Poo

Every 40 seconds a child under 5 years dies from diarrhoea.

That’s 760,000 preventable child deaths each year.

This is a Long Drop Loo in Cambodia provided by Australians through ALWS.

 

Tragically, 40% of the world’s population don’t have decent toilets like this, or proper sanitation.

The UN estimates proper sanitation for everyone in the world missing out would cost $14 billion. This is what Australians spend on gambling in just one month!

 

Washing hands with soap saves lives

Our Lutheran team in South Sudan sets up Hygiene Clubs in local schools.  They learn about appropriate toilet behaviour and hand washing, and then pass these hygiene messages on to their families and other community members. They use drama, songs and poems to teach:

• hand-washing
• using latrines
• washing utensils
• keeping homes clean to avoid flies

In South Sudan, school Hygiene Clubs even take these messages to children and adults in mobile cattle camps.

One Principal, talking about the impact of the Hygiene Club in his school, said:

  “In the past we had diseases. Now all children use latrines and wash their hands with soap afterwards, thanks to hygiene clubs. Today, we don’t have flies, and there are no diseases such as cholera. The transfer of knowledge is important.”

The Hygiene Club in another school in Panyagor helped completely eliminate all cases of dysentery at school!

You can see here the school uniforms provided to Hygiene Club members by ALWS. A child with a uniform is motivated to go to school. If they go to school, they learn about improved hygiene. They take these lessons back to their family and everyone is protected!

COST: $393

(Hygiene Awareness Day to reach 240 households in a South Sudan cattle camp, including snacks to attract high attendance. An extra $240 provides a bar of soap for each household, that can last a month.)

Donate Now

Call 1300 763 407 or Post your cheque to: PO Box 488 Albury NSW 2640

PLEASE AIM TO DONATE BY 30 JUNE

No open defecation

‘No open defecation’ is exactly what it says.

ALWS supports Lutheran teams to teach communities that poo-ing in the open is dangerous. The poo ends up on children’s fingers, and then in their mouths. Or washed into rivers and ponds where families draw their water for drinking and cooking and washing.

One way of showing families the danger is to put a plate of poo and a plate of food side by side.

People see flies go from one to the other, and no words are needed. Once people see this, they understand the need for building proper long drop loos, and using them.

Where a picture really is worth a thousand words

In Cambodia, you support rights-based development projects villages in Kravanh and Aoral Districts. A critical part of helping communities improve the health of their families is to teach about good hygiene, proper sanitation and clean water practices. Note the equal balance of male and female participants. This is encouraging as it means parents can work as partners in teaching their children good practices.

 

A useful kind of graffiti on public toilets

Installing public toilets in convenient locations is a vital step in persuading people there is no need for open defecation. At this public toilet in a community in South Sudan that has benefited from ALWS help, the walls are used for hygiene messages. Because many people cannot read, art is used – quite graphically and explicitly, as you can see!

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Lutheran Long Drop Loo

Step 1: Dig and seal

1. Dig a 0.5 metre deep hole, and seal with concrete ring
2. Dig a second hole 1.5 metres deep, and fit with 3 concrete rings
3. Run a pipe from first to second to drain away excreta
4. Fit squatting slab to first hole
5. Use local materials to build privacy shelter

Step 2: Build privacy

1. Families use their own labour and local materials to build privacy around their Long Drop Loo.
2. The poorest families may simply use palm leaves, woven together with bamboo and reeds.
3. Toen Ton from Cambodia has built a privacy shelter that is a model to the rest of his village.

Step 3: Safe families

“I felt so ashamed when visitors or relatives came to our house and we had no latrine. It was not easy for them to walk under the rain to go 100 metres long in the forest, especially at night-time. I am so worried when my daughter went because of insects, snake and safety because of raping.

“I am so happy we no longer have to go to the forest to have a poo. Diseases have been reduced, so we have more time to do farming and earn income.”

Mrs Loem Nhes

COST: $50 - $100

(depending on conditions and country)

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Clean and safe in public too

This public toilet has been installed at the Lutheran-supported Health Post at Bardiya in Nepal. The total cost is approximately $6,000. Please note:

1. Ramps for children with special needs
2. Trough to wash hands with soap
3. Hygiene reminder messages on wall
4. Separate male and female stands for privacy

The messages painted on the wall translate as:

• Wash your hands with soap and water to be free from diseases.
• Wash your hands with soap and water after using toilet.
• Other do not construct toilet for you and the disease can't wait, so, let’s make our toilet ourselves and be safe from diseases

Do you know?

