Update from Dane Smith
We recently learned of the appointment of the Reverend Canon Fajak Avajani as the Assistant Bishop of Khartoum. He will backstop Episcopal Primate Archbishop Ezekiel Kondo in his responsibilities for the Diocese of Khartoum, enabling the Primate to give additional attention to the other four dioceses under his responsibility. Canon Fajak, originally from the eastern Nuba Mountains, is currently head of the Bible Translation Department of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. One of his major achievements was the translation of the Bible into his mother tongue Tira, published in 2009.
A new milestone in the consolidation of peace in Sudan was the March 28 signature by Sovereignty Council Chairman, Gen. Abdel Fatta Burhan, and SPLM/North leader Gen. Abdelaziz al-Hilu of a Declaration of Principles. It affirms that “The establishment of a civil, democratic, federal state in Sudan, wherein, the freedom of religion, the freedom of belief and religious practices and worship shall be guaranteed to all Sudanese people by separating the identities of culture, region, ethnicity, and religion from the State. …No religion shall be imposed on anyone, and the state shall not adopt any official religion. The state shall be impartial in terms of religious matters and matters of faith & conscience.” The declaration marks the repudiation of the concept of Sudan as an Islamic state governed by shari’a law, which has dominated Sudanese politics since President Nimeiri’s proclamation in 1983. It undergirded the thirty-year rule of Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
President Biden has extended for one year the national emergency related to South Sudan originally declared in 2014, after civil war broke out. The original declaration cites “an extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the situation in and in relation to South Sudan.” The emergency declaration imposes a responsibility to follow activities which threaten the peace, security, or stability of South Sudan, including widespread violence and atrocities, human rights abuses, recruitment and use of child soldiers, attacks on peacekeepers and obstruction of humanitarian works.
The past few weeks marked both progress and backsliding on peacebuilding in South Sudan. The week of March 15 South Sudan Council of Churches peacemaking teams visited Pibor for two days of meetings with community and church leaders. Separately, representatives of Lou Nuer, Bor Dinka and the Murle recommitted to peaceful coexistence during a 10-day grassroots peace conference in Jonglei State. They reportedly agreed to return all abducted persons, end violence, permit movement of traders, and punish those found in defiance of peace conference resolutions.” However, there were new incidents of violence in Equatoria. Up to 14 were killed by gunmen in Eastern Equatoria, while more than a dozen were slain on the Juba-Yei road, including an attack on the convoy of the Governor of Central Equatoria, allegedly by forces loyal to Gen. Cirillo.
The Biden Administration still has not announced the appointment of an Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. (A similar vacancy exists with respect to the Middle East & North Africa.). But Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-NY), who has become the first Black chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has called for a “reset” in US-Africa relations. “My goal is to reset the United States’ relationship with Africa by focusing on shared challenges, expanding people-to-people relationships and exchanges, developing partnerships to increase youth participation in the digital workforce, and championing a more robust presence across the continent.”
Executive Director
Focus on Trauma Healing
By Dane Smith, Jr. – AFRECS Executive Director
Trauma, as Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, points out, is “a wound or injury — physical, psychic, emotional, or spiritual — inflicted upon the body by an act of violence.” She suggests that those who have experienced a long pattern of violence and its trauma find it “hard to let in things from outside which could be salvific or freeing.” In other words, it is hard to “let in the loving grace of God.” Finding a way to let in God’s grace is the purpose of the trauma healing training AFRECS has been supporting.
For the past two years, AFRECS has been working in partnership with Five Talents and the Mothers Union in Renk, close to the northern border with Sudan. The sponsor of the multi-activity program, which injects trauma mitigation instruction into training in literacy, numeracy, and basic finance, is the activist Episcopal Bishop of Renk, Rt. Rev. Joseph Garang Atem. In a telephone conversation last week with AFRECS Executive Director Dane Smith, Bishop Joseph reported that the savings groups of women and male youth, which provide the context for trauma healing training, have been going well despite the near shutdown of the country over COVID-19. Despite a pause during the April-July period last year, the groups resumed meeting, applying social distance standards. Fortunately, the impact of COVID in Renk has been minimal, although its exact extent is uncertain since testing has not been available. In order to help the savings groups mobilize additional funds for saving, Bishop Joseph is bringing specialists to Renk to do vocational training in carpentry, mechanics, electricity, and water. That will not only create more jobs generally, but will hopefully, in particular, provide more of a savings base for those in the savings groups.
