emse232

Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Crisis and Emergency Management

April 2005 Volume 8 - Number 3

NVOAD Updates...

A Profile of Lutheran World Relief

By Jason Olson

After World War II an estimated one-fifth of the world’s Lutherans were homeless. Lutheran Churches in at least 20 states in the U.S. mobilized to help Europe through a new agency called the Lutheran World Relief (LWR), established in 1945. Since then, the LWR has changed to aid in relief efforts all around the world on the basis of need only. Local partners and overseas missions, called LWR Farther A Field, became responsible for using shipments wisely and providing expertise to improve harvests, health, and education in 35 countries each year. LWR partners train local women and men to produce local foods, dig low-cost wells, and protect and restore their local environments.

Basic support today is provided through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America World Hunger Appeal and by The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod World Relief. LWR responds on the basis of need during emergencies by working through local partner agencies whenever possible and coordinating their activities with other faith-based relief agencies, such as Action by Churches Together (ACT International).

LWR teaches people to better care for themselves, their communities and the environment. In 2004, LWR provided more than $13 million dollars worth of material resources by the way of making quilts, assembling layettes and kits for school, health, and sewing, gathering used clothing and new soap. LWR collect 101,760 pounds of new soap, gather 615,330 pounds of clothing, made: 356,440 quilts, 141,655 school kits, 102,900 health kits, 25,875 sewing kits, and 53,400 layettes. Not only does LWR work to provide relief but to combat the causes of poverty and restore the dignity it robs from peoples’ lives. LWR advocates for fair trade that helps farming families earn a better income. By example, LWR purchases fair trade items to be used, consumed, or sold in parishes, homes, or fairs around the United States. 99 tons of fair trade coffee has been purchased through the LWR Coffee Project. $60,000 worth of fairy trade chocolate has been purchase through the LWR Chocolate Project. $138, 000 worth of fairly trade handcrafts have been purchased through the LWR Handcraft Project and put on display in more than 300 Fair Trade Fairs hosted by LWR.

Furthermore, LWR teaches people how to be less vulnerable to natural disasters by advocating policy change that more fairly represents them. Counsel is provided after manmade and natural disasters to help recover with material aid and long-term programs. In the regions devastated by the December tsunami, LWR has launched a campaign to raise $5-10 million dollars to help rebuild the lives and livelihoods of families affected by providing immediate relief in the form of clean water, food, shelter, basic supplies, building more raised disaster shelters, helping to restore small businesses for fisher folk, farmers and others, repairing or rebuilding clinics, schools and community centers, providing locally available building materials to rebuild homes and businesses, providing psychological counseling to survivors dealing with loss of loved ones, and training community-based groups in disaster preparedness, early warning, evacuation and first aid.

Sources:

Lutheran World Relief Website: http://www.lwr.org/

Evangelist Lutheran Church in America: http://www.elca.org/dcs/lwr.html