HIV and AIDS Campaign: Keep the Promise Action Alert

Mobilize Youth to Hold Governments to their Promises with “Letters to the World”!

A new teaching resource on advocacy and HIV and AIDS is being launched today to encourage young people to:
· voice their opinions
· call on national and world leaders to keep their promises in response to HIV and AIDS.
Produced by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and co-sponsored by UNAIDS, World AIDS Campaign and World Health Organization, the easy-to-use curriculum can be widely used by schools, church groups, and community and faith-based organizations particularly in the run-up to the United Nations review of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, 31 May – 2 June 2006.

Background
In June 2006, government leaders from around the world will be meeting at the United Nations in New York to review promises that they made in 2001 to battle the HIV and AIDS pandemic. This review of that 2001 UNGASS Declaration of Commitment is a chance for young people to voice their opinions and to be heard. The extra pressure from youth will increase the awareness of decision-makers of support for the 2001 commitments and remind them of their responsibility in shaping the future that children will inherit.

In recognition of the significant role young people can play in the response to the HIV pandemic, today, at the World Council of Churches Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) is launching a youth education and advocacy curriculum to encourage discussion and engagement with HIV and AIDS. “Keep the Promise” is a guide for teachers that:
· Introduces basic information about HIV and AIDS (facts, prevention, stigma, testing, treatment, and care).
· Encourages discussion with young people about how HIV and AIDS are affecting the world.
· Examines what governments have pledged to do about the pandemic, the UNGASS review and the importance of the commitments that leaders have and will make.
· Invites them to be effective global citizens by writing a “Letter to the World” about their vision of the response to HIV and AIDS.
· Provides suggestions for follow-up resources, including prayers, songs, activities, websites and more.

The curriculum is currently available in English in print and online for download (see below). French, Portuguese and Spanish versions will be available soon.

The letters from the young people should be sent to the national leaders in the countries who are preparing to go to New York for the review to remind them of the needs and expectations of their constituents in the response to the pandemic.

Classes and groups are also encouraged to send selected letters to the “Keep the Promise – Letters to the World” address in New York (see below) for presentation to key policy makers in advance of the review and a possible exhibition at United Nations headquarters during the review itself.

The curriculum is aimed for ages 11-16 but can be adapted for a younger or older audience. While designed most specifically for advocacy around the UNGASS review, it can be used at any time particularly in holding national leaders accountable to their commitments.

What You Can Do
The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance strongly encourages everyone to be involved in country- level advocacy by joining the “Letters to the World” campaign – country-level advocacy is even more important than coming to New York for the review itself! to mobilize people for action:
Get a copy of the “Keep the Promise” teacher’s resource. Request a free printed copy of the resource through the online order form, or download the guide directly from the web at: http://www.e-alliance.ch/hiv_curriculum.jsp For more information on the curriculum, email cbordeau@e-alliance.ch

Use the curriculum in your local church or school.
Include people living with HIV or AIDS in preparing the lessons and in community events.
Distribute this action alert or downloaded versions of the curriculum to colleagues and teachers to encourage as many groups as possible to actively engage young people in pressing governments to uphold their commitments.

Send your letters to national leaders. Each class should also select a letter (preferably hand-written) to join others from around the world at the UN in New York. It would be great if you could include a class photo and a note saying how many letters the class has sent. Letters should be addressed to:

Keep the Promise – Letters to the World
211 E. 43rd Street, Room 1100
New York, NY 10017-4707
USA

Use the ideas in the curriculum to publicize the letter-writing project through the media and to raise awareness in the community.

Join the EAA’s UNGASS review listserve for further updates and action alerts. Subscribe by sending an email with your name and organization to cbordeau@e-alliance.ch.

