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The UMCOR Hotline for October 11, 2011

by UMCOR | United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) - USA
Tuesday, 11 October 2011 17:01 GMT

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In Today's Hotline:Read how UMCOR is responding all over the world.

EVENT: INM KICKS OFF 10-FOLD
SOMALIA: FOOD FOR HUNGRY CHILDREN
RESOURCES: WORLD FOOD DAY IS OCTOBER 16
DR CONGO: SAFE WATER FOR KAMINA

EVENT: INM KICKS OFF 10-FOLD

The General Board of Global Ministries’ 10-Fold campaign kicked off yesterday with highlights from The United Methodist Church’s Imagine No Malaria (INM) initiative. Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease that takes the lives of more than 750,000 people, most in sub-Saharan Africa, each year.

Through INM, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) distributes tools, such as long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, for combating malaria, and, even more important, builds the capacity of African United Methodist Churches to confront this and other health issues.

“A guiding principle of INM and UMCOR is to invest in the leadership and potential of Africa so that our church on the continent can lead and develop innovative, local solutions to health and other challenges in their communities,” said UMCOR INM executive Shannon Trilli. Read more.

10-Fold is a movement to raise awareness of Global Ministries’ projects around the world, supported through The Advance—the designated-giving arm of The United Methodist Church. It encourages United Methodists to get involved through advocacy, raising awareness, or giving.

Additional UMCOR-related programs to be featured during the 10-day 10-Fold campaign are: With* Kamina (October 16), US Disaster Response (October 17), With* Philippines (October 18), and International Disaster Response (October 19).

To learn more about 10-Fold and view additional INM resources visit www.10-fold.org. To support the INM ministry to reduce malaria deaths give to Imagine No Malaria, UMCOR Advance #3021190.

SOMALIA: FOOD FOR HUNGRY CHILDREN

As the Horn of Africa faces its worst drought in more than 60 years, fully 70 percent of children under five years old who are living in camps for the internally displaced near Mogadishu, Somalia, are severely malnourished.

In Somalia, the effects of the drought and the ability of aid agencies to reach those in need are further complicated by lawlessness and a violent rebellion.

UMCOR is working with partner Muslim Aid to establish three therapeutic feeding centers in the camps and improve the health of 900 small children. Muslim Aid has been working on the ground in the camps as well as in rebel controlled areas of Somalia, where few aid agencies have access.

The drought in the Horn of Africa is currently affecting more than 13.3 million people in four countries. Your gift to International Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #982450, helps UMCOR provide emergency assistance. Please earmark your check “Horn of Africa Crisis.”

RESOURCES: WORLD FOOD DAY IS OCTOBER 16

The film Hunger in a World of Plenty asks why, in a world that has enough resources to feed 12 billion people, are nearly one billion chronically hungry. The film makes its US premiere on World Food Day, this Sunday, October 16.

UMCOR is a co-sponsor of the premiere, which will be hosted in New York City by The Hunger Project, American Jewish World Service, and Oxfam Action Corps NYC. If you can’t join us on the red carpet, you can still mark World Food Day in your congregation and community.

Download a World Food Day poster here and a fact-filled flyer, called “Alleviating Hunger and Poverty,” to share in your congregation or neighborhood.

You can help UMCOR improve household nutrition among rural populations in Africa with your gift to World Hunger and Poverty, UMCOR Advance #982920.

DR CONGO: SAFE WATER FOR KAMINA

Most of the population of Kamina, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, cannot access even the UNICEF-recommended daily minimum amount of water needed for good health and hygiene, due to the lack of clean sources of the vital liquid.

An assessment conducted by UMCOR in Kamina last year found that much of the population relies on water from uncovered wells, rivers, and other sources of unclean and unprotected water, some up to ten miles away from homes, schools, and other learning institutions.

UMCOR is working to close the gap of need for clean water for drinking and hygiene by digging a new well at an all-girls school, Complexe St. Thérese, and another for the nearby community, benefiting nearly 4,000 people.

The project also contemplates the construction of six new latrines at the school and three hand-washing stations, as well as educational campaigns around the importance of proper hygiene and the maintenance of the wells.

Your gift to Congo (DRC) Emergency, UMCOR Advance #198400, makes a difference in the lives of rural communities such as Kamina.

UMCOR provides emergency relief in many areas of the world. To find out more about UMCOR's ministries, please visit umcor.org. You can donate to any project by placing a contribution in the offering plate at a local United Methodist church; by sending a check to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068; or by calling 1-800-554-8583, where credit card donations are accepted. You can also give online by clicking any of the "Give Now" links. UMCOR is exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and qualifies for the maximum charitable contribution deduction by donors.

And, please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick or in poverty because of these and other natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them.

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