Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the peace of our Lord.
What a privilege to meet you here! This is my fifth week at CEDAR Fund, and my learning curve is still long. I come to know CEDAR for over a decade, but have never imagined of joining it, and not to say, leading it. It is really an honor to be part of this great family.
Thousands of children in Indonesia, some just 8 years old, are working in hazardous conditions on tobacco farms, as described in a report released by Human Rights Watch on 25 May. The report documents how child tobacco workers are exposed to nicotine, handle toxic chemicals, use sharp tools, lift heavy loads, and work in extreme heat. The work could have lasting consequences for their health and development.
It is not uncommon to see groups of foreign domestic helpers gathering at public area in Hong Kong every Sunday. Usually they will meet fellow countrymen on this day when they can take off from work.
There are over 300,000 foreign domestic helpers working in Hong Kong now, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, with a smaller number from Thailand and other places. They cook for Hong Kong families, take care of their elderly and children and do the housework. Most of them will wire transfer their salary back home to provide a better living to their own families in homeland.
Continue reading Be the Neighbour of Foreign Domestic Helpers
[ePrayer – Pray for the Typhoon victims and the relief work]
CEDAR Fund’s local partners are responding to the desperate need of 9.5 million people affected by Super Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines, working with local churches to deliver food packs to 7,000 affected families in Leyte and Samar provinces. Poor communications and access difficulties are still hampering relief efforts. Integral Alliance, in which CEDAR is a member agency, is currently meeting local partners to carry out a crisis mapping to further support relief operations in badly hit areas. Integral Alliance members from UK, Switzerland, USA and CEDAR partners from India and Indonesia who are well experienced in disaster management are arriving the Philippines to support relief effort there. [CEDAR’s Philippines Typhoon Relief]
Pray for the Typhoon victims and the relief work:
Emergency and Relief Donation:
(Please mark “Philippines Typhoon Relief”)
[1] CEDAR is an approved charitable institution and trust of a public character under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. Please click Inland Revenue Department website to check for details.
[2] Donations over $100 are tax deductible in Hong Kong with our receipts.
[3] Please DO NOT fax any donation information.
Contact Method
Tel>23819627
Fax>23922777
Email>sharing@cedarfund.org
Add>G.P.O. Box 3212Hong Kong
CEDAR’s Relief and Rehabilitation Work in Past: http://eng.cedarfund.org/relief/
CEDAR Approach on Relief and Rehabilitation: http://eng.cedarfund.org/relief-approach/
* Integral is a global alliance of 19 Christian relief and development agencies, working together to present a more effective response to poverty worldwide. CEDAR is one of the member agencies.
[ePrayer – Pray for the health of minorities]
Minority groups suffer worse health outcomes than the rest of the population, according to a new report published by Minority Rights Group International (MRG). They call for greater measures to combat disparities in global health outcomes between minority groups and majority communities. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have resulted in much that is good. But one of the fundamental flaws with them has been the lack of a right or equity perspective. Minority and indigenous communities often are marginalised from all aspects of life in their countries. For example, infant mortality among indigenous groups in China’s Yunnan Province was 7.8%, compared to 5.4% for non-indigenous groups in Yunnan and a national average of 2.6%. In Papua, Indonesia, HIV infection rates among minority groups are 15 times the national average. In Guatemala, indigenous children suffer approximately 20 percent higher malnutrition than majority communities. According to the report, lack of access to healthcare and systemic patterns of discrimination are major causal factors behind these figures. [IRIN]
Pray for the health of minorities:
[ “SHARE” Nov-Dec 2012 – Care for Children ~ ‘Join Hands Join Hearts’ ] FOCUS ~ Interviewing a Ministry
Compiler and writer> Jojo POON
‘Give children a happy childhood’, ‘care for the pillars of our future’, ‘give the little ones a cup of cold water to drink’, ‘love for children’ – these are all reasons people support children’s ministry. But how do we give impoverished children a happy childhood? What do they really need? In this issue some children’s ministry stakeholders will talk about joining hands and hearts with children.
Supporters: Walk together so they may see
Mr. and Mrs. Wong have sponsored children before through other organisations. Upon hearing about CEDAR’s principle of ‘From Church, Through Church’, they started supporting CEDAR’s children’s ministry, helping overseas impoverished children with their basic needs.
Through CEDAR’s short films a few years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Wong learned about children’s education in war-torn Afghanistan, the health condition of scavenging children in Indonesia, and how HIV/AIDS wrecked families in Africa. Mrs. Wong tells us, ‘This world is so unfair. Perhaps those of us who live in Hong Kong are so blessed that we do not truly understand… developed countries lead the world and yet they set rules and system which are difficult for poor countries to follow.’
