The Church World Service has been putting a smile back on the faces of the children survivors of Hurricane Katrina, with a shipment of “hope” being recently delivered to Meridian, Mississippi for distribution local CWS-affiliated churches.
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Some 3,000 children relocated from New Orleans to temporary shelters run by local churches in Meridian are benefiting from educational and recreational kits delivered by CWS on behalf of UNICEF.

The Rev John L. McCullough said the CWS was able to serve UNICEF and deliver the parcels because of their “close ties to the local pastors whose churches are helping the relocated hurricane survivors”.

The Rev Gerald Hudson of Newell Chapel CME (Christian Methodist Episcopal Church) in Meridian is one such pastor working at the grassroots with CWS, who helped distribute the parcels over the weekend. He said that the relocated children need much more than basic provisions to overcome the trauma of Hurricane Katrina.

“These young people are living under tremendous stress. They need stability, but they also need a certain amount of levity to help relieve some of that stress,” said the reverend.

School materials are vital in bringing routine back to the lives of the children, but so too are recreational materials and equipment, says Rev Hudson. “They have been through a terrible ordeal and they have to be able to experience fun and laughter and games in their lives again,” he said.

Hudson welcomed the aid for the children in the town of Meridian, which has around 39,000 inhabitants, saying the kits of “hope” were “an important resource not just for the children relocated to Meridian but for all the children of our time.”

The CWS upped its appeal for aid to support victims of Hurricane Katrina to over $9.5million.