UMCOR / News Room / News & Features / Archives 2010

News & Features Archives 2010

December 2010

 

November 2010

  • Armenia: Gaining a New Perspective Toward HIV
    United Methodist Committee on Relief in Armenia (UMCOR Armenia) is combating the spread of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) by raising awareness in local communities, increasing access to screenings and treatment through mobile medical teams, and training local healthcare practitioners.
  • Imagine No Malaria has First Release of Funds
    The United Methodist Church plans to combat malaria in Africa by using both its own health infrastructure and partnerships with other organizations.
  • A Change of Heart in the Face of AIDS
    As World AIDS Day, Dec. 1 draws near, United Methodists and friends are reminded of the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS, a disease that has robbed more than 33 million lives around the world.
  • Mission Students Meet in Miami
    After eight weeks of conducting personal research and corresponding by email and online chats, nine United Methodists met in Miami this week as part of the Mission Travel Study to Haiti.
  • Haiti Braces for Tomas
    After ten months of struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake in January, the people in Haiti are doing what they can to brace themselves against Tropical Storm Tomas.
  • Sexual Violence and HIV
    During the war, Kabongo was a field of violence. Located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), communities in and around Kabongo lived under the constant threat of the Congolese army and rebel groups who pillaged, raped, burned homes, and confiscated food rations.
 

October 2010

  • Nouveau College Bird of Haiti Celebrates 50th Anniversary
    Nouveau College Bird had ample space for the celebration of its 50th anniversary in Haiti’s capital city.
  • UMCOR Disaster Response Training Supports Methodists Worldwide
    The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has long been known in the US as the go-to organization for disaster response training.
  • ACT Alliance Responds to the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti
    UMCOR is working with our partners to address the cholera outbreak in Haiti. Gifts to support UMCOR's work in Haiti can be made at www.umcorhaiti.org.
  • Progress in Haiti
    UMCOR is in Haiti on behalf of the United Methodist Church, but more importantly, we are there for the people of Haiti,” said The Rev. Cynthia Fierro Harvey at the General Board of Global Ministries’ board meeting in Stamford, CT on October 11.
  • UMCOR Aids Farmers Hit by Haiti’s Earthquake
    To increase food production in the earthquake-impacted areas of Haiti, United Methodists are supporting a project that will encourage farmers in the practice of “passing on the gift.”
  • UMCOR Plans Food Project for Sudan
    The food shortage in South Sudan is so severe that more than half of the residents in two counties say they regularly skip meals.
  • Earthquake and Tsunami Response Continues in Chile
    More than eight months have passed since an earthquake and resulting tsunami killed more than 500 people and wiped out hundreds of thousands of homes in Chile.
  • United Methodists Aim to Lift HIV/AIDS Stigma
    The Rev. Shane Stanford leads what he says is “considered one of the most innovative churches in Florida.”
  • Church Awakens to AIDS Call
    Lighten the Burden III, the third international AIDS conference held October 14-16 in Dallas, Texas, kicked off with an alarm that called the church to awaken from its silence in confronting the HIV/AIDS issue in the pews.
  • Chilean Methodists, UMCOR Sign Agreement
    When a massive earthquake struck Chile on Feb. 27, Juan Salazar and his fellow Methodists were ready to respond.
  • Restoring the Dignity of the Elderly
    When I met Ashkhen at Narek Elderly Center in Armenia, she had already been there 11 years. Until her arrival at the center, her long life had been characterized by hardship and the struggle to survive. Thanks to the care she receives at the center, which is supported by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Ashkhen is rediscovering a sense of her own dignity.
  • Lighting Beacons of Hope: UMCOR Health Assists Africa Annual Conferences Strengthen Health Boards
    This month, the health unit of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) will offer a three-day training of health board members of the Mozambique Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. The training, which will augment the board’s leadership skills, is part of a wider UMCOR Health program to build and empower annual conference health boards across Africa.
  • United Methodist Church Pledges Support to Global Fund
    In a spirit of hope and partnership, Thomas Kemper announced today that The United Methodist Church will contribute up to $28 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, based on a successful $75 million Imagine No Malaria campaign.
 

