Extreme Poverty Blog – WorldRelief

Women’s Empowerment Programming is Everywhere

By worldrelief | March 16, 2022

When people ask us, “Where is World Relief’s women’s empowerment programming?” Our answer is: It’s everywhere.

Transforming how men and women live, relate and honor God in their relationships is at the very heart of what we do. We recognize that women and girls don’t exist in isolation. They live, they work and they go to school in community. And only with community transformation will gender reconciliation, empowerment and transformation truly occur.

While we have several programs that center around women — trauma-care groups for sexual and gender-based violence victims in DR Congo, maternal health programs for mothers and teen clubs for pre-adolescent girls — we incorporate the idea of gender equality into nearly all of our international development programming, starting at the belief level.

Today, I want to share two stories with you about a woman named Salina — one fictionalized, and one the truth. Salina’s story illustrates the power of World Relief’s gender-integrated approach and is proof that together, we can #breakthebias and create communities where women and girls can thrive.

Salina’s Story: What Often Happens

Salina is a young wife and mother living in Malawi. She decides to join a savings group and has great hope that this program will change her life. At first, she is encouraged by the community of women and the potential opportunity. But it’s not long before her husband, Chilaw, becomes resentful of the profitable women’s program.

When Salina takes home her savings, Chilaw takes her hard-earned money for himself and spends it frivolously. As a result, Salina is unable to invest in what she’d hoped — nutritious food for her children, health insurance and school fees. Her girl child, Charity, in particular, remains malnourished and uneducated.

Though Chilaw brings home produce from a local agricultural group, both parents prioritize food for their son over Charity. They sell the remaining produce at the market and send their son to school with their earnings, but Charity remains at home doing household chores. She has little awareness of her worth as a young woman and awaited the day when she’ll be married for a bride price and step into the same life her mother has had. Salina’s home is trapped in a vicious cycle of economic, social and relational poverty.

Now, let’s rewrite this story, and see what happens when World Relief’s gender-integrated approach is applied.

Salina’s True Story

In Salina’s real story, she hears about a savings group. She wants to join, but she’s afraid of what her husband might think. After all, he is the decision maker of the family. Nevertheless, World Relief hears of Salina’s interest and encourages her to join.

Simultaneously, a local church volunteer meets with Salina and her husband, Chilaw. They explore a transformative curriculum that teaches Chilaw about his wife’s inherent value and worth. He learns that she is also created in the image of God, deserving of love and respect and possessing a God-given potential that must be nurtured, honored and developed.

He encourages her to go to the local savings groups and when she saves money, they sit and talk together about how to use it along with the money Chilaw earns from selling his agricultural produce.

Salina and Chilaw also learn about the value of their daughter, Charity, and decide it’s time to send her to school with the money they’ve saved. Now that Charity is in school, World Relief encourages her to attend the local adolescent girls club. Chilaw thinks it’s important for his daughter’s wellbeing and development, so he also encourages her to go. Charity learns about the power of her education and the perils of early marriage and sets goals to go to university.

Can you spot the difference?

In both stories, savings, agriculture, nutrition and adolescent clubs are in place, yet only in the second of these stories do these programs have a restorative, transformational and generational impact on the lives of Salina and her family.

The real transformation comes mostly prior to the programmatic benefits — within the home, at the belief and value level. This is the power of our restorative gender work.

We know savings, agricultural and countless other technical programs work most effectively when they build upon the foundational work that has been done within the home, between husband and wife, parents and children.

That’s why, at World Relief we approach female empowerment at the belief level, starting with the family structure. We see the empowerment of women and girls happen not because our programming is exclusively focused on women and girls, but because we work to ensure the whole community recognizes and respects the voices, roles and unique gifts of these women and girls.

Our transformative curriculums — focused on God’s truth that each man, woman and child are made in the image of God — drive this innovative approach to relief and development. We believe that unless relationships have been transformed so that both man and woman, boy and girl, are equally valued, given equal opportunity and are equally empowered, the impact of our programming is compromised.

Without this core transformation, Salina, her daughter and the generations of women who will come after them stay trapped in a cycle of marginalization and poverty. With it, however, change is truly possible. A better future exists for Charity, her daughters and her granddaughters. Their story has been rewritten.

Women’s agency, dignity, opportunity and empowerment come not just from technical programs, but from a deep, internal community understanding and drive for each and every one of their community members—men and women, boys and girls—to reach their full, God-given potential.

So, where is our women’s empowerment programming?

It’s everywhere.

Francesca Albano currently serves as Director of Branded Content at World Relief. With a background in Cultural Anthropology and a graduate degree in Strategic Marketing Communications, she connects her interests in societal studies and global cultures with her training in brand strategy and storytelling. Francesca is especially passionate about grassroots community development and the treatment and advancement of women and girls around the world.

Love Rejoices with the Truth

By worldrelief | February 25, 2022

Combatting Harmful Beliefs

This is a story about a small village in Mzimba, a northern district in the Southern African country of Malawi. It is a story about love and the relentless pursuit of the truth—a truth that has set the village of Jenda free and paved the way for love to flourish.

Five years ago, the Ngoni people never could have imagined the transformation their district was about to experience. Though amongst some of the poorest people in the world, the Ngoni are a proud people, rooted in age-old traditions, closed to outsiders and cautious of change.

Before World Relief began working in Mzimba, life was dictated by tribal traditions that oftentimes perpetuated, or worsened, the cycle of poverty and suffering in the community.

The Ngoni people lived their day-to-day lives believing that:

A malnourished child meant there was infidelity within the marriage.
Girls were valuable solely for their bride price and should not attend school.
Upon puberty, girls foreheads should be cut and scarred to reveal their readiness for marriage.
If women did not bear sons, men may continue to marry as many women as they like. (Polygamy was commonplace.)
Upon the death of their husband, widows must walk on their knees to the closest river without food or water.
Pregnant women must not breastfeed or eat eggs.
Witchdoctors were the only solution to sickness and challenges.

In many cases, these beliefs lead to chronic malnutrition, child abuse or gender injustices that could often mean the difference between life and death. Yet, this way of life went unchallenged for the Ngoni people, who had no expectations or hope of a different way — no opportunity to act on their natural instinct to love, and no relief for the suffering they endured.

Change Takes Root

In 2012, when local World Relief staff first arrived in the village of Jenda, villagers were guarded. They sent local pastors and leaders to meet with the outsiders, doubting the significance of the gathering, in some cases even fearing it was a scam. Little did they know, this meeting would be the beginning of a vibrant transformation. One that revealed life-altering truth, rooted in love and that would lead to the renewal of their lives, their people and their entire community.

As leaders around Jenda came together with World Relief staff in vision-casting seminars, community-based needs assessments and cross-denominational conversations, a wave of excitement and optimism began to spread. Like wildfire, 15 churches soon became 22, spanning 10 denominations and multiple villages across Mzimba as community leaders realized that a different life, and future, for their people was possible.

“We began to understand God’s vision for our community. A truth that had been obscured from us due to age-old cultural practices and mindsets. We learned God had a desire to see us and our community working together in unity to serve one another, love one another and to lift up our community. We learned to work together, to realize our part in helping the most vulnerable, to become self-reliant and to shed harmful beliefs that were hindering us.” — Church Network Committee Chairman

As community leaders and increasingly, community members, began coming together in conversation around these new truths, the tide began to shift.

“We began to understand poverty in a deeper way. We came to realize the power of knowledge, and of self-reliance. And we realized some of our practices must change if we were to lead better lives. — Modesta, Jenda Savings Group Participant

A Flourishing Community

As the people of Jenda gathered to discuss the needs of their village and their vision for the future, the community began adopting changes that gradually gave way to community-wide flourishing.

New cash crops were planted to include soya beans and groundnuts, yielding added household income. With the pooled profits, seedlings were planted to regrow trees that had been lost to deforestation, hundreds of thousands of bricks were molded for the construction of a new school and homes for teachers, a clean-water well was dug, and savings and agricultural groups were formed.

As each new need was identified, the community gathered together to raise money and invest back into their collective vision for their lives and the lives of their children.

But the changes were not just physical. Love and appreciation for the children of the village was instilled as community members began to understand the meaning of Imago Dei—each child created in the image of God and possessing inherent worth.

The value of the girl child and the importance of education for both boys and girls began to take root. Community members began looking out for their friends and neighbors, and families began to repair once broken relationships, thriving in a growing love, care and respect for one another.

Little by little with each passing year, leaders and community members alike began speaking out against harmful practices of polygamy, rites of passage, child brides and witch doctors.

Mothers groups were formed to keep children in school and protect the rights of children, especially girls.

Leaders from other districts began to visit Jenda to witness what, why and how such positive transformation was taking place. And Jenda’s influence was so great that even local government Village Development Committees took note—putting in place by-laws that forbade marriage under the age of 18 and required mothers to give birth in health-centers or local hospitals so as to ensure proper care.

A Flourishing Future

Today, the village of Jenda is unrecognizable. As you enter the center of the village, you pass a deep-water well, three primary school blocks, five well-constructed teachers’ homes, three large enclosed cultivation plots, two brick-molding kilns and a large field of newly planted trees.

The church, which sits as the center of the community with two classrooms, continues to be a place of planning and dreaming toward a flourishing future. Community members plan to build more schools and child care centers, a library and a recreation hall. They want to ensure all girls attend school and every disabled child has access to wheelchair and wheelchair accessible classrooms. And so much more.

Ten years ago, these plans were not even a thought, let alone an aspiration for the Ngoni people in Jenda. Yet today, they stand before us, proclaiming the gospel and the truths that have opened their minds, encouraged love and instilled a bright and bold vision for their future. It is a truth we can all rejoice in.

*At World Relief, our goal is to see local churches continue to serve the most vulnerable long after World Relief transitions out of the area. We do not seek to establish a long-term, ongoing presence in the areas we serve, but instead build capacity among local leaders to sustain the progress they themselves initiated. Once a community is able to meet their target goals, World Relief begins the process of graduating the community, which includes a time of reflecting and celebrating together. The Jenda community is currently set to graduate in 2023! Join us in celebrating and praying for this continuous transformation.

Posted in Christian Conscience and tagged child protection, Church Empowerment, Church Empowerment Zone, Church Mobilization, Extreme Poverty, Extreme Poverty Blog, Family Strengthening, Gender Equality, Health & Nutrition, Malawi

Share the Gift Pt. 2: Paying it Forward to Empower Women in Turkana

By worldrelief | November 29, 2021

Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday. We invite you to share-the-gift by paying it forward alongside women in Turkana County. Earlier this month you heard about a powerful share-the-gift project in Karebur Village, Turkana.

500 miles north, in Kachoba Village, another share-the-gift project is also taking root. This time, it’s combating malnutrition while empowering women to take on new and important roles within their families and community.

Turkana has predominantly been a patriarchal society. Men are the leaders and the heads of the household and are responsible for making decisions concerning family wealth including slaughtering livestock for food and/or choosing which livestock gets sold or traded.

In this pastoralist community, it is common for the men to leave the home weeks at a time, taking the livestock out to graze where they can find food. In better times, households would have food in the reserve. They would slaughter an animal, cut the meat into thin strips like spaghetti then hang it out in the sun to dry completely. Then, they’d salt the meat and keep it above the fireplace which is always smoking, thus preventing the meat from rotting.

If one household was running low on food, a neighbor might put some of their meat in a pot to make some broth and offer it to others. Again, hands meeting in the pot!

Today, however, climate change and drought is threatening their very way of life. As the livestock is dying off, there is less meat for people to eat, and the remaining livestock struggle to produce milk. Malnutrition is rampant and is affecting children under five at increasingly high rates.

As the primary caregivers of the home and children, women have valuable insights into their family’s needs. And yet, they are not consulted on decisions that affect livelihoods, livestock or daily food intake. In order to combat malnutrition in Kachoba, women need to weigh in.

Care Groups and Creative Problem Solving

Many of the women in Kochoba are involved in World Relief’s Care Group program, where together they began brainstorming new food options to improve household nutrition.

Initially, the mothers proposed milking goats, but concluded they would have a hard time finding adequate feed for their goats. The cyclic drought caused by climate change has made foliage — a goat’s source of food — hard to come by. Underfed goats cannot produce an adequate amount of milk to feed their families.

As the women talked further, they proposed the idea of chickens. Chickens are smaller animals so they are easier to feed. And while men typically control decisions related to livestock, they see chickens as too small for them to worry about.

In 2021, World Relief gifted 50 participating women with four chickens and one cockerel. The women agreed that once their chickens reproduce, they will give away a similar number — three chickens and one cockerel — to another lady in her community.

Because men don’t care for chickens, women are able to have an asset in their hands that they can control, and which can significantly improve nutrition at the household level.

They’re also able to make decisions about whether or not they want to sell one of the cocks or chicks to purchase something they need such as medication for a sick child. Although the project is less than a year old, we are seeing improvements in the way families relate to one another. It has helped women a great deal.

Moving Together Toward Lasting Change

The share-the-gift project is just one part of an expansive community development project in Turkana. The local church networks in the area continue to supervise these projects, ensuring that the seed of love first planted by World Relief will saturate the entire community so that every household has the chance to receive and improve their livestock.

Share-the-gift is just one part of an expansive, community development project in Turkana that also includes robust agricultural programing that helps expand and diversify food sources, as well as teach desert farming techniques to help conserve water.

That’s where the whole joy today is. We are not just creating solutions for people to have food to be stronger. We are creating solutions that are wholesome, uprooting the community from poverty, to a place of holistic transformation, where they are able to take charge of their destiny.God loves his people and is infinitely interested in their welfare. That statement is true whether someone is a project coordinator or implementer (like our staff) or a project beneficiary. We are moving together, growing and learning together as we seek to create lasting change in our communities and around the world.

Share your gift this Giving Tuesday by paying it forward on behalf of a friend or family member. When you give today, you’ll receive a digital card to send to your loved one, letting them know about the lasting change their gift is creating.

I WANT TO SHARE THE GIFT

Elias Kamau serves as Country Director at World Relief Kenya. He has over 20 years of experience in humanitarian and development work in various countries including South Sudan, Somalia, Haiti, Kenya and Sudan. He started his career as a schoolteacher rising to the position of Director of External Studies and Continuing Education and successfully trained teachers in and out of Kenya. Exposure to the plight of refugees while serving as an education and training consultant in the sprawling Dadaab Refugee camps in Northern Kenya marked a turning point in his life. He resigned his position with the government feeling called to those vulnerable people. He went on to serve them in some of the poorest parts of the Horn of Africa where he held various positions with reputable International organizations including CARE, Norwegian Church Aid, International AID Services and World Concern among others before joining World Relief. Elias lives in Nairobi with his family including his wife Phelista and two children; a girl and a boy. He enjoys making friends and sharing the love of Jesus.

C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\Content.Word\Oliver 30th June 2015.jpg

Oliver Otsimi serves as the Turkana Program Manager at World Relief. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies (Community Development) and post graduate trainings in Horticultural Crop Production and Post-Harvest Technology, Agribusiness and Marketing. Oliver is studying for a Masters degree in Project Planning and Management at Maseno University. Oliver’s ambition is to positively transform poor households achieve food security and prosperity to enable them live a life of dignity as intended by God. He is married to Pamela and they have two children.

Posted in Frontline Reports and tagged Change that Lasts, Church Empowerment Zones, Extreme Poverty Blog, Kenya, Share the Gift, Turkana, We Move Together, Year End, Year End Blog

Share the Gift Pt. 1: How One Community in Turkana Is Paying it Forward

By worldrelief | November 10, 2021

Hands Meeting in the Pot

Turkana County, Kenya, is not an easy place to live. Some have even referred to it as the oven of the world. High temperatures hover at an average of 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The air is dry, and rainfall is scarce.

Many residents have lost all their livestock due to persistent drought, and malnutrition is rampant — especially among children whose mothers struggle to produce enough milk to feed them due to their own dietary deficiencies. And yet, a culture of generosity and creativity is giving way to hope and innovation in partnership with World Relief.

Because of the sheer hardness of life in Turkana, community members have developed strong relationships and social capital with one another, depending on each other greatly. You may often hear stories of Turkanans moving to the United States or Australia to work. The money they make is sent home, often supporting several households.

Turkanans even have a saying, which goes, “It is best for your hands to meet in the pot, licking fingers with nothing, than it is for you to have a big meal in front of you to eat all alone.”

This idea of giving to your relatives and neighbors is an ingrained way of life in Turkana. And it is this way of life that has led to a new program called Share the Gift in the Karebur and Kachoba communities.

Introducing the Galla Goat

World Relief began working in Turkana in 2011 in response to a drought-induced food crisis. At the time, one-third of the population suffered from malnutrition. We collaborated with local churches and community members to seek solutions to these issues, and together, we developed robust programming around the issues of food and water security — including introducing a new breed of goats to the region, the Galla goat. Galla goats are a specialized, drought-resistant breed of goats. News outlets like NPR have called them “super goats” because of their ability to withstand high heat.

Initially, many Turkanans were skeptical about the new breed. Their goats were red, and the Galla goats were white. These pastoralist men were proud of their livestock and treasured their red goats. Likewise, they feared the white goats would be easier to spot leaving them prone to conflict or theft.

But as they came to see that the Galla goats were superior — they produced more milk, matured faster and fetched higher prices at the markets — they became more willing to give the goats a try.

While the Galla goats are, themselves, a gift and a miracle, in 2019 World Relief worked with local churches in the Karebur Village to take things a step further. Together, they designed the first share-the-gift project.

Under the guidelines of this initiative, 20 women were each gifted a Galla goat and each committed to gifting the first female offspring from their goat to another, equally needy person in the community. From there, the chain reaction would begin, until everyone had access to a Galla goat.

Akiru was one of the first 20 women to receive a goat.

“I love Karebur Community because of the unity and love [we] have for each other… Life has always been a struggle in our community. The drought has always been with us and our goat breeds had been deteriorating as their body sizes had been diminishing and so was their production. The gift of an improved goat was indeed a blessing to us.
I remember during the first lactation the goat produced a lot of milk which was enough for my (own) family’s use and there was surplus milk, which we could share with my neighbor. The gifted goat was such a blessing.”

In early 2021, after the initial 20 goats had produced offspring, the goats’ owners stayed true to their commitment and gifted their first female offspring to others in the community. Women like Anna received the tangible provision of sustenance as well as a renewed sense of connectedness with her friend and neighbor.

“The goat from [my]neighbor has improved our relations for the better. My neighbor now is like a very close relative as a result of the bond of caring resulting from this valuable gift of love,” she said.

The share-the-gift project is just one part of an expansive community development project in Turkana that is made possible when we move together. The local church networks in the area continue to supervise these projects, ensuring that the seed of love first planted by World Relief will saturate the entire community so that every household has the chance to receive and improve their livestock.

You, too, can share the gift this season. Your gift of $60 can make a huge difference in the lives of the most vulnerable around the world, including supplying a goat to a family in Turkana!

Will you give the gift of hope and lasting change this season?

