News : News Article

An unwanted gift - Christmas Appeal – 23 Nov 2009

Happy Christmas! There are two children who I’ve spent time with over the past year. One is my nephew Noah, who has just celebrated his second birthday this week. And the other is Peah –whom I met in Cambodia in February.

Noah couldn’t be more loved or wanted. My sister and brother-in-law have albums of photos of almost his every waking hour! My parents love showing him off to all their friends!

In contrast, Peah had a very different start to life. He was an unwanted gift. There are more than 100 million children around the world without a family, living in the harshest circumstances. But there is hope. Tearfund’s amazing church partners reach children like Peah every day, and place them in loving families.

Can we count on you for a Christmas gift of €32, €86 or €125? Donate here

Help us to support Little Conquerors in Cambodia and IMCAREs in India to continue their work next year. Tearfund’s church partners work tirelessly to address immediate needs, while also dealing with the underlying issues that cause children to be vulnerable, that means our work is sustainable and has a lasting impact.

Little Conquerors, Cambodia – €27,300 to fully fund this project in 2010

The Little Conquerors project helps children with disabilities to reach their God-given potential in all areas of their lives: physically, emotionally, spiritually, educationally and socially. This ensures these children get vital physiotherapy, specialised equipment and access to basic education. Read more about their work here

IMCARES, India – €29,500 to fully fund this project in 2010

IMCares works with local churches to care for vulnerable people, including children orphaned by AIDS, in the poorest slums of Mumbai. They provide food, clothing and education, and search for loving foster families to take in the orphaned children. IMCares also supports AIDS-affected families with counselling, home visits, nutritional support and other material help, and helps teach children in the slums about the reality of HIV and AIDS.Read more about their work here

• More about: Cambodia, India, Forgotten Children
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Kidnapped Irish aid worker set free – 17 Oct 2009

Two kidnapped aid workers from the Irish aid agency GOAL were released this morning in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region after more than 100 days in captivity, a government official said.

Sharon Commins (32), from Clontarf, and her colleague Hilda Kawuki (42), a nutritionist from Uganda, were abducted at gunpoint after armed men stormed their compound in the north Darfur town of Kutum on July 3rd last.

“They were released earlier this morning,” Sudan’s state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel Baqi al-Jailani, said.

‘It is a real relief to know that Sharon and Hilda are free’ says Reuben Coulter, Chief Executive of Tearfund Ireland ‘Our prayers have been answered’

Sharon was a colleague of Reuben during the 2 years he worked with GOAL as operations manager for North Sudan.

Tearfund in Darfur

Reuben Coulter, Chief Executive of Tearfund Ireland, worked with Tearfund’s Disaster Management Team (DMT) in Darfur for almost 2 years as a public health manager. ‘Two of my Sudanese staff were killed in a riot in the displaced-people’s camps in 2005’ says Reuben ‘Darfur is an extremely dangerous place and aid workers face daily risks to bring relief to the people.’

Tearfund’s Disaster Management Team (DMT) has been operating in Darfur since 2004. Last year, Tearfund’s teams provided over 137,000 people with access to clean water, and constructed sanitation facilities for around 50,000 people. Almost 100,000 women and children attended weekly health clubs, over 19,000 farmers received seeds and tools, over 6000 children were treated for malnutrition through Tearfund’s feeding centres and more than 26,000 at risk children were given food to prevent malnutrition.

2009 marks the sixth year of the recent conflict in Darfur. An estimated 200,000 people have been killed and over 2 million displaced. Two thirds of the population is dependent on aid for basic survival. There are about 250,000 refugees from Darfur currently living in Chad.

‘But for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my saviour; my God will hear me’ Micah 7: 7

Please pray for:

• Recovery from the ordeal and peace for the families of both women .
• The political will among the UN and other major governments to move the peace process forward in Darfur, for the establishment of justice and for the cessation of hostilities.
• The protection of Tearfund and partner staff as they go about their daily work in a very insecure environment.
• That Tearfund and other organisations would have the finances and resources to fill the gaps created by recently expelled aid organisations

• More about: Sudan, Emergencies
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Hope – churches respond to Asia disasters – 16 Oct 2009

The images of stranded families and flood-stricken streets in the Philippines shown on BBC were terrible, but as I watched this scene I was filled with great hope. Local volunteers from churches were handing out emergency food and water and a tired looking pastor smiled as he said ‘we are showing compassion like Jesus did.’ Jesus says to us to have peace, as the Father sent Him, he also sends us (John 20:21). This is the church in action.

Muh Nasir grabbed his daughter and ran as the first earthquake tremors hit his house in Indonesia.

As the first tremors shuddered the building, the father-of-five quickly gathered up his four-year-old daughter Ifah and took her into the garden. Panic-stricken, he realised another daughter, eight year-old Mia, was missing and screamed for her to get out of the house.

Flattened

Just as she emerged into the safety of the outdoors, the property collapsed: ‘Everything happened so fast and suddenly,’ recalls Muh Nasir. Thankfully his wife and other children, who were elsewhere in the village of Cubadak Palak, were also safe. But ten others in the area didn’t survive as some 970 homes were flattened. While Muh Nasir and his family escaped with their lives, the quality of those lives has been shattered. I have to earn money over the next 20 years to build my house from the beginning and it will be hard for me especially in this economic crisis.’