For More Information
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance http://www.e-alliance.ch/aidssummit.jsp
Web portal for civil society engagement with the UNGASS review: www.ungasshiv.org
For past Action Alerts and Bulletins from the HIV and AIDS Campaign, see http://www.e-alliance.ch/newsletters.jsp

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is a broad international network of churches and Christian organizations cooperating in advocacy on global trade and HIV and AIDS. The Alliance is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Abingdon Press has released Many Faces, One Church: Cross-Racial and Cross-Cultural Ministry, by Bishop Ernest Lyght, Glory Dharmaraj, PhD., and Jacob Dharmaraj, PhD. The book seeks to bring understanding and engagement in the context, theology, ministry and mission of The United Methodist Church. Written by those who have decades of experience in the local church and in larger missional context of the denomination, the manual offers helpful strategies and practical suggestions to make cross-racial and cross-cultural appointments more effective.

The book is available at Cokesbury Book Stores.

Peace,
Don Hayashi

Don Hayashi
Associate General Secretary
General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns
The United Methodist Church
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1300
New York, NY 10115
Phone: (212) 749-3553; (800) 653-8936
Fax: (212) 662-7045
E-mail: dhayashi@gccuic-umc.org

United Methodist Men to develop Amachi, a program matching church congregants with youth whose parents are incarcerated.

by Rich Peck*

The national Commission on United Methodist Men has moved ahead in several major areas of work, including launching its new relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters. The National Association of Conference Presidents of United Methodist Men acted on those priorities during its early March meeting in Nashville.

Mentoring children

On March 4, the commission publicly signed a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America to develop Amachi, a program matching church congregants with youth whose parents are incarcerated. "Amachi" is a Nigerian word that means, "Who knows but what God has brought us through this child?" Big Brothers Big Sisters is located in 5,000 communities around the country. The signing ceremony took place during a plenary session of the National Association of Conference Presidents of United Methodist Men.

"This is an historic day for our organizations," said Larry Coppock, a commission staff executive. "The partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters' Amachi affords United Methodist Men an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of young men in our church communities." The commission will begin the program with pilot projects in one annual (regional) conference in each of the five United Methodist jurisdictions in the United States. Following those, the program will be launched nationwide.

"Big Brothers Big Sisters is building real, meaningful and productive partnerships with institutions in the hope business," said the Rev. Mark Scott, director of mentoring partnerships for the Philadelphia-based organization. "The core mission of both the Big Brothers Big Sisters and United Methodist Men is that a child's tomorrow can be much better than today. We play an important role in creating that better tomorrow."

The organization estimates about 700,000 parents and guardians - primarily mothers and grandmothers - are rearing children while a parent is incarcerated. The organization has matched 6,300 children of prisoners with adults. Its goal is to serve 25,000 children who have incarcerated parents by the end of 2007.

Fighting hunger

In 2005, units of United Methodist Men, in partnership with the Society of St. Andrew, led more than 9,000 volunteers into farmers' fields to pick up more than 3.7 million pounds of food for America's hungry. At the same time, through their Meals for Millions contributions, the men provided another 5.7 million pounds of fresh produce for the hungry through the society's Potato Project. The salvaged food together resulted in 28.2 million servings of food for hungry Americans.

During their March meeting, the association of conference presidents urged local units of United Methodist Men to participate in the national Hunger Awareness Day on June 6 and to conduct worship services on hunger-related issues on a Sunday near that date. The men also agreed to participate in the U.N.-sponsored World Food Day on Oct. 14.

*Peck is the communications coordinator for the Commission on United Methodist Men

A Story of Aids in Africa

A story from the UMC Giving blog http://umcgiving.blogspot.com

I ran across the quote below from Stephen Lewis the UN envoy for HIV/Aids in Africa. I thought you might find this story interesting and disturbing.

It is early in 2005, and Stephen Lewis, 68, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, is visiting a village in rural Zambia. He is invited to inspect an income-generating project created by a group of women infected with AIDS. He is led along many dusty trodden paths to a field where the women are standing, holding up a welcoming banner.

The women are eager to talk to him about the men who have infected them, and what they think of such men. As the conversation progresses, Lewis notices he is standing beside a large cabbage patch.

Gesturing to the cabbages, he says, “I take it this is your income-generating project.”The women say, “Yes, absolutely.”

Lewis says, “I assume it supplements your diet, makes your immune system stronger, makes you nutritionally more secure.”

