Humanitarian work of the Church, which has reached into 114 countries since 1985, gives members an opportunity to "follow the example of the Savior" and help alleviate suffering, according to Presiding Bishop Merrill J. Bateman.

In a presentation to Church employees given Jan. 20 at the Church Office Building, Bishop Bateman explained that there is much being done through Church humanitarian service efforts worldwide. He said that the main purposes of such humanitarian projects are twofold: first, to relieve suffering with life-sustaining assistance; and second, to foster self-reliance.In speaking of providing emergency relief, he noted the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning a Church member's responsibility toward those who are suffering: "To feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church or in any other, or in no church at all, wherever he finds them."

He said that since 1985, there have been 1,154 relief projects and 209 self-reliance projects undertaken by the Church.

"The humanitarian work of the Church gives members an opportunity to follow the example of the Savior," said Bishop Bateman, citing the Savior's healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda described in the fifth chapter of John. "The Savior provided the miracle, but also asked the infirm man to do what he could for himself. In a similar way, the Lord's way, Church-sponsored humanitarian assistance gives people an opportunity to serve and helps those in need to help themselves."

He explained how-- with so much suffering and so many pressing humanitarian needs worldwide-- it is determined what projects should be supported.

"We have myriad projects that come forward that we review," he said.

"Some of them are initiated by an area president who sees a need in a country where we can do some good. Sometimes, on a relief basis, there's a need to be met and an area president will suggest it. On a number of occasions, the First Presidency has initiated relief help for various crises. Welfare Services personnel can identify a need, as might the Presiding Bishopric. We always receive the concurrence of the First Presidency and the area presidency wherever we go and whatever we do.

"A selected project then goes into a pool of projects where it is formally reviewed and approved by the appropriate councils. There is a regular process to screen and evaluate different kinds of projects and determine where our resources-- which are limited -- can best be used."

During his presentation, Bishop Bateman described, using slides and overhead graphics, several of the recent emergency assistance and self-reliance projects undertaken by the Church. In addition to approximately $4 million in food sent to areas of need in 1994, 8.4 million pounds of clothing was shipped and distributed during the year, enough to clothe more than 8 million people.

Here is a sampling of the two types of humanitarian projects undertaken recently in various parts of the world.

Emergency relief projects

RWANDA

During April and May 1994, about 1 million people were killed in fighting in Rwanda, and between 2 million and 3 million fled to refugee camps in neighboring countries. An estimated 100,000 children were separated from their parents.

The Church donated $1.3 million in food, clothing, medical supplies and other relief items for the refugees. The Church cooperated in the effort with other charitable organizations experienced in this type of relief work, including the International Red Cross.

"These donations, and similar other efforts, are made possible through the generosity of members of the Church," said Bishop Bateman, who visited the refugee camps to assist with distribution with Elder J. Richard Clarke of the Seventy and president of the Africa Area, Keith B. McMullin, managing director of Church Welfare Services, and Georges Bonnet, Africa Area director for temporal affairs.

BOSNIA

Similar assistance has been provided in the war-torn former Yugoslavia. More than $1 million in food, clothing and emergency supplies donated by Church members have been distributed in Bosnia.

In Bosnia and elsewhere, food has been distributed in family food boxes and includes enough items to support a family of four for a couple of weeks. Member volunteers donate their time to package the food, produced through the Bishops' Storehouse system, before it is shipped and given out to needy recipients.

"Basically, the package is from one family to another family," Bishop Bateman said. "The label on the box indicates that the food is a gift from the Church, with the Church logo printed in several languages."

RUSSIA

As described in a Jan. 28, 1995 Church News article, people in eastern Russia suffered from severe flooding and food shortages. In cooperation with Catholic Relief Services, the Church sent four large shipping containers of food and two containers of blankets and clothing to distribution sites. Families most in need had been identified prior to the arrival of the food shipment, and the food boxes pre-packaged by members were given out quickly and efficiently.

UGANDA

The Kitgum District in northern Uganda was among the many areas receiving clothing shipments in 1904. The area has suffered from fighting between different political factions, leading to much suffering by innocent children and adults.

