October 12,
2000, NEW YORK CITY Fruit fly traps and irrigation ditches were highlights of an
October 6 visit to South Lebanon by the Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director of
Church World Service.
These tools of hope are helping
people get back on their feet in that region, where a 22-year occupation by the Israeli
army left behind widespread devastation when it ended in May.
South Lebanon is a fertile agricultural
land, but the occupation left most fields dried out or burned barren. Most of the
regions 300,000 residents were forced to flee. Some who remained survived by
allying themselves with the occupying power, either working for Israel or joining the
militia of the South Lebanon Army, which Israel supported.
Then, on May 24,
2000, the occupation ended, and people began returning home to their damaged and destroyed
villages. Awaiting them were destroyed or occupied homes and churches; few medical
services; closed schools and factories; water wells that had been blown up or filled in;
burned or bulldozed orchards, and neglected land, littered with land mines and explosives
left behind by the Israeli army.
The Middle East Council of Churches, a
long-time Church World Service partner, conducted an assessment of the most urgent needs,
and launched a program of assistance in the form of food supplies, medical assistance,
water and sanitation projects, agricultural assistance, income generation, training, peace
and reconciliation activities and campaigns on the issue of land mines.
During the 22
years of occupation, farmers who remained were cut off from their agricultural markets.
The MECC is helping farmers restore their orchards and rebuild irrigation canals
from spring-fed reservoirs so that they can resume farming.
Through
our regional partner, the Middle East Council of Churches, Church World Service has been
providing assistance to the people of South Lebanon. I am impressed by the way the
Middle East Council of Churches is reaching out to the people of South Lebanon in a
sensitive and difficult situation, the Rev. McCullough said.
At the same time, he said,
I am haunted by the extraordinary circumstances under which the remaining few people
of South Lebanon have been forced to live. One cannot help but hope for peace,
justice, and normalcy.
The program of
relief, reconstruction and development has as its overall goal to enable the most
vulnerable of the affected population to cope with the effects of war. These include
women, children, elderly persons and families who have no sources of income, along with
returning displaced families.
The Rev.
McCullough, on October 6, visited several projects with MECC staff member Ghaith Maalouf.
Church World Service is supporting the work through ACT (Action by Churches
Together), which coordinates global ecumenical emergency response.
-end-
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