The women say, “Yes, yes.”He asks, “Do you have any of the cabbages left over?”“Yes. Absolutely,” say the women.

He asks, “What do you do with them?”“We take them to market and sell them,” they say. “That’s the income-generating part of the project.”Then Lewis asks, “What do you do with the income?”

The leader of the women says, “We buy coffins, of course, Mr. Lewis. We never have enough coffins.’"

This Lenten season consider a special gift to one of dozens of HIV/Aids Projects in Africa through the Advance for Christ and His Church. For more information, visit http://gbgm-umc.org/advance.

Kent McNish
Connectional Giving Team
United Methodist Communications
kmcnish@uncom.org

Hurricane leaves new problems for struggling church

Mar. 22, 2006
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

NEW ORLEANS (UMNS) - Felicity United Methodist Church was just starting to see daylight again when Hurricane Katrina came to town and blew away its hope.

The Rev. Marva L. Mitchell, pastor of Felicity for the past 20 years and the church's first African-American minister, says the congregation has been struggling in the past few years and had just started coming back to life by renting out the fellowship hall to a children's theater.

"Our membership has been on the decline, and we really only had about 10 to 15 in worship on Sundays," she says. Life was coming back to the church with the children's theater and other groups that were renting rooms in the building.

Then Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29.

Now, Mitchell is directing the Uptown storm station, and the parsonage next door to the church is housing volunteers. Mitchell hopes the damaged church can be saved and used to house volunteers coming to New Orleans to help restore the city.

The church, on the state's historic registry, was built in 1848. It was first known as the Flatboat Church because it was built from broken-up flatboats. Fire destroyed the church in 1887, but the congregation rebuilt in 1888. That was followed by a worse disaster in the early 1900s, as yellow fever swept through New Orleans, killing every member of the congregation. The church was converted to a morgue, Mitchell says.

A glass case downstairs contains church records dating back to the 1880s. One poignant letter, left by someone who came to the church during those early years, is among the Sunday school class rolls and other records. It reads: "Lord Jesus, my prayer is just simple: I want to marry. I want to have a really happy marriage. But it seems I haven't yet met the right person. Help me, Lord, to find the right person. Please Lord I need a spouse. I am very lonely. Amen and Amen."



A blue tarp, torn by the wind, flaps over the open roof at Felicity United Methodist Church in New Orleans. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose



Today, the beautiful historic church has a huge hole in the roof of its tower, courtesy of Hurricane Katrina. Light pours into the church through large, stained-glass windows. The original hand-carved pulpit and wooden pews stand untouched so far. The gallery, where slaves attended church while their masters sat in the pews below, looms above the back of the sanctuary. The pipe organ, installed in 1888, has been disassembled by the National Organ Society, but members hope it will someday reclaim its place of honor behind the pulpit.

A temporary blue tarp flaps loudly in the wind. It was placed over the hole but strong winds have ripped its hold.

Church member Judy McAlister sadly shakes her head. "You should see it when it rains," she says. "Water just pours in."

'We will share your pain'

An ecumenical volunteer group from Three Rivers, Mich., was working on the church, Mitchell's home and other houses during the week of March 6.

"New Orleans has no hope if you are not here," prayed the Rev. JoAnn Mundy, pastor of First Baptist Church, Three Rivers, as the group prepared to go out for the day. "Use us as your hands and feet."



Members of the Three Rivers Area Faith Community team sing a hymn during morning devotions. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose



Members of Three Rivers Area Faith Community - four pastors from different denominations and members of eight congregations - were sleeping in bunk beds in the upstairs portion of what was once Felicity Church's parsonage.

The group also donated the material and time to install bathrooms in the Uptown storm center.
During their stay, McAlister took the group on a tour of churches and homes destroyed in the storm and flood. The group was overwhelmed by the destruction.

"There was a big, fancy brick home that was two-thirds washed away, and the concrete driveway was in the neighbor's house," says the Rev. Pat Bromberek, Center Park United Methodist Church.

