| Hi jay, Happy New Year! I hope you had a relaxing holiday season. Our staff around the world is still hard at work helping people access what they need to survive. I hope you enjoy this inside look at what’s been happening at the American Refugee Committee. -Daniel Daniel Wordsworth, President *********************************************** *New Conflict-Resolution Program in Darfur* The Darfur team recently received funding from the United Nations Development Programme to implement a unique project to reduce conflict. The focus of the project is farming families who have recently returned home after being displaced and pastoralist tribes who temporarily settle in the same areas during dry and wet season migrations. We will work to stem livelihood and resource-based conflicts between them. The team will help rehabilitate water points in areas where returning farming households may strain current water sources. We will also construct water troughs for animals around each rehabilitated water source and support local efforts to demarcate livestock routes. In addition, we will help educate community members on observing migration routes, restore markets and support local conflict-prevention and resolution methods. This project will directly benefit 33,250 people. *Advocating on Remittance Issue* Members of the Somali diaspora in the U.S. send tens of millions of dollars in remittances to family members living in Somalia each year. For many people living in famine-affected Somalia, these remittances can mean the difference between life and death. Money from family and friends in the diaspora is a critical lifeline – it pays for the food they eat, the homes where they live and the essentials they need to survive. In December, the largest U.S. bank that sends such remittances back to Somalia announced it would discontinue wiring money to Somalia. Uncertainty now weighs heavily on the hearts and minds of the Somali community. The famine hit areas of southern Somalia hardest – areas that are hard to access. These remittances are the only way to reach people in these locations…the only lifeline keeping people alive. ARC has been helping advocate on this issue in Minnesota and in Washington, D.C. Due to the possible dire humanitarian implications of this, we have been in constant communication with the bank, money-wiring businesses and U.S. government contacts to help find a possible remedy. * Haiti Two-Year Anniversary* Today marks the two-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Since the disaster, we’ve had teams on the ground providing lifesaving aid. From setting up and running a health clinic to offering safe spaces for women and children, we’ve given people what they need to survive. When cholera broke out, we helped open a cholera treatment center where people could go to receive treatment. And we helped prevent the spread of the disease through a series of hygiene and sanitation efforts. Thirty-five hygiene workers and 25 community health workers went door-to-door educating families. They also distributed hygiene kits, soap, water purification tablets and chlorine solutions. Recent efforts include completing 2,000 family shelters – designed to get people out of tents and into safer and more secure homes. About 500 Haitian workers were employed under the program, which provided them wages while allowing them to contribute to the relief efforts. *Combating Anemia in Rwanda* Our Rwanda team reports that the anemia project in Nyabiheke Camp is now in full swing with the arrival of all the testing equipment and supplies to boost nutritional options for anemic refugees. Nearly 300 hens have laid more than 4,103 eggs, 911 of which were used to feed people with anemia. And more than 30 kg of mushrooms were harvested to provide much-needed vitamins, such as iron and folic acid to pregnant women and others vulnerable to anemia. *To Donate* If you'd like to support the projects mentioned above and the rest of the work of the American Refugee Committee, visit www.ARCrelief.org/donate or call us at (800) 875-7060.
|
Unsubscribe from receiving email, or change your email preferences.
No comments:
Post a Comment