From Sewing Sanitary Napkins to Three-layer Face Masks

(Theit Theit Shwee sewing face masks made by cloth [photo from CEDAR’s partner])

 

“Kacha…Kacha…” Theit Theit Shwee, a woman from the slum area of Myanmar, sat in front of a sewing machine and sewed the fabric. She carefully wrapped the two white bands and sewed them with the fabric and finished making a three-layer cloth mask. This has been her daily job, making cloth masks with other women in the community center of CEDAR’s partner.

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The first sign of disaster has appeared: Cries of the Poor in Developing Countries during the Pandemic

Medical workers treated the sick after putting on their personal protective equipment (Photo from CEDAR’s partner)

Medical workers treated the sick after putting on their personal protective equipment (Photo from CEDAR’s partner)

 

“For poor places, [the spread of COVID-19] implies calamity.”

‘The Next Calamity’, The Economist, 28th March

 

Globalisation has made it impossible for any one country to avoid the risk of being affected by contagious diseases. When there is a pandemic, developed countries can still make use of their resources to procure pandemic prevention materials. They can also utilise their financial reserves to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on their medical systems and economies.

 

For many poor and densely populated developing countries, their medical systems were already vulnerable even before the pandemic and there had always been a lack of social welfare. When this pandemic of the century strikes, its impact on societies and people’s livelihoods are disastrous, as noted by the Economist.

 

The reality is that the first sign of disaster has already appeared.

Continue reading The first sign of disaster has appeared: Cries of the Poor in Developing Countries during the Pandemic

CEDAR aided 14,640 families affected by the flood in Maharashtra, India

(Jagganath, flood survivor in Maharashtra, received our emergency aid)

 

Since this July, India has been impacted by monsoon. This disaster was the most severe flood in recent 25 years. By the end of October, over 2,100 people died, 2.6 million people were inflicted and more than 400,000 houses were destroyed. [1] And Maharashtra, the major cane production area in India, was most severely impacted, where 22 districts were devastated, 430 people died, and over 700,000 residents were forced to seek shelter. [2]

Continue reading CEDAR aided 14,640 families affected by the flood in Maharashtra, India

How did CEDAR Select and Manage Overseas Projects?

CEDAR has been collaborating with 53 Christian organizations and churches worldwide from 2018 to 2019, to support 80 relief and development projects all over Asia, Middle East and Africa. With an enormous amount of projects and great needs in poor regions, how did CEDAR select and manage the projects? Let’s hear what our Programme Officer Hollace say.

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Fear Not the Slander and Shadow, But to Break the Silence – Interview with Indian Anti-child Trafficking Activist

(Aashima Samuel, the National Director of EFIC@R, interviewed by CEDAR)

 

“In Indian villages, when we and church pastors advocated anti-child trafficking, some Hindi nationalists accused us of, or even attacked us for ‘brainwashing’ villagers to convert them into Christians. In fact, among them, there were traffickers slandering us to extinguish our anti-trafficking voice,” said Aashima Samuel, the National Director of Evangelical Fellowship of India Children At Risk (EFIC@R), CEDAR’s partner.

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Faith, Hope, Love and the Creation

(Photo:Unsplash/Bonnie Kittle)

 

Written by: Raymond Kwong (Chief Executive of CEDAR Fund)

 

Christianity is about the pursuit of faith, hope and love. As we ponder upon the teaching of these virtues, we often limit it to only between God and man (ourselves), yet the teaching of Colossians 1:15-20 reiterates that the salvation of God through Jesus Christ is for all creation.

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