"It was helpful to see houses piled on top of each other, to see the neighborhoods," she says. "If you can't see it, you can't feel it. Three Rivers will feel it when we go back and tell them."

"We have felt some of the pain, and we will take that pain back with us," says the Rev. Luther Channey, pastor of All Nations Temple Church of God in Christ.

Mundy described a house they saw in the Lakeview area. "Two little boys' suits were hanging up with pictures of the little boys under them. Written on the wall was 'All out.'"

Mitchell, whose house was also damaged in the storm, says, "My house is nothing compared to what you saw. My house is still standing."

Hope for another life

Before Mitchell became director of the Uptown storm center, she was a client, she says.
"I paid someone $1,800 to take out my furniture, and it was a swindle," she says. "They just took my money."

Mitchell is happy to be directing volunteer groups that are helping rebuild her hometown.
"The elderly members of my congregation are not coming back," she says. "But I hope the church will still have another life."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

'Not one time was I afraid,' storm survivor says

Mar. 20, 2006
By Kathy L. Gilbert*

BILOXI, Miss. (UMNS) - When Hurricane Katrina rolled over the Mississippi Gulf Coast early Aug. 29, 83-year-old Alberta Paige was sleeping peacefully in her historic Biloxi home.

Eight months later, she is sitting in her tiny FEMA trailer, flipping through the pages of a Cokesbury catalog in search of some offering plates for her church, St. Paul United Methodist. She is a lifelong member of the congregation.




Alberta Paige recalls how hurricane floodwaters swept into her Biloxi, Miss., home. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.


Paige's father was a United Methodist circuit preacher. When he died, he left her mother $1.50 and six children to raise. Paige is the youngest child.

Her mother taught her the importance of giving to the church. "She was always faithful to give to the pension fund for widows. She told me, 'You have to give back.'

"You can't hurt my feelings; I am not leaving the church," Paige says. She was a schoolteacher and has traveled all over the world. Even though she lived through a nightmare, she has a firm grip on life and a gentle belief in the God "who knows me and won't put anything more on me than I can handle."

When the hurricane blew into Biloxi, she says, "a gentle nudge on her shoulder" woke her up, and she looked out her upstairs bedroom window to see her whole neighborhood submerged in water.

"That morning about 6:30 - you know how it is when you are in a crowd, when you are Christmas shopping and people bump into each other - someone just bumped my right shoulder and immediately I was awakened by that," she says. "When I got up, I went to the door and saw the nine-foot surf, waves, coming from west to east down the tracks."

She opened her front door and water gushed in. "Within minutes, it was all over my house. I went upstairs and just watched it." Her car was carried off by the water and ended up in a neighbor's yard.

"The wind was fierce; the waves - everything just sailing in the water," she says. "The water was coming east, and I said, 'I guess it is coming to get me.' As fast as it came into the house it receded, as if it said, 'I have done enough, and now I am going to go.'"

She remembers looking out and seeing a blue, silk, three-cushion couch on her fence.

A couple of ladies from the neighborhood came to stay in her house because water was up to the ceiling in their homes. At the end of the day she went to bed early again and slept peacefully. "I don't really know what is wrong with me," she says, with a sly smile. "It takes a lot to excite me."

When firemen came to rescue her about five days later, they told her she must be "either stupid or paralyzed."

"I know I am not really stupid, like those firemen said, and I knew I wasn't paralyzed; I knew what was going on," she says. "But not one time was I afraid."

Even after seeing all the houses around her submerged, even after witnessing a couple float out through a window and land on a neighbor's roof. "I had seen all of that, but God is good."

The word went out to the Red Cross that she was in the big house on the corner and probably couldn't get out. Relief workers came and left food in the carport.

"I could get out, but the mud had come upstairs about four steps and the carpet was gummy."
When the fireman came to rescue her, they swung "this big basket around to my window."

"I said, 'I am not getting in that. I am not getting in there and fall and break my neck.' Well, they got a good laugh out of that," she says. They told her that her name was on the hotline and her family was worried about her.

"I just felt safe, surrounded by mud and everything, but I was never really frightened."