Bishop Joseph said, “Trauma healing is very, very important, because it changes the lives of people and their mentality.” It directs their thinking away from retribution, revenge, and violence to constructive peaceful activities. He emphasized that it is desirable to bring many different groups engaged in different activities into trauma healing.
USAID is in the process of unfolding a new peace project, Promoting Civic Engagement and Peace (PCEP), for the period ending 2025. The contractor, TD-Global, will be using small grant and rapid response activities to provide urgent funding and support to a range of South Sudanese civil society groups and individuals, including religious groups. This support aims at helping actors at the local level to advocate for peaceful solutions and advance communal dialogue and healing where there is division. PCEP does this through a variety of “trauma-informed” activities. About 80% of the work is to take place in 13 counties in five states — Eastern Equatoria, Upper Nile, Unity, Jonglei, and Western Bahr el Ghazal. AFRECS is examining what kind of links with Episcopal clergy and the Mothers Union it might be appropriate to promote to TD Global in those locations.
News and Notes
Peace Initiatives in Southern Jonglei Area
Following a January 2021 three-day conference in Juba among Dinka, Nuer, and Murle communities, the rival groups committed to coexist peacefully in Jonglei State and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA). This was made possible through the initiative of Joshua Konyi, the Administrator of the GPAA and his counterparts among the Nuer and Dinka communities who received funds for this effort from the Government of South Sudan. President Salva Kiir addressed the group. The participation of women and youth was notable.
This peace agreement was followed up in February with a recommitment celebration in Pibor involving the community as well as peacemakers from all three groups. A second recommitment by representatives of the Lou Nuer, Dinka Bor and Murle was held during a ten-day grassroots conference concluded on March 24 in Uror County of Jonglei State. Delegates agreed on the return of all those abducted from any of their communities, an end to violence, allowance for free movement of traders, and punishment of those found in defiance of peace conference resolutions.
Jacob Lokocho Nyaphi, a representative of the Murle community, said: “The peace conference was fruitful. We were seventeen from the Greater Pibor area, seventeen from Greater Bor, and over 20 from Greater Akobo. We reviewed the implementation of the Juba peace conference. We resolve to stop cattle raiding, to collect the abducted children, and to pursue community integration”.
Peacemakers from the South Sudan Council of Churches are following up with local community and church leaders in Pibor, Bor and Akobo.
On April 2, a celebration among all three groups was held in Pibor featuring the return of kidnapped women and children from all three groups to their rightful relatives. Rev. Orozu Lokine, Presbyterian Church of SS General Secretary, said that this would be the “beginning of true peace and reconciliation among the neighboring tribes.”
Sources: Radio Tamazuj, March 18; Rev. James Aleyi Zeelu, Eastern Jonglei Presbytery and Rev. Orozu Lokine, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan.
Kenya orders closing of refugee camps, gives ultimatum to UN agency
The Kenyan government declared on March 24 that it will close two refugee camps, including Kakuma, which houses the Presbyterian Shalom Education Program and a church theological institute. The major population of both camps is Somali, although there are also refugees from South Sudan and other nations in the camps. The Kenyan government, which has no diplomatic relations with Somalia, believes that much Islamic terrorism originates in these camps. Handling the 410,000 refugees living in the two camps is a large problem. Kenya’s Interior Minister gave the United Nations High Commission for Refugees fourteen days to submit a plan for compliance. The UNCHR has responded urging protection for those in the camp who continue to need protection and committing to engage in dialogue.
Source: Bill Andress, Reuters, March 14, 2021 and Aljazeera, April 5, 2021 by Sally Hayden
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2BG1K7
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/5/no-other-home-refugees-in-kenya-camps-devastated-over-closure
Humanitarian Snapshot of South Sudan 2021
South Sudan estimated population: 10 – 12 million
People in need: 8.3 million (70 – 83 % of population)
Internally displaced 1.8 million
Refugees 2.3 million
Total displaced 4.1 million (34 – 41 % of population)
Acutely food insecure 5.8 million (48 – 58 % of population)
Source: United Nations Mission for South Sudan, OCHA, Feb. 28, 2021
https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/south-sudan-humanitarian-snapshot-february-2021
Humanitarian Snapshot of Sudan 2021
Sudan estimated population: 42- 44 million
People in need: 8.9 million (18 – 21 % of population)
Internally displaced 2.55 million
Refugees 1.1 million
Total displaced 3.65 million (8.3 – 8.7 % of population)
Acutely food insecure 7.1 million (16 – 17 % of population)
Source: United Nations Mission for South Sudan, OCHA, April 5, 2021
https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-situation-report-5-april-2021
The News from Sudan
The news from Sudan is about tensions with Ethiopia which are distracting the Transitional Government from dealing with the severe economic hardships endured by most Sudanese. At the beginning of March President Abel Fatta al-Sisi of Egypt made his first visit to Khartoum since the overthrow of President Bashir in 2019. He conferred with Sudanese leaders about the problems posed by Ethiopian filling of the Renaissance High Dam on the Blue Nile. Last week Prime Minister Hamdok of Sudan formally requested that the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States mediate a solution to the dam dispute.
The dam debate has now become enmeshed in a border conflict between Sudan and Ethiopia which has flared since the beginning of the year. Al-Fashqa (sometimes spelled Fashaga by the Western press), a strip of land between Sudan’s Gedaref state and the troubled Ethiopian province of Tigray, was placed on the Sudanese side by a 1902 treaty between Sudan’s then colonial overlords and the Emperor of Ethiopia. In the 1990s Christian Amhara farmers from Ethiopia migrated to the area as laborers and then began cultivating the land. Recent flows of refugees from Tigray into Sudan drew attention to al-Fashqa, and Sudanese forces have reportedly reoccupied the enclave. The Washington Post reported last week that troops have been reinforced on both sides, with Amhara militias from Ethiopia playing an aggressive role in the strip. The Sudanese claim that Ethiopia’s prime minister is linking the border conflict with the dam dispute because of his dependence on Amhara militias for control of Tigray. Troubles in the Horn have gained Washington’s attention. Last week the Biden Administration, which has criticized Ethiopia for “ethnic cleansing” in Tigray, sent Sen. Christopher Coons (D-DE) a close friend of the President, to Addis Ababa to discuss “the deteriorating situation in the Tigray region and the risk of broader instability in the Horn of Africa.”
Source: Dane Smith, AFRECS Executive Director
Friends’ Correspondence: News from the Rt. Rev. Hilary Garang Deng Awer
The Reverend Thomas D. Faulkner, New York City to the Rt. Rev. Hilary Garang Deng Awer, Bishop of Malakal, in Juba:
“I want you know that when I retired as Vicar of Christ Church, Sparkill, New York this past July, I donated your powerful “Crown of Thorns” to the Sudanese Chapel at the church. It is an appreciated addition. Blessings that you and your family can enjoy a joyous Easter.”
Garang to Faulkner:
“Thank you, dear friend and colleague in art, Christian faith’s insight, building to meditation and renewal. It is good and God did it by making us arrive to that in our fellowship. I am retiring soon this May 2021. I am currently in Malakal again, for eighth time since its destruction. It is not yet fully recovered. We still need your prayers. Remain in his peace and God richly bless you all. Happy Easter!
Bishop Hilary Garang Deng, Juba to Dr. Ellen F. Davis, Duke University Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina:
“We are glad to hear from you again. We cannot forget you in our lives. You were such a precious courageous mother at the time of need for God’s glory! All of us your friends over here feel encouraged of what has been invested and achieved in us, the Church of God in South Sudan for God’s glory. Pass our love and regards to Dwayne and the rest of your family as we know them all. “
Davis to Garang:
“How wonderful to hear from you, Hilary. Congratulations on your Master’s degree, and every blessing on the new work at Uganda Christian University – and upon your retirement! Joyous Easter and love in Christ to each of you.”
Bishop Hilary Garang Deng, Juba to the Rev. Richard J. Jones, Alexandria, Virginia:
“Happy Easter! As we celebrate the Easter of this year in hope and confidence of what God has done for us and humanity! And remembering “The Crown of Thorns”, product of my good time with you all at Virginia Theological Seminary. I finished my Master in Theology last December 2020, proceeding now with Ph. D. in theology at Uganda Christian University, Mukono.
“As I retire and wish to continue with my normal life in Juba, may God continue to use us to bring joy and hope in Christ to many — to be reminded of God’s love and peace through the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In His name we are healed and made completely new and perfect before God and men/humanity.”
Lost Girl’ brought to the US amid Sudan war connects with surviving family member after 30 years – a resurrection story!
In a year of pandemic and continuing struggles in her native Sudan, Rebecca Deng had a reason to truly celebrate in her new home in Holland, Michigan.
In a small South Sudanese village, in a shaky phone-recorded message, one man can be seen in his white robes standing before a primitive hut expressing, in his native tongue Dinka, gratitude for such assistance to buy staples like maize and beans.
He speaks passionately about his baby niece — the daughter of his sister who was slain following an attack in the Second Sudanese Civil War, dragging on from 1983 to 2005, between rebel fighters and an authoritarian government in Khartoum.
His sister — Deng’s mother — had been heavily pregnant at the time and was propelled to run from the attackers on foot to reach the closest hospital. But with few medical resources and a clinic overwhelmed by the wounded, she died due to complications in childbirth. Deng’s baby sibling lived to see a little sunlight, she said, but died a couple of months later.
In the video, the man remembers the suddenly motherless 2-year-old Deng, who four years later disappeared with the throes of those fleeing as her home village of Duk Padiet was set ablaze by incoming insurgents. Yet he remains firm that at some point, from someplace, that child was sent to the United States.
The video was shared on Facebook. Someone within the community sent it to Deng. She immediately knew it was her uncle: the only close surviving family member in a savage conflict that killed more than 2 million, displaced over 4 million and left countless bodies and brains broken and disfigured in its ashen aftermath.
“I saw this man who was missing one arm, standing up and calling for his sister’s daughter, adamant that the baby [made it out] alive,” Deng told Fox News. “It was my Uncle Peter.”
She was able to track down a phone number more than 7,000 miles away and made that long-awaited call in November 2020.
“He just screamed; I could hear people in the background telling him to sit down. Then he was laughing,” Deng continued, detailing the way his voice rose to a shrill in delight and the image of his face dripping with tears. “He kept saying that he was always looking to the day that he would hear my voice, that he still mourned [for my mother] and having to bury her.”
Peter Nyok Riak — her uncle’s full name — promised he could now sleep so well. That it was the most precious day of his life, which had been struck by a miracle.
And for Deng, a mother of three and now 36 who repeatedly describes herself as a “person of faith,” her life has come full circle. At just 15, she was one of 89 “Lost Girls” — compared to the 3,700 “Lost Boys” — to have been selected to come to the U.S as an orphaned refugee in 2000.
For some eight years, from 1992 onward, Deng lived in the Kakuma Refugee Camp’s dusty confines in northern Kenya, which remains one of the continent’s largest for the displaced today. But growing up in a country cracked with bloodletting and barbarity was not the only agony Deng was made to endure as a small girl.
Just days before she boarded her flight to the U.S as part of the “Lost Girls” program, she was raped in the refugee camp — she learned soon after being taken in by a foster family in Michigan, and still something of a child herself, that she was pregnant from the assault. Always a dedicated student, Deng credits the sliver of access she had to education in the camp as being a key driver, along with her faith, to not only surviving but thriving as a young mother balancing books with her parenting duties.
In the U.S, Deng went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in international development from Calvin University and a master’s in organizational/ministry leadership from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and became an American citizen in 2006. Last year, she published the poignant memoir “What They Meant for Evil” and advocates for children traumatized by war.
“What kept me going through all those years in the refugee camp was going to school and church,” Deng said. “But it was more than that — it was less about the preaching and more about the friendships we formed at Church. It was about singing and dancing with my friends. It was a community that was there for each other. It was knowing that together we were all going through — and healing from — traumatic events, and yet we did not have to say a word.”
Although the Christian community is comparatively small in her Michigan town, and the coronavirus pandemic has limited access to physical houses of worship, Deng said she continues her Bible studies at home and sings aloud hymns in Dinka.
Her book is available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/What-They-Meant-Evil-Suffering/dp/1546017224/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=What+They+Meant+for+Evil&qid=1617796414&s=books&sr=1-1) and from other book sellers.
Source: Fox News 12/24/2020 by Hollie McKay
https://www.foxnews.com/world/lost-girl-brought-to-us-sudan-war-finds-surviving-family-member-30-years-later
Other News from Various Sources
Government plans to reopen schools in May
Eye radio 03/25/2021 by Okot Emmanuel
The government is likely to reopen schools in May after being closed for months due to the surge in coronavirus cases, according to the Minister of General Education and Instruction, Awut Deng.
Last month, the task force on coronavirus renewed the ban on social gathering – including sports, religious and cultural events in a bid to control the surge of the virus. It also maintained the closure of private and public schools across the country.
Speaking in Juba on Wednesday during the handing over of newly printed primary and secondary school textbooks, the Minister suggested that the schools will reopen safely and securely. “Availability of enough textbooks is going to be the key to our preparation for reopening schools this year because of COVID-19,” said the Minister. “It is important that we observe the protocols, and this is one of the projects that is going to make it possible for us to observe the protocol.” “In May, we are going to open but the books will be in state and schools before May.”
Schools will first be disinfected ahead of the reopening. All schools will be required to measure the temperature of every child before entering the school premises and the school children will also be required to wear masks and wash hands regularly.
Communication from Rev. Joseph Bilal
Rev. Joseph Bilal, Acting Vice Chancellor of the Episcopal University of South Sudan, told us in a recent conversation with US church leaders that churches and schools in the country remain closed, and that, therefore, teachers are not being paid. Colleges are expected to reopen in April. The Episcopal Church is working to mediate disputes between pastoralists and farmers in Central Equatoria that have sometimes erupted in murderous violence. Bilal said that additional resources are needed for that work.
Source: Dane Smith, AFRECS Executive Director
Drowned land: hunger stalks SS flooded villages
The Guardian 03/22/2021 by Susan Martinez Photos by Peter Caton for Action Against Hunger
After the unprecedented floods last summer, the people of Old Fangak, a small town in northern South Sudan, should be planting now. But the flood water has not receded, the people are still marooned and now they are facing severe hunger. Of the 62 villages served by Old Fangak’s central market, 45 are devastated by the flooded river.
“Flooding, conflict, Covid-19 and poverty make the situation here dire,” says Sulaiman Sesay, of Action Against Hunger, one of the few aid organizations active in this area of South Sudan. “The world needs to know that people are suffering in this way.”
In Old Fangak people grew sorghum, a cereal that is easy to cultivate. Now they can eat only water lilies and fish. But not everyone has fishing nets and for those who do the catches are rarely enough to satisfy the appetite. “People will die of hunger. Everyone in Old Fangak is lacking food and lost what they cultivated. Hunger is the one that will kill people,” says Peter Kak, a fisherman and grandfather of five who lives on a grass island with his son Samuel. The two men stayed behind after sending the rest of the family to higher ground. Here, they fish every day.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/19/drowned-land-hunger-stalks-south-sudans-flooded-villages
Over 30 million people “one step away from starvation” UN warns
The Guardian 03/22/2021
Families in pockets of Yemen and South Sudan are already in the grip of starvation, according to a report on hunger hotspots published by the agency’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP). An estimated 34 million people are struggling with emergency levels of acute hunger, meaning they are ‘one step away from starvation’. In six counties of South Sudan 100,000 people are in situations of severe food insecurity, the most severely affected areas are Bahr al-Ghazel and eastern Upper Nile.
