Annual Report | Canadian Lutheran World Relief Greetings
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2014 ANNUAL 2015 REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Forty-four Iraqi Christian families are seeking shelter from ISIS violence in a church compound in northern Iraq. CLWR supported renovations to its kitchen and bathroom facilities to help make the communal living conditions more comfortable. Find more information on CLWR’s programs in Iraq on pg. 5. Photo: CLWR/H.Patterson GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT EMERGENCY THANK 3 AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 11 RELIEF 20 YOU OVERVIEW OF WE CARE PUTTING FAITH 4 OUR WORK 14 SHIPMENTS 21 INTO ACTION DEVELOPMENT AND REFUGEE MISSION, 5 RELIEF PROGRAMS 16 RESETTLEMENT 22 VISION, VALUES Support for Displaced People 5–6 COMMUNITY BOARD RELATIONS OF DIRECTORS Agriculture and Food Aid 7 17 23 Education 8 FINANCIAL CONTACT 19 HIGHLIGHTS 23 INFORMATION Development and Relief Programs: Highlights (map) 9-10 2 | 2014 –15 ANNUAL REPORT | CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF GREETINGS With over 200,000 constituents, CLWR In March 1946, CLWR was created by is an amazing organization! Observers a group of dedicated Lutherans to agree that we outperform for our size. provide vital emergency assistance in You will be proud to know that CLWR war-torn Europe and to facilitate the has established a solid reputation with sponsorship of refugees displaced by all levels of government, international the Second World War. organizations and recipients of our 2016 is our 70th anniversary as a diakonia, our call to support those in need. leading Canadian-based humanitarian agency whose work How do we decide whether CLWR is worthy of our continues to make a huge impact on the lives of many donations of time and money? There are, after all, many thousands of poor and vulnerable people around the world. Christian and secular charitable causes to support. As I In the past few years, we have narrowed our focus even speak with supporters throughout the country, I hear more towards assisting refugees. We are offering global time and again that folks give to CLWR for three main leadership in our response to the refugee crisis in the reasons: it’s Lutheran, it’s effective and it’s efficient with Middle East. the funds it receives. In Jordan alone, CLWR is currently providing about $10 Thousands of Lutherans live out their call to serve in million in support to Syrian refugees and impoverished Christ’s name through volunteering in church basements Jordanians in northern host communities. In and halls in every corner of Canada. Whether it is collaboration with The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), fundraising events, producing quilts, or filling We Care we have been one of only a few agencies able to respond to kits, we celebrate those loving hands every day at CLWR. the needs of internally displaced people in Iraqi Kurdistan. When I visit Lutheran congregations, people are moved In total, close to 100,000 people are being assisted with by what we do, often saying, “I had no idea!” At the same water, food, shelter and other urgent, basic needs. time, publicity and fundraising literature appears on In the fiscal year of 2014–15, we supported 12,000 many congregation bulletin boards from organizations South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia with safe water, once that compete against CLWR. How much more could be again in collaboration with the LWF, and in our next accomplished if we put all our effort behind our own report we are looking forward to telling you more about Lutheran international humanitarian aid and disaster new programming in Adjumani, Uganda, to support relief agency? 30,000 more people who have fled South Sudan (although I encourage all 200,000 of us to hold CLWR in our you can find more information now on our website). hearts and prayers—the agency with the Many vulnerable families are being offered a safe haven 70-year history of compassionate service in our with the opportunity to make new lives for themselves. name—and focus our international support here. And then there is the massive migration of refugees to Augustine said of Christians, Canada and Europe. Here too we have considerable experience and the mechanisms to facilitate the In essentials, unity; sponsorship of refugees. Hundreds of people will be in non-essentials, liberty; sponsored in the year to come and more in the future. in all things, charity. All of this is made possible with increasing support from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Through CLWR we can act in charity, inspired by God’s Lutheran Church–Canada members. love for humanity! Thank you so much for the partnership we share with you, our valued donors. Together we are changing lives! Marcus Busch, President Robert Granke, Executive Director 3 | 2014 –15 ANNUAL REPORT | CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF OURWORK Kafa’a, a Syrian refugee living in Jordan, received some much-needed upgrades to her shelter. A new water tank, sink, tap and water pipes means her family has safe water available for drinking, cooking and washing. A new exhaust fan to remove stale, moist air will make their home much healthier. Photo: CLWR/K.Schroeder Canadian Lutheran In 2014–15 we provided over $6.2 million of assistance in 26 World Relief (CLWR) countries.