The firemen took her to a shelter at an AME Methodist Church, where she stayed until Nov. 4, when she got the trailer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I had fun at the shelter," she says. Located in the back of the church, the shelter included 24 beds covered with "pretty brightly colored quilts."

"The second week I was there, the bishop and his wife and some ladies came to visit us," she recalls. "They were so nice. They had a lot of empathy and sympathy for people in the shelter."
Before that visit, she remembers, "Some white ladies from South Carolina from the First Baptist Church came with the Salvation Army. They gave me such nice things, like a pretty negligee. I never owned one before."

Paige feels the storm was biblical, that God was telling people to pay attention and remember who he is.

"He knows what he is doing, and I just felt he isn't going to put any more on me. He knows me, and that's the way I lived all the summer."

Paige continues to take each day as it comes. Her two-story house was once filled with antiques, and her closets were full of "nice clothes." Now everything she owns comes out of black plastic sacks donated to her.

"I never want to have a closet full of things again," she says.

Workers are putting a roof back on her house, and a volunteer team from the United Methodist Church's New York Annual Conference is tearing down the moldy Sheetrock. A mud-encrusted crystal lamp sits in one of the rooms.

Paige is philosophical about making "do with what you have."

"You will soon find that's probably what you need anyway."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

Volunteer teams give Mississippi pastor hope

Volunteers from Christ Church United Methodist in New York repair a damaged roof in Biloxi, Miss. UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.




Mar. 20, 2006
by Kathy L. Gilbert*

BILOXI, Miss. (UMNS) - Four women dressed head-to-toe in white Tyvek jumpsuits, with face masks and goggles hiding their identities, are busy taking down a banister in Alberta Paige's house.

Once that task is complete, they get out the crowbars and start attacking the moldy walls.
Beneath the "disguises" are members of Christ Church United Methodist in New York City, in Mississippi on an early March mission trip to storm-ravaged Biloxi.

"We call ourselves the destroyers," says Sue Bymul, a team member. "We rip up carpet and walls … but in a good way."

The team is staying at St. Paul United Methodist Church and going out on jobs under the direction of the Rev. Edward Moses, pastor of St. Paul and Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, Gulfport.

Part of the team is working in Paige's house, another group is repairing the roof for the Hanshaw family and a third is working at the Spillers' house. All three houses were submerged under water after Hurricane Katrina swept through the Mississippi Gulf Coast Aug. 29.

Jerolyn Morrison, mission lay leader for Christ Church, has been to Mississippi twice since the storm and plans to continue to make trips until all the necessary work is done.

"We are looking at this through the eyes of people who lived through 9/11," she says. "So many people helped us. We need to help others."



Rev. Edward Moses


Moses says people come to Mississippi and see all the devastation and destruction and ask him, "Where is your hope?"

"I say, 'Our hope through Jesus Christ is in you. You all help us bear our burdens when you come down here. … When you nail fresh wood, you bring us a sense of freshness. As long as our eyes are on Christ Jesus, we see this as part of the grace given to us."

Moses says his two congregations are scattered, disembodied and hurt.

"I think at first I was in denial, thinking about 50 to 60 percent of the congregation was here - and they may be, but they are not here Sunday after Sunday."

The United Methodist teams of volunteers keep his churches alive and hopeful, he says.
"We can't really be in so much pain, having so many friends helping and bearing our burden. It is a good feeling."

It will take a long time for everyone to return home, Moses says. Based on his experience, he says it takes about 10 months to rebuild a house. With the amount of work volunteers can do, that means only about 24 people will be back home next year.

"A lot of homes will be worked on and a lot of progress will be made, but if I look at this realistically, I can do about 24 a year. That's a long time when you have 3,000 to do," he says.

Paige, sitting in her tiny trailer provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, says the volunteers are just part of the "big bag of blessings" God is sending their way.

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

HIV and AIDS Campaign: Keep the Promise! Mobilize Nationally for UN Review

Keep up the Pressure: Mobilize Nationally for UN Review

Civil society and faith-based planning is moving ahead rapidly toward the United Nations review of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, 31 May - 2 June. Here is an update on past actions and suggested advocacy actions to keep up the pressure on national governments as preparationscontinue for the review.

