wfn.org | Church groups responding to Afghan crisis

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 8, 2001   News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-21-71B{454}

By United Methodist News Service 

Even before the United States and its allies began targeted bombing in
Afghanistan on Oct. 7, ecumenical groups were preparing their own response
to the expected humanitarian crisis.

Weakened by starvation caused by longtime war and four years of drought,
many Afghans already had fled to Pakistan and other neighboring countries in
anticipation of U.S. military action against the Taliban. Afghanistan's
ruling party has been sheltering Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Now, despite an initial air drop of 37,000 food ration packets in
Afghanistan at the same time as the bombing, more refugees are expected to
arrive at the border camps. The United States has pledged to attempt to
deliver $320 million in food and medical supplies to help Afghanistan's
people. 

Church World Service, the relief agency of the U.S. National Council of
Churches, plans to provide shelter kits to 15,000 families as they arrive in
the border cities of Quetta and Peshawar as well as to internally displaced
people at settlements in central and northern Afghanistan.

Staff and local partners will implement the program, coordinated with fellow
members of Action By Churches Together (ACT), local organizations and a
United Nations emergency task force. The United Methodist Committee on
Relief (UMCOR) is among the ACT members.

The shelter kits, estimated at $90 each, include a family tent, a ground
sheet, a plastic sheet and four blankets. Church World Service estimates the
total cost of the project, with transportation, support and storage costs,
at $1.55 million.

The UMCOR office in Tajikistan is positioning itself to work with refugees
arriving in that country from Afghanistan. In addition, Stop Hunger Now, a
relief organization led by the Rev. Ray Buchanan, a United Methodist pastor,
is working through partner agencies in Tajikistan and Pakistan to reach the
malnourished and starving refugees.

According to Buchanan, 8 million Afghans - more than a third of the total
population - are in need of immediate aid. Of that number, more than 4
million are already outside the country and another million are internally
displaced.

Buchanan, who will visit Pakistan in mid-October, said that Stop Hunger Now
is putting all its efforts into a partnership with Food for the Hungry to
provide immediate food aid. "We have to act fast," he added, "or millions
will starve. It is almost impossible to overestimate how bad the situation
really is." 

Donations for Afghan relief work through UMCOR should be designated to
Advance No. 901125-3, "Love in the Midst of Tragedy," and dropped in church
collection plates or mailed to 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY
10115. Credit card gifts can be made by calling (800) 554-8583.

Contributions directly to Church World Service can be made to
Pakistan/Afghanistan Emergency, Account No. 6930, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN
46515. Donations also can be made by credit card at (800) 297-1516 or online
at www.churchworldservice.org, the agency's Web site.

More information about Stop Hunger Now is available toll-free at (888)
501-8440 or at www.stophungernow.org, the organization's Web Site.
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United Methodist News Service
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