01-12-2006 - Traces, n.11 AVSI 5 Projects 2006/2007 AVSI Foundation is proposing five projects for this year’s Christmas collection. Before everything else, this fund raising gesture, known as the AVSI “Christmas Tents,” educates those who do it to a fundamental dimension of living: Christian gratuitousness 1 The Litani River The river of coexistence Water and rural development for the farmers of Lebanon On the shores of the Litani, the river of coexistence, AVSI is working to help restore a Lebanon torn by the bloody battles of July and August. Tens of thousands from different communities living along the river will be the beneficiaries of the newest project of AVSI (active in the land of the cedars since 1996), dedicated to helping them through the sustainable development of agriculture. For example, over a thousand farmers are being trained on new irrigation and land management techniques, with positive effects for fifty thousand people. In addition, an ad hoc program begun last April involves 180 farmers in promoting the transition from traditional to sustainable agriculture, reducing pesticide residues in their fruit and vegetable yields, and promoting the sale of these products. Also, since 2003, AVSI has been running a major program to improve the management of irrigation water between Qaraoun Lake and the village of Bar Elias. The project aims to develop all the water, natural, economic, social, and cultural resources deriving from the Litani, directly involving those who draw sustenance from the river for themselves and their families. “Our experience in these years has taught us that Lebanon is a place of possible coexistence. With the Litani River water management project, AVSI is creating opportunities for development.” (Alberto Piatti, AVSI General Secretary) 2 Bethlehem Hope reborn Support for a school of 1,000 children in the Holy Land This school, hosting over a thousand Christian and Muslim students in the city of the Nativity, offers a strong symbol of brotherhood in a region of the world that is not without frequent clashes. AVSI has decided to support this school, managed by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Sites in the Holy Land, with two types of interventions. The first participates in covering expenses for the renovation of the institute (which not only needs new classrooms, but also requires a heating system), and the second offers distance support for tuition and supplies for about fifty students from the most disadvantaged families, a category that includes many in Bethlehem, especially since the wall built around the city has limited and in some cases blocked the passage of workers who commuted to Jerusalem. The school provides the students with a place of redemption, a place for broadening their horizons beyond that wall, beyond distrust, where they can learn respect and tolerance, notwithstanding their cultural and religious differences. “The school is the foundation for everything. Not everyone comes to church, but to school, yes. Therefore, this is the place where it is possible to reach the entire community; it is the driving force for coexistence.” (Fr. P. Pizzaballa, Custodian of the Holy Land) 3 Lima Tenderness challenges urban degradation Education, attention, and work for 350 families in Perù Education, professional formation, and human development have always been the heart of AVSI’s interventions in Peru since 1989. This year, two new projects have been launched in the zones of Nievería di Huachipa and Lomas de Carabayllo, among the most degraded areas of Lima’s outskirts. First of all, it will expand already existing educational support services, offered to help children gain more from school and promote the education of the whole child. In addition to assisting children with their homework, recreational activities will be organized to improve their degree of socialization, and a program of nutritional formation will be started with the educators. Secondly, a specific intervention for the parents will provide orientation for 350 mothers and 150 fathers on the best educative strategies for their children. “It is important that these people be helped, so that every day all can have a moment of tenderness for themselves. Embracing each for the esteem you have for his life: this gesture expresses the content of what we want to communicate.” (Fr. Julián Carrón, Huachipa, September 2006) 4 Kosovo Sowing the future Development and formation for small farmers AVSI, which has been active for some time now in Kosovo with distance support programs, is launching a new program for development of the rural sector in the region of Pec/Peja. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for the population, second only to the contributions sent by Kosovars abroad, and one of the keys for the sustainable development of the country. The objective of the project is to reinforce the “Agrodukagjini,” a network formed through another AVSI project uniting 12 associations (one composed of war widows) of small producers of milk, produce, fruit, and honey in the region. The project to strengthen the “Agrodukagjini” will entail contacts with firms and public institutions through formation and promotional activities that can even come to the point of including the Serb community. Those benefiting directly will include the more than 700 members of the network and their families, about 3,000 people, but the positive effects of the initiative will reach the entire region, inhabited by 120,000 people. “The sector of agriculture needs to be revitalized, given that most Kosovars live in rural zones. We need to accomplish great things, but the government, whose total budget is barely six hundred million euros, is in difficulty.” (Kolë Berisha, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of Kosovo) 5 Northern Uganda The miracle of life in the midst of an emergency Support for the maternity ward in the Kitgum hospital Over 25,000 people die every month in Uganda from diseases classified as “easily preventable,” above all in the north, the land of the Acholi people, devastated by over twenty years of guerrilla warfare, where over 90% of the population (a million and a half people) is crowded into refugee camps. For many, the St. Joseph Hospital of Kitgum represents the last handhold to cling to in the grave health crisis seizing the region. At particular risk are women and children. For this reason, AVSI, active in Uganda since 1984 with a variety of programs, has decided to launch a new project for renovating the maternity ward of St. Joseph’s, an important symbol of hope in the midst of the daily emergency. Unfortunately, neonatal pathologies are very widespread. At St. Joseph’s, much attention is dedicated to the prevention of mother-child transmission of the HIV-AIDS virus. About 70 children and over 600 adults are treated with anti-retroviral drugs. “Defending the hospitals means defending the last barrier from collapse. In particular, the care of mothers and children is meaningful, because it is paradigmatic of caring for everyone.” (Filippo Ciantia, AVSI representative in Uganda)