Episcopal Press and News
Presiding Bishop's Fund Aids Ugandans, Others
Episcopal News Service. May 24, 1979 [79174]
NEW YORK -- The board of the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, meeting here May 17-19, voted an immediate disbursement of $50,000 in emergency aid to Uganda. The grant, which represents the Episcopal Church's contribution to a $600,000 ecumenical appeal for the Anglican Church of Uganda, will be channeled through the All Africa Conference of Churches and will be used to assist in relief and rehabilitation of returning Ugandan refugees and those displaced or affected by the recent war which toppled the regime of dictator Idi Amin.
World Council of Churches relief officials in Nairobi, Kenya, estimate that three million Ugandans -- both refugees outside the country and displaced persons within Uganda itself -- are in need of food, blankets, used clothing, shelter, medicines and drugs.
In a related action, the Fund's board committed an additional $100,000 for aid to Uganda, to be disbursed during the coming months with the approval of the board's executive committee.
The board also asked Presiding Bishop John M. Allin to issue a special Churchwide appeal for $250,000. In a special letter to all Episcopal bishops and parishes, Bishop Allin said that these moneys would be channeled directly through the Anglican Church of Uganda and would be used to "help deal with immediate needs in dioceses and Church institutions there. Every need is pressing on them -- widows, orphans, destroyed churches, rectories, schools."
The board also made the following grants, as part of the total of $364,425:
- Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, Tulsa, Oklahoma -- $2,000 to the Ecumenical Hunger Program for training 3,000 persons in nutrition-related education programs and 300 persons in developing a hunger advocacy network. Eight denominations participate in this five-year program.
- Diocese of Dallas -- Province VII Refugee Resettlement Program -- $24,940 to open resettlement offices in the 10 remaining dioceses in the Province and to provide training assistance until these offices are operative.
- Diocese of Olympia -- $5,000 to the Presbyterian-Episcopal Hunger Coalition, a self-help food-buying program for low-income persons. The program is working to establish a system of self-managed food cooperatives with special emphasis on helping senior citizens.
- Technoserve, Inc. -- $40,000 ($20,000 a year for two years) for the Cooperative Animal Feed Mills Project in El Salvador. This project assists farmers in designing and implementing small-scale animal feed mixing and marketing.
- Institute for Food and Development Policy, San Francisco, Calif. -- $5,000 toward production and study guide for a 25-minute filmstrip, "Food First," a nutrition education resource for use in schools.
- Diocese of Boga-Zaire -- $15,010 for the diocese's Grass Roots Medical Program to educate local people about adequate diet and proper hygiene. The program will also provide clinical services and inoculations at modest fees and will train layreaders in paramedical and hygienic techniques.
- Diocese of Los Angeles -- $26,300 to the Episcopal Immigration Services program, for legal assistance to incoming refugees and immigrants and aid to the Presiding Bishop's Fund's immigration and refugee office in monitoring the implementation of federal immigration policy.
- Christian Community Service Agency, Miami, Fla. -- $10,000 to meet immediate needs of Cuban refugees arriving in Miami: family readjustment, employment training, immigration services, English classes.
- Diocese of Jerusalem -- $10,000 to the Salt Deaf Institute, Jordan, to provide safe housing for 75 deaf students between the ages of six and 16. This institution, the only one of its kind in Jordan, was identified as a priority program by the Anglican Partners in Mission program. The disbursement of this grant is contingent upon the Institute raising its total budget of $330,000 from other sources.
- World Council of Churches -- $15,375 for the Conference on Faith, Science and the Future, to be held in Boston July 12-24. The conference will have 450 participants, including theologians and scientists, and will examine the meaning of faith in a world which both liberates and destroys persons and human values. The Fund's grant, made from a special gift from the Diocese of Rochester, will aid in travel expenses for participants from Third World nations.
- CODEL (Coordination in Development) -- $12,000 for a river transport project in Bahia, Brazil. The grant will provide motor boats for rural extension teams who take medical aid and farming advice into scattered river-front communities.
- CODEL -- $12,000 ($4,000 a year for three years) to purchase a diesel van and cover operating expenses for the Community Health and Education Center, Yellareddy, India. This program provides primary health care for area residents.
- Interreligious Task Force on U.S. Food Policy, Washington, D.C. -- $6,800 to aid in communication and network building.
- Diocese of the Rio Grande -- $7000 to the Lord's Food Bank, a border feeding program in El Paso, Tex. , and Juarez, Mexico. This grant matches funds raised locally.
- APSO, the Appalachian People's Service Organization, a regional coalition of Episcopal dioceses, received four grants:
- CHOICE (Changing Human Opportunities in Cooperative Effort), Lansing, Tenn. - $5,000 to train six community leaders for work in family counseling in low-income areas. Special emphasis will be given to impressing upon parents the need for adequate education for their children. Public education was not provided in this area of Tennessee until 1966.
- Dickenson County Food Co-Op, Nora, Va. -- $5,000 for training in market transport systems and credit union management. The co-op's prices are often as much as 10 percent lower than supermarkets and save poor rural residents a 30 to 40 mile drive for shopping.
- Kentucky Mountain Housing Development Corporation, Manchester, Ky. -- $11,000 to develop 30 new houses, repair 100 others, and help 500 people get better jobs and housing. This program has been serving the rural poor since 1972.
- Knott County Farm Co-op, Lexington, Ky. -- $3,000 for marketing and distribution training for this program which serves 100 rural households.
In other actions, the board authorized the funding and extension of a contract for the Rev. John Huston of Seattle, Wash., as a special consultant on emerging refugee matters for the Fund through Sept. 30, 1979. This action was taken in response to a request from the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. Father Huston has been working in the area of parish sponsorship recruitment for refugee families and will be giving special emphasis to recruitment in Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota in the coming months, as well as maintaining contacts in heavily impacted areas on the east and west coasts.
The board also adopted a revised budget of $36,800 to strengthen its All Africa Refugee Appeal promotional efforts.
A budget of $15,000 was approved by the board for two network training workshops for Presiding Bishop's Fund diocesan representatives. The workshops, to be held next October, will focus on fund-raising, constituency education and parish network-building.
The board also heard a production report and premiere plans for a new promotional and educational film about the work and ministry of the Presiding Bishop's Fund. The film, which is narrated on-camera by the Presiding Bishop, will receive its first showing on Monday, Sept. 10, at the Episcopal Church's General Convention in Denver, Colo. The film and a study guide will then be available for use by parishes and dioceses.
In an effort to create a strong additional giving base for the Fund, the board approved the formation of The Anchor Society, consisting of those persons who pledge $1,000 or more annually toward the Fund's work. Preliminary solicitations for the Society, named after the Fund's symbol, the Anchor of Hope, will focus on special patronage of the concert by singer John Denver on Sept. 14 at the Colorado Convention. The benefit evening is being sponsored by the Episcopal Church's National Hunger Committee, with all proceeds designated for the Presiding Bishop's Fund.
At dinner on the two evenings of the board's meeting, presentations were made by the Rev. Samir J. Habiby and Mr. Leonard Coleman. Father Habiby, director of the Presiding Bishop's Fund, had just completed an around-the-world trip and reported on his visits to refugee camps in Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia. Mr. Coleman is a missionary appointee of the Episcopal Church assigned to CORAT, the Christian Research and Advisory Trust of Africa, with offices in Nairobi, Kenya.