News

Do you know that 1 in 8 people go to bed hungry every day? – 11 Jun 2013

The G8 summit in Fermanagh next week is the focus of attention for this campaign. The most powerful countries in the world are being asked to take big steps towards ending hunger.
Tax transparency, supporting poor families to grow their own food and giving people more control over their own land are the main points that the IF campaign are addressing.
Watch this short clip to understand IF Campaign a bit more.

Please pray for the G8 leaders: Stephen Harper, François Hollande, Angela Merkel, Yoshihiko Noda, Vladimir Putin, David Cameron, Barack Obama and Taoiseach Enda Kenny (representative of the European Union) as they seek solutions to global problems. Pray for attitudes of humility and servant-heartedness which put the needs of others before personal ambition. Pray for boldness to set righteous and compassionate policies in place for our world. Pray for the many aides and advisors who will provide the information required to make informed decisions.

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Thank you to over 40 wonderful Tearfund ladies who participated in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon. – 4 Jun 2013

Over 40 women raised funds for our projects in Haiti and Malawi. The heat and the sun didn’t stop our committed ladies and we are really grateful to all our fantastic supporters well done!

Visit our Facebook page to see more photos from the day.

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Syria still needs our prayers and support – 30 May 2013

As many of you will have seen on the news, the situation in Syria is now worse than anyone expected. It is estimated that over a third of Syrians have been affected by the civil war. One million have fled the country and three million have been displaced from their homes. Russia has started delivering the missile system to the Syrian government despite Western objections.

Please help us pray for peace in Syria: Copy of our prayer resource for Syria

If you can, please donate to our Syria Crisis Appeal

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Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore and Minister of State Joe Costello ‘got on board’. – 29 May 2013

Irish Aid support the work of Tearfund in Malawi and Myanmar. In Malawi, Tearfund’s programme helps prevent the spread of HIV to newborn babies from HIV infected mothers. Working alongside the local church, Tearfund trains and equips volunteers to become ‘mother buddies’ to young mothers. These mother buddies ensure that the pregnant moms receive the medication and care needed during their pregnancy, sometimes bringing them to the local health centre on bicycle ambulances! Thanks to this programme and the support of Irish Aid, baby Jesse see below was born HIV free to HIV infected parents late last year – a little miracle!

In Myanmar, Irish Aid supports the rebuilding of livelihoods, improved food security and the reduction in the impact of future disasters for 31 conflict-affected communities in Mon State through local church and community based organisations.

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30 year old woman from Syria mourns for her country – 28 Mar 2013

Not a day goes by when Mariam doesn’t mourn for her beleaguered country.

The 30-year-old fled to Jordan from Syria nearly two years ago and now lives in a tent her brother made from scraps of material other people have thrown away.

‘Every morning I wake up and grieve,’ she says. ‘I cry over the ruins of my country.

‘We fled to Jordan because we had nothing to lose in Syria but our souls. Everything at home was destroyed and burned down. The whole situation was intolerable.

‘We had snipers everywhere, at every corner. We needed to survive, to seek a safe haven, so we travelled to Jordan.’

Mariam escaped among a group of 20-30 other refugees, taking 13 hours to leave Syria. She now lives with her brother and his wife in extremely basic conditions.

Million refugees and counting

Her passion to return home remains undiminished: ‘I hope to go back to Syria but it’s going to be many years before we can go back.

‘I learn about the situation in Syria from what people tell me. It is difficult to find out what’s happening there. I just want to go home and live in peace.’

Tearfund partners are helping thousands of refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, providing them with essentials such as blankets and wood burning stoves.

But the need for help is growing as more than a million people have now fled Syria and that figure could treble by the end of the year, according to the UN.

To help people like Mariam rebuild their lives and eventually return home, please Click on our Donate Now button on top of our facebook page to give to Tearfund’s Syria appeal today. Thank you! Your prayers and support are much appreciated.

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Tearfund Staff Respond to Emergency Crisis in Syria – 27 Feb 2013

Andrew Robinson, who works for a Tearfund partner helping refugees made homeless by the Syrian conflict, reports from Lebanon.
Winter is on everyone’s minds. Relief agencies are concerned with how refugees will survive as many families fled to Lebanon with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

We speak to Syrians living in crudely-built shelters constructed out of tattered plastic sheets and discarded signs. People speak longingly about the homes they’ve left behind.
Many are deeply traumatised, not knowing who they can trust. They have lost everything – their homes, their livelihoods. They talk about the winter, and they worry about their children with so few blankets to protect them during the cold nights, and no way to heat their shelters.

As a team, we feel a growing sense of responsibility for these families. It has become clear that if we cannot help these families, there is no one else who will. We need to provide them with the most effective relief we can with the limited funds we have.

Nowhere to go
Today I met Wessam, his wife, and their three children. They arrived from Syria 15 days ago and, with nowhere to go, spent their first two nights living on the streets. A kindly Lebanese man invited them to stay in the house he was building. It’s barely a roof over their heads, but they are grateful to have somewhere to stay.
As I talked with Wessam, his baby daughter lay sleeping on a thin mattress on the cold floor. Wessam’s eyes were red, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well, and as we talked, his eyes grew moist. With no money and no job, he worried about how he would provide for his family in the coming months.
A few days later, we return in a lorry. When our truck comes into view, children break into spontaneous cheers and applause. What a moment!
The truck is full of mattresses – tightly roped down and stacked high. Parents hold back their excited children as the truck carefully reverses onto the muddy ground, while my teammates and I look on with big smiles on our faces.

For hours, we hand out blankets and mattresses as part of the relief package we’ve assembled to help families survive the winter.
Exhilarated!
I’m hugely privileged to shake the hands of many of the men – husbands, fathers, and grandfathers – who throughout the morning have come up to me and wordlessly expressed their thanks for what we’ve done. It’s a great day which leaves me both exhilarated and exhausted.

A few days later and the rain is pouring down and I’m soaked to the bone but I’m leaping happily over puddles as I run towards a tall, half-built concrete house, clutching four mattresses close to my chest.

A month has passed since I met Wessam, and I am anxious to find out how he is doing. When I see him, he smiles broadly and slaps my back.
His wife is boiling water on a small gas cooker and Wessam gestures for me to join them for tea. I really want to stay and talk but there are more distributions to be done. For now, I’m just glad to see that Wessam and his family are well.
Our hired truck driver steps into the room carrying a stack of blankets, and Wessam’s smile grows wider. When Mohammed appears with a stove in his hands, Wessam laughs with happiness. It makes my day.

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