For this shipment and others like it, surplus clothing donated to Deseret Industries had been sorted, compressed and wrapped in waterproof plastic at the Welfare Services' Salt Lake Sort Center before being sent via ship in two large containers.

"Getting the containers from the dock to the remote distribution site was difficult," according to Bishop Bateman. "When the people in the Ugandan village of Rackoko saw the two containers they were surprised, having never seen such containers before."

The distribution was followed by dancing and jubilation, he noted. "The next day the citizens of Rackoko paraded through town in their new clothing."

MEXICO

An acute food shortage among the Tarahumara Indians in the northern state of Chihuahua caused severe hardship among tribal members. A shipment of food boxes, packaged by members, was sent into the remote and rugged mountainous region where the tribe lives.

After several hours of travel along treacherous high-mountain dirt roads, those bearing the food shipment delivered it to the distribution site, and more than 200 families received emergency assistance.

Said one person involved in the distribution of the food: "Expressions of love and appreciation from these timid, loving people were abundant and faces were glowing with happiness. We could not understand the Tarahumara language, but the language of love had no barriers."

Self-sufficiency projects

-Self-reliance projects, carried out among people who are not members of the Church, are community-based, explained Bishop Bateman. Everyone in a village, town or region has an equal opportunity to benefit from the results. Often these occur where there is no formal Church presence.

Other projects involved both member and non-member families working together, and some are undertaken solely for members, typically in areas where many Church member live, he added.

"With all of these projects, we seek to follow the counsel of President Marion G. Romney: 'Let us work for what we need. Let us be self-reliant and independent. Salvation can be obtained on no other principle. Salvation is an individual matter, and we must work out our own salvation, in temporal as well as in spiritual things'"

KENYA

A community water project in Kenya has provided personal water taps to hundreds of families, saving a great deal of time and improving the health and well-being of people and their animals.

CAMBODIA

A current project in Cambodia is helping citizens there improve food production and processing capabilities. In cooperation with the national agricultural university and the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, the Church is offering technical assistance in producing poultry feed and is establishing a small demonstration cannery. The cannery and feed mill will be used in training programs at the university.

GHANA

A gari processing project in Ghana helps both members and non-members in the commuinity. Gari is a West African staple food made from the starchy root vegetable cassava. Families spend a lot of time preparing the gari to eat.

This project, using locally manufactured machinery, automates parts of the processing so that it requires less time and effort. Families who participate can produce food for themselves and extra to sell to others.

Significant emphasis on member self-reliance in Ghana over the past two years has also resuloted in a number of projects being undertaken through local initiative by members in districts and stakes. Emphasis has been placed on leaders setting the example by producing their own vegetables and, where possible, having small animals to supplement the family diet and/or income.

Outside the Tema Ward meetinghouse in the Accra Ghana Stake, a 1.5-acre plot has been subdivided into more than 30 garden plots for individual families. A large area there is reserved for the ward Primary children. The children are taught to care for the various rows of onions, egg plant, tomatoes and other vegetables.

It is estimated by local leaders that more than 90 percent of the meetinghouses in Ghana have some form of gardening activity going on.

PHILIPPINES

A surgical program in the Philippines, sponsored by Deseret International Foundation with assistance from the Church, has provided an average of 100 surgeries per month during the past six years, many of them improving the health and appearance of recipients.

"The surgery greatly enhances the opportunity of the patient to become self-reliant," Bishop Bateman said. "He or she is more comfortable in social situations and more likely to be successful in obtaining good employment."

GUATEMALA

The Church Self-Reliance Center in Guatemala offers career guidance and counseling, vocational skill training, assistance in job searching and placement and small business training.

During the last half of 1994, 17 people completed a course in home wiring arranged through the center.

Other resource centers have been established in other parts of the world, including several U.S. inner-cities. Besides helping with employment-related training and needs, some of them provide language classes to assist those trying to assimilate into a new culture.

LITERACY

In some developing countries, 50 percent or more of the people are illiterate. Studies show that the health and well-being of children are directly correlated to the education levels of their mothers.

The Church has often supported literacy efforts in connection with other self-reliance projects. More than 150 tons of textbooks and education materials have been sent to developing countries in support of literacy efforts.