Mormons’ Church Service – 2011

With many disasters and severe weather incidents, 2011 was an active year for Mormons’ church service around the world.

The earthquake and devastating tsunami in Japan was the worst disaster of the year, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent immediate aid and still continues to help.  The LDS Church provided more than 250 tons of supplies, food, water, blankets, bedding, hygiene items, clothing and fuel. Church-sponsored volunteers numbering over 20,000 have donated 175,000 hours of service in Japan.  Church Humanitarian Services has worked with and continues to donate equipment and supplies to 20 of 54 fishing co-ops wiped out by the disaster.  Latter-day Saints within Japan mobilized to help their stricken neighbors.  Fifty-two Mormon meetinghouses were also damaged and have since been repaired.

Other disasters struck different parts of the world, which experienced flooding, landslides, earthquakes, tornadoes and a hurricane (Irene). They occurred in Australia, New Zealand, Colombia, Brazil and the Philippines, as well as the Midwest and southern United States. Latter-day Saints in each of these areas also donated their time and efforts.  “Mormon Helping Hands” is the name of groups of Mormons gathered to help in relief efforts on the ground.  They can mobilize locally or travel, sometimes at their own expense.

In Germany, 9,000 Latter-day Saints and their neighbors worked side-by-side to donate 34,000 hours in support of children battling cancer.    (Read about other Mormon Helping Hands projects.)

2011 was the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Perpetual Education Fund, funded by donations from Latter-day Saints.  This fund helps with schooling expenses for returned-missionaries from impoverished countries.  The money is loaned to them, so they can afford advanced education.  The loan is paid back as they join the work force, and then loaned to the next worthy young person.  Thousands have achieved better employment through this program since its inception.

Additional Resources

Basic Mormon Beliefs — Official LDS Church Website

Mitt Romney’s Mormon Charity — Where Does it Go?

Church Gives Donations To Fisherman In Japan

Eight months after the earthquake and tsunami hit in Japan, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church“) contributed donations to the fishermen of Kuji and the small village of Noda Mura in Japan.

The fisherman in those cities were devastated when the tsunami destroyed almost all of their equipment. The Church donated “three trucks, 4,500 nets, 3,000 octopus cages and various other fishing supplies to the local fishermen’s cooperative” to the city of Kuji, and “trucks with refrigeration equipment and fish tanks, a fork lift, a large-volume digital scale and 70 large containers for hauling the day’s catch” in Noda Mura. In Kuji, the head of the fisherman’s co-op, Kenichiro Saikachi, thanked the Church saying, “For us who received the shock of this great disaster, the donation today from your church is a reassuring act of kindness.” This is a part of the ongoing effort of the Church in contributing to the welfare of those affected by the disaster in Japan. “Both the mayor and the head of the co-op were visibly moved by the help they had received from people they were not aware of before the earthquake and tsunami.”

To read the full story, please visit the official Mormon news website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Learn more about the Church humanitarian aid program.

Mormons Aid with Drought Relief in Africa

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church“) is working together with other organizations, to assist in drought relief efforts in Africa. Millions are in need of assistance as the past several years have been harsh drought conditions. The Church partnering to provide water, hygiene kits, medical supplies, as well as medical training. the Church is also working on projects in the future that would help the people of Africa be more self-reliant. These projects include digging wells, installing pumps, and sanitizing water. This example of assistance given by the Church and other organizations, shows that there is a great need for additional Christ like assistance around the world.

 With an estimated 13 million people in Eastern Africa in need of assistance, the conditions there being the driest recorded in the past 50 years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is working with various other organizations to coordinate the distribution of aid in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.

In Dadaab, Kenya, the world’s largest complex of refugee camps is already full, with an estimated half million people living there. Tens of thousands of people are living outside of the complex due to lack of space and supplies. In September, an average of 1,000 people arrived each day.

For a full report, please visit the official Mormon news website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”)

BYU Student Innovation Brings Water to Africa

Brigham Young University engineering students have created a well-drilling system that works on manpower.  The drill is inexpensive, easy to operate and easy to move.

Other water-drilling alternatives in the region either can’t dig deep enough or cost too much, sometimes upwards of $15,000. But the team’s device has the potential to drill a 150- to 250-foot-deep hole in a matter of days—all for about $2,000. [1]  The team created the drill for WHOLives.org, a nonprofit dedicated to providing clean water, better health and more opportunities to people living in impoverished communities. The organization is currently focusing its drilling efforts on Tanzania, but it has plans to expand its operations to other countries. The project is also co-sponsored by the Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology.

The drill can be operated by four people.  The project has the potential to affect millions of lives.  For official LDS news and updates regarding humanitarian efforts in Africa and other parts of the world, as well as world reports on Church events, visit the LDS Newsroom.

Mormons Spearhead International Charities

An article on Mormons in Business dot org talks about Russell Ellwanger, who currently lives in Israel and is the CEO of TowerJazz, a publicly traded semiconductor company on NASDAQ.  TowerJazz is headquartered near Nazareth, Israel, with a U.S subsidiary located in Newport Beach, California and facilities in China and Japan.  Margret, his German wife (whom he met on a mission to Germany, where she was also serving) spends nearly all of her time and resources managing the various charitable projects of forPeace.  Those projects now serve hundreds of thousands in Israel, Cambodia, and now Kenya.  The programs are innovative and therefore amazingly successful.

Micro-Loans?  Try Micro-Savings?

The Tabitha Project in Cambodia

Margret believes that the micro-loan programs functioning in many third-world countries get families off on the wrong foot from day one of their involvement.  Her incredible projects in Cambodia begin with micro-savings, and have allowed  1.5 million Cambodians to lift themselves from poverty into the middle class.  Currently, nearly 300,000 Khmer Cambodians are participating.

One of the reasons for the success of Marget’s charities is that there is no “rich big-brother” looking down on the needy, and no do-gooders going in and doing a project, then departing.  The latter means that the project breaks down and becomes derelict, while the former ends up being no real help at all.  The forPEACE organization has locals and permanent residents on the ground where help is needed.  They are always there with consistent help.  Also, the programs are self-driven.

The initiative in Cambodia is called “Tabitha,” named after a biblical woman who went around doing good. Tabitha was founded in 1994 by Canadian Janne Ritskeswith a goal to restore Khmer people hope and confidence and enable the poorest of the poor in Cambodia to improve their health, living conditions, and lifestyle. Here is a brief explanation of how the micro-savings program works.

The program has four main phases: The micro-savings program to teach money management principles;  cottage industry to teach job skills and to  generate paid positions;  the building of wells to provide families with clean water to improve health and living conditions; and house building, to  improve family comfort and living conditions.  By the time a family works through the four phases, they have moved from abject poverty to the middle class.

In the beginning, the family sets a goal to save 25 cents each week.  Every member of the family works hard to reach this goal, with everyone, even the children, participating.  At the end of 10 weeks, the family has saved $2.50.  Tabitha employees visit enrolled families each week and collect their savings.  After 10 weeks, Tabitha pays the family 10% interest, $0.25,
bringing their total to $2.75.   Each family then decides what to do with their savings. Many buy 5 baby chicks at $0.50 each.

After 10 more weeks of saving, families have another $2.75 to decide how to spend.   They sell the chickens they raised free range for $10 each.   With $52.75 they often buy:  A sack of rice – 50 kilos  for $40.00;  20 more chicks – $10.00;   Second hand clothes for their children.  As situations improve, families begin to save 50 cents each week.  Now families are able to buy and sell more chickens at a profit.  Eventually, they have just over $200, enough to purchase 30 chickens, or two pigs, or seeds to grow produce (making the family healthier, and to sell for profit), or clothes for everyone, or for rice.  Some choose to save $15.00 toward the cost of a well.

Families increase their savings to $5.00 each week.  They continue to earn 10% interest from forPEACE, funded by donations.  At the next phase, they may purchase a water pump, buy more chickens, save more toward the cost of a well, or cultivate a garden.  Families are now selling chickens, pigs, and produce, clothing the entire family, and have a well for clean water.  They begin to consider building a real house, after living in a hovel or out in the open.

Silk products produced by the Tabitha project

Some families enter the cottage industries established by forPEACE, especially the silk-weaving industry, which creates and sells gorgeous, high-quality purses, scarves, and other precious items.  Now the children can go to schools (forPEACE is building schools, too), and the family can purchase pots and pans, cement posts for a house, and a bicycle for use in their businesses.  When families are self-sufficient,  after about five years of 10-week cycles, they graduate from the Tabitha Savings Program, and have built a house costing under $1,000.  Tabitha sponsors house-building trips for volunteers who want to come help build houses.  When volunteers arrive, the footings are already in place, and they are trained by the Khmer.

The family-run businesses include produce and livestock farms; transportation businesses; roadside stores and vendors; silversmith shops;
and the silk weaving, the largest cottage industry.  Each village weaving
leader negotiates and purchases silk from silkworm farmers.   Tabitha weavers dye, spin, and weave the silk.  Silk fabric is transported to seamstresses.   Some women sew in their villages. Others commute to Tabitha headquarters in Phnom Penh.

There are many benefits from these cottage industries:  Silk sales pay for 80% of Tabitha administrative costs;  Cambodians learn to take pride in Cambodian products; and women are given the opportunity to earn a
respectable living.  Tabitha has built over 7,000 wells and 200 ponds and
has completed 9 schools.  Over 10,000 volunteers from across the globe have helped build over 4,000 houses.

Other Projects

In Israel, Margret works with Israeli Arabs in Nazareth to lift their educational accomplishments, which lag behind their Jewish counterparts.  Some projects aim to bring together Arab and Israeli youth to increase understanding.  In the Negev desert in southern Israel, formerly nomadic Beduouin women engage in cottage industries such as weaving and creating herbal products to forward the literacy of Bedouin women.

In Kenya, forPEACE is partnering with Global Outreach and building an internet cafe and guesthouse in western Kenya, connecting rural villages with the world through cyberspace.

For official LDS news and updates regarding humanitarian efforts in Africa and other parts of the world, as well as world reports on Church events, visit the LDS Newsroom.

Mormon Woman Serves Street Children in Mongolia

The capital city of Mongolia has some 5000 street children, some hiding from abuse, some who were separated from nomad parents, some simply abandoned. Some 3000 of them live in manholes—sewage tunnels. They don’t qualify for government help because they aren’t orphans. A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are often called Mormons by others, from Colorado works to help make their lives more bearable.

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Naranjargal Thompson became a Mormon in her native Mongolia. She came to the United States to attend Brigham Young University, a Mormon-owned school. It was there that she began following in her mother’s footsteps by seeking out service projects. In time, she began to focus her efforts on children in the United States, the Ukraine, and Mongolia. The children in Mongolia naturally capture her heart. 90 percent are abused and ill, but she says that despite their difficult lives, they are filled with joy.

In time, she co-founded Care4Kids with Valentina Anderson. One of their projects is to create care stations where the street children can get food and have a safe place to sleep. There are also plans to build a playground for a Mongolian orphanage.

Another project benefits a residential school for nomadic children. In order for them to get an education, they live at the school in dormitories. Although the schools provide an education and a place to live (one that is unsanitary and crowded), they don’t give the children after school activities, and the children are often desperately homesick during the long, unstructured hours when they are not in class. Nara is creating a library for these children, filled with books by the world’s great authors as well as Mongolian authors. She hopes they will find in these books comfort, inspiration, and motivation to stay in school despite the hardships so they can have a better life when they grow up. The library will also have a media corner so children can learn about computers, study math and science, and develop important skills for adulthood.

Nara is a homemaker with three children. She does this work simply out of love for others. Mormons are taught to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and Nara is clearly following that mandate.

Read more about Nara.

Mormon Fights Poverty Worldwide

Dr. James B. Mayfield is the founder of Choice Humanitarian, fighting poverty worldwide.  Mayfield, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a professor emeritus of public administration and Middle East Studies at the University of Utah, was a young Fulbright scholar in Egypt in 1966.  It was there that he was exposed to abject poverty.  Since then he has worked in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America for the U.S. government as well as his own charitable foundation.  In working with the government, Mayfield has learned by observing what doesn’t work.

“…in reviewing a $27 million U.S. water pump project in Indonesia in 1982, he found that 83 percent of the pumps were not working three years after being installed: A village chief told him they were waiting for the Americans to come back and “fix their pumps. We have assumed we can give people free things,” he said, “and they will be better.” [1]

Mayfield helped form Choice Humanitarian in the early 1980′s.  In the beginning, the organization followed this same formula.  When they returned to the sites of their charitable installations years later, sure enough, things weren’t working.  By the 1990′s they had come up with plans to train local people how to manage their charitable works.

“We were still encouraging a dependency relationship — the villagers were waiting for an expert. We learned the projects needed to be villager-driven.”

Now it is not only poor villagers who benefit from the training and projects launched by Choice Humanitarian; it is also those who spend time serving with the organization, including retirees, youth and children.

Choice Humanitarian is currently working on a project with another organization that would utilize the approximately 1,500 “old, wobbling” satellites orbiting the earth in order to provide Internet access in at least 10,000 villages around the world for about a tenth of the cost of normal satellite access.  Other, ongoing projects include teaching Bolivian women sewing and weaving skills; offering scholarships in Nepal;  and teaching midwifery, basic medical techniques, small business planning and English skills for teachers in Guatemala.  In Mexico Choice Humanitarian creates micro-enterprises in livestock, cheese making, handicrafts, blacksmithing, corn mills,  and many other ventures. Electricity is now supplied in many villages. Women’s savings programs, health care training and classroom construction are underway throughout CHOICE Humanitarian service areas in Mexico.    In Kenya, along with numerous school and classroom construction projects, women’s micro credit programs, water and sanitation projects, basic health care training, and long-range sustainable economic strategies such as the Marikani Dairy Cooperative are all encompassed in CHOICE Humanitarian involvement.

To learn more about Choice Humanitarian, to contribute, or to serve, go to their official website: http://choicehumanitarian.org.

Mormon Family Runs Non-Profit Charity in Africa

A Mormon family in South Africa, the Hunt Family, has provided service for fifty years.  The scope of their service has grown into a thriving non-profit organization helping out in many locations.  Alisa Hunt Cozzens is the current director.  She remembers her mother’s acts of charity.  The family had a large ranch with a poor, African village on the property.  Her mother took it upon herself to provide schools, medical care, food, and clothing to the villagers, and to receive donations from sympathetic people far and wide.  Community involvement became so great, it was necessary to formalize and organize the charitable giving.

For forty years, Hunt family members have come to America and organized donations to send back to the village.  Their non-profit is called “Serve a Village.”  One hundred percent of donated funds goes to the projects.

Alisa’s daughter Christi (now the director of operations for Serve a Village) participated in health and nursing projects all over the world and inspired the family to expand the organization’s influence to other countries. Serve a Village now has many projects all over the world such as providing for a mother/child health clinic in Kenya, a children’s cancer hospital in Moscow and hospitals in Haiti, not to mention supporting and educating the South African village where it all started: Magareng.  [1]

In Magareng, unemployment is 80%.  Since the village is isolated and not in flux, the Hunts’ organization has been able to provide training and increase employment opportunities.  Serve a Village has branched out into medical help, too. 

 [Serve a Village has been able “to provide a building for a crumbling, falling apart day care for the HIV orphanage. We have trained an HIV/TB outreach group. We have been able to help those who have already fallen ill from these diseases. In the clinic, we have been able to give supplies, which have saved many lives of mothers and babies. There is tons of improvement being made, it is really exciting, but there is still a huge need.”

A bishop for the Mormon Church in Kenya has been able to coordinate and distribute supplies. 

Learn more at ServeaVillage.com.

Mormons Provide Help in Mozambique

Blair and Cindy Packard, a Mormon couple, are providing relief in Mozambique through their organization, Care for Life.  Established in 2001, the organization gives Cindy Packard an opportunity to use her midwifery skills in an area of the world with a very high infant and maternal mortality rate.  Although Cindy doesn’t deliver babies in Mozambique, the entity’s services provide life-saving and life sustaining skills and help for infants, their mothers, and others.  Essentially, they are in the “orphan” prevention business.  CFL operates in the Sofala Province of central Mozambique with a full-time staff of about 60.   Field officers, supervisors and program administrators are all Mozambican.

“One of CFL’s earliest efforts undertaken in Mozambique was to teach expectant mothers what they need to know and do to help both themselves and their infants survive pregnancy and delivery.”  [1]  CFL’s central focus is to preserve families and keep them intact.  The organization teaches sanitation, nutrition and hygiene to adults and children.  CFL also teaches how to grow gardens and preserve food in order to increase health, and involves itself with HIV/AIDS prevention.  “Since the Family Preservation Program (FPP) began four years ago, over a thousand babies have been born to the mothers participating in the program. Not one of the mothers has died from complications of childbirth.” [1]  Over 14,000 people have participated in the FPP program.

CFL provides guidance and education in eight areas of emphasis: education, community participation, health and hygiene, sanitation, home improvement, food security and nutrition, psycho-social/ spiritual development, and income generation.  In September, 2007, the Christian Science Monitor wrote an article about CFL and said, “Care For Life, a US-based charity that is staffed primarily with Mozambicans, is at the forefront of what has become a new trend in foreign aid to Africa.” In November of 2010, the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy in partnership with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs chose Care for Life as one of the ten “Best Practices in Global Health for 2010.”

CFL has partnered with the Humanitarian Aid branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for some of its projects.  The Mormon Church has helped with water projects in CFL communities, and with maternal health and childbirth education training initiatives.  CFL has also received capacity development grants and short term missionaries from the Church.

Mormonism‘s founding prophet, Joseph Smith,  wrote in December 1840 to members of the Quorum of the Twelve then serving in Great Britain that,

“A man filled with the love of God, is not content with blessing his family alone, but ranges through the whole world, anxious to bless the whole human race.”

Instead of growing their organization, CFL is packaging their programs so that other organizations can launch aid in other needy locations.  To do this, CFL has enlisted help from professionals who can research and then compile data and systems for others to use.

Read More.

To learn more about Care for Life, go to careforlife.org

Mormon Humanitarian Aid Summary 2010

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church), contributed to disaster relief in 58 countries during 2010.  The Welfare Services Emergency Response Report shows that the LDS Church responded to 119 disasters and provided millions of dollars in emergency aid.

Disasters worldwide claimed the lives of nearly 300,000 people in 2010, making it the deadliest year in the last 25.  There were about 350 natural disasters.  Two hundred million people were affected, and disasters caused about $100 billion worth of damage. 

Earthquakes took center stage with temblors in Haiti and Chile, and New Zealand.  The Mormon Church continues to send relief to Haiti.  The most widespread type of disaster globally was flooding.  Pakistan, China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as Central America and northern South America, suffered from devastating floods, as has the United States.  There were two major cholera outbreaks, one in Haiti and one in Papua New Guinea. 

The humanitarian aid efforts of the Mormon Church are made possible through the generous donations of members and friends of the Church. One hundred percent of all contributions are used to help those in need.

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