Mr. and Mrs. Wong understand that providing children with their basic needs deals only with one level of the poverty issue, so they hope that these faraway families can become self-reliant rather than having to depend on relief from organisations. ‘Providing appropriate life skills training, fighting for reasonable returns for producers, having proper HIV preventions and all-round control of diseases all bring changes to impoverished families.’
Another supporter, Chris, joined CEDAR’s Children Ministry Scheme over four years ago. He hopes that his contribution will help children go to school and improve their lives. ‘I believe the impact of education is far-reaching; it is very important for children’s growth and can greatly impact the community. With knowledge, children may even resolve problems such as hunger and disasters.’
At first Chris was happy with just corresponding with the children and exchanging news. That was ‘poverty relief’ to him. But then he realised that there was more to it and he needed to go further, so his involvement changed from merely sponsoring daily needs to supporting community development programmes and now struggles with greater awareness of the injustices behind poverty.
After years of involvement, supporters now see not only the needs of individual impoverished children, but also the predicaments faced by their families, communities and countries, as well as the importance of mobilising community development in order to help these children.
Project officers: Reach out so they may see wider
Tracy joined CEDAR in 2007 working on children’s projects. Through our global partners she learns about oppressed children – some are victims of wars or natural disasters; others are AIDS orphans, school drop-outs or scavengers. Problems and challenges vary but Tracy believes that whatever the situation, children should receive basic living guarantees and education, because protection and provision are the basic rights of children.
Years of ministry have taught Tracy that, to help the children, it is not enough to just take care of their personal and superficial needs but it is also necessary to know the particular situation of the entire family and the community. ‘Actually, the hardship of the children’s families can be resolved by helping the entire family and the community, to empower them and nurture mutual-help. Improving the community as a whole can give the children a better environment to grow up in. If we merely sponsor individual children directly but not their siblings because of the insufficient resources or the restriction of organisation’s policies, there will be discrepancies in learning, development and growth.’
Hazel, our project consultant, recently visited India and met an organisation that adopts the children’s rights-based approach. She saw how children were encouraged to think and express their views on their community’s issues through children’s rights and development groups. ‘It was very memorable to see children bravely voicing out their concerns, such as alcohol abuse, fathers abusing mothers, lack of community sanitation, frequent verbal abuse of children and the government’s reckless tree felling. We see that the children’s daily life and concerns are inseparable from their community and even the children are well aware of those issues.’
Annual street drama raises awareness of the lack of clean water in schools
Frontline partners: Serve so they may see farther
Our frontline partners live in the same countries and face the social situations as the children-beneficiaries; they therefore identify and struggle with the children’s needs.
Facing Zimbabwe’s high unemployment and inflation rate, high HIV infection and millions of AIDS orphans, CEDAR’s partner Family Aids Caring Trust (FACT) understand that these orphans need education, food and community support. ‘Without an education one cannot find work. Therefore, education is vital for children-beneficiaries to have job opportunities in the future. Further, even if children can go to school, low-income families still have to worry about food because of continuous droughts and inflation… Experiences tell us that community support can help orphaned or traumatised children build self-respect and thereby reduce the risk of them going astray.’
Even though children worldwide have varied backgrounds and needs, all of our partners point out that, apart from basic needs such as food and clothing, bible-based worldview and family/community support are essential for children’s growth. A worker at Addis Ababa Guenet Church (AAGC), CEDAR’s partner in Ethiopia, says, ‘We learn from years of ministry that we need to not only love these children, but also to establish relationships with their families and communities, so as to give them a better living environment.’
CEDAR’s partner New India Evangelistic Association (NIEA) tells us its expectations for its children-beneficiaries, ‘We hope they will get to know and experience Christ, and by their words and deeds they will be witnesses of Christian faith and power. We also hope that they will help other children in the future, know their community’s needs and join in serving and building a better country.’
Children-beneficiaries: Please listen to me
Ultimately, children are the largest stakeholders. Let us hear what they have to say.
[Left] Meheret, Ethiopia > I need food most; education, clothes and shoes that fit. Being properly clothed protects my body and gives me confidence to interact with classmates and enjoy school life.
[Right] Priya, India > The most important things in my life are studying, praying and my family.
[Left] Norman, Zimbabwe > I need food, health and education most, because I do not want to contract HIV/AIDS.
[Right] Pynos, Zimbabwe > I think food, health and a stable home are the most important things in life.
Extended Action
Since children are vulnerable, they arouse our compassion; however, because they hold an infinite future, they give us hope not despair. Are you willing to join this project of hope and bring changes to children in Myanmar, India, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe? Please support our ‘Join Hands Join Hearts’ Children Ministry Scheme and donate monthly towards our community-based children development programme, to improve living conditions for children and give them a life of dignity and value once again.
http://eng.cedarfund.org/children_ministry/