I WANT TO GIVE

Posted in Frontline Reports and tagged Change that Lasts, Church Empowerment Zones, Extreme Poverty Blog, Kenya, Share the Gift, We Move Together, World Relief Kenya, Year End, Year End Blog

4 Things You May Not Know About COVID-19 and Why You Should Care

By worldrelief | August 26, 2021

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our daily lives and the Delta variant creates new uncertainties, many of us are feeling weary. Experts have a term for this: pandemic fatigue. Pandemic fatigue can cause us to feel disengaged and even hopeless. We may even begin to ask ourselves, “Why should I care about COVID-19?”

Today, we’re sharing four things you may not know about COVID-19 and why you should care. At a time when many of us feel disconnected, COVID-19 continues to show that we’re truly all in this together.

When COVID-19 swept the world in early 2020, we quickly realized it would mean major shifts in the way we serve those in vulnerable situations. Eighteen months later, we’re still learning, still adapting and still uncovering new ways this virus is affecting people across the globe. Here’s what you may not know:

1. Extreme poverty and food insecurity are on the rise.

In 2020, Oxfam and The World Food Bank predicted that half a billion people would be pushed into extreme poverty and a “famine of biblical proportions” would be ushered in by the pandemic. Today, we’re seeing those predictions play out:

296 million people worldwide are going without food — a statistic that’s up 111 million from April 2020.
56% of the world’s children now lack access to education or health services (up from 47%).
And the estimated number of COVID-induced poor is expected to rise from 119 million to 124 million.

World Relief President and CEO Myal Greene reflected, “The pandemic is basically undoing a decade’s worth of human development around the world in terms of progress in getting people out of poverty. We’re certainly seeing that in many of the communities where we work.”

2. COVID-19 is disproportionately impacting those in already vulnerable situations.

When Mount Nyiragongo erupted in DR Congo earlier this year, coronavirus was not the first concern on anyone’s mind. “When people were fleeing, nobody cared about COVID-19 preventive measures,” said Jean Nyandwi, World Relief DR Congo Country Director.

“After the people who had fled returned back to the city, the government announced the third wave of COVID-19,” he continued. “We believe partly this volcanic eruption may have increased COVID-19 cases.”

While the volcanic eruption may have increased people’s exposure to the virus, a lack of access to vaccines, as well as vaccine hesitancy, is most certainly putting women and men at a greater risk of contracting the virus.

In a country that already faces one of the world’s worst food security crises, vulnerability to one crisis made increased vulnerability to the COVID crisis inevitable.

And these stories of increased vulnerability are not unique to DR Congo. Across the globe, those in vulnerable situations are experiencing outsized impacts of the pandemic.

“It’s making the poor poorer,” Nyandwi said. “When people get sick, they have to pay for their hospital bills. Burials also cost money. Many people have lost their jobs. Prices have increased for basic commodities, particularly in the city of Goma, and likely this is true for the rest of the country as well.”

3. And it’s not just the poorest of the poor who are being affected.

When we talk about the poorest of the poor, we’re referring to those who live on less than $2 a day. That number is increasing by several hundred million people globally, and that is significant.

But, as Greene mentioned in a recent interview, “other tiers of poverty are also increasing as people are moving down the scale of development. We’ve had to do food distributions among middle-income populations where we haven’t typically had to do such activities before.”

This was the case in Cambodia where an April lockdown affected people like Grandma Phun Phally who lives in Phnom Penh province. Like many small business owners, Phun Phally relies on daily market sales to afford food and basic necessities. Job losses and decreased incomes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have made it harder for people like her to afford these necessities, and this latest round of shutdowns only intensified the fragile situation.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the government to limit travel during this time, so I and my family members are unable to go out and do business and earn money,” Phun Phally said. “Because our family owns a small business, we don’t have as much money to spend over such a lengthy period of time. That is something we are very concerned about.”

4. Churches and local communities are being equipped to respond.

In Cambodia, World Relief partnered with local churches to supply and distribute food relief packages to the neediest households in Phnom Penh. Grandma Phun Phally was one of the recipients.

“Thank God. He heard our plea and answered it,” she said. “A food shipment from WRC, our church’s partner, was another blessing. This package is extremely beneficial to us in continuing to fight through this difficult period…Pray for everyone to come out on top in this difficult situation.”

In total, World Relief Cambodia gave $20,000 in grants, which funded food relief packages for 1,378 families.

World Relief continues to reach local communities across the globe with accurate COVID-19 prevention messages. Thanks to a $2.3 million grant from USAID, this work is expanding in DR Congo, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda.

Churches and faith leaders are being equipped and mobilized to rally their congregations and communities around infection prevention efforts including supplying community members with cloth masks, handwashing soap and other community care supplies while also providing accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines.

Faith leaders, who are often seen as trustworthy authorities in local communities, are playing a key role in accelerating equitable access to and widespread use of COVID-19 vaccinations and prevention measures.

Why You Should Care

COVID-19 continues to impact the world and the church continues to respond. But, as individuals facing what can seem at times both insurmountable and far removed, we might still be asking ourselves, “Why should I care about COVID-19?” or even, “What can I possibly do?”

