When The Lutheran World Federation was founded in 1947, its first service program provided assistance to refugees in Europe. Today the LWF continues to work with and for refugees and displaced persons. The LWF World Service provides service and care for 1.2 million of the world’s refugees and displaced persons, working in 18 refugee camps in Africa and Asia. In these camps people from many nations live side by side seeking refuge from drought and conflict.

The LWF has 145 member churches with a total of 70 million members. This means that 70 Lutherans together take care of one refugee in this world. In the LWF we are dedicated to our vocation to uphold the rights of the poor and oppressed through our continuing work with refugees, who have been forced to flee their homes because of armed conflicts or natural disasters. Every person we serve has a history of struggle yet has hopes for and dreams for the future. Each person is born with a God-given value and the right to a decent life.

The theme of the United Nations World Refugee Day 2012 is “one refugee without hope is one too many.”

A young Ethiopian woman, Rayika, who lives in the LWF-managed Kakuma refugee camp, northwestern Kenya, puts it powerfully: “when we do have hope that tomorrow will come and that tomorrow will come with a new change within itself, a new place to build you up, then that gives you hope to carry on.”

LWF runs over 20 schools at Kakuma, where it offers 15, 000 school meals to children daily, giving them a better basis for learning. Education offers hope for a sustainable future for our students. However, resources are scarce which leads to difficult learning environments—overcrowded classrooms and a lack of teaching materials and run-down school buildings. There is a need for both political will and concrete funding to be able to uphold a standard for our schools which will offer the children a basic education, which provides hope for the future.

On World Refugee Day, we are reminded of the suffering of too many people who are living as refugees and internally displaced persons in our world. But we are also reminded of the difference we can make by offering a basis of hope for the future through the concrete work that we carry out with support from our member churches and our partners.

20 June 2012
Geneva

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THANK YOU
Came as stranger
with lost hope
no home
and became your members

We found friends and family
a safe ground to stand
strength and a helping hand
a new life and a chapter to carry on

You made us see far
unlocked our potentials
with strength and hope
we stood firm

You took time and listened
came down and reached us
brought us to light
and exposed our hidden talents

we have dreams and visions
hopes and missions
to fulfil our live ambitions
and reach every hill top

Now we are up and strong
built on strong base
stand with every race
and move on same pace

LWF
Thank you
Forever God will bless you.

SHALL I?

Yet another day
am up again
hoping against hope
to live my dream

I fell and stuck
broke and crack
lost my track
maintained mark

I toiled yesterday
hope changes today
to raise from fall
and stand up tall

Had faced danger
cried of hunger
lost loved ones
left to wonder

Have taken a step
changed my map
no more weep
this spirit I’ll keep.

STAY

Can hear your voice
feel your presence
see your way
but wonder of strength

came from far
in different paths
swept the wrath
calmed more

Have felt your content
tender can’t mention
you are important
please change my situation

Take my anger to the deep see
pain to the highest mountain
pleas to the blue skies
and concern to special ones

Cover my cold soul
strengthen weak bones
hold loosen roles
and replace lost hopes

Soon you will go
to where you belong
take me along
if not, promise return.

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“One refugee without hope is one too many.” The theme for World Refugee Day 2012 resonates with Lutherans.

The Hebrews fled from Egypt. The Holy Family fled Bethlehem. Martin Luther was given refuge in Wartburg Castle. At the close of World War II, one out of every six Lutherans in the world was a refugee or displaced person. When the LWF was founded in 1947, its first service program provided assistance to refugees in Europe.

Today the LWF continues to operate major programs for refugees around the world through the Department for World Service, one of the major non-governmental implementing partners of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

LWF Assistance to Refugees in 2011

• Providing service and care to 1.2 million refugees worldwide
• Providing service and care to 75,000 internally displaced persons
• A significant presence in 18 refugee camps across Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nepal
• Nearly 1,800 LWF staff employed in the camps

Advocacy for Protection

The LWF actively advocates through a variety of channels in situations when, for example, governments prevent delivery of humanitarian aid and access to people in need, or where refugees are a burden to countries, and governments disregard their human rights.

Refugee emergencies are complex. Keeping people in refugee camps is meant to be a short-term solution, but refugees often cannot move home or re-settle in a new country for decades.

All people share the right to receive humanitarian assistance based solely on their needs in ways that uphold human dignity and which are not subjected to discrimination.

“Humanitarian Space”

In highly insecure areas such as the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia or Yemen, however, every attempt to access populations at risk with direct assistance is difficult and dangerous for humanitarian workers.

The decline in respect and protection for neutral and impartial humanitarian staff working in armed conflict zones is referred to as the “shrinking humanitarian space.” Armed groups and sometimes even sovereign governments try to use humanitarian aid for their own political or military advantage.

The LWF’s Department for World Service (DWS) has joined other organizations in advocating for more respect and robust compliance with international humanitarian law and principles which provide the protection framework for humanitarian workers.

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ALI ADDEH, Djibouti/GENEVA, 19 June 2012 (LWI) –Shafi Abdu Lahi, a 15-year-old grade eight pupil at the Ali-Addeh refugee camp in Djibouti, recently concluded his final exams. Education has been very good, says the young Somali refugee, but there are no prospects for studying beyond primary school.

Alongside thousands of refugees, he awaits relocation to Holl-Holl camp, which was closed down in 2006 following repatriation of refugees to Somaliland. Since mid-2011, drought and insecurity increased the influx of Somalis into neighboring countries including Djibouti. By 11 June, Djibouti was hosting 16,449 refugees from Somalia according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Nearly all of them reside at the Ali-Addeh camp, which was designed to accommodate a maximum of 7,000 people.

Lahi is just one of the 83 pupils who completed their final grade eight exams and are not sure of the next step in their education life. They could cross over to neighboring Ethiopia to pursue secondary education there but this option is too costly.

As a result, he will just add to the number of youths already idling in the camp. As he said, “Some [former] students they grazing [sic], they eat khat [a local stimulant drug plant]. They clean the ways [street] in Djibouti because they don’t have any high school [education].”

“We are young students; we need to continue our education because education is life, our life is dependent on education,” Lahi added.

He says his dream of becoming a business entrepreneur is hampered by the lack of a secondary school in the camp. “If you don’t have any education, you will not achieve your goals, your objectives.”

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has been involved in the provision of education at Ali-Addeh since 2009. For a long time, education provided in this refugee camp has been limited to the primary school level, without any secondary system or vocational training programs. Currently there is only one primary school program hosting 1,573 pupils, and four pre-schools with 987 pupils.

This has been partly as a result of the difference in the national languages of the host country (French-speaking) and the refugees’ country of origin (Somali-speaking). However, the LWF will assess the needs for secondary education or vocational training system in September, according to Robai Naliaka, project coordinator for the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) program in Djibouti.

Children with Disabilities

Recently, the LWF constructed four kindergarten classrooms for children aged three to six who had previously been studying in tents. “Due to the hot temperatures, the tents at times would become stuffy and because of poor ventilation this led to fainting by some of the pupils,” says Feqede Moreda, LWF child protection assistant at the camp.

In addition, the lack of a school feeding program means most youngsters miss out on education, as they are sent out by their parents to beg for money and food in Djibouti city, adds Moreda.

The system does not allow for children with disabilities adequately to benefit from education.

“Pupils with disabilities are not able to enroll in the camp school because the teachers do not have the capacity to assist them and [these] children also lack wheelchairs to move over the rugged terrain of Ali-Addeh from their homes to the school,” adds Mustapha Warssama, the school’s headmaster.

Aweis Mohamed Ahmed, one of those selected for relocation to Holl-Holl camp, is optimistic that he will continue with his work as a teacher in the new camp. However, he acknowledges that, even in the new camp, the education system will only cater to primary education.

Limited Resources

Still, given the large number of children enrolling for kindergarten, there is a need to have more classrooms in the primary school to accommodate the pupils once they graduate from the pre-school. Paul Lagat, LWF quality assurance and standards officer, explains that the current average number of students per class in the primary school is 71, far above the acceptable standard. In addition, some of the classrooms are too small.

“Due to the influx of Somali refugees and the closure of the Holl-Holl camp in 2006, the camp [Ali-Addeh] has overstretched its capacity and hence the need for re-opening [Holl-Holl],” says UNHCR field officer, Dr Rafou Makou.

The new camp set to be opened near the old Holl-Holl site in mid-September is expected to hold more than 3,500 Somalis who have arrived so far this year. The UNHCR notes that the influx of refugees is straining already limited resources, and much work needs to be done to care for the increasing numbers.

The LWF Djibouti program began in 2009 as part of the Kenya program, and includes livelihood support to refugees through small grants for income-generating activities. (802 words)

(By LWF/DWS Djibouti staff)

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MARO, Chad/GENEVA, 19  June 2012 (LWI) – Sitting in the heat of the midday sun in the small town of Maro, southern Chad, Suzane Dangel, a refugee from the Central African Republic, explains how The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has helped changed her life.  

Dangel, 60, has been living in the Moula refugee camp close to the border between Chad and the Central African Republic since it was established in 2008. The camp hosts more than 5,800 refugees from the Central African Republic.

The LWF Chad program manages the camp, working closely with vulnerable women.

Dangel, who had worked as a female circumciser in her home country, first continued to practice the tradition at Moula. Today, the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) program in Chad provides new opportunities for women who previously engaged in this practice.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice that has been around for more than 2,000 years. It involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other procedures that injure the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.

In Africa, an estimated 92 million girls of 10 years of age and older have undergone FGM, according to the World Health Organization.

“Last year I circumcised two teenage girls in the camp. It’s our tradition and it brings me income. The police arrested and imprisoned me for six days because this practice is illegal in Chad,” Dangel said.

LWF Chad has been organizing training workshops and activities on health issues and sexual awareness in order to empower women in the camp. Because of this support, the women can sell handicrafts and food products in the local market. The LWF also provides goats for the women and their families to improve their livelihoods.

“I will never again circumcise a girl, because now I understand the severe health problems that it’s causing for women, such as infections and bleeding problems. This has been a tradition in our culture for decades and brought an income for my family. It was hard to stop that,” Dangel explained.

In communities where FGM is practiced, it is widely believed that a woman cannot get married if she has not undergone the operation, and that a girl will not become a woman without going through the procedure. However, Dangel said she is now determined not to return to carrying out the practice.

“I’m very grateful for the help and support that I have received from the LWF. I hope I never have to practice again my old profession,” she added.

LWF/DWS began working with Central African refugees in the south of the country in 2008. The current activities emphasize self-sufficiency and increased food production in host communities. At the Moula camp, the LWF is responsible for agriculture, education and psycho-social assistance, and handles the camp’s monthly food distribution. (497 words)

(Written for LWI by Anna Palmén, in Maro, Chad)

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Two years after the catastrophic earthquake of January 2010, humanitarian aid agencies have struggled to use the majority of resources donated for constructing better and adequate housing.

The need to remove ten million metric tons of rubble prevented quick and easy solutions. The absence of prior building codes and the lack of access to land rights remains an enormous road block to rebuilding. Many displaced persons were renting property before the earthquake and rent prices quickly inflated following the disaster. Few people have been allocated permanent housing.

Louigene will not forget 25 July 2011, the day she received keys to her shelter on a small plot of land by the sea. It will be home to her, her two daughters and two sisters. For the last 18 months they have lived in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP).

Louigene lost her house, shop and all her belongings in the earthquake. She is now back in her community.

In 2011 the LWF shifted over 1,000 families from tents and lean-tos to semi-permanent shelters or rental homes in the capital Port au Prince, in Gressier and Leogane. This move has provided essential security and stability which was not possible in the camps.

The LWF didn’t stop there.

A parallel strategy was pursued to obtain 58,000 square meters of land to be allocated to 200 families in the future. It took ten months, but resulted in the LWF being one of the first entities to break ground for a model village of permanent homes.

On a hill just walking distance from the main road in Gressier, families will be supported in gaining skills to be owners of disaster-resistant concrete block homes. They will be trained to maintain the environmentally friendly systems for water, electricity and sanitation, and to establish a community association to govern the village.

Hope is nurtured when compassion and justice teach hearts to trust in better tomorrows.

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Six-year-old Asmah lives in a refugee camp in Gaza and was diagnosed with cancer at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. She was referred to Jerusalem’s Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) to receive the life-giving care and treatment she needed, since there were no comparable cancer care facilities in Gaza or the West Bank.

AVH helped to secure Asmah’s medical permit so that she could travel to East Jerusalem, but the Israeli authorities refused to allow her parents to accompany her. Fortunately, Asmah’s grandparents were allowed to go. It was their first time to see Jerusalem, the Temple Mount (Haram Ash-Sharif) and the Dome of the Rock.

The radiation treatment for this bold little girl would take a few minutes a day for six to nine weeks. The drive to Jerusalem, without delays at checkpoints, is about an hour and a half, but they could not risk going back and forth to Gaza each day for fear that one day they would not be permitted to leave Gaza, and Asmah’s radiation therapy would be interrupted with potentially catastrophic consequences. AVH provided hotel accommodations for Asmah and her grandparents—a routine part of the hospital’s care for Gaza patients.

While Asmah’s parents could not be with her, the hidden blessing was that while at AVH, her grandmother was diagnosed and treated for diabetes. Both grandparents took part in classes that prepared them for the new diet and life-style changes that were urgently needed for Asmah’s grandmother.

The young girl is now back in Gaza with her parents and family, and happy to rejoin her friends in school.

As it provides humanitarian services, the LWF at the same time continues calling for an end to the Israeli occupation and advocates for the freedom of movement and access to health care, educational facilities and employment opportunities.

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Most have relied on small tourism-based businesses for their livelihoods. The LWF is present in most settlements, offering horticulture and farming training, as well as adult literacy classes, support for construction and maintenance of irrigation systems, toilets, solar lighting, and drainage systems.

“Though I do not have my family with me, I am spending a comfortable life, thanks to the support extended by members of the settlement and the agencies [LWF],” says Dolma Richoe, 75, of Tashi Palikhel Settlement for Tibetan Refugees in Nepal. The settlement is home to 794 Tibetans.

Richoe came to Nepal from Tibet with her husband and three sons in 1959. She gave birth to two daughters in Nepal and the family spent their days struggling in this foreign land. She made a living for the family by marketing her handicrafts while her health permitted, but she has been ailing since 1990.

Her children have since moved on and she now needs help from others. The settlement has been providing NPR 500 (EUR 5) per month to Richoe. During the dry season, there was a shortage of drinking water. As there was no separate toilet in the settlement, she had to walk 100 meters for this facility.

The LWF has constructed toilets, installed solar panels and created a source for clean water in the settlement. Her house was chosen for construction of the first toilet as she was the most senior and vulnerable person in the settlement.

“The organizations [LWF] have provided good facilities such as toilets, water and solar panels. I am spending a good life, though sometimes my memories haunt me,” says Richoe.

“My eyes are weak, I can’t walk and my health condition is not good. To everyone who used to come to my home I would request a toilet and finally, I received one in my house! There is also a clean water facility and we have water in our own home. I have received everything that I wanted,” she adds, as she blesses the LWF for supporting her.

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The dusty landscape around Dadaab is dotted with students in colorful uniforms making their way to school. The LWF operates six schools in this camp where about 13,000 students are enrolled.

John Kaissa is the LWF’s education coordinator. He has managed programs in Kakuma and Sudan, but admits the program here is tough.

“Fleeing from drought or violence leaves children with a legacy that doesn’t always make them good students. They are not used to rules. They come to school today, but maybe they don’t come tomorrow,” he says.

To prove his point only the most serious students attended school on the first day. It would take the rest of the week for the others to take their place in class. But even on the first day of the term, there were not enough desks to seat everyone.

Mukhtar Osman, the head teacher at Undugu Primary School with over 3,000 students, says the ratio of textbooks per student is 1:9. He needs at least 300 more desks for his students, and the classrooms are much too small for the number of students per room. Some of the students at Undugu are as old as 30 and the competition for a desk is fierce.

Despite limited resources in the Dadaab schools, Somali children have a better chance of an education here than in Somalia. The literacy rate in Somalia is 49 percent and only 24 percent for girls. In Kenya, 92 percent of adults can read and write.

Teachers working here are paid less than in other parts of Kenya, but they are in high demand. There are 1,000 teachers in the LWF program alone.

“Every cent changes somebody’s life. Every cent can give somebody hope,” says Kaissa, noting that education in Hagadera is a large and costly program. Education is fundamental to breaking the poverty cycle and, as long as these children are in Kenya, they have a chance.

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