New elementary school built in Bolivia - with support from CWS

Local retailers are advertising huge savings this summer on back-to-school items such as $1.00 notebooks and $.10 ballpoint pens. For the thrifty parent, hitting back-to-school sales during the tax-free weekend starting this Friday could mean hundreds of dollars in savings. Local hunger fighting agency, Church World Service (CWS) is asking back-to-school shoppers to pass on some of their savings to children throughout the world who cannot afford school supplies and books.

“Last year I met a parent in Bolivia who struggles to buy school books for her children,” says Mary Catherine Hinds, Associate Regional Director of Carolinas CWS. “She had to sell two of her family’s chickens to buy a single book,” added Hinds. “Chickens are the family’s livelihood and food source, but her children’s education was worth the sacrifice.” CWS is working with partners in Bolivia and throughout the world to provide access to education through building safe schools, training teachers, supplying books and materials.

CWS collects school kits to distribute to children in need – both in the United States and in developing countries. The kits consist of a cloth tote bag, which includes essential supplies such as pencils, paper, rulers, and erasers. Each kit costs $13 to assemble and costs about $2 to ship. Given a recurring shortage of kits in its warehouse, CWS is requesting that this weekend’s shoppers remember the needs of poor students in the developing world and consider at least a $15 donation to provide a kit to a child in need. Send checks to CWS, 1006 Lamond Avenue, Durham, NC 27701. For information, call Lisa or Renee at (888) 297-2767.

For more information about school kits or CWS’s efforts to support education throughout the world, visit http://www.churchworldservice.org

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The demands of disasters like Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan earthquake, and more recent events including floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, and spring storms and flooding in the U.S. are taking a toll on inventories of one of the staples of relief aid– emergency kits. The drain is prompting international humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) to issue a call nationally, specifically for contributions of children's school kits.

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Pakistani girl and her brother living in CWS "tent city". Photo: Paul Jeffrey/ACT-CWS

Church World Service (CWS) responds immediately to domestic and international disasters. Within hours of the calamitous events of the earthquake in Pakistan, Gulf Coast hurricanes, and South Asia Tsunami, CWS’s Emergency Response Program was providing blankets, food, kits and medicine to survivors. CWS is now supporting long-term recovery in regions affected by all three disasters.

EARTHQUAKE - CWS, which has had relief and development operations in Pakistan for more than 50 years, assisted 20,000 of the worst affected families with winterized shelter kits and family food kits, and provided medical assistance to 50,000-100,000 people. CWS's long-term response includes shelter construction materials, clean water provision, schooling and women’s programs.

HURRICANES - In response to Gulf Coast Hurricanes, staff helped to meet immediate needs, organized for long-term recovery at multiple faith community levels, and assisted with the relocation of individuals and families across the country in concert with other state, federal, and CWS programmatic partners. A complementary component is assisting with the spiritual and emotional care of both survivors and caregivers.

TSUNAMI - CWS is accompanying communities as they recover their lives and livelihoods. Assistance includes helping to build houses, provide fishing boats, offer psychosocial support for children, increase livestock production, buttress small businesses, and establish productive farming cooperatives.

Director of the CWS Emergency Response Program, Donna Derr was the featured speaker at several venues in the Carolinas, February 26-March 1, 2006. Derr is responsible for the coordination, management and implementation of CWS' emergency response and relief and recovery/rehabilitation activities throughout the world. Individuals and organizations interested in meeting Derr and hearing about her experiences responding to the above emergencies, please contact the Carolinas Regional office, toll-free (888) 297-2767.

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• Visit the CWS Kits page for instructions on assembling and shipping your kits.
  
  
• Order materials online or phone our national service center, 1-800-297-1516

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