September 2010

  • UMCOR Facilitates Chili Harvest
    With support from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), farmers in the village of Lambeugak, Aceh Besar District, in Indonesia, have begun to harvest a second round of chili crops for sale in local markets, part of a successful income generation project.
  • United Methodist Church Recognized as a Champion of Health
    As the chair of the executive committee of the United Methodist Global Health Initiative, of which Imagine No Malaria is a part, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton spoke at the Champions of Health event, hosted by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
  • Pakistan Flood Update from Women's Division Partners
    Faith and funding partners of United Methodist Women in Pakistan report that recent flooding in Pakistan has hit the poorest of the poor and has further deepened poverty among those living at the lowest economic level.
  • Floods Threaten Core of Pakistan
    The floodwaters covering Pakistan are sweeping away homes and crops and destroying the country’s schools, health-care centers and roads – the essence of its social system.
 

August 2010

  • Donors Respond Slowly to Pakistan Floods
    The outpouring of donations following the Jan. 12 earthquake that rocked Haiti is not being repeated for the people of Pakistan fighting for survival in the wake of massive floods.
  • Rain of Compassion
    With new floods compounding the effects of weeks of inundation across Pakistan, the people of this nation in crisis are in desperate need of a different kind of deluge: the rain of compassion.
  • Pakistan Floods Threaten Millions of Children
    For some 3.5 million children, Pakistan's worst floods in 80 years could have deadly consequences.
  • Global AIDS Fund Provides Help, Comfort
    Purity became involved in a United Methodist-supported project that linked her with a group of 12 families in her community. The Champion Working Group, as it is known, helped her plant grass — feed for the family cow — and cultivate greens to sell for profit, sharing the income.
  • Alert About Email for Funds for the UMC of Pakistan
    We have been made aware that there is an email and letter circulating amongst United Methodist entities requesting funds for the people of Pakistan through the United Methodist Church of Pakistan.
  • Church AIDS Work Makes a Difference
    In rural Zimbabwe, there is not much relief — physically or emotionally — for those dying from the complications of HIV/AIDS.
  • Clean Water and Food Relief to Pakistan
    Food and clean drinking water are among the most urgent needs in Pakistan, as casualties from widespread flooding continue to rise.
  • UMCOR Reaches Out to Partners in Pakistan
    The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is reaching out to its network of partners in Pakistan to respond to the most severe flooding ever to affect that country.
  • UMCOR in Spotlight at School of Congregational Development
    Disaster relief was in the spotlight at a public celebration during a United Methodist training institute on starting and strengthening churches, and the unusual combination made perfect sense.
  • UMCOR's Response to Floods in Pakistan
    The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is responding to the flash floods and landslides in Pakistan. More than 1,000 people have died and 25,000 are stranded without food or water.
 

July 2010

  • Navigating a Landscape of Hope in Haiti
    Over the course of our 70-year history in relief and recovery work around the world—from Louisiana to Indonesia—the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has learned that recovery following a catastrophic event takes time if it is to be effective.
  • Indonesian Communities Rebuild through Creative Arts
    Kopwan Inong Aceh, an Indonesian women’s cooperative supported by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), was represented at the fourth annual Indonesia Creative Products Exhibition in Jakarta. Some 700 organizations or individuals participated in the event.
  • The Spirit is Stirring
    I awakened this morning with a tension in my heart. On the one hand it ached and on the other it danced for joy. Today marks the six month anniversary of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. As I sit in the office of the late Rev. Sam Dixon, former head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), who lost his life in the earthquake along with so many others-my heart aches. For those that still live in tents with great uncertainty-my heart aches.
  • Justice For Our Neighbors: Dallas/Fort Worth
    The Old Testament is full of scriptures admonishing God's people to treat immigrants with compassion and fairness. Exodus 23:9 states, "Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt." And again in Deuteronomy 24:14: "Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.
  • Volunteer Teams Aid in Haiti Recovery
    The Rev. Tom Vencuss was in a good mood as he stood on the porch of the Methodist Guest House in Port-au-Prince the afternoon of Jan. 12.
  • Haiti Relief, Six Months after the Quake
    During the half-year since an earthquake unleashed massive destruction in Haiti, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has been devoted to both providing immediate assistance to survivors and laying the groundwork for a large-scale, long-term recovery effort.
  • Voices from Haiti: Fabiola
    Fabiola Chikel is a college student at the University of Quisqueya in Haiti studying pediatrics. The General Board of Global Ministries supports her studies with an International Leadership Development grant.
  • Voices from Haiti: Madame Remy
    Madame Remy lives in the Corail resettlement camp in Haiti because her home in Delma was destroyed in the January 12 earthquake. She says here is a collective sadness in the camp because of the earthquake and the associated losses.
 