• If we wash our hand with soap and water there will be 45 % decrease in the incidents of diarrhea
• If you use toilets there will be 32 % decrease in the incidents of diarrhea

In Indonesia, people are trained to understand the challenges faced by people with special needs when going to the toilet.

 

COST: $10,000

Install a 6 stand block to cater for 750 students in South Sudan

COST: $4,777

Build an adapatable latrine for people with special needs at Kakuma Refugee Camp

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Girls need special care

In remote areas of Nepal, during menstruation women were isolated in structures like this one called Chaupadi Sheds (photo). They were not allowed to drink milk or eat other healthy food. Training is breaking down this discrimination, and the sheds are being demolished and replaced with latrines. Communities trained and encouraged by Lutheran teams are declaring their villages ‘No Open Defecation’ zones.

Special care at a special time

As girls attending school become young women, there is a high risk they drop out of school because of embarrassment and lack of privacy. Proper separate toilets for boys and girls are vital to prevent this.

In Burundi, girls – especially those who are orphans or vulnerable – are also provided with a Girl’s Hygiene Kit that contains:

• soap
• school uniform
• sanitation pad
• water bucket
• body oil
• school fees

COST: $25 (for one Kit)

Donate Now

Call 1300 763 407 or Post your cheque to: PO Box 488 Albury NSW 2640

PLEASE AIM TO DONATE BY 30 JUNE

 

Kakuma Refugee Camp

Why These Children Need Us

Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya is home to more than 110,000 people fleeing war in South Sudan, Somalia and other neighbouring countries. The camp is managed by a Lutheran (World Federation) team for the UN.

Our Australian Lutheran family has special responsibility for vulnerable children in the camp:

• pre-school aged children (4,341)
• children with special needs (429)
• vulnerable children e.g. orphans  (560)
• unaccompanied children (8,750)

Many of these children will have witnessed conflict, death and injury, loss of people they know and burning of villages. They will have lost their family home and land, and been forced to flee across harsh territory into Kenya seeking refuge. They now live in the foreign environment of a close-packed refugee camp.  You can see why these children exhibit symptoms of stress and trauma.

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Provide schools for healing

55% of the refugees at Kakuma are children 17 years  or younger. One of the most effective ways to help children overcome trauma is through education. By looking forward children move beyond the pain of looking back.  The Lutheran team is recognised as experts in providing education in refugee camp scenarios (Kakuma, Dadaab, South Sudan). We face many challenges though. Temperatures at Kakuma regularly exceed 40 degrees.  Vicious winds come in from the surrounding desert.  And when rain does come, it can be monsoonal.

Classroom walls are quickly damaged. Floors may be sand or rock and dangerous – especially for children with special needs. ALWS has been asked to support the building, repair and rehabilitation of classrooms.

Improve Conditions to Give Hope

Refugee camps must often expand quickly to give refuge to thousands of people fleeing crisis. Therefore it can take time to build enough schools. Conditions may be very crowded, school materials in short supply, and there may not be enough trained teachers.

The Lutheran education program aims to achieve a ratio of one classroom per 60 students, and one desk for  every three students. We must also provide play equipment for the youngest children, school stationery, powder paints, teacher resources and materials for children with special needs ALWS has also been asked to support training 68 Primary, 12 Secondary and 20 Special Needs teachers.

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Fill The Belly

One of the ways we can encourage young children to attend pre-school regularly is by offering food.  A id-morning porridge snack provides each child with 430 kilocalories.   This increases the activity level of children, and encourages regular attendance, both of which improve learning.  Extra feeding in the form of high energy biscuits helps increase the kilocalorie intake of each child to up to 455 kilocalories per day. Special extra support is given to child-headed households (where children have been orphaned, or separated from parents).

ALWS has been asked to provide biscuits for preschool children, support additional kitchen supplies, replace worn out utensils and supplement the cost of loading and offoading foodstuffs and other materials to schools.

Lift the Soul

In a refugee camp, children from many countries and cultures have to live side by side in crowded conditions. Children may also have suffered injury and trauma. Play and simple games can help restore child’s happiness, and bring them closer to a normal life. Different activities are needed for different ages. Songs and dancing might suit four year olds, while older children may need something more active.

Football (soccer), jump rope, hula-hoops, volleyball and badminton all provide outlets for children after school.  By playing together, children from different backgrounds learn to get on with one another, thus reducing the risk of conflict.

