As a humanitarian aid worker, I've traveled around the world to countries that
have suffered natural disasters. And time and time again, what I see are communities of faith responding to survivors' critical needs.

And after hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast, courageous congregations, including Unitarian Universalist congregations, were there to gather people, respond to their spiritual needs, and match material needs with resources. Three years out, these communities of faith continue with this essential work.

Indeed, "church" and "ministry" can manifest themselves in many ways in times of crisis and disaster. In such times, we are presented with the possibility of grace.

How faith communities are able to respond — and whether or not they choose to respond — to a disaster depends greatly on their resources: structural, financial, technical, human, and spiritual. Disasters can allow us to channel grace, but first and foremost they deliver us tragedy and trauma. Ministering to the needs of the church is the initial step. Once the church has evaluated its capacity to do so, then there are a number of ways to reach out to the larger community.

This was part of a larger discussion on disaster preparedness held by Unitarian Universalist ministers, lay leaders, and congregants this past week at the denomination's yearly General Assembly. During this discussion, participants considered some of the ways that churches can match needs and resources among their communities. Possibilities include: becoming centers of collection and distribution of aid; providing direct services, such as hot meals or child care; offering safe meeting spaces where people can talk, listen, pray, and plan; providing shelter; joining interfaith responses; and protecting the most vulnerable among us from being overlooked and underserved.

During crisis and disaster, faith communities can be, and very frequently are, centers of relief, refuge, and hope for all — honoring humanity's interdependence and demonstrating that, even in dark times, the best of humanity can shine through.

After four weeks of political negotiations that were looking more and more like a stalemate, on February 28, 2008, Kofi Annan finally convinced Kenyan political rivals Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga to reach a power-sharing deal. Under the agreeement, Kibaki remains president and Odinga becomes prime minister. Further details remain to be decided.

This is not the first time Kibaki and Odinga are attempting a coalition government. They established a partnership in 2002, but it failed. Yet, with the eyes of the international community on Kenya and a global desire not to let Kenya slide into anarchy, there is hope that this agreement will give the country a measure of stability. It will be up to Kenyans, themselves, to continue calls for true, transparent democratic governance. The role of civil society in supporting such a social movement for peace, justice, and democracy cannot be underestimated.

At the same time, over 200,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) continue to rely on international aid for their daily needs -- including shelter, food, water, protection, and health care. UUSC staff is currently in Kenya talking with IDPs to determine the best way to help meet their needs. We will be updating you on our progress.
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Background
Flawed December 27, 2007, presidential elections in Kenya led to an explosion of political tensions and longstanding grievances. Over 1,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes. Most of the people affected by the violence were already among society's most vulnerable. In January 2008, UUSC sent an emergency delegation to assess the political and humanitarian crisis.

Q: What do you get when five human rights activists from Pakistan travel to the tsunami-ravaged regions of Indonesia?

A: Constant comparisons between the social-cultural and legal barriers women face in each country, and a lot of laughter!

UUSC is hosting five members from its Pakistan partner organization, Bedari, for eight days in Indonesia to visit UUSC’s partner organizations there that are focusing on protecting women’s rights, particularly their inheritance rights, after disaster.

Aceh is rebuilding after the December 2004 tsunami, and Pakistan is rebuilding after the October 2005 earthquake, and both places share similar cultural and legal characteristics. Both places are also majority Muslim and Sharia (Muslim) law deeply influences customary and legal practice. And in both places, women – especially widows – encounter a variety of similar obstacles to recovering from disaster and protecting themselves and their families from becoming poorer.

So there are a lot of comparisons to be made.

But the thing that has surprised the people from Pakistan most is that so many women in Aceh drive motorbikes! Women in Pakistan don’t – it’s culturally unacceptable. But here in Aceh, the Pakistani women have ridden with some of their new-found female friends, laughing the whole way.