Updates
Organizations without ECOSOC status had to apply for accreditation by February 3 (See 23 January action alert at http://www.e-alliance.ch/media/media-6269.doc). There was a strong faith-based representation amongst the applications. Member states are now reviewing the list and have the right to object to suggestions. Results should be announced by mid-April.
ECOSOC accredited organizations will be able apply to participate in the review through a separate process. These organizations are being asked to confirm their interest in participating in the meeting by 30 March 2006 with the DESA Non-Governmental Organizations Section of the United Nations Secretariat. The EAA encourages the strategic use of this accreditation -including voices from the field and people living with HIV and AIDS - particularly from the South.

In all cases, civil society organizations are encouraged to approach their governments to be included in national delegations wherever possible - particularly people living with HIV and AIDS and faith based representatives. More information on this approach is below.
For collective strategy purposes, the EAA strongly encourage sharing information about who has been accredited through your organization with the Ecumenical Planning Coordinator at cbordeau@e-alliance.ch.

A Civil Society Coalition on HIV/AIDS UNGASS has been formed to generate a louder collective voice, more pressure and influence on the UNGASS process, and to speed up our joint responses to key issues as they arise. This coalition is working through three civil society working groups. Each working group (WG) has a faith-based representative. Please contact them with suggestions, information or questions.
WGI: HIV/AIDS UNGASS Review Meeting (New York)
- contact: dfrado@earthlink.net; jmuwonge@WorldVision.org; mperry@fiop.org
WGII: National-level activities around HIV/AIDS UNGASS
- contact: rick@caa.org.na; cbordeau@e-alliance.ch
WGIII: Communications and information dissemination
- contact: sspeicher@e-alliance.ch; cbordeau@e-alliance.ch

What You Can Do

Because countries may formulate their positions by the time of the review, country level advocacy and pressure put on governments prior to the review session in New York are even moreimportant than participation at the United Nations.

Involve young people in holding governments to their promises! Share copies of the"Keep the Promise" teacher's resource with colleagues and friends and encourage schools and church groups to use the resource in the coming weeks. Request freeprinted copies of the resource (English/Spanish/French/Portuguese) through the online order form or download the guide directly from the web at:http://www.e-alliance.ch/hiv_curriculum.jsp

Review the DoC along with your country's progress report and the feedback from otherNGOs on the country report. Countries were supposed to submit reports to UNAIDSby December 31 on their progress implemented the commitments. Civil societyorganizations in a number of countries are also preparing shadow reports.These reports are available at http://ungasshiv.org/

Meet with other NGOs in your country to develop a common strategy to effectivelyinfluence your national delegation and then request a formal meeting betweenNGOs and members of the national delegation before the Review.

Identify what are the best practices and obstacles faced - what is and is not workingin the country to prevent the spread of HIV and how/ why treatment is or is not beingadministered. Be ready to share this information orally and in written form withyour government delegation.
Advocate for a strong civil society representation in the country delegation to the review meeting in New York, including one or more faith-based representatives.Delegations should also include people living with HIV and AIDS.

Write letters to your President or Prime Minister, Minister of Health or Minister ofForeign Affairs, Ambassador to the United Nations and contact your NationalAIDS Programme or Ministry of Health to ask him/her to keep their promise and support a renewal and strengthening of commitments made in 2001. A sample letter can be found in the curriculum listed above.

Consider challenging your country's delegation to a discussion or debate about the country report, shadow report or current position in relation to the DoC. Besure to invite the local media to cover the story.

Begin planning and organizing local events in the weeks prior to the ReviewSession to raise awareness and put pressure on the government to continue working towards the commitments. Devise a media strategy in coordinationwith these events.

Join the EAA\s UNGASS review listserve for further updates and action alerts.Subscribe by sending an email with your name and organization to cbordeau@e-alliance.ch.

Mark your calendar

Ecumenical Worship service, May 30, 6:30 PM - St. Bartholomew's Church in NewYork City will host an ecumenical worship service on the eve of the UNGASS Review. This service is being coordinated by the EAA and organized by faith leaders from around New York.

