- with
evidence of malnourishment, and dehydration from gastrointestinal
infections," reports Snider.

MCC had planned to send two more teams of surgeons to Iraq this
year.  This has now been put on hold due to Snider and Wiebe's
assessment that medicines and supplies are more desperately needed. 
MCC is considering targeting its aid to help Iraqi children suffering
from one or two specific diseases, perhaps leukemia or thalassemia, a
blood disorder.

Through Canadian Foodgrains Bank, MCC and Canadian church
groups are shipping 500 metric tons of white beans to Iraq.  The food
will be distributed through the Middle East Council of Churches'
network.      

                                  -30-
pls11july1997

MCC photo available:  Most children in this blood disease ward will
die because the medicine they need is unavailable.  Here at Iraq's main
pediatric hospital in Baghdad, the capital, even  antiseptic detergents
for washing the bedding and floors are delayed due to international
sanctions against Iraq.  (MCC photo by Rick Fast)TOPIC:  New homes and healing follow Arkansas torn
DATE:   July 11, 1997
CONTACT:  Pearl Sensenig
V: 717/859-1151 F: 717/859-2171
E-MAIL ADDRESS:  mailbox@mcc.org

AKRON, Pa. -- While U.S. government officials and citizens debate
race relations, job reform and how to rebuild a sense of community,
the small town of College Station, Ark., is showing one grassroots path
to change.

College Station, a small black community adjacent to Little Rock,
suffered extensive destruction in a March 1 storm and tornado that tore
a 350-mile path of destruction across the state.  Today community
members are rebuilding through a joint effort of         local citizens
and Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS). 

"Every time that hammer falls it's not just a house, it's reconstructing
lives," says Rev. Hezekiah B. Stewart, Jr., director of Watershed, a
local service agency.  "The storm brought white and black together.  I
have been in Little Rock for 20 years and this is the first time I didn't
see racism."

Along with racial reconciliation, another unexpected benefit of the
storm cleanup has been job training and employment for many of the
community's young people.  Fred Hokes organizes Watershed teams
that work alongside MDS volunteers.  The MDS workers have brought
construction skills from Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere,
and Watershed workers have helped rebuild their own community and
nearby devastated areas, in the process learning job skills that have
carried many on to other employment.

"Part of our job is to help individuals become employable and
self-sufficient," says Hokes.  And it seems to be working; Watershed's
work teams have a "less than 10 percent retention rate," he notes, as
workers move on to regular employment elsewhere.  Some have
previous work experience and some do not.  "We have men, some in
their 30s, who have never worked before."  The young men are
learning carpentry skills from the MDS volunteers, says Rev. Stewart,
and interracial relationships are being built as well.

In the early stages, College Station received attention and help from
many sources, from President Clinton and Arkansas Governor
Huckabee to the Red Cross, National Guard, and Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA).  Today local workers and MDS are the
only workers on site, but much remains to be done.  MDS plans to
work in College Station until December.

The tornado destroyed 40 homes and damaged 68 more, displacing 180
people.  Four or five new homes will be completed by the end of
August, says MDS construction foreman Stuart Yoder, of Nappanee,
Ind.  Some 150 volunteers have worked with MDS in College Station
over the course of the project, but help is still needed.  "Currently 10
volunteers for one week is all we have lined up," Yoder says.  "We
need carpenters, plumbers, electricians, drywallers, you name it."

MDS has requests for work on the homes of more than 100 people,
ranging from "total remodel to total rebuild to some with just roof
damage."  MDS targets those with less ability to help themselves, such
as the elderly and single-parent families.  MDS provides free labor;
residents must buy materials through insurance, FEMA or Red Cross
grants, Small Business Administration loans or gifts.  Labor is a little
over half the cost of a new home, according to Yoder.

Rev. Stewart sees the renewal of College Station in theological terms. 
"I see reconciliation, the hand of the Lord moving cleansing hearts and
minds that remained in an old stagnated state.  The Mennonites have
shown us a spirit of love, demonstrating it and not just talking about
it."  The storm's aftermath has helped heal "spiritual disaster" as well
as physical disaster, he says.

College Station's experience can be "a model for the rest of the
nation," Rev. Stewart emphasizes.  "It's a sign of what can solve
problems in many communities, getting to know each other, loving
each other, becoming friends."

                                  -30-

Ardell Stauffer

pls11july1997

Ardell Stauffer is a free-lance writer from Akron, Pa.
Photos may be available:  Please phone Sherri Enns at (717) 859-1151.