When we asked Greene these questions, we thought his answer captured it perfectly:

This pandemic is the greatest crisis the world has faced within our lifetime, and the people who are most affected by it are those already in the most vulnerable situations in the world. Unless we get this thing under control, that suffering isn’t going to stop and is going to get progressively worse.
In 1 Corinthians, we read about the body of Christ and the idea that when one part suffers the whole body suffers. In the U.S., many of us feel as if we are turning a corner, but right now, many places around the world have not yet turned the corner. Those parts of our body are suffering. But we can help.
We all have a role to play — whether it’s through prayer, getting the vaccine or supporting causes that are helping the most vulnerable through this time — we can help our neighbors get over the edge of this pandemic and we can do it together.

Help your neighbors get over the edge of the pandemic and beyond by giving today or joining The Path.

Kelly Hill serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. She previously served as Volunteer Services Manager at World Relief Triad in North Carolina before moving to Salt Lake City. With a background in International and Intercultural Communication, she is passionate about the power of story to connect people of diverse experiences.

Rachel Clair serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. With a background in creative writing and children’s ministry, she is passionate about helping people of all ages think creatively and love God with their hearts, souls and minds.

Posted in Frontline Reports and tagged covid-19, DR Congo, Extreme Poverty Blog

COVID and the Issues: Food Security & Nutrition

By worldrelief | August 7, 2020

Last month, Oxfam projected that the number of people experiencing crisis-level hunger could reach 270 million in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic – an increase of over 80%.

The number is shocking.

Today, in the fifth of our six-week series, COVID and the Issues, we’re talking with Prava Chhetri and Rafael Flores, World Relief’s Technical Advisors for Food Security & Nutrition.

They will share about this concerning projection, as well as how COVID is impacting our nutrition work on the ground.

In the discussion that follows, Prava & Rafael give a brief overview of our food security and nutrition programs and discuss how COVID-19 is impacting global food production and access, as well as the nutritional consequences of this change.

They also open up about how World Relief’s programs are adapting in the face of this crisis, ensuring we do all we can to prevent the next major global famine.

Posted in Frontline Reports and tagged COVID and the Issues, covid-19, Extreme Poverty Blog, Food Crisis, Health & Nutrition, Nutrition

Frontline Report: South Sudan

By worldrelief | May 17, 2018

This year, we will be launching a new Perspectives series called Frontline Reports. This series is intended to provide updates on the countries, contexts, and situations in which we work as they continue to evolve. The reports will be written entirely by program experts and local staff on the ground.

So, how is South Sudan? It’s a question that I get a lot these days. From other humanitarians in different countries, from friends who caught a rare headline, from family members who just want to know what is it that I do all day when I say I am going back. It’s a question that is so much more complicated than it seems. I usually say something about security; well, there are roadblocks in Juba, but they seem to be leaving NGO cars alone, or the weather, rains are coming so we are enjoying some seasonal cool, and maybe a few lines about the peace process or a funding proposal I’ve been working on.

But, how is South Sudan, really? Let me start with a brief recent history. When the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005, allowing the southern Sudan to vote for independence, the referendum was overwhelmingly supported. South Sudan was born on July 9, 2011 with much celebration and high hopes for the world’s newest nation. Sadly, the celebration was short-lived. On December 15, 2013, gunfire rang across Juba when the former Vice President was accused of a plot to overthrow the President. Since then, violence has been ongoing in many parts of the country, with atrocities against civilians perpetrated by all parties. The war is far more complicated than an ethnic conflict or simply a struggle for power or resources. It is one with countless actors and proxies and continuously shifting alliances.

The conflict in South Sudan has devastated a country which was already severely underdeveloped after decades of war. More than 2.45 million South Sudanese have fled the country, 65% of whom are children younger than 18. Another 1.75 million are displaced internally. 6 to 7 million South Sudanese are projected to be food insecure.

World Relief’s story in South Sudan began in 1998, and some of the areas where we have worked since then are now on the front lines of the fighting in Unity State. We are working among communities who have been forced to flee into the bush countless time when fighting erupts. They have watched their towns change hands only to be retaken by the other side the next week. They have seen their farms and their livelihoods destroyed and survived on only water lilies and other native plants for weeks at a time. They have seen their health facilities and their children’s schools destroyed.

In these communities, World Relief is responding with lifesaving health and nutrition services, as well as working to restore education and livelihoods. We are also responding to the needs of those who have had to flee these communities to the internally displaced persons’ camp in Bentiu, which currently hosts over 110,000 men, women, and children.

In Bentiu camp, we are responding with the following services:

A primary health care facility that provides treatment for malaria, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases and other life-threatening ailments. In the last nine months, we have provided over 45,000 consultations. The facility also includes a 24-hour maternity ward, serving vulnerable mothers and their infants.
A school which enrolled over 7,000 children this school year, over 40% of whom were girls. Our back-to-learning campaigns were so successful that we even had to enroll some children in partner schools because our registers filled so quickly!
Two nutrition feeding sites that have treated nearly 4,000 young children and mothers for malnutrition and reached over 20,000 caretakers of young children with nutrition and feeding education in the last nine months.

