Stories

I am in Myanmar this week on what is my twelfth visit to the country.  And each of my dozen trips has been unique.  Despite what seems to be a visit to an animal husbandry project and a micro-finance operation on every one of those trips, I find each project to be distinctive with 

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is always a blur.  Between food, friends, shopping, traveling and – oh right – work, I have to confess that the whole Advent thing about “waiting” and “anticipating” seems a bit of a departure from reality.

World AIDS Day on December 1st brings together people from around the world to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. Between 2011-2015, World AIDS Days will have the theme of “Getting to zero: zero new HIV infections.

Episcopal Relief & Development has been working with Church partners in the Caribbean and along the US East Coast to mobilize local resources and provide immediate relief to those most impacted by Hurricane Sandy. The Rev. Luke Fodor is the Assistant Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church

In mid-October, I traveled with Katie Mears, our Program Manager for US Disaster Preparedness and Response, to the town of West Pittston, Pennsylvania.  West Pittston had suffered severe flooding after Hurricane Irene in 2011, when the Susquehanna River overflowed its banks. 

Most disasters have three distinct, if sometimes overlapping phases: Rescue, Relief and Recovery. The Rescue phase is focused on saving lives and securing property, and is most acute in those parts of our region that were directly flooded or destroyed by fires.  This work is generally done