Inside ARC - 3.29.13 - Congo, Thailand, Syria

Hi jay, Here’s an update on some of the news around ARC. If you have any questions, please let us know! -Daniel Daniel Wordsworth, President ***********************************************  *5 Years Old in Congo* Eastern Congo has the highest rate of child mortality in the world – meaning the children there are more likely than any other place in the world to NOT reach their 5th birthday … about 1 in every 5.  And what's most shocking is that the vast majority of deaths are preventable. This week, ARC began the initial phase of a project in Congo to address child mortality using a social enterprise approach. The response is a co-creation with  U.S. Agency for International Development, Cheetah Development, The HealthStore Foundation and others. The program will give mothers the purchasing power to get their children the clean water, health care, and nutrition they need to be safe and healthy. Services will be provided through proven social enterprise franchises with strict quality standards. Congolese entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to start their own franchise throughout the country. Stay tuned for updates.  *An Entrepreneur...and Environmentalist!*   Pah Shwe is a Burmese refugee who lives in a refugee camp in Thailand. He’s also on ARC’s camp sanitation team. He recently came up with a way to generate a little extra income – when he’s not working with ARC – and recycle camp waste at the same time. Early in the morning, Pah pushes his trolley around camp and buys waste material such as plastic bottles and tin cans from his neighbors. He then sells the items to a shop that recycles the materials. This has doubled Pah’s monthly income! But, he’s also set an example for his neighbors that they can take care of their camp environment by reusing or recycling waste into other products. Nicely done, Pah!   *Syria Update*   The crisis in Syria recently reached a grim milestone – more than 1 million Syrians have fled the country for safety in neighboring countries like Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. 4 million more Syrians have fled their homes but have not yet fled the country. ARC is absolutely committed to helping in whatever way we can. An ARC team is in Jordan and working with our partner QuestScope. The team just wrapped up interviews with hundreds of Syrian refugees living in Amman and Irbid. Because they try to blend in in Jordan’s cities and not draw attention to themselves, urban refugees are one of the most difficult groups to reach and help.  We are actively fundraising to help people suffering through a horrific time. We’ll have more to share about our efforts in Syria in the next update. *Giving*    At the request of readers, I always include these links so they’re easy to find when you need them. Thanks so much. Become a Monthly Donor: http://www.ARCrelief.org/givemonthly Donate Online: http://www.ARCrelief.org/donate Give Us a Call: (800) 875-7060 Send in a gift: American Refugee Committee Donor Service Center P.O. Box 1002 Minneapolis, MN 55480-1002 USA *Engage*  We're sharing photos, video and stories all the time on social media. Join the conversation. Friend us! --- http://www.Facebook.com/arcrelief Follow us! --- http://www.twitter.com/arcrelief Subscribe! --- http://www.youtube.com/chriskatarc Check us out! --- http://www.instagram.com/arcrelief

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Inside ARC - 3.14 - Somalia, Burma, Scandinavia

Hi jay, Here’s an update on some of the news around ARC. As always, let us know if you have any questions. Thanks! -Daniel Daniel Wordsworth, President ***********************************************  *Going to Burma* “There’s a palpable spirit of optimism and hope for the future that we don’t always see in the places ARC works.”                                        - Michelle Heerey, ARC Senior Program Manager In February, ARC sent a small team into Burma to determine if populations need our support and how we could become operational. ARC has worked with Karen refugees (from Burma) in Thailand for more than 20 years in camps in the north of the country and in the south with economic migrants – but never inside Burma.  With the recent ‘opening-up’ and reforms in Burma, this is now possible. The team met with ordinary Burmese families, with partner organizations and government officials. They determined that ARC could do significant good in Burma, could prepare for refugee repatriation from Thailand and ought to make every effort to start a program. Please stay tuned for additional information on our entry in Burma. Members of the team included Michelle Heerey, Gary Dahl (ARC Thailand Country Director) and Chris Smoot (ARC Director of International Programs).  *Employment in Somalia*   Opportunities for training and eventual employment are severely lacking in Somalia. We’re thrilled to announce that, alongside partners Silatech and Kaah Express, ARC will soon launch a microenterprise development program in Somalia that will find 10,000 young Somalis gainfully employed and operating small businesses by mid-2014. Youth will start small businesses like cell phone repair, garment making or small-scale fishery. They’ll learn skills for these businesses through videos posted to Youtube and aired on SomaliTV, including bookkeeping and marketing. A microloan of $200 will help them get their businesses off the ground. And when they repay their loans, they’ll qualify for additional and bigger loans to grow their businesses. With very few opportunities for Somali young people, we’re extremely excited by the potential good that will result from this new program. *In Scandinavia* At the invitation of government officials, diplomats and engaged citizens throughout Scandinavia, a small group from ARC traveled to the region to share the successes and lessons learned from our I AM A STAR for Somalia program. I AM A STAR is a partnership of the American Refugee Committee and the global Somali Diaspora to co-create a humanitarian response in Somalia. By strengthening connections within the Somali community and between the Somali community and their non-Somali neighbors, we successfully launched a full-scale relief effort in Somalia while also shifting the narrative of Somalia toward hope and possibility. The people our team has spoken with are particularly interested to discuss how the program might be altered and applied specifically in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. All three countries have large immigrant populations from Somalia and are planning for more arrivals soon. The team is currently in Denmark on the last leg of the trip.   *Giving*    At the request of readers, I always include these links so they’re easy to find when you need them. Thanks so much. Become a Monthly Donor: http://www.ARCrelief.org/givemonthly Donate Online: http://www.ARCrelief.org/donate Give Us a Call: (800) 875-7060 Send in a gift: American Refugee Committee Donor Service Center P.O. Box 1002 Minneapolis, MN 55480-1002 USA *Engage*  We're sharing photos, video and stories all the time on social media. Join the conversation. Friend us! --- http://www.Facebook.com/arcrelief Follow us! --- http://www.twitter.com/arcrelief Subscribe! --- http://www.youtube.com/chriskatarc Check us out! --- http://www.instagram.com/arcrelief

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Inside ARC - 3.1.13

Hi jay, Here’s an update on what's going on at ARC. -Daniel Daniel Wordsworth, President ***********************************************  *Congressman to Somalia* U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (MN) traveled to Somalia last week on a trip organized by ARC. While there, Ellison met with the Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to discuss Somali refugees in the U.S. and remittances by the Somali-American community. He also met with the mayor of Mogadishu, the Somali Chamber of Commerce and Somali-Americans working in Somalia, as well as with ARC’s Program Director Adan Adar. Representative Ellison is the first congressperson to visit Somalia since the Obama administration recognized the new government. He made the trip at the request of his Somali-Minnesotan constituency, in order to better understand their experiences and the issues they still face. Following his trip to Somalia with ARC, Ellison spent time in Kenya at Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, meeting Somali refugees and visiting with staff from the Center for Victims of Torture. *Syria Update*   Violence in Syria has spread rapidly. Half of the more than 70,000 lives lost have been civilians. Millions of people have fled their homes, and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. ARC sent a field assessment team to Jordan last month to reach out to Syrian refugees. Living conditions vary. Refugees in Jordan’s Za’tari camp have access to adequate water and sanitation facilities, but they’re lacking educational opportunities. Syrians who’ve ended up in cities in Jordan often have inadequate housing and healthcare – and few employment opportunities. ARC is determining how we can best support and complement our Jordan-based partner Questscope, who is already actively helping refugees in both Syria and Jordan. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks. *Named to Top 100 NGOs* ARC has been named to The Global Journal’s list of the Top 100 NGOs in 2013. Criteria for selection focused on organizations’ capacity for innovation, impact and sustainability. ARC is ranked #65 on the list of global organizations – a few spots below Habitat for Humanity and a few ahead of World Vision International. Learn more at: http://www.theglobaljournal.ch/  *Giving*    At the request of readers, I always include these links so they’re easy to find when you need them. Thanks so much. Become a Monthly Donor: http://www.ARCrelief.org/givemonthly Donate Online: http://www.ARCrelief.org/donate Give Us a Call: (800) 875-7060 Send in a gift: American Refugee Committee Donor Service Center P.O. Box 1002 Minneapolis, MN 55480-1002 USA *Engage*  We're sharing photos, video and stories all the time on social media. Join the conversation. Friend us! --- http://www.Facebook.com/arcrelief Follow us! --- http://www.twitter.com/arcrelief Subscribe! --- http://www.youtube.com/chriskatarc Check us out! --- http://www.instagram.com/arcrelief

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