CRS Responds to Pockets of Hunger Across Africa

Countries in East Africa are continuing to cope with drought conditions that have affected the livelihoods of millions of people and left them struggling to find enough to eat. At the same time, West Africa is starting to prepare for the coming hungry season, one year after a food crisis crippled the region.

East Africa — Kenya
Rains have now started in East Africa, including Kenya, where 3.5 million people were affected by drought in recent months. But even if the rains continue, recovering from the drought will be difficult for many families who have limited access to the food they need. Declining nutrition levels are still evident in northern and eastern parts of the country, and child malnutrition rates continue to hover well above the emergency threshold.

	Farming fields withered after prolonged drought.

The widespread loss of livestock to drought conditions, and a decline in prices for these animals, have made recovery even more difficult for pastoral families. In addition, surviving animals, weakened by the conditions, are now more susceptible to diseases.

CRS/Kenya responded at the onset of the drought by diverting food to the communities with the greatest need. In recent weeks, CRS' response is continuing to grow. Using money from the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, UNICEF, private donors and other sources, CRS will provide supplementary feeding for children 5 and under, clean water and sanitation, and help for farmers.

West Africa — Niger
A brutal combination of drought and locust invasions across the Sahel region last year resulted in a food crisis that affected more than 12 million people. In Niger, where 3.6 million people were at risk because of food shortages, many are still trying to recover from devastating losses. Conditions are generally better this year, but some estimates indicate that 2.7 million people in Niger — more than 20 percent of the population — are still hungry.

Having lost their crops, many families in Niger were forced to buy the food they needed by borrowing on future earnings, often reimbursing creditors in-kind with their meager harvests. This left many farmers with only enough food to meet their families' needs for less than four months. Survival strategies — such as taking day-labor jobs or selling off goods and young animals — have already become common throughout affected parts of the country. People who resort to borrowing more money have been forced to pay exorbitant interest rates, as high as 200 percent.

The result, in many cases, is hunger. Malnutrition rates have reached 16 percent in some areas of Niger that CRS serves. Farmers in the most affected communities don't have seed on hand as the rainy season approaches, signaling another difficult year for vulnerable households. CRS is gearing up to respond; activities may include feeding centers for young children and agricultural supports targeting vulnerable farmers who have lost more than half their harvest.

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Newborns in Need, Inc. (NIN) is a 501(c)3 charity organized to take care of sick and needy babies and their families; and in cases of crisis, to help where help is needed.

Newborns in Need, Inc. is founded upon Christian principles and provides essential items without charge to those in need. We have been serving God's tiniest children since 1992.

Newborns in Need disseminates information and empowers others to assist in this critical need. Please feel free to drop us a line, we encourage involvement, perhaps volunteering or starting a chapter is what God has led you to do at this time in your life


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MMA manages and coordinates large-scale charitable air medical transportation programs for individuals, often children, who need access to medical research centers and disease-specific treatment programs.

MMA encourages and assists commercial airlines in the development of charitable ticket programs nationally. An important program for thousands who need charitable airline ticket assistance.

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Child Aid

Our Vision: To provide children in Latin America with access to an education and health care.

Mission: Child Aid helps poor children by establishing partnerships with grassroots community organizations in Latin America working to remove barriers to their children’s health and education. These community organizations have identified crucial needs and developed strategies for positive change. They lack the financial and technical resources and experience in organization building that Child Aid provides. After helping a local group to develop the skills to sustain itself and grow, Child Aid moves on to assist somewhere else. In this way, we’re helping to create organizations that have a lasting and memorable impact … building brighter futures for poor children.

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1 Who are the Benedictines of Jesus Crucified and where is the monastery?

The Benedictines of Jesus Crucified, Monastery of the Glorious Cross in Branford, Connecticut is a place in which a cloistered congregation of nuns share a communal life of prayer and self sacrifice.

2 What is so special about this community?

Since its foundation, the community has welcomed women with disabilities. Despite substantial impairments and often chronic pain, the sisters spend their days in prayer and sacrifice. At this time, the sisters' disabilities are compounded by advancing years. The average age of our sisters is 73 years old.

3 What are our needs?

The community savings is slowly being depleted while health care needs, living expenses, and building maintenance costs are increased. Although a dedicated group of volunteers helps in many areas, they are unable to meet all the needs. We know that our cause is but one of many to which you are asked to contribute. We have never in the past collected funds even during masses. Our situation is now such that we pray for your charity in whatever amount you are able to give. You will be in our prayers.

Please also visit our website http://www.benedictinesjc.org to learn more about our community.

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Food For The Poor (FFP) ministers to spiritually renew impoverished people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Established in 1982 as a 501(c)(3)corporation, our goals are to improve the health, economic, social and spiritual conditions of the men, women and children we serve.

