Since the 1998 famine, aid efforts in Sudan
have had a profound effect on reducing starvation in southern Sudan. However,
in many areas people's existence is tenuous at best as they depend on
relief supplies for survival. There remain pockets of people with high
malnutrition rates. Because of continued fighting and insecurity, some
areas remain inaccessible to relief flights.
Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile are two
of the most affected regions in the coutnry, its people having little or
no access to basic items such as food, healthcare and education. In Liethnom,
located in Bahr el Ghazal, more than 75 percent of the population are women
and children, as the men have been deployed in the battlefield or killed.
In Pochalla, located in the Upper Nile region, more than 90 percent of
the population are women and children.
Since the fall of 1998, World Relief has worked with southern Sudan's churches on several fronts as they address the massive suffering and complex issues facing their communities.
"Ending the war that has claimed two million lives, keeping another 2.4 million from starving to death and teaching them about Jesus are the top concerns the Sudanese churches repeatedly voice to me," says Clive Calver, President of World Relief. "As Pastor Arkangelo Wani Lemi observed to me while I watched death happen in Sudan, 'My people will not starve to death. We have brothers and sisters in the West; we are part of a family.'"
In Pochalla and Lietnom, World Relief is working with the churches to provide for basic needs. World Relief is bringing immediate relief and long-term development by first insuring that the people have access to food and then by bringing health care and education within their reach. World Relief is also providing training and resources to strengthen local church development.
Finally, World Relief is supporting two peace initiatives, both endorsed by the churches of southern Sudan, to bring peace to this devastated area.
Project Areas: World Relief works in partnership with the National Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC), the umbrella organization for churches in southern Sudan, to meet the physical and spiritual needs of communities in the South. The project areas are Liethnom in Bahr el Ghazal region and Pochalla in Bor County, Upper Nile region.
Health: In Pochalla, World Relief teaches health education and hygiene in the schools. World Relief is building a Health Referral Center, which is making good progress. In Liethnom, World Relief has rehabilitated the local Primary Health Care Center and four Primary Health Care Units in their surrounding villages.
Food Security: In Pochalla, World Relief is providing 3,000 families with tools, seeds, fishing equipment, and livestock drugs and promotes improved farming techniques. World Relief is intensively training 20 farmers, and 15 agricultural extension agents, to help teach new techniques to their neighbors. In Liethnom, World Relief provides the community with agricultural tools, seeds and technical guidance.
Education: In Pochalla, World Relief has helped build five of the seven schools. School enrollment is up to 2,850 pupils. World Relief and UNICEF have provided pencils, exercise books, blackboards and textbooks. With the NSCC, World Relief hopes to become more involved in teacher training and retention. In Liethnom, eight schools were constructed with World Relief assistance and supplied by World Relief and UNICEF. World Relief is hoping to implement a teacher training program with NSCC and to continue supplying the schools.
Church Development: Church leadership is generally weak in both areas, and Church Leadership Development projects are becoming a priority for World Relief. In Pochalla, World Relief has arranged pastoral training for 34 people in collaboration with Elmbrook Church, of Brookfield, Wis. Good Shepherd Church, of Boring, Ore., and World Relief are also implementing a leadership training and church planting project in Liethnom.
Working for Peace: Ethnic rivalry continues, as does war with the North. World Relief is working for peace in Sudan on two levels, each endorsed by the churches of southern Sudan.
First, World Relief supports the peace initiative faciliated by the New Sudan Counsil of Churches to reconcile the Dinka and Nuer, southern Sudan's two largest tribes that have fought bitterly for almost a decade over cattle, grazing areas and fishing grounds. The Islamic government in Khartoum has exploited these differences so that it will not have to face a united southern Sudan in the on-going civil war which has raged for the last seventeen years. If a sustainable peace is reached, it could increase the prospects for peace within the entire country.
At a second and broader level, World Relief supports the IGAD peace process, which was set up by neighboring countries as a forum for the process to achieve peace in Sudan. World Relief continues to urge the U.S. Government to work directly with IGAD and to pressure it for sustainable solutions.
Reporters needing further information or photos, should contact Victoria Vass at (630) 665-0236, ext. 215 or email vvass@wr.org.
WORLD RELIEF NEWSROOM
P.O. Box WRC Wheaton IL 60189
Phone: 630-665-0236 x202 FAX: 630-665-4473
lkeys@wr.org