Indeed these immediate interventions in Bentiu and the surrounding counties are vital in responding to the basic needs of the South Sudanese people and the needs abound.

Yet, we believe we can do more. Stability must be achieved to end the suffering, and to begin to address the underdevelopment in South Sudan. In addition to responding on the frontlines of crisis, World Relief is working to preserve peace in Ibba and Maridi Counties in Western Equatoria, where strong church leaders are standing up and say NO to conflict within their borders. There, we are working with churches of all different denominations to unite them with one another and call them back to their mandate to serve their communities not just spiritually, but also physically, economically, and socially. And they are doing it together. Congregations are caring for their sick, planting gardens for their elderly and sending their orphans to school. They are coming together to pray and host peace dialogues between armed groups before tensions escalate into violence. At World Relief, we have seen that churches have the power to sustain peace and to revitalize their communities. They will be the leaders and influencers when stability comes. And our brothers and sisters in Ibba and Maridi will be ready to teach others.

Though this work is slow and complex, we believe the impact will be transformative for thousands of vulnerable men, women and children in South Sudan.

As my team and I pray for peace, we ask you to join us in our vision for peace in South Sudan. We cannot do this without you.

Heidi Dessecker joined World Relief in 2010 and has served in both the US and International Programs. She currently serves as the Program Officer for Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan. Heidi is passionate about gender issues and reaching women in some of today’s most complex crises.

Posted in Frontline Reports and tagged Extreme Poverty Blog, Health & Nutrition, Sudan, WASH

World Relief’s Church Empowerment Zones: This Changes Everything

By worldrelief | July 12, 2017

Picture a village. Remote, undeveloped, overwhelmed by poverty and characterized by broken relationships. Where malnutrition, illness, and a small number of positive role models oftentimes leave children extremely vulnerable. And where the perpetual cycle of poverty cripples entire generations, decade after decade.

Now picture that same village in community. A community characterized by thriving relationships, strengthened families, spiritual richness, economic sustainability, and good health. Picture community leaders and church pastors, once isolated and fragmented, sitting together, in conversation. Learning, talking, sharing, and envisioning. Eager to connect, encourage, and challenge one another. Eager to love and serve the most vulnerable, to fulfill the Great Commission, and see the next generation renewed, restored, and transformed in Christ.

What if I told you about a unique and innovative model, pioneered by World Relief, that fulfills this very vision? A beautifully biblical and thoughtful process by which communities are truly being sustainably changed from the inside out. Where the cycle of poverty is being broken, and communities are beginning to experience a fullness of life unlike anything they’ve ever experienced?

Here it is. It’s called the Church Empowerment Zone (CEZ) Model. And it changes everything.

“World Relief helped us to understand we are many parts of one body, and that we have a responsibility to come together in unity and serve the most vulnerable. That we have to be the answer to our own problems. Now we share our community’s burdens. we care for the poor and most vulnerable. We are creating love where the Devil was bringing hate and division. We are bringing the Kingdom of God down to Earth.
— Pastor Radolpho”

Pioneered by World Relief in Rwanda over the last 7 years, our CEZ model is a powerful, unique model that adopts best-practice thinking on “moving from [interventions] focused on community deficits and professional-client relationships to a model that empowers the community by building on local assets and professional community partnerships.” [1] We do so by establishing local ownership from the outset, focusing on leadership development and capacity building, and building upon our core tool: a transformative curriculum that works to eliminate the underlying causes of poverty and end the vicious cycle once and for all.

World Relief’s “Transformation Tree Curriculum” (TTC) focuses on better equipping local pastors—inspiring and faithful servants of the Lord, who are genuinely called to serve with all their capacity and might. They are resourceful, and their strength and enduring spirit blesses their communities abundantly. And so we stand with and alongside them, sharing in our knowledge and resources.

Our TTC grounds these leaders in the scriptural calling to care for and shepherd all people. It addresses foundational beliefs concerning God’s compassion for the poor, the root causes of poverty, and our call to love and serve one another. We teach pastors that in order for the vicious cycle of poverty to truly end, value systems, beliefs, and ultimately behaviors must change. We demonstrate that in order for holistic physical transformation to take place, spiritual transformation must first lead the way.

Impact is catalyzed as these leaders are brought together and equipped, not just as a distribution mechanism, but also as change makers and kingdom champions. They are developed as true leaders. They are inspired. They learn to shepherd and, in turn, teach others to be shepherds. They are equipped to transform their communities. And they themselves are transformed—as leaders, teachers, community activists, neighbors, wives, mothers, husbands, and fathers.

But it doesn’t stop there.

