Scenes from Ethiopia, facing one of the worst droughts in decades

Left: Photo courtesy of UNICEF Ethiopia/2016/Ayene

Insert: Photo courtesy of European Union/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie

Six kinds of assistance were given,

such as the purchasing and distributing of cereals available in the surrounding kebeles and districts, including wheat and beans, cooking oil and table salt; purchasing and distributing sanitation items; transporting tap water from surrounding towns by truck and the purchase and distribution of one water tank for each kebele for water storage; the drawing off of underground water as a permanent solution for water supply; and the purchasing and provision of straw, grass and by-product of flour from factories for cattle feeding. During the rainy season, the BWA

funding provided agricultural inputs such as seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer according to each household; as well as the purchase and distribution

figures that account for more than 60 percent of those impacted by El Niño globally. This may increase as the crisis worsens. The BWA-funded project, which began on January 1 and

ends October 31, was implemented in Amhara Regional State, North Shewa Zone,

in the Minjar/Shenkora district. Nine

kebeles, or neighborhoods, received help. Major beneficiaries were farmers in the selected kebeles where there were almost 47,000 individuals in more than 8,600 households. The majority, roughly 27,000, were women.

of exercise books, pens and pencils for students in the farmer villages. “They did not get rain water for a long time, therefore they

are destitute of food and water for themselves as well as for their cattle,” Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist Church, which implemented the project, explained. “Additionally, since their life is dependent on agriculture they have no money to buy stationary materials and send their children to school. During summer they are in need of seed to restart their life.”

F BAPTIST WORLD Magazine Wins Award

or the second year in a row, Baptist World, the quarterly magazine of the Baptist World Alliance, received an

award from the Religion Communicators Council (RCC). The periodical received the RCC

Shoestring Award on March 31 during the DeRose-Hinkhouse Memorial Awards Ceremony in New York City in the United States. The Shoestring Award “is given to one winner across all categories on the basis of the highest quality/best product, for the lowest cost.” The judges said the “writing is clear

and informative,” stated that the “editing overall is excellent,” and were impressed “that they were able to put together such a high quality magazine with no ads and such a small budget.” In 2015, the October/December 2014

issue of the magazine won an award of excellence from the RCC for its attractive- ness, use of images and color and content. The DeRose-Hinkhouse Awards rec-

ognize the achievements of RCC members who demonstrate excellence as religion communicators. Presentations were made in several

broad categories: periodicals, including newspapers, magazines and

newslet-

ters; public relations materials such as brochures, posters, booklets and annual reports; public relations/advertising cam- paigns; news and feature writing; graphic design, art and photography; audio and video, broadcast, non-broadcast and cable; digital communications; and social media. Other Baptists received recognition at

the award ceremony, an event held during the RCC Annual Convention, which was held from March 30 to April 3.

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