Ethiopia and Somalia are in crisis. The people are facing the worst drought they’ve had in sixty years and at the same time, they are struggling with violence from a militant terrorist group called Al Shabab, which is trying to use extreme violence and cruelty to impose Islamic law—a version not practiced by mainstream Islamics.

One Muslim man, Abdulahi Muse,  born and raised in the Horn of Africa, but sent away to be educated, has returned to try to help his homeland. He is aware of the 150,000 desperate people who, just in the last year, have fled Somalia, taking a painful week-long journey on foot to find food, water, and escape from the violence. When they arrive in Ethiopia, they inadvertently create new problems, as they compete for fresh water, firewood, and land already in short supply.

Many organizations have stepped in to help, but they tend to focus on the camps. The border cities—the intersection of Somalia and Ethiopia—are largely neglected. Today they are being helped by Abdulahi Muse. He has traveled from the capital city, far from his children, to find a way to help his people. He works for International Relief and Development, an organization most haven’t heard of because, unlike most humanitarian groups, they don’t spend money on banners, signs, or bumper stickers. They just quietly do the work that needs doing. They work with a smaller group of people, which gets them less attention.

IRD has worked with the government to identify the twenty-two villages in most danger and that is where they are focusing their efforts. They are partnering with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons. The Mormons are providing the funding for the project and have been a partner to this agency for many years.

IRD hopes to avoid the humanitarian programs of the past, in which organizations dug a well and then left the people with something they didn’t know how to care for. Instead, IRD follows the pattern the Mormons have long used in their humanitarian work. They use the local people to help with the building, which provides both employment and training.

The water is needed immediately, however. There is no time to build first, so the Mormons assure him they will begin to truck in water. Abdulahi doesn’t really believe them—charities often fail to follow through on promises, but 20,000 liters of water start arriving within a few days and more will be delivered over the next ten months. The Mormons funded the trucks used for delivery.

Abdulahi notes the plastic containers the villagers are using to store water won’t hold up to the harsh weather, so he decides to create cement-lined storage tanks. He asks the Mormons to pay for the building materials and they do. The villagers build the tanks so they will understand how to fix them when IRC is gone. They will have a sense of ownership. Most programs leave the villagers feeling the tanks belong to the charity and when they break down, they remain broken and unused. With the system used by IRC and the Mormons, the villagers own the tanks and care for them themselves. The organization also helps the people start an irrigation project for farming to provide food.

In addition to these projects, another organization, International Medical Corp.,  requested funding for three programs: additional latrines so women don’t have to leave the safety of the camp, nutrition and health centers, and a women’s center to assist victims of domestic violence and mothers could receive job training and counseling. These projects will cost two million dollars. Three Mormon congregations in the capital are also assembling and donating hygiene kits for refugees. Every month, fewer children are dying in these camps due to the improvements being made.

The Mormon involvement in the Horn of Africa is not about taking care of Mormons or about missionary work. There are no Mormons at all where the Mormons are working there and the people they serve have never heard of Mormons and don’t know the Mormons funded the projects they are carrying out. There are no missionaries in the camp and the project is done only to carry out the command of Jesus Christ to care for the poor. It is pure Christ-like humanitarianism. This project is one of 111 projects that were carried out last year.

Learn more about this project and life in the Horn of Africa:

Praying for rain: Sustainable strategies deliver water, hope to East Africa

How one man’s faith is helping end famine with help from LDS Church, By Jesse Hyde, Deseret News

Learn more about LDS Charities

Watch a video of the reporter’s experiences in reporting on these projects:

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes mistakenly called the “Mormon Church,” are well-known for their volunteerism, giving both service and funds in their church and their communities.  In early 2012 the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released findings associated with a comprehensive study of Mormons.  The focus was Mormon volunteerism, which was found to be far and beyond what most Americans, even very religious Americans give in terms of time and money.

An event was scheduled along with the release of the results of the study, called Mormons and Civic Life (read the transcript here), in which the results were discussed by those who mounted the study, scholars, members of the press, and others.

The findings of the study showed that while about 30% to 50% of Americans volunteer, they do it for about three to four hours a month.  Studies by the Corporation for National and Community Service show that Utah has the highest rate of volunteering.   Utah is the American state with the most Mormons.  The Pew study (using a 14 page, very detailed questionnaire) showed that Mormons do much more on a monthly basis.

For religious activities, people give on average 242 hours. For church-affiliated volunteering to help meet social needs of people in the church, 96 hours. For church-affiliated activities helping people outside the church, 56 hours. And for activities outside of the church totally, 34 hours.

If we take the value of the hours volunteering for an average member of the Latter-day Saints, it’s about $9,140 annually. This is a major, major contribution.

When analyzing the giving habits of Mormons the Pew study divided “giving” into three types — secular giving (outside the Church), giving as tithing (10% of one’s increase), and giving to the Church over and beyond tithing.

For secular giving, meaning giving money to worthy causes outside of the church, an average person in the church gives $1,171. Giving to welfare through the church — $650. And on top of tithing — $203 per person for religious activities.

The first thing that I said about tithing — 88.8% of members of the church that we interviewed reported that they provide full tithing. Remember, we went to the church; people that we interviewed were active members of the church. They went to a Sunday service, and this is where we found them. Another about 6% said that they do partial tithing. The total social donation — I’m excluding now the religious donation outside — if we only take what they gave for social causes within the church and outside the church, we have $1,821.

To conclude, we found a group of people that are most generous in our society. Through their theology of obedience and sacrifice and strong commitment to tithing and service, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints are the most pro-social members in American society. We couldn’t believe the findings. But that’s what we have.

Discussed at the event was the remarkable fact that Mormons show up after every major disaster, ready to provide relief; that Mormons believe in preparedness and self-reliance; that there is a social structure within each congregation that binds members together and encourages them to provide more service.  Most Mormons interviewed said that taking care of the poor and needy is a very important aspect of their faith.

Additional Resources:

More on the Pew Study on Mormon Volunteerism

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

Mormons Believe

Our Search for Happiness

The country of Malaysia consists of West Malaysia on the Malaysian peninsula, and East Malaysia, with the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the north side of the island of Borneo.  Malaysia is unique in that there is little to fear from either earthquakes or storms.  Even the devastating tsunami of December 2004 originating just west of Indonesia caused relatively minor damage and the loss of less than 60 lives.  But there are ongoing needs in the country, and humanitarian aid missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have done much good in finding those needs and providing aid through The Church of Jesus Christ’s ongoing humanitarian efforts.

In early 2012 LDS senior Mormon  missionaries, Kenneth and Gloria Larson, traveled to Tawau, Sabah, East Malaysia, where they have three current Humanitarian Projects.  They are in the process of completing a vision project with the Rotary Club of Tawau, where they have distributed about 1500 pairs of eyeglasses to poor school children who live in villages in and around Tawau.  They have also provided several pieces of new optical equipment which are portable and can be  used for eye exams in these remote villages.  They worked closely with Dr. Adjit who is the only ophthalmologist in the Tawau area, and a member of the Rotary Club, the partnering organization.

The Church of Jesus Christ is also working on a large water project with the Rotary Club of Tawau as its partner.  This charitable project will supply clean water to a village of about 4,500 people.  This village has a source of fresh spring water, but no way of supplying the village.  The government built a small, unusable dam for them, but still no way of getting the water to the people.  LDS Charities, in partnership with the Rotary Club, has built a bigger, better dam with two 10,000 liter storage tanks, a solar powered generator to pump the water to the storage tanks, and all new PVC pipes to take the water to the homes.    The total cost for LDS Charities is $125,000-$150,000, all of it donated by caring Mormons and their friends of other faiths.

As part of the ongoing “wheel chair initiative” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, partnering in this case with Cheshire Homes and the  Red Crescent Society,  LDS Charities has donated 620 wheelchairs to Kota Kinabalu this year.  Jennifer Liew  of Cheshire Homes in Sabah  has helped to distribute these chairs in Sandakan and Tawau.  Red Crescent Society is helping to distribute these chairs in Tawau.   The partnering local organizations must assure that recipients have been properly assessed for the correct size of the wheel chairs they receive, and are responsible to train recipients how to care for and use the chairs.  For this, the partnering organizations receive training from LDS Humanitarian Aid missionaries.

Additional Resources:

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

LDS Church Finances

Jesus Christ in Mormonism

An organization called  Family Humanitarian Experience (Fhe) is serving hundreds of remote Q’eqchi’ villagers in the remote Polochic Valley of Guatemala and doing it right alongside their spouses and children.

FHe is a new 501(c)3 non-profit organization geared for LDS families who want to serve together and have spiritually uplifting experiences along the way. At the core of an FHe expedition are the training workshops which provide skills and knowledge to villages in the areas of medical and dental, economic development, and teacher training. There are also building projects and numerous cultural experiences that take place. [1]

Last summer seven FHe leaders joined with Singular Humanitarian and CHOICE Humanitarian to lay the groundwork for FHe’s expedition this July to Guatemala. CHOICE Humanitarian is a distinguished non-profit organization based in Salt Lake City with over 30 years of experience in sustainable village development. SHe is a sister organization to FHe for LDS single professionals that develops and provides curriculum and hands-on training to villages around the world in much the same way as FHe, focusing on the areas of business, healthcare, and education.

In July 2011 FHe and SHe worked together to train local volunteers to provide aid in Guatemalan villages.  Aid includes the building of a hospital, enabling teachers to provide education, and health workers to provide care and instruction on sanitation and hygiene.

Families who serve with FHe will go home with deeper gratitude, a deeper love of mankind and for each other, and with the desire to not take anything for granted, especially relationships. This is the gift the Q’eqchi’ people give to us, the ability to love and live more deeply.”

FHe recently launched their website, www.familyhumanitarian.org, and will be closing registration soon for their expedition to Guatemala in early July 2012.

Earthquakes, a tsunami and massive flooding have combined to make 2011 the costliest year for natural disasters on record according to a recently released Welfare Services report of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). [1]

LDS Presiding Bishop David H. Burton Delivers Aid to Japanese Fishermen

Disasters which occurred during the first half of the year caused $265 billion worth of damage.  This broke the record set in 2005, the year that hurricane Katrina hit the southern states in America.  The amount of damage caused by disasters in 2005 was approximately $220 billion.   Japan’s earthquake and tsunami damage alone has been estimated at $235 billion.

The humanitarian services arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes inadvertently called the “Mormon Church“) offered help throughout the year.  The LDS Church responded to 111 disasters in 50 countries, providing a total of $22 million in emergency aid and organizing thousands of volunteers through the Mormon Helping Hands program to assist those affected. In addition to natural disasters, east Africa experienced one of the worst droughts and famines in more than 60 years.

2012 is starting out to be another difficult year.  The end of February and beginning of March yielded over 100 destructive tornadoes in the Midwest and southern U.S. states.   The Church of Jesus Christ always has relief supplies standing at the ready to offer aid fast.  Hygiene kits and other supplies were immediately shipped to stricken areas.

The Church of Jesus Christ participated in the following initiatives:

• After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, more than 250 tons of supplies were distributed during the first few months following the disaster, including food, water, blankets, bedding, hygiene supplies, clothing and fuel.   Twenty-two thousand Church-sponsored volunteers have provided more than 175,000 hours of service in Japan to date.  The Church of Jesus Christ continues to give aid in Japan.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded to the famine in east Africa by committing $2.25 million in support of relief efforts.  The Church partnered with Islamic Relief, International Medical Corps, International Relief and Development and other organizations to provide food, clean water and medical supplies.
• After a rash of violent tornadoes in the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ provided relief in 8 states, with 5,000 Latter-day Saint volunteers helping with cleanup efforts.
• In response to flooding in Thailand, church members in Thailand assembled food kits, sanitation kits, blankets, clothes and other relief items for those affected by the floods.
• In response to Hurricane Irene in the U.S., the Church provided 120 tons of relief supplies and 50,000 hours of service from more than 7,000 Church volunteers and missionaries.

Read More at LDS Newsroom.

Additional Resources:

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

LDS Philanthropies

Mormon Self-Reliance

In late January 2012 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes erroneously called the “Mormon Church,” opened a huge bishop’s storehouse in West Salt Lake City, Utah, as reported in the Deseret News.  A Bishop’s Storehouse is similar to a general store supplied with food and basic needs for the poor and needy members of the LDS Church.  The Church of Jesus Christ has a remarkable welfare program based on self-reliance that has been studied and used as an example by leaders all over the world.

This new bishop’s storehouse has 570,391 square feet and will also be used as a staging point for humanitarian aid shipped out worldwide when disasters strike. The Church of Jesus Christ has its own farms, orchards, vineyards, dairies, and ranches, and canneries operated by Mormon volunteers.  The products from these concerns stock the shelves of bishop’s storehouses around the world, and fill boxes that stand ready to ship out for humanitarian aid.

The new facility in Salt Lake City has the capacity to store 65,000 pallets of food and supplies.  The building was constructed for a single purpose — to enable the bishops of the church to meet the needs of the poor and needy.

The massive structure replaces the previous Bishops’ Central Storehouse, located on 1600 Wallace Road, and was paid for with LDS Church fast offering funds, which are earmarked to help those in need.

Ground was broken on the facility May 18, 2010, and construction began in July of that year. The facility, completed Oct. 7, 2011, was dedicated  by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the LDS Church’s First Presidency.

The facility will be the central hub of the Church of Jesus Christ‘s welfare efforts.

The facility also includes Deseret Transportation — which utilizes 43 tractors and 98 trailers and logs about 3.5 million miles per year delivering goods to some 110 church storehouses across the United States and Canada.

The storehouse includes a bulk storage area, rack storage and 63,000 square feet of freezer and cooler space that is humidity-controlled.  The storehouse and preparedness system of the LDS Church is so efficient, that supplies can go out during the first incoming emergency phone call and be gone before the parties hang up.  For example,

After Hurricane Katrina struck the southern United States in 2005, the LDS church staged fully loaded semi-trucks from Texas to South Carolina. When the storm hit New Orleans, the emergency supplies were on site within 24 hours. Another 450 semi-trucks filled with food, water and other needed items were sent to the disaster zone from the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City in the weeks after the emergency.

Read more at Deseret News.

Additional Resources:

Man’s Search for Happiness

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

We Have Always Existed

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?

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.

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”)

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.