wfn.org | Lutherans continue response to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe

[<NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

>ELCA News Blog

>February 24, 2009  

Lutherans continue response to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe

>by Melissa Ramirez Cooper, ELCA News Service

Just 10 years ago Zimbabwe was exporting goods and was
known as the "breadbasket of Southern Africa," according
the Rev. Benyam A. Kassahun.  Today Zimbabwe is in crisis
with more than 5 million people struggling to feed themselves.
"They are real people, and I've seen their faces and their
smiles.  But I know that when I return to Zimbabwe, some of
the people I've met will no longer be (living)," said Kassahun,
program director for Southern Africa, Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) Global Mission.  He traveled to
Zimbabwe just before Christmas.

The economic, political and social decline in Zimbabwe has
taken a disastrous toll on the country's food supply and
medical institutions, including four hospitals of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ).  To help
sustain the services of the hospitals, the ELCA is providing
funds to the ELCZ.  The ELCA allocated $330,000 for the
purchase of 90 metric tons of seed and fertilizer for food
production.  Kassahun said that with the help of other
organizations, more than 200 metric tons of seeds were
distributed and planted in Zimbabwe the weeks before and
after the new year, which was the planting season there.
Between the planting and harvesting seasons, the ELCA is
working to coordinate immediate food delivery through local
Lutheran partnerships.  The ELCA provided an additional
$75,000 for food aid.

The good news is that it is raining there now, and that is
essential for crop growth, said Kassahun.  "By May or June
there should be a harvest, and people will have something
(more) to eat.  But the rain is also a curse, because it
causes the spread of disease like cholera in communities
and villages surrounding the ELCZ hospitals.  It would only
take one spoonful of bleach, mixed with seven gallons of water,
to clean and stop the spread of cholera, but doctors have
told me there is no bleach available."  Kassahun said that
the overall need in Zimbabwe is "overwhelming.  But with the
support of others we hope that giving will multiply.  It is
my hope to look back (on this crisis) and say, we've come a
long way in saving human lives."

For information contact:

John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog