EFFORTS OF CHARITY GROUP HINDERED BY DRUG WAR

The sound of gunfire now threatens to silence the sound of hammers in
the poorest neighborhoods of Juarez.

Every year hundreds of U.S. missionaries travel to outlying areas in
Juarez to help low-income families build new homes. But some
volunteers are now afraid to cross the border because of the violence
believed to be linked to warring drug cartels, program officials said
Wednesday.

Alfonso "Poncho" Cisneros, a member of El Chaday Temple in Juarez and
Casas por Cristo in El Paso, said that the violence in Juarez has put
on hold the construction of homes for low-income families in colonias.

"Some projects have been canceled; the missionaries from the United
States don't want to come because they're afraid of crossing to
Mexico," Cisneros said.

At least 14 groups from the United States and Canada have canceled
their summer trips to Juarez, program officials said.

"That means 14 families that were expecting homes will have to go
back on the waiting list and wait longer. It's hard because the
families were looking forward to, and expecting a home," said Brandon
Broach, marketing manager for Casas por Cristo.

About 200 families have been helped annually since Casas por Cristo
was formed 15 years ago, and the group had hoped to build at least
400 homes this year.

Casas por Cristo is a local nonprofit organization with a partnership
among churches of the United States, Canada and Mexico to serve the
needs of Mexican families. In all, it has built about 3,000 houses.
Last week 12 wood-frame houses finished with stucco were being
constructed on the desolate edge of the city, where at this time of
year, volunteers have to fight blowing dust and searing heat.

According to Cisneros, the organization was planning to build at
least nine houses in the Anapra area, west of Juarez, beginning next
week. But after the cancelation of some volunteer groups, the
organization expects to construct fewer homes.

Cisneros said that volunteers are divided into teams of 12 to 30
people who spend about a week hammering chicken wire and insulation
to the walls of the one-story structures. During the summer, however,
100 volunteers might make up a team as groups from New York,
California, Arizona, Florida and Canada head into town.

Now the organization is feeling the backlash as potential volunteers
learn more about the wave of violence in Juarez.

"A lot of the volunteers are afraid of coming to Juarez because what
they hear and see on national television," Cisneros said. "They don't
know that most of the crime has taken place in areas where the
wealthy families live, and not on the poor areas where we work."

He said it's not fair that people in the most need are suffering
because of a war between drug cartels.

"I can see the excitement and happiness in peoples faces when they
realized that they'll stop living in a small room of cardboard,"
Cisneros said. "They need us, and our ministry will continue working
in the projects."

As a precaution, Casas por Cristo has instituted new policies for its
volunteer workers in Juarez.

"We are no longer taking our groups to the mercado Juarez," Broach
said. "A majority of the violence has taken place in the central area
of the city. We have suspended travel to that area until further notice."

He also said no one working with the organization is to travel in any
part of Juarez after sunset because most of the violent incidents
have taken place during late hours.

The organization has also suspended travel on the downtown bridges
and has decided to use alternative ports of entry because of
shootings on Avenida Juarez last month, in which a police officer's
son and two taxi drivers were killed on the tourist strip.

"We fully recognize that taking these steps in no way guarantees the
safety of our staff and volunteers, but it is our highest priority,"
Broach said.

Casas por Cristo missionaries said they would not stop their work in
the colonias "in the face of unrest and drug-related violence in Juarez."