““We used to see so many of our church members not living out their faith. Since the introduction of the World Relief trainings, their lives have changed. They are integrating word and deed. Helping one another, praying, and understanding the word of God.”
— Aurelie Uwinana, Volunteer Leader
”

Once foundational beliefs and values are in place, and World Relief staff have served as initial trainers and catalysts, we equip hundreds of “ordinary people” to take part in this great kingdom work. Through our Outreach Group Initiative, we use local church volunteers to reach their neighbors and communities, enabling us to address the deepest of issues that extend beyond the ‘front door’ of the home. Lessons begin with biblical teachings that provide spiritual building blocks for our technical interventions. Parents are taught about the obligation to care for their children as a blessing (Psalm 127:3; 1 Timothy 5:8), farmers about the honor and privilege of tending to land (Genesis 1:28, 2:15), families about the importance of saving and sharing money (1 Corinthians 16:2, Proverbs 13:22), couples about respect and support for one another (Hebrews 10:24, Ecclesiastes 4:9), and many more.

With the building blocks laid and beliefs and values instilled, technical interventions become rooted in powerful scriptural support, and adoption for long-term behavior change becomes possible. We then see the gospel work powerfully through the servants, initiating transformation in their communities because the gospel has become powerful in them and among them.

Evidence of change is not simply anecdotal. Not only did our most recent evaluation reveal significant progress in health behaviors and economic standing (the use of clean latrines up 55.4% from 4.4%, and the expansion of income generating activities up to 90% compared to 67% outside our intervention areas), but also in family strengthening and relationships. 84% of beneficiaries claimed their spousal relationships had improved significantly, and 96% reported better relationships with their children. 75% of couples responded that they now made joint decisions, as opposed to 47% in the comparison area, and attitudes toward domestic violence changed drastically, with less than 15% of respondents justifying wife beating as opposed to over 45% prior to intervention.[2] There is no doubt that these numbers showcase visible, tangible transformation in our targeted communities.

Trosha’s story is one example of the powerful narratives of transformation behind these statistics. As I sat with him in a small community in Bushenge, Rwanda, he told me his story:

“My wife is HIV Positive. I am HIV negative. Three years ago, we were barely surviving. The conflict at home was unbearable. There was no peace. The issues of HIV in our home led to fighting so bad that we were close to killing one another. So the church came to us, and volunteers invited us into World Relief’s Mobilizing for Life Program. I began to learn how to treat people with HIV/AIDS, how to support them and give them hope. I began to understand my responsibility for taking care of my wife, and began to care for her and help her with her medicine. After 11 years of pain, we began to live together in peace. Since then, we’ve discovered many of our friends are facing similar issues, and we’ve gone to over 6 homes to share our lessons and council friends. Now, we join together as happy homes, transformed through our churches and this program, and in community together.”

I met Trosha and his wife sitting on a small wooden bench under a tree, just down the road from their home. At the end of our time together, Trosha invited us to see his humble home before we began the long trip back to Kigali. As he led the way through a small opening in the trees, a clearing came into sight, upon which stood several buildings. On this once small, rented plot, he had created a beautiful, thriving home. A house for his family, a kitchen garden for their food, an animal paddock for their livestock, a clean latrine, an outdoors space for friends and family. This was a little slice of God’s kingdom, here on earth, blessing Trosha and his family with riches, both spiritual & material, far greater than they could ever have imagined. What’s more? His neighbor’s homes were beginning to look strangely similar… And it was a beautiful, inspiring picture.

Trosha’s story is one of hundreds coming out of our Church Empowerment Zones. The evidence of visible, tangible transformation occurring across multiple domains of intervention, and the corresponding change in belief and value systems, are contributing to truly transformative outcomes in the lives of leaders, volunteers, and beneficiaries alike. Our CEZ model is empowering hundreds of local churches to begin building a legacy of hope, generosity, and self-reliance that sustains progress long after we depart.

“Jesus is the one that started the work we do, and we are told to do it. This is why I am doing it – because it is like Jesus.” — Outreach Volunteer

[1] J.P Kretzman and J.L. McKnight: Building Communities from the Inside Out: A path towards finding and mobilizing community assets. (Evanston IL: Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, North Western University 1993.)

[2] Integral Mission Outreach Groups. Pilot Project Final Report Evaluation. Bugesera, Rwanda. May 2017. World Relief.

Francesca Albano currently serves as Product Development Lead at World Relief. With a background in strategic marketing communications, she connects her interests in brand strategy, audience engagement, and storytelling around her passions—children, disaster and humanitarian relief, human rights, and poverty alleviation. Francesca best describes herself as a storyteller, writer, foodie, globetrotter, and humanitarian.

Posted in Christian Conscience and tagged Church Empowerment Zones, Extreme Poverty Blog, Rwanda, Savings Groups

About Us

Mission & Values

Our Team

Humanitarian & Disaster Response

Refugee & Immigration Work

Advocacy & Public Policy

Community Development

Ways To Give

Volunteer Opportunities

Advocate

Resources

As an Individual

As a Church

Current Crises

Follow Us