June 2010

  • L’Eglise Methodiste d’Haiti Plans for the Future
    In the midst of recovery following the January 12 earthquake that devastated much of Haiti, staff from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) met with more than 25 leaders of the Methodist Church of Haiti (EMH) to strategize long-term development in the Caribbean nation.
  • People’s Stories Inspire Domestic Disaster Exec
    It is people’s stories that inspire the Rev. F. Thomas Hazelwood, the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s executive in charge of domestic disaster response in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • Flooding in Indonesia Forces Hundreds from Homes
    Torrential rain and gale-force winds struck Banda Aceh, Indonesia, June 5 - 6, and brought significant flooding to several villages. Buildings were damaged, trees downed, and hundreds of people were forced from their homes.
  • Help Tennessee Recover
    It will be at least 2 years before the people of TN recover from the 2010 flood. Your help is URGENTLY needed.
  • UMCOR Issues Appeal for Flood Survivors
    As a “1,000-year flood” drenched the southeastern United States early last month, viewers were glued to their TVs and other media.
  • Zimbabwe Maize Meal Distribution
    Drought, cholera, HIV/AIDS, and economic meltdown came together in early 2010 to plunge to a new low Zimbabwe’s already considerable humanitarian crisis.
  • Love and Hardship in Tennessee
    “There is so much energy and love outpoured; it breaks your heart thinking about the hardships that lie ahead,” said Rev. Jason Brock, Disaster Response coordinator for the Tennessee Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
  • Transition in Tennessee—Maybe
    For those who can afford it, June will be a month of transition from cleanup to rebuilding after historic floods in Tennessee damaged or destroyed homes and businesses last month.
  • Cynthia Harvey
    Meet Cynthia Harvey, the new head of UMCOR. Learn about her passion and vision on behalf of the UMC.
  • UMCOR at Seventy
    Seventy years after its founding as a short-term response to suffering, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) continues to respond to people in need, to stand with them through natural and human-made disasters, and to support their hopes for development, security, growth, and healing.
  • The Gift of Water
    After war in Afghanistan in the 1980s chased Masoom, a farmer, and millions of his compatriots into Pakistan, the land in his native Duuda Must village lay abandoned and its underground irrigation system, or kariz, collapsed.
 

May 2010

  • Supporting Mothers and Their Infants in Georgia
    During the war in South Ossetia, Georgia in 2008, Nino Kristesiashvili and her family were forced to flee their home in Eredvi, located at the center of the conflict zone. The Kristesiashvili’s home was completely destroyed and Nino’s mother-in-law was trapped in the ruins.
  • Earthquake Shines a Light on Chile
    The February 27 earthquake in Chile brought to light otherwise “hidden realities” in this South American country, said Juan Salazar, disaster response coordinator of the Methodist Church of Chile (IMECH).
  • UMCOR Indonesia Launches Second Phase of Income Generation Program
    UMCOR Indonesia launched the second phase of its post-tsunami income generation program.
  • A Plea for Prayers in US South
    Tennessee and neighboring states have been hard hit by devastating floods resulting from a major weather event that moved slowly across the southern states.
  • In a Refugee’s Shoes
    “Time’s up! The boats are leaving! Get on or get left behind!” These were the words shouted by Stephen Copley, director of Justice for Our Neighbors-Arkansas, who lent his support to act as a mean guard in a refugee resettlement simulation led by Naomi Madsen, Program Manager for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Refugee Ministry.
 