Food For The Poor raises funds and provides direct relief assistance to the poor, usually by purchasing specifically requested materials and distributing them through the churches and charity organizations already operating in areas of need. In this way, the organization serves the poor with dignity and ensures the most appropriate use of donors' funds.

Our ministry reflects God's unconditional love, which surrenders all, inspires trust and faith, and embraces all people regardless of race, status or creed. We believe that Christ is alive, and that we can best serve Him by being of assistance to those in greatest need (Matthew 25:31-46). Finally, we stress the need for regular prayer to guide and maintain the purity of our mission.

Our mission is to link the church of the First World with the church of the Third World in a manner that helps both the materially poor and the poor in spirit. The materially poor are served by local churches, clergy and lay leaders who have been empowered and supplied with goods by Food For The Poor. The poor in spirit are renewed by their relationship with and service to the poor through our direct ministry of teaching, encouragement and prayer. Ultimately, we seek to bring both benefactors and recipients to a closer union with our Lord.

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Operation Rice Bowl

Operation Rice Bowl is the official Lenten program of Catholic Relief Services. Each Lent, parishes, school and other faith communities participate in Operation Rice Bowl to learn more about the work of CRS and put their faith into action. As a Lenten solidarity program, Operation Rice Bowl calls Catholics to reach out to assist our brothers and sisters around the world through the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving while learning about their lives overseas. This year, join over 15,400 groups in the United States participating in Operation Rice Bowl and foster solidarity between your community and those who struggle with hunger and poverty around the world.

The Operation Rice Bowl 2007 featured countries are Mexico, Pakistan, Angola, Cambodia and Niger . Through stories, photos and recipes from these featured countries, participants learn about the joys and challenges in the lives our brothers and sisters overseas. By signing up for the Operation Rice Bowl Online Community, participants also receive weekly emails during Lent which contain reflections on the 2007 featured countries.

To create an enriching Lenten experience for your entire faith community, Operation Rice Bowl provides resources to help coordinate and publicize your community's participation, including public service announcements for television and radio.

Operation Rice Bowl has served as a tangible way for Catholics in the United States to connect in solidarity with our brothers and sisters overseas for over 30 years. Find out more about Operation Rice Bowl's History, receive answers to your Frequently Asked Questions, or contact us to learn more about how you can become involved in this Lenten tradition.

Your support helps families around the world through Catholic Relief Services' development projects.

75% of Rice Bowl proceeds come to Catholic Relief Services and help fund development projects designed to increase food security in communities in over 40 countries around the world.

• Agriculture projects help farmers improve crop yields.
• Microfinance projects encourage the growth of small businesses.
• Mother and Child Health projects provide basic health and nutrition services.
• Education projects provide resources and training.
• HIV/AIDS projects support the local Catholic Church in communities around the world in addressing the many needs of people affected by this disease.

25% of contributions support hunger and poverty alleviation efforts in dioceses in the United States.

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Every eight seconds a baby is born. Every hour four babies die. Birth defects are the leading cause of infant mortality. One in five infant deaths is due to birth defects. Every two minutes a low birth weight baby is born. Every year more than 5,500 babies are born weighing less than one pound. Every minute a baby is born to a teen mother. One in nine infants is born preterm - less than 37 weeks gestation. The U.S. infant mortality rate is higher than 24 other nations.*

Cold facts and hard figures. To bring it closer to home, according to one research group as reported in an August 2000 issue of the Columbus Dispatch**, the child poverty rate increased in Ohio by 50% in the past 20 years, much higher than the national rate during the same period. It's a simple fact that many of Ohio's newborns lack the basic necessities to assist them in developing and sustaining good health. A warm blanket and clothing are vital to a newborn to retain body heat. These simple items can make the difference in an infant's ability to ward off other illnesses which could develop, necessitating return hospital stays that could have been prevented and adding to the already high cost. Our mission is to 'touch the little lives' of needy premature and newborn infants in Ohio, to do all that we can to give them, free of any charge, the necessities that every newborn needs. Our volunteers hand make quilts, blankets, caps, booties, gowns, undershirts, afghans, bibs, sleepers, and other articles as well as provide diapers, hygiene products, formula and bottles when possible.

Unfortunately there is one additional need that we sadly meet within our communities. Imagine, if you will, a young couple eagerly awaiting the birth of their new child. For reasons known only to God, this tiny angel is called to join its Heavenly Father. Instead of being able to rejoice at this new life, the sad reality is that this family must now provide for a single outfit in which to lay their precious child to rest. Many of these children arrive into this world prematurely, weighing less than one pound. At this difficult time, when a family member should be happily shopping at toy stores for rattles or toys for their child, they are instead there looking for doll clothing small enough to fit. Our volunteers respond during this time of grieving by providing burial layettes to these families for their child, a tear sewn into every stitch. A tear of sorrow for the child, a tear of love and compassion for the family.