Another surprise has been the ease with which Acehnese women talk about their concerns and challenges. For example, domestic abuse and rape are common themes of conversation when we meet with communities here. These issues also concern the Pakistanis – but it’s much harder to talk about them in Pakistan. This can mean that it’s much harder to make changes that will decrease such violence against women. It's a grave topic, but there have been plenty of opportunities for giggles and jokes that were shared despite double and triple language barriers!

Interestingly, the Pakistani group has also noticed that human rights activism in Pakistan is stronger and better-coordinated than in Aceh. This, the Pakistanis think, can help their work on promoting and protecting women’s land-inheritance rights in post-earthquake Pakistan. Bedari is already planning to reach out to more lawyers, students, and religious and community leaders in Kashmir to reinforce Bedari’s work.

And who knows, maybe Bedari's efforts to drive change for the better in Kashmir will soon include motorbikes and women driving them!

Looking into the school bathroom is like taking the pulse of the school itself. Is the bathroom clean and stocked with soap? Students are probably safe and learning. Filthy, smoke-filled, and graffiti-covered? Warning: students probably feel threatened and their learning environment is likely equally appalling.

It was with this first-hand experience that a group of kids began organizing for better bathrooms to be included in the rebuilding of their hurricane-ravaged New Orleans schools. And by "better," the kids mean unlocked, functioning, clean, and safe. But they didn't stop there. They want their bathrooms to be the first green public school restrooms in the country. And it looks like they may get their way.

Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools (Rethink) is a group of students in New Orleans with the simple vision of a great education for every kid in the city, regardless of race or class. Pre-Katrina, New Orleans schools ranked among the worst in the nation. Katrina destroyed most of them. Rethink sees this as an opportunity to make the schools better. And who knows more about schools than kids?

Rethink kids "dream, document, and take action" to improve their schools. Just one of the many dreams they are acting on is the dream of green bathrooms. These bathrooms will improve indoor air quality and energy and water efficiency. They will also be clean and safe.

This summer, Rethinkers worked with an architect to design a green bathroom. In July, they held a press conference about their work. School district authorities committed to using the Rethinkers' design. Now a contractor designing the district's master plan has asked the Rethinkers to help.

The UUA-UUSC Guld Coast Relief Fund is proud to be Rethink's partner in the struggle to rebuild the Gulf Coast with justice.

So, it turns out FEMA knew for some time that their trailers -- 120,000 of which were distributed to Gulf Coast residents after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- were making people sick.

Levels of the toxic carcinogen formaldehyde in the trailers were found to be as high as what a professional embalmer would be exposed to in the workplace. The dangers of formaldehyde exposure are serious: from skin and respiratory problems to death. Might seem surviving the hurricane was the "easy" part when your temporary housing can kill you before you figure out what's going on. And over half of those original 120,000 trailers are still being lived in by families all along the Gulf Coast...

Praises go to the Mississippi Sierra Club for keeping up the pressure to expose FEMA.

Why did FEMA keep all this formaldehyde stuff under wraps? Because admitting there might be a problem would obligate FEMA to do something. Better to keep your mouth shut. . . . So what if a few people, like Gulf Coast resident Hilda Nelson, die?

And that just . . . well . . . that just makes me sick.

First, our government's complete incompetence left Hurricane Katrina victims stranded. They saved their own lives.

Now, big insurance companies are weaseling out of their responsibilities. They're saving billions of dollars. Shame.

Last Thursday, a U.S. Federal Court held that insurance companies do not have to pay their policyholders for damage -- because the damage was caused by wind and rain, not flooding. It's all a bit vague . . . many homeowners were told that their policies provided complete hurricane coverage . . . and some of the homes were destroyed even before the levees broke. Shame.

But big insurance wins, and the victims take (yet another) hit. This ruling overturned an earlier decision by a (much more honorable) lower court. Shame.

Two of the many insurers involved in the case include:
> Allstate -- "You're in Good Hands with Allstate"
> State Farm -- "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There"

I'd say, take your hands out of your pockets and step up to the plate . . . because otherwise, with neighbors like you, who needs enemies?

UUSC and the UUA continue to work in solidarity and collaboration with people along the Gulf Coast to support an equitable recovery and rebuilding. Help us.