Youth Summit: May 29-30. Youth from around the world will convene in New YorkCity to guarantee that their voices are heard and to ensure that the outcome of theUNGASS review addresses the needs of youth. More information is available at http://www.youthaidscoalition.org/activities.html.

May 20-26 a Global Week of Action is being coordinated by Action AID to encouragecivil society groups from around the globe to host events that raise political andmedia awareness that demand urgency addressing the AIDS pandemic.

Background Information
The 2001 Declaration of Commitment (DoC) was the first worldwide pledge to addressthe HIV and AIDS pandemic. It stressed partnership among all sectors of society - fromgovernments and the UN system to business, labour, faith-based organizations (FBOs),the media, and people living with HIV and AIDS. Member States committed themselvesto stimulate and work with these partnerships in order to fulfill the DoC target guidelinesfor: leadership, prevention, care, support, treatment, human rights, reducing vulnerability,research and development, reaching regions affected by conflict or disasters, resourcesand follow-up monitoring.

In December 2005, the United Nations Member States agreed to undertake acomprehensive review of the progress achieved in realizing the targets set out in the 2001DoC. The DoC says that civil society groups, including people living with HIV and faithbased organizations must be active participants in UNGASS implementation, monitoringand reporting.

The review will take place at UN headquarters in New York from 31 May to 2 June 2006.The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance strongly encourages everyone to get involved in thereview process, both in national advocacy in the months leading up to the review and,if possible, in New York itself during the three days of the review.

For More Information
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance http://www.e-alliance.ch/ungassreview.jsp
Web portal for civil society engagement with the UNGASS review: http://www.ungasshiv.org
================================================================
For past Action Alerts and Bulletins from the HIV and AIDS Campaign, see http://www.e-alliance.ch/newsletters.jsp

The Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance is a broad international network of churchesand Christian organizations cooperating in advocacy on global trade and HIV and AIDS. The Alliance is based in Geneva, Switzerland. For more information, see http://www.e-alliance.ch/

One Great Hour of Sharing helps UMCOR change lives

United Methodist support helps Angelina take care of her family at a displaced persons camp in South Darfur, Sudan. A Web-only photo by Stephen Guy, UMCOR.


Mar. 15, 2006
A UMNS Report By Linda Beher*



The house on Little River Road is still on its pad, unmoved by the water that rushed in from two directions in a Bayou La Batre, Ala., neighborhood. The roof had been partially dislodged by the high winds of Hurricane Katrina that blew through this coastal town last August.

Inside, everything Gwen Landry had worked for was lost. Today, thanks to United Methodist action, Landry has a new lavender bedroom, a brilliant yellow kitchen, fresh carpeting and a new roof.

"I never thought there were that many good people left in the world," Landry said of the United Methodist support.

In Sudan, United Methodists are also providing seeds and tools to help Angelina - last name unavailable - to ensure that her family of young children, living in a South Darfur displaced persons camp, has an income and enough food to eat. And in Indonesia, United Methodists are helping families regain their homes and restore their incomes after the deadly Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami.

These changed lives are possible because United Methodist generosity enables the United Methodist Committee on Relief - the aid agency of the church - to offer a humanitarian hand. The denomination's One Great Hour of Sharing offering, an annual collection by local churches, is a primary way in which money is raised for the agency. This year's offering is March 26.

Designated gifts provide the Sheetrock, boats and seeds. Undesignated gifts to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering provide UMCOR with the funds it takes to administer these and hundreds of other programs throughout the world.

The proceeds from this special Sunday collection, usually celebrated during Lent, benefit UMCOR directly. One Great Hour of Sharing donations guarantee that UMCOR "directs every dime of every donation into recovery and relief efforts," explained the Rev. Paul Dirdak, UMCOR director.

That's because the offering pays for administrative costs. No deductions for costs like electricity, home office staff salaries, office rent or fund raising come off the top of any designated donation. In 2005, offering gifts totaled more than $3.27 million.