April 2010

  • UMCOR Training Critical in Chile Earthquake Response
    Methodist Church of Chile emergency response personnel who participated in an UMCOR training last fall said the program was critical to their ability to respond to the massive earthquake that practically followed on its heels.
  • Passion and Resurrection in Penco
    When the Rev. Oscar Espinosa Parra pauses to chat on the sand of Penco, Chile, and the blue waves roll rhythmically from sea to shore, it’s hard to imagine this ocean as anything but peaceful.
  • Church Building ‘Culture of Nets’ to Save Lives
    Over a hill, far as the eye can see, are tiny graves for babies and toddlers. Mothers and fathers have written the names of their babies on the wooden crosses that stand as tombstones on each mound. Many of the children buried here died from malaria
  • UMCOR Ready to Help in Mississippi
    The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is preparing to send emergency funds to Mississippi, where tornadoes rammed through 13 counties on Saturday, killing 10 and injuring dozens of residents.
  • Immigration Reform: Challenge to the Church
    “If you’re sitting there thinking, ‘My church won’t fight for immigration reform’ or, ‘My church will never get behind that,’ it’s because you won’t lead it there,” said Bill Mefford, director of Civil and Human Rights for the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS).
  • Congo Church Brings Joy to the World
    Katuba United Methodist Church has cracked concrete floors, wooden benches that rock on uneven legs and no air circulation.
  • UMCOR Marks World Malaria Day
    Starting tomorrow, UMCOR Indonesia will commemorate World Malaria Day with a program of activities aimed at involving students, teachers, and local communities in learning about and preventing the disease.
  • Swift Response for Victimes of China Earthquake
    In less than 24 hours after a devastating earthquake ripped through the rugged terrain in China’s remote Qinghai province on April 14, an experienced team from The Amity Foundation was on the first flight out of Nanjing to coordinate emergency aid and to assess future relief efforts.
  • Church Provides Anti-Malaria Nets in Congo
    Hundreds of children jostle each other to get a glimpse of what is happening.
  • Canals Save Lives in Congo Village
    People thought Bishop Nkulu Ntanda Ntambo was crazy when he directed villagers to dig out canals in this central African village.
  • UMCOR Grants for Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo Approved
    More than 16,000 households in Zimbabwe will benefit from the distribution of maize meal by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe.
  • UMCOR Partner Visits Quake Area
    Within 24 hours of the earthquake that rocked Qinghai Province in northwestern China, UMCOR partner The Amity Foundation sent a delegation to the disaster area to assess damages and needs.
  • Church Plans $10.4 Million Project for Haiti
    As America’s first lady appealed to the world not to forget Haiti, the United Methodist Committee on Relief backed a three-year, $10.4 million earthquake relief and recovery program for the ravaged nation.
  • Haiti Pilot Project Readied for Mission Volunteers
    Earthquake-related United Methodist mission volunteer service in Haiti will focus on housing, health, education, and pastoral services under a six-month pilot project expected to get underway soon.
  • "Collaborating Like Never Before" Global Ministries' Work in Haiti
    Collaboration in mission was a recurring theme at the April 12-14 meeting of directors of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, and nowhere was the goal better illustrated than in report of how the agency is responding to the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.
  • Partners Work to Eliminate Malaria in Congo
    After April 15, they will be able to rest easier knowing all their loved ones will be sleeping under insecticide-treated mosquito nets donated by religious organizations including The United Methodist Church.
  • Earthquake Strikes China
    At least 400 people have died and 8,000 were injured when an earthquake struck western Qinghai Province in China at 07:49 this morning. UMCOR is working with our partners in China to assess casualties and damages.
  • Pastor from Texas to Lead United Methodist Committee on Relief
    The Rev. Cynthia Fierro Harvey, a pastor from Texas with a background in the local church, international health ministries, domestic disaster relief, and organizational management is the new head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
  • Congo Community Prepares for Nets
    A South African super star, government officials and religious leaders will travel down a rough, muddy path to a neglected neighborhood on April 15 bringing hope wrapped in square plastic bags.
  • Nurturing Hope in Kamina
    When the group of 30 community health workers from the village of Kamina in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stepped off a bus and onto the muddy earth of their neighbors’ group farm, they were amazed at the crop.
  • Model Recovery Plan Proposed in Chile
    After a week of touring disaster sites in Chile, executives of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) will work out a "model" recovery plan with the Methodist Church of Chile 
  • Global Ministries Reaches Out to the Methodist Church of Haiti
    Bishop Bruce Ough, President of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), spent the first part of Holy Week in Haiti with The Reverend Gesner Paul, head of the Methodist Church of Haiti (EMH).
 

