Hyderabad – Our staff at St. Elizabeth Hospital reported in early September: “Many parts of Hyderabad have been completely flooded. Agricultural areas have become seas. Mud houses have collapsed due to the floods. People have abandoned their villages and houses and moved to roads and higher ground. They live under plastic tarps when they could get them. Thanks to the generous support of CiN and its donors, the team of nurses and doctors are able to provide free medical care to the injured and pregnant women. Malaria, gastrointestinal problems due to poor drinking water, severe skin and eye infections, and cuts from walking barefoot through mud and floodwater are the most common problems. Everyone is hungry.”

Important help on the ground:
Every day, a volunteer team from the hospital moves out to help the day laborers. They can’t find work because the fields have turned into lakes. Hunger and cold hit the children especially hard.  The nursing students help every day – female students, who often come from these day laborer families, pack the food in their free time, which is then distributed. 

The hospital provides 250 families (each family has an average of 6 members) with rice biryani (a rice pan with vegetables) as a hot meal every day for at least the next two weeks and some dry food for the other meals.

Female students from higher semesters help the doctors who go to the families who have fled from the “monster monsoon” to the countryside. They provide emergency medical care to about 450 people per day. The students mainly take care of women and pregnant women.

In addition to Christians and Hindus, impoverished Muslims are also among those in need. These families are “off the beaten path” and government aid often does not reach them (see letter from Makki Attam on page 2).

This care also leads to more understanding among the religions.

In this way, the student nurses become emergency helpers. Every donation helps several times over.

THANK YOU!

Qamishli/Northeastern Syria – Peace is fragile, but the “Islamic State” is no longer a threat. Those who live in Syria today can cautiously believe in a future again. Those days are gone, when everyone who could, left the country. However, around 6.5 million people have become internally displaced persons, that means: They are driven from their homes, uprooted, but searching for a new home in their native Syria. More than six million people looking for a place to live. 

New home Qamishli

In and around Qamishli is a safe zone, many Christians find refuge here. Traditionally, the city is a stronghold of the Syrian Orthodox Church, which is playing a major role in the reconstruction here. Schools are being built, and even a clinic is in operation. 

Although the economy is in a bad state, the infrastructure and business life are slowly recovering. 

Mohamed Hatroush

The 13-year-old is the oldest of three children; Rasha, pictured above, is the youngest. The Muslim family was driven from their home by armed militias. 

In Qamishli, they are the neighbors of Christian families and have been openly welcomed. Mohamed helps his father and sells handkerchiefs and cookies on the street. When he fell ill, Christian friends took him to the CiN medical center. His anemia can be treated well thanks to nutritional counseling.

Reconciliation begins in small ways

Full of gratitude, the Muslim refugees now say, “You Christians are merciful, more than our Muslims. You help us too – but ours only support Muslims and not other religions.”

Thus, on a small scale, the coexistence of Christians and Muslims is becoming normal. Respect and regard for Christians are the best weapons against the hate propaganda of Muslim fundamentalists.

Bokkos – Directly from the area of the incipient genocide against Christians, Monsignor Obiora Ike reports on the progress of our project:
“I greet you from northern Nigeria, where I am currently visiting the zone to see the work supported by Christians in Need.

The situation is tense and full of insecurity, but we are visiting to see the extent of the damage and to take photos. It is as bad as in Ukraine. But no one is telling our story. Thank you for your solidarity encouragement to help families whose homes have been destroyed by the Islamists in the Plateau villages of northern Nigeria in Makunda, Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and Bassa. 

The pictures show the extent of the devastation over the past two weeks. With your support, 10 houses could be built for Christian families. 
God bless you as you support the rebuilding of some families. 

As you can see from the pictures, the entire church has been razed to the ground.
However, the people are holding on to their faith and not giving up their faith in Christ.  

Please continue to support the helpless who have no voice.

GOD bless you!”

Based in Vienna (Austria) Christians in Need has been helping people in need around the world for more than 40 years. Our special care is about interfaith harmony training and peace building. The coexistence of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Baha`i, Yezidis and others is our central target – to build a common world in interfaith harmony. We believe that religions must be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.