* Our vision is for a world where people live in justice, peace and dignity, united in diversity, and empowered to achieve carries out relief and their universal rights to basic needs and quality of life. development work and refugee resettlement This year, we focused on: on behalf of Canadian • helping fulfill urgent, basic needs for internally displaced people and refugees, people affected by poverty and people Lutherans. affected by natural disasters. • helping people improve agriculture and food availability. • helping people improve education and livelihoods. • helping Canadians resettle refugees in Canada * Totals include international programs and We Care humanitarian aid shipments. 4 | 2014 –15 ANNUAL REPORT | CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF PROGRAMS SUPPORT FOR DISPLACED PEOPLE Pipelines were installed or upgraded to help bring safe, sufficient water to Iraqi families fleeing ISIS violence and to those hosting the displaced. Photo: CLWR/H.Patterson CLWR supported IRAQ refugees, internally “Before there was very little water that reached the house, mostly air [through the pipes]. We couldn’t wash everything. There was not sufficient water for displaced people, the children. Now it’s very good,” says Piros. and their host Piros’ village in northern Iraq is poor, and the community’s resources have communities in been strained further with the arrival of people fleeing ISIS. To bring safe, water to the village, upgrades to public water systems were Jordan, Ethiopia included as part of a $1.81 million project to assist displaced Iraqis. Water and Iraq. lines were installed and upgraded so that individual houses could access water off the existing main lines, which were also repaired or replaced. The Iraq Crisis Shelter and Water Project was funded by Canadian Lutherans, the International Humanitarian Assistance Unit (IHA) of the Government of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), and the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation (SCIC). The project was implemented by Lutheran World Federation–Iraq and included infrastructure repairs provide safe water and better sanitation, bathroom facilities, weather-focused non-food items like heaters and blankets, and communal shelter support. 5 | 2014 –15 ANNUAL REPORT | CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF PROGRAMS SUPPORT FOR DISPLACED PEOPLE CLWR programming ETHIOPIA for displaced people A $40,000 project in Ethiopia’s Tierkidi refugee camp provided safe water to 12,000 South Sudanese refugees. Three shaded water helped fulfill urgent, yards with elevated water tanks were constructed near schools basic needs in Jordan, and connected to the permanent water system in the camp. This Ethiopia and Iraq. project was funded by Canadian Lutherans and the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation, and implemented in partnership with Lutheran World Federation–Ethiopia. JORDAN Maysun (not her real name), her husband and their four children fled Syria’s conflict-ravaged Daraa region for Mafraq, Jordan, over a year and a half ago. Her husband is ill and they have been relying on help from friends to cover their rent. In the past, they have even chosen to sell their World Food Programme food coupons for cash to help meet their needs. Their financial situation is so serious that it does not even allow Maysun to visit a hospital to attend to her own health concerns. Maysun’s family is one of 3,817 households that received essential household items like hygiene kits, sheets, mattress covers and underwear in the summer of 2014, allowing them to direct the little money they do have to other urgent needs. This was part of a $1 million emergency assistance project, implemented in partnership with Lutheran World Federation– Jordan, that provided essential non-food items and improved hygiene conditions for vulnerable Syrian and Jordanian families. It also supported upgrades for 308 residential shelters in need of improved bathroom facilities, plumbing and water storage, and Like Maysun, Nahle and her four children were forced to flee hygiene promotion workshops that reached over 2,200 women. conflict in Syria and now live in Jordan. To help meet their basic needs, they received a box of household supplies. Funding was provided by Canadian Lutherans, the IHA Unit of Photo: ACT/P. Jeffrey the Government of Canada’s DFATD, and SCIC. 6 | 2014 –15 ANNUAL REPORT | CANADIAN LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF PROGRAMS AGRICULTURE AND FOOD AID CLWR provided food ETHIOPIA aid to vulnerable Kulsuma Leita Aredo was born and raised in a nomadic herding family in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Over the years she has people in Jordan and witnessed the gradual decline in rainfall and pasture land for her provided agricultural family’s livestock.