ALWS is asked to provide play materials, including for children with special needs.

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See Success!

Our Lutheran team provides a two year Early Childhood Development (ECD) curriculum for refugee children.  The goal is to have 85% of the 4,341 children aged 5 and 6 attend pre-school, and to have 80% of  these children graduate.

Children who complete the ECD program do significantly better at their next level of education, where they are taught in English using the Kenyan curriculum. As children grow, they can join Child Rights Clubs where they learn about human rights, protecting themselves against violence and sexual abuse, and train as community leaders. ALWS has been asked to support 8 pre-schools, as well as support 20 Child Rights Clubs Active play helps children move on from the trauma they have suffered.

You can see the joy you bring to children at school!

Your Blessing Lives On

Mary Abuk Dau is a Peace Offcer with our Lutheran (LWF) team in Panyagor in South Sudan. She fled the war to Kakuma when she was 10.

“It was at Kakuma that I learnt about Lutheran. They were the ones who supported education. They brought the teachers, and they also do work with the youths… The reason I have come to work for LWF is because of the education they gave me at Kakuma. I want to give this same education to my community. I cannot simply stay home and keep quiet.”

Only God knows where life will take the pre-school children at Kakuma you help now. Perhaps peace means they can return home as Mary has – as teachers, accountants, leaders. Perhaps they may come as new neighbours to Australia, where we are already so blessed by these people bringing their passionate faith to our congregations.

 

ALWS must raise $200,000 to meet our commitment to the children at Kakuma in 2013. Thank you for the gift of hugs and hope you give!

Our Teddy Bear campaign will raise money for the children of Kakuma.  Please support today.

 

Donate Now

Call 1300 763 407

Post your cheque to: PO Box 488 Albury NSW 2640

 

 

Sahel – 10 million people at risk

The United Nations has called on the world to respond to a hunger crisis threatening 10 million people in the Sahel* region of Africa.

Donate now to Lutheran response

Worst hit countries are Niger, Chad and Mali. In Niger, 5.4 million people are at risk of hunger, and 1.3 million people in critical need of food.

The UNHCR has distributed 15 tonnes of rice, oil, sugar and salt – 15 days supply for 5,000 refugees. This is the first step of a far larger three phase program of relief work, early recovery programs and long term development action.

The Lutheran response is led by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) team in Mauritania, with our teams in Niger, Mali and Burkino Faso ready to act as needed. The Mauritania team is preparing a full action program to put to the churches of the world through actalliance. Already blankets, baby clothing, soaps and hygiene kits have been distributed to vulnerable Malian refugee families by the Lutheran team. We also stand ready to help families rebuild after the disaster, to help protect them from drought in the future.

To support the Lutheran response, donate now. Your donation will be channelled through the actalliance program to our Lutheran team leading the response of churches worldwide.

* Sahel refers to a 1000km wide region stretching across Africa between the Sahara in the north and the Sudanian savannahs in the south. Countries (or part of countries) in this region are (west to east) Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Algeria,Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Sudan (including Darfur region) and Eritrea.

ALWS will use your donation to support communities working for peace in South Sudan, and other countries like Burundi. Any extra money raised will be used for similar ALWS-supported projects.

 

Our Lutheran Action in South Sudan in Wake of Conflict

Fresh conflict in South Sudan has left hundreds of people dead and thousands displaced. Our Lutheran work is focused in Jongei state, one of the worst-hit areas.

Much of this is happening in Jonglei state, where our Lutheran support from Australia and NZ through ALWS is focused.

The conflict is happening at two main levels:

• between tribes in the south over cattle-rustling and alleged child abduction
• ongoing tension between the Government in the north and the new Government of South Sudan.

The good news is our team in South Sudan is safe, and is taking a lead role in helping victims of the violence, and also in promoting peace initiatives.

Key activities of our Lutheran team include:

• in Likuagole on 31 January, 1500 NFI Kits (Non-Food items – blankets, pots, soap etc) + 700 mosquito nets + 700 plastic sheets (for shelter) were distributed
• 1000 NFI Kits for Bor
• 1000 NFI Kits for Panyagor
• Lutheran team member travelling to Uror to assess needs

Other action:

• On 5 & 6 February, our Emergency Coordinator Michael Mading completed distribution of seeds to 1000 households in Fangak: sorghum, maize, beans and vegetables
• 1000 fishing kits are being readied in Juba for families with access to waterways, so they can fish to feed their families and to sell in markets.
• Small grant will be provided to school in Duk Padiet to replace school materials damaged or destroyed in the recent attack. Same is likely to be done for school in Waat.

Thank you for your support through ALWS to communities at risk in South Sudan.

Donate Now to South Sudan

 

East African Food Crisis

Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and actalliance partners in the Horn of Africa region see need everywhere – in the Kakuma, Dadaab and Djibouti Refugee Camps and due to the war and fighting in Somalia and Sudan.  However, it is the worst drought in the East Africa for over 60 years that is rapidly worsening an already extremely difficult situation in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. LWF has responded to a huge influx of refugees into Dadaab (Kenya) and Dollo Odo (Ethiopia) from Somalia, as well as local communities in both countries where families are struggling with the failure of crops, loss of livestock and their related livelihoods. Other actalliance members are also responding to the situation in Somalia itself where hundreds of thousands of people are struggling to survive.

The Good News:

• Good rains have come to much of Kenya and some rains to Somalia and Ethiopia, breaking the severe drought.  The areas of Somalia that were in famine have had that status lifted.  A small number of refugees have been able to return to their homeland.
• AusAID has approved the ALWS application to have $810,875 matched through the Australian Government's dollar-for-dollar match for East Africa.  The support through ALWS to help people in East Africa is: $1,811,965 (As well as our Lutheran family, this includes generous gifts from Uniting Church and Churches of Christ through ALWS.)  With the Australian Government match, this means our total aid effort for East Africa is worth more than $2.6 million!  Thank you! 

Challenges In East Africa:

• Crops still need to be planted and will take time to grow.  Hunger is still a real issue for millions of people at this time, particularly in Somalia.
• Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their countries to seek refuge in refugee camps in Kenya and Somalia.  Lutheran World Federation continue the difficult but essential task of managing the camps.  Figures released on the 10th January showed there were 463,000 refugees just in the Dadaab Refugee Camp.
• There have been some real challenges in the camps, with violence and unrest.  Two Somali refugee leaders helping LWF in a voluntary capacity have been killed.  There have also been some attacks on aid workers, and as a result, all visits to Dadaab have been suspended and no expatriate aid workers are able to go there. LWF and other agencies are maintaining as much life-saving work as possible – food, water and limited medical care. Our work in schools, and surveying tent sites, has been reduced for the time being as they are high risk activities. LWF is working with all involved agencies on adapting plans given the insecurity challenge.
• Political instibility (including fighting, unrest and bloodshed) are still part of very difficult challenges for the international community in Somalia.
• In the Kakuma Refugee Camp, LWF have recently seen an increased influx of refugees from South Sudan. On Monday 9th of January LWF received 150 refugees, all of them from South Sudan (on average they have been getting between 70-150 refugees per week).  There is a growing unrest in South Sudan.

Help Now

Call 1300 763 407

Post your cheque to: PO Box 488 Albury NSW 2640

More detail ...

Your lifesaving action through ALWS so far ...

SOMALIA - $150,000

The war against Al shabaab by Kenyan Defence forces continues, aiming to bring security and safety to the general population. The security situation therefore remains highly dangerous. Heavy rains have broken the drought, with good prospects of improved livestock, pasture and crop production and increased water access. Your help is delivered by Norwegian Church Aid through local Somali partners.

Action you support	Achieved
Food	1,655 tonnes to 6,810 households
Latrine construction	240
Jerry-cans	5,000
Sanitation Kits (2 soaps, 2 underpants, 6 packs of sanitary pads - 16 pads per pack)	1,350 households

 Target districts: Luuq, Dollow and Bulla Hawa in Gedo region

• People have lost everything. They need basics like jerry-cans for water, and even bowls for cooking.
• Emergency food distributions give families a basic survival ration.
• Sanitation is critical to prevent disease and death. Latrines are basic, using a pit system.

ETHIOPIA - $292,500 

Food aid

Targeted to 40,972 people in the Abaya, Chinaksen and Dawe Kachen districts:

Input (for 3 months)	Per person per month	Total food to be delivered
Wheat / Maize	15kg	1843.74 tonnes
Edible Oil	0.45kg	55.31 tonnes
Beans	1.5kg	184.37 tonnes
High protein porridge	4.5kg	193.59 tonnes

Food-For-Work

People work on infrastructure projects and are paid with food for their labour:

• construct roads (connect community, access to markets etc)
• construct and rehabilitate ponds
• tree-planting for reafforestation
• construct stone bunds (to stop erosion)
• hillside terracing
• dams, waterways and drain construction

Food-For-Work projects are an efficient way to get food to hungry people, and have three main benefits beyond providing food:

1. important projects are delivered
2. people maintain dignity because they have earned their food
3. the community feels ownership of projects because they built them 

Dollo Odo Refugee Camps

A wide range of activities including feeding under 5s; provide safe water supply and family latrines; tree-planting and seedling nursery; training in brick-making and tailoring.

DADAAB REFUGEE CAMP - $368,811 

Situation remains extreme and challenge with insecurity caused by Al shabaab, including attacks on aid workers. Dadaab remains home to more than 500,000 Somali refugees, and is managed by a Lutheran team. While food, water and sanitation work continues, ALWS has proposed to Australian Government that we use our Lutheran expertise to expand badly-needed education for children. 

Action	Objective
School uniforms, sanitary towels and advocacy so girls can come to school	2,000 girls enrolled
Education for children with special needs	160 children enrolled
Improve sanitation at schools (currently 1 toilet per 85 students)	160 latrines constructed
Provide more classrooms (currently 1 classroom per 113 students)	140 classrooms constructed 22 classrooms connected to power
Increase quality of teaching (currently 1 teacher to 70 students)	70 national teachers hired 20% of current volunteer teachers trained

Your help continues to support the work of Community Peace and Security Teams. These are refugee volunteers who provide an around-the-clock security presence, sorting out small disputes before they become bigger ones. The aim is to have two CPSTs before block of 100 households, equipped with whistle and torch. 

“…without LWF, [Dadaab] would be impossible. They have institutional knowledge. Our first port of call is LWF. LWF owns management of camps, and they have hands-on knowledge of the nuances of the camp. UNHCR relies very heavily on LWF.” UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees), in November; LWF is Lutheran World Federation, your partner through ALWS

Help Now

Call 1300 763 407

Post your cheque to: PO Box 488 Albury NSW 2640

Shoats

In the Horn of Africa, families’ livestock are their wealth. When the worst drought in 60 years hit last year, many families lost everything.  In the Horn of Africa there’s a saying that goes something like ‘When the livestock die, you know it won’t be long before people do too.’

That’s why it was an occasion of great celebration when on 16 November our Lutheran (World Federation - LWF) team in Turkana in northern Kenya started providing 10 healthy sheep and goats to each household.

Dr Erenius Nakadio, the LWF Veterinary Officer, explains,

“The animals are inspected to ensure that they are healthy and of the breeding age. Then they are de-wormed, and treated with antibiotics for disease prevention, and finally branded with the LWF logo for purposes of identification and post-distribution monitoring, and to help prevent rustling.”

The Turkana people are pastoralists, and were among the people hurt worst by the devastating drought that hit the Horn of Africa in the second half of 2011. As their cattle, sheep and goats died of thirst and lack of food, the people had to rely on food aid to survive.

One of the first tasks our LWF team had at that time was the heartbreaking one of helping families ‘de-stock’.

Basically, the livestock was in such a fragile state and food supplies so short, they were worthless in the market. Our team paid a decent price for the livestock, so people didn’t lose everything. The livestock were then slaughtered to provide a little meat to the people.

The good news is that in November, the rains began in Kenya, and the drought broke. Pasture is growing, creating the right conditions for the Lutheran team to begin distributing 6,600 sheep and goats to 660 households.

Paulina Nawar Achuka received ten animals for her family:

“When we lost our animals due to drought, we were so desperate with ourselves. But now that LWF has done this, we appreciate and can now start rebuilding our lives again. In Turkana culture, what is happening here today is like a wedding ceremony where each and every family member of the bride gets a share of the bride prize.”

Your donations through ALWS helped provide the sheep and goats that will enable the Turkana people to begin rebuilding their lives. Thank you!

Read more here.

Please pray for: 

• peace in the refugee camps, to South Sudan and to Somalia
• that security can be restored so full life-saving work can resume in all refugee camps
• wisdom for LWF and other agencies responding to the crisis
• safety for our Lutheran teams still working in Dadaab
• the refugee families who have suffered so much

Photo Credit:  Lokiru Matendo

Help Now

Call 1300 763 407

Post your cheque to: PO Box 488 Albury NSW 2640

For older resources on the African Food Crisis, click here.