Each year literally hundreds upon hundreds of premature and needy babies are admitted to our local Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). The extremely small size of many of these infants makes it difficult to find clothing that fits, and when it can be found, is often beyond the affordable range of many families. Every item which we provide is completely free of charge and no one in our organization receives any salary or compensation for their work. Every penny donated is spent on providing for these little lives. This is truly a charity of the heart, our reward being the personal satisifaction of helping those too young and fragile to help themselves.

In addition to providing clothing and necessity items to newborns, we also make and provide neonatal positioning devices(snuggles, snakes and frogs)to area hospitals as well as surgery dolls and stuffed animals. The positioning devices are used in the NICU to support the many tubes and monitoring devices often attached to the newborns. Our surgery dolls are used by doctors and nurses to draw on and graphically explain to a young child about their pending surgery. This helps the child understand what he or she is about to undergo. This doll is then given to the child, something to hold on to during the stressful hospital stay and something to take with when they are finally able to return home. We make stuffed animals and these are provided to various area agencies and emergency rooms. Having something soft to cling to during a time of stress can do much to ease the trauma of a young child.

If you would be interested in becoming a part of Touching Little Lives, or would like further information about what you can do, visit our "How You Can Help" page on this web site.


*Based on 1994 final data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Calculations by the March of Dimes Prenatal Data Center 1997.

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Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) is the leading U.S.-based Catholic-charity focusing exclusively on global healthcare, particularly the well-being of women and children.

A faith-based leader in global healthcare, CMMB works to fight HIV/AIDS from Africa to Asia, to combat tuberculosis in Zambia, and to provide primary healthcare in Latin America and the Caribbean. CMMB has provided medicines and supplies to more than 100 countries around the world since 1928.

CMMB is focused on the development and management of healthcare programs that meet identified needs, make a lasting impact and utilize all our experience and expertise. Through these programs, we are helping to build a world where quality healthcare is available to all.

CMMB fulfills its mission by building and managing comprehensive healthcare programs that target leading causes of death and suffering in the developing world. We integrate our key strengths – medical donations , and volunteer placement – into our program initiatives. CMMB also provides emergency relief to places that have experienced natural or political catastrophes.

Among US-based charities, CMMB rates as one of the most effective and trusted international healthcare organizations. We have one of the broadest networks of faith-based partners around the world. Many of these faith-based institutions work in the hardest-to-reach areas and thus offer healthcare accessibility that governments cannot. In many developing countries, Catholic health institutions and other church-affiliated programs are leading the response to health crises such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and preventable diseases.

In addition to the work we do overseas, CMMB strives to raise consciousness here at home about the inequalities in basic healthcare throughout the world. We are active in several international groups that effect changes in policies and regulations regarding the distribution of donated drugs. We also publish CMMB Today, a quarterly publication that focuses on international healthcare issues and the impact of our work.

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Our mission is to alleviate human suffering and promote dignity for all God's children overseas without regard to race, belief, or nationality. Our programs touch the lives of more than 80 million people per year in 99 countries around the world.

This catalog offers you the opportunity to help the most vulnerable and impoverished people through a wide variety of projects. Now you can give your family, friends, and loved ones a gift that embraces our one human family. Review our catalog of projects pertaining to feeding the poor, building a better society, promoting self sufficiency, and promoting better health. Then help celebrate meaningful dates and events such as birthdays, graduations, promotions, holidays, weddings, and anniversaries by supporting one or more of our life-saving projects. Your gift from our CRS Project Catalog will make a world of difference. Thank you.

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If you're old enough, you may remember how Danny Thomas worked hard to make St. Jude's a household name for children with catastrophic illnesses, especially childhood cancer.

Here's a little about the facility:

St. Jude is unlike any other pediatric treatment and research facility anywhere. Discoveries made here have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

We are where some of today's most gifted researchers are able to do more science, more quickly. Where doctors across the world send their toughest cases and most vulnerable patients. Where no one pays for treatment beyond what is covered by insurance, and those without insurance are never asked to pay. We've built America's 3rd-largest health-care charity, with a model that keeps the costs down and the funds flowing, so the science never stops.

All patients accepted for treatment at St. Jude are treated without regard to the family's ability to pay. (source)

Here is the link to their ways to help page: http://www.stjude.org/waystohelp

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The Vision International mission is to combat unnecessary
blindness at home and abroad through:

• Education of eye care professionals
• Provision of surgical and medical eye care
• Creation of collaborative partnerships
• Organization of sustainable eye care programs
  in developing countries

In the US

• Care of indigent, uninsured and underinsured people
• Research projects related to eye care

Short Overseas Projects

• Sponsoring 1-2 months mini-residencies for ophthal-
  mologists from developed countries to improve their skills
• Providing supplies and equipment to Vision Int'l Fellows
• Visiting overseas clinics and eye camps

Major Overseas Projects

• Creating sustainable, high-quality, and affordable
  eye care for the developing world

Contact here

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