Offering gifts over and above those used to cover administrative costs are channeled where they're most needed-to assist the most vulnerable people whose need is greatest.

Donations to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering also assist UMCOR programs that have not been fully funded through designated Advance gifts. In addition, United Methodists' donations often become the springboard for additional funding.

UMCOR receives no World Service funds, Dirdak noted.

"The One Great Hour of Sharing offering helps United Methodists through UMCOR transform lives," he said. "It is critical to our ability to administer humanitarian service for however long it takes survivors to regain a steady hold on life. We hope United Methodists will give generously when the offering plate comes their way."

*Beher is the communications officer for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.

UMCOR helps La. communities respond to needs of displaced

By Betty Backstrom*

BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS) - Funding through the United Methodist Committee on Relief is helping meet the needs of schoolchildren displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.
Of the more than 600,000 people who evacuated New Orleans when Katrina struck Aug. 29, about half settled either permanently or temporarily in other Louisiana communities. UMCOR has offered grant funding to the seven districts of the United Methodist Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference for programs that support humanitarian aid to the thousands of displaced people. Each grant could include requests for up to $50,000.

"The Baton Rouge District has developed a program focusing on the needs of young children," said the Rev. Jan Holloway, associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge and chairperson of the Baton Rouge District Task Force on Hurricane Response.





Schoolchildren displaced from New Orleans are attending Mayfair Elementary School in Baton Rouge, La.





"Due to Katrina, many children and youth have lost their homes and everything in them; their schools have been destroyed; and their friends have been dispersed," Holloway said. "These children need security, stability, places to learn and play, and counseling programs so that they can rebuild their lives."

The Baton Rouge District received a full $50,000 grant for a program targeting two schools - Mayfair Elementary and Scotlandville Middle - that were opened specifically for 480 children displaced by Katrina. Many of the 43 teachers at the two schools were also displaced by the hurricane.

"It was a joy to deliver on behalf of UMCOR and the churches of the Baton Rouge district a check to Mayfair Elementary for the purchase of science education supplies. I can still remember the first time I looked through a microscope and the wonder I felt; it gave me an appreciation for God's creative power that I did not have before," Holloway said.

Most of the children were students in New Orleans public schools that, by most measures of accountability, were failing at the task of providing an adequate education. "With hard work on everyone's part, these young people will have expanded educational opportunities provided through their new schools," she added.

Additional needs United Methodists throughout the city have also responded with gifts of uniforms, school books, library books, supplies and teacher resources. First Church in Baton Rouge provided supplies and uniforms received from nearly 50 United Methodist congregations throughout the connection.

"A local United Methodist businessman got his company to sponsor an art contest at Mayfair Elementary, using the winner's entry on his firm's Christmas card. A retired teacher donated all of her Scholastic Books points from nearly 30 years of teaching, resulting in the provision of over 3,000 books for the schools," said the Rev. Larry Miller, Baton Rouge District superintendent.

The second element of the UMCOR grant is the purchase of needed kitchen equipment for United Methodist HOPE Ministries in Baton Rouge.

"This mission center, which provides food to those in need, has been serving about 1,100 families per month since Hurricane Katrina hit. This is an increase of close to 275 families per month," Holloway said.

'Be the Hope'

Helping children who are living in an area trailer village is the third focus of the grant program. The village is operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"The majority of the funding will help establish a computer lab for young students residing in the Groom Road trailer village," Holloway said. "Over 500 children and youth are living at the site, with essentially no access to computers or an environment conducive to study. With matching funds from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, we hope to have a state-of-the-art program that will help these at-risk children stay ahead educationally.

"The focus on children and youth and the ministries we are implementing underscores the mission of UMCOR and the United Methodist Church as we encourage churches to 'Be the Hope,'" she said. "These educational and nutritional efforts will help children holistically for their entire lives."

*Backstrom is editor of Louisiana Now!, the newspaper of the United Methodist Church's Louisiana Annual Conference.



Schoolchildren displaced from New Orleans are attending Mayfair Elementary School in Baton Rouge, La.