News Briefs: May 18, 2006
CLWR Writer/Editor Named
Lorne Kletke has been appointed as the new Writer/Editor for Canadian Lutheran World Relief and will assume his position in July. As part of the CLWR communications team, he will be responsible for the development, writing and editing of effective communications and cost-efficient promotional and fundraising materials.
Lorne brings with him nearly a decade of work experience in both writing and marketing. He worked in the national office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada for a brief time while a student and looks forward to once again serving within a Lutheran organization.
—CLWR News Service
Palestinian Health Care Crisis Continues
The economic boycott and cut in aid to the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority has crippled the region’s already strained health care system. Pharmacy shelves are half empty and a shortage of anesthesia means only emergency operations can be performed. Associated Press reports that if money is not found soon there could be an epidemic of preventable deaths. The cash crisis could also lead to the collapse of sanitation and sewage systems, raising the threat of cholera and other diseases, municipal officials report.
While other countries and the United Nations discuss whether to resume financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, international aid agencies are providing humanitarian assistance where possible.
Lutheran World Federation has been providing health care services to refugees and other Palestinians for over fifty years through the programs of Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in Jerusalem, serving patients regardless of race, gender, religious belief, nationality, ethnic origin or political persuasion.
In April, CLWR issued an appeal in support of AVH to assist for six months with the costs of services provided by the hospital and made an initial commitment of US$10,000. To date, $3,800 in donations have been received. Further information on CLWR fundraising efforts for AVH will be posted on our website in the coming days.
—with reports from Associated Press online and CLWR News Service
Radio Station to Help Revitalize Indigenous Culture
The erection of a new 60-metre tower in Concepcion, Bolivia, gave the local indigenous Chiquitano community its own community radio station. The radio station, dubbed The Mission by those coordinating the effort, received a start-up grant of $6,000 from Canadian Lutheran World Relief.
Programming will be geared towards helping the Chiquitano community revitalize its culture and way of life, said Nicolas Chuve one of the organizers. He and three others spent several months in villages in the area, talking about the radio station and asking people what they would like to hear when they tune in.
What emerged was a mixture of news, indigenous music and education. Nurturing the indigenous Besiro language is a priority, said Tomas Candia Yusupi, a teacher who is helping to develop radio programming for The Mission. Although many of the older people in the community still speak Besiro, the children don’t.
Yusupi and his colleagues at OICH, a Bolivian community development organization, are developing educational material that will use the radio to teach people how to speak Besiro.
“Community promoters will organize communities to attend the radio programs—they will go into communities and encourage people to listen,” said Chuve.
Informing people about the history of the Chiquitano people and the communities they live in is also a priority.
The Mission will reach about 100 communities with a total of 3,000 people. “People are waiting for the programs to begin,” said Chuve during an interview.
–CLWR News Service
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