Acute hunger is being driven by conflict, climate shocks and the Covid pandemic, and, in some places, compounded by storms of desert locusts.
“The magnitude of suffering is alarming,” said FAO director-general Qu Dongyu. “It is incumbent upon all of us to act now and to act fast to save lives, safeguard livelihoods and prevent the worst situation.”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/24/over-30-million-people-one-step-away-from-starvation-un-warns
UN Renews Mandate of Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan
Amnesty International: South Sudan News March 24, 2021
On March 24, 2021, the UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan for another year. The Commission was established in March 2016 with a mandate to “determine and report the facts and circumstances of, collect and preserve evidence of, and clarify responsibility for alleged gross violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes, including sexual and gender-based violence and ethnic violence, with a view to ending impunity and providing accountability.” This mandate has been renewed annually since then.
In its most recent report, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan noted “a massive escalation in violence perpetrated by organized tribal militias” over the past year, fueled by failure of the signatories to implement the 2018 peace agreement.
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=26761&LangID=E
First COVID-19 vaccines arrive in Juba, but vaccine launch postponed briefly
VOA – South Sudan in Focus March 25, 2021 by Viola Elias
Radio Tamazuj March 29, 2021 and March 31, 2021
JUBA 03/25/2021 The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in South Sudan’s Juba International Airport on Thursday. The 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be offered first to health care workers, including doctors and nurses, along with other vulnerable groups.
“The COVID-19 vaccine will help us to protect our population against the COVID infections and prepare for a return to a normal life. We are grateful to all partners for their support in facilitating the arrival of the vaccines in our country,” South Sudan Health Minister Elizabeth Achuil told reporters at Juba International Airport.
A COVID-19 vaccination campaign will kick off across the country next week, according to Hamida Lasseko, the UNICEF representative for South Sudan.
JUBA 03/29/2021 South Sudan’s government has postponed the Covid-19 vaccine launch, scheduled to take place on March 29 for unknown reasons. The president and senior government officials were expected to receive their first jabs of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines during the launch, followed by health care workers in the first wave of vaccinations.
The director for preventive disease control at South Sudan’s Ministry of Health, Dr. John Rumunu said, the vaccination exercise was postponed due to logistical challenges. However, South Sudan’s Covid-19 incident Manager at the ministry of health, Dr. Richard Laku said, he was not aware that the vaccination had been postponed. South Sudan received the first batch on March 25, and another 60,000 doses on March 26.
According to the health ministry, the vaccines will first be administered to priority groups including the frontline health workers, elderly people of 65 years and above, and people with underlying medical conditions.
The ministry said it has trained 60 health workers who will administer the vaccines at 18 medical centers in Juba beginning Tuesday this week. However, it remains unclear when the vaccinations will begin.
Juba 03/31/2021 South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Tuesday after being briefed by the ministry of health officials at the statehouse, approved the launch of the coronavirus vaccination campaign across the country.
On Tuesday, a team of medical doctors made a presentation on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine to President Kiir and senior government officials.
The Covid-19 vaccination administration for frontline health workers began in Juba on March 31 in three centers, Juba Teaching Hospital, Buluk Police Medical Hospital, and Al Giada Military Hospital, according to Dr. Richard Laku, the Covid-19 incident manager. This is part of the government plan to roll out vaccines to priority groups such as the health workers, the elderly, those with underlying health conditions, teachers, etc.
https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/first-covid-19-vaccines-arrive-juba-south-sudan
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!
At this joyous season of Easter, we remain grateful that contributions from you, our supporters, continue to nurture AFRECS in expanding our impact. You make a difference in the essential peacebuilding work of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan. We hope you will consider another gift of whatever you can afford during this season of celebration of victory over death — as we continue the work of bringing new life in South Sudan through the church. You can contribute online at https://afrecs.org or send a check made out to AFRECS to P.O. Box 3327, Alexandria, VA 22302