(Extract)
Pakistan
Cyclone Phet hit south Pakistan on June 6, bringing heavy rains, high winds and severe flooding. Some 250,000 people are affected, and standing water continues to pose health risks. Lack of safe drinking water and insufficient access to food and shelter are also concerns.
CWS is distributing relief supplies for 1,025 families in Dasso and Pattan and is focusing on possible support for rehabilitation needs in Balochistan. CWS is in close contact with our local partners and other agencies responding to the disaster and will continue to respond as necessary.
Kenya
"I used to spend my days at the market, searching for odd jobs and begging for food," says Catherine Amina, 18, of Ndithini, Kenya. "My dream was to start a sewing business. I fulfilled my dream after my youth working group lent me money to start a tailoring and dressmaking shop. Since then I have invested some of my profits into animal husbandry, and I now have two cows, six goats and twenty-two chickens from which I sell eggs and chicks. My businesses are a big success.
"With this money I am now able to care for my three sisters and my grandparents, and to pay the school fees for one of my sisters so she can achieve her dream of becoming a doctor and starting a hospital in our village. I have also been able to employ an additional tailor in my shop, and to offer apprenticeships to two of my youth working group members. I now have a new dream to expand my business and start a second shop in Mbusyani."
Catherine Amina's story is one of many included in the CWS Giving Hope methodology guidebook. The CWS-supported Giving Hope program assists child-headed households in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Mozambique. Through the program, young people orphaned by HIV and AIDS, or by war or genocide, are empowered to continue their education, grow food, make items to sell, or start small businesses.