March 2010

  • World Health Day, April 7,: The 2010 Global Goal 1,000 Cities, 1,000 Lives
    UMCOR Indonesia, the non-governmental organization of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, will mark World Health Day on April 7 with school health events in two Acehnese schools where the agency has presence.
  • Protecting Future Generations Against Malaria
    Mawazo, 27, lives in a small village around Kamina in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She gave birth to her first child a year after getting married. Over the following six years Mawazo had four miscarriages each preceded by a debilitating high fever, most likely caused by malaria.
  • Books Close, but Recovery Continues on US Gulf Coast
    After nearly five years of intense relief and recovery work in Louisiana, Mississippi and other states affected by the hurricanes that devastated the US Gulf Coast, UMCOR has released its final disbursement.
  • Unbroken Road to Renewal Passes through Haiti
    When Rev. Edgar Avitia got to Port-au-Prince shortly after the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, the first thing he noticed was the absence of children in the street. The second was the dust-covered absence of music.
  • Community of Hope
    Asha*, 10, and her brother Kosey*, 8, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were orphaned when their parents were killed in DRC’s ongoing civil war. Displaced from their homes because of intense fighting, Asha is confused and afraid, as she watched over her younger brother, and decided to stay alongside the river.
  • UMCOR in Haiti, Two Months Later
    Two months after an earthquake damaged or destroyed three-quarters of the Haitian capital, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is poised to deepen its relief work and move into the early stages of long-term recovery operations.
  • Offering is UMCOR’s ‘Backbone’
    Eight days after the January earthquake in Haiti, Melissa Crutchfield led a small team to the island to start assessing emergency needs for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
  • UMCOR helps Haitians stay in U.S.
    He lost his wife, his home and his job when the Jan. 12 earthquake hit Haiti. The man identified only as “Bernard” also found himself alone with an infant daughter.
 

February 2010

  • UMCOR Responds to Earthquake in Chile
    The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is responding to the needs of people affected by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile early on Saturday.
  • Haitians Mourn Losses from Quake
    The people of Haiti took three days of remembrance, Feb. 12 to 14, to mourn their losses, including family and friends as well as their homes and livelihoods.
  • UMCOR Concludes Laba And Siga Ii Projects in Aceh
    UMCOR Indonesia today concluded two major income generation projects in Aceh, Indonesia, that will continue to benefit more than 1,000 families affected by the 2004 tsunami.
  • United Methodists Keep Focus on Haiti
    The overwhelming response to assist the people of Haiti is an inspiration across The United Methodist Church
  • UMCOR Field Office Opens in Haiti
    The United Methodist Committee on Relief opened a field office in Port-au-Prince and is hiring full-time staff as part of a five-year plan to help rebuild Haiti after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
  • UMCOR Relief Efforts in Haiti: One Month after the Quake
    One month after a 7.0 earthquake tore through Haiti, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is digging in its heels for a long-term recovery effort in the Caribbean nation.
  • Mission Leaders who Died in Haiti Remembered
    Amid numerous calls to embrace with renewed vigor the baptismal commitment to mission, hundreds of colleagues, friends, ecumenical partners and family members celebrated the lives of Rev. Samuel W. Dixon, Jr., and Rev. Clinton C. Rabb in a memorial service this afternoon at Riverside Church in New York City.
  • Immigration Services Available at JFON Clinics
    In the wake of last month’s earthquake in Haiti, the US government extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitian immigrants living in the United States.
  • Aftershock Reaches Haitians in U.S.
    Immediately following the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Rev. Thomas Toussaint waited and wept with congregants who called or came by the Haitian mission he pastors in Orlando, Florida.
  • JFON Helps Haitians in US Find Balance
    For tens of thousands of Haitian immigrants in the US, trying to maintain some semblance of balance among home, job and extended family is an ordinarily demanding task.
  • Large Korean-American Church Gives Generously to Haiti
    On February 1, 2010, the First United Methodist Church of Flushing, Queens, gave $60,000 to UMCOR relief efforts in Haiti. Church parishioners gave about $45,000 through a special offering, and the church gave the rest.
  • You Can Help Haiti Now
    United Methodists and many people of good will in the U.S. and around the world have been deeply touched by the affects of the massive earthquake in Haiti last month and are anxious to help.
  • UMCOR: 70 Years of Hope
    For 70 years the people of The United Methodist Church have put the spirit of Micah 6:8 into action through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
  • Volunteering in Haiti
    The following letter from the Rev. Gesner Paul, President of the Eglise Méthodiste d'Haiti (EMH), outlines the steps being taken to prepare for United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) teams to respond to the needs of the people in Haiti following the devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010.

  • Haitian Church Members Distribute UMCOR Food to Neighbors
    Louis and Madame Felix, 74 and 76, were the first to receive a white plastic bag containing 18 pounds of rice, three pounds of beans, a quart of cooking oil and a one-pound bag of salt from the United Methodist Committee on Relief Jan. 29.

 

January 2010