Food Aid

Tearfund partner Kotib is helping keep the family going, providing material help and encouragement. ‘Thanks to Kotib, we’ve got 10 kilos of rice, 40 packs of noodles and 24 litres of mineral water, so at least we can still eat and drink for the next few days,’ says Muh Nasir. But the family still needs new clothes, blankets and mattresses and they are not alone. Across West Sumatra, more than 1,000 died and about 100,000 homes were destroyed, with another 100,000 damaged. Tearfund is supporting Kotib as it provides emergency aid and runs food kitchens and first aid centres in villages outside Padang.

You can help support our continuing relief efforts by giving to our Emergency Fund .

• More about: Indonesia, Philippines, Emergencies
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Asia Disaster Response – 7 Oct 2009

Millions of people across South East Asia are struggling to cope after a series of natural disasters struck the region. The Indonesian island of Sumatra has been hit by a major earthquake killing at least 1,100 people. The Philippines is reeling after a typhoon caused massive flooding that has made more than a million people homeless and claimed hundreds of lives. Tearfund is working with partners and local churches to respond to the disasters.

It has been a week of horrific disasters in South East Asia and our resources are being stretched to the limit. We are calling Christians and churches to prayer for all the people facing loss and trauma following these calamitous events.

A few days ago in the South Pacific, Samoa and Tonga were flattened by a tsunami triggered from an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, which has left some 130 people dead. The following day, another earthquake hit the Indonesian city of Padang on Sumatra’s west coast. More than a thousand people have been killed and, with rescuers searching the rubble for thousands still missing, the death toll is likely to be far greater. Aftershocks and the fear of tsunamis is compounding the trauma as the region vividly recalls the disaster of December 2004. See BBC video footage here

A week before Typhoon Ketsana ripped though Luzon, the northern island of The Philippines, leaving – in Metro Manila alone – well over a million people in need of rescue, relief or support. News and film reports showed people wading waist deep through even the main highways that connect the sprawling cities. Other images showed furniture suspended in overhead cables. The poorest people in the slum areas have been acutely hit, with their fragile homes and their possessions washed away in the flood water. Mudslides in rural provinces have brought further loss of life and logistic chaos. A second storm, being forecast as a ‘super typhoon’ is expected to hit the Philippines this weekend.

‘The needs are enormous and after the initial loss there comes the sense of devastation and shock. People – many of whom are already desperately poor – are left with nothing,’ says Reuben Coulter, Tearfund Ireland Chief Executive. ‘Homes and livelihoods are destroyed; loved ones are lost or missing – the disorientation and trauma is unimaginable. The relief effort is being built up daily. Our partner relief teams in Sumatra and in Metro Manila are assessing the need and responding, but we can also surround the crises and the families affected in prayer.’

Immediate needs to that Tearfund partner’s are supplying are:
• access to clean water
• food aid and basic items
• shelter provision
• medical supplies and counselling support for the grieving and distressed

• More about: Indonesia, Philippines, Emergencies
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Transform: mission tourism or making a difference? – 6 Oct 2009

Every summer, countless Irish people head off to developing countries to build houses for the poor, to work in an orphanage or to help in some way. It has almost become a rite of passage for Christian teenagers, part of their growing up experience before they head off to college and then get a job. Do these overseas trips benefit the poor or are they a form of mission tourism?

Reuben’s story

My first experience in a developing country was when I travelled to Mozambique aged 17 to spend a month with a missionary group. When I was growing up I had heard exotic stories about Africa and seen slideshows of the enormous poverty. I was excited to think how I’d be able to really make a difference in the lives of the people.
When I arrived after an ardous journey via the dusty roads of Zimbabwe I was disappointed that the missionaries didn’t seem over-joyed to see me, in fact they didn’t seem to know what to do with me. What could I do? I spent a few days shadowing various people until they decided to set me a simple task. I was to build a fence around their school. The first time I placed the posts in the concrete they fell over. The second time the same thing happended. Finally the third time I had success and my fence remained standing. I was really pleased with myself.
I left Mozambique feeling somewhat disillusioned. It had been expensive to travel there and the only thing I had achieved was to build a fence which a local person could have done cheaper and faster. Being passionate wasn’t enough, I needed skills which would enable me to make a real difference in the lives of the poor.
It was the beginning of a journey that lead me to specialise in public health and would take me to the refugee camps of Darfur, to post-conflict Liberia and finally bring me back to Ireland to manage the work of Tearfund. That summer I didn’t make much of a difference in the lives of the Mozambiquans but it transformed my life forever.

Today’s transformations

This summer a small group of Irish students from Grosvenor Road Church travelled to Peru to work with Tearfund church partner AGAPE for 2 weeks. Established in 1992, AGAPE is an organisation that works with street children in Lima, to provide legal, psychological, social and pastoral support to victims of child abuse.

“I think the biggest impact for the team was meeting some of the families suffering from poverty that Agape are seeking to serve. In twenty minutes we leave for the airport, but it is a great joy to know that God is staying and the work he is doing through Agape will continue.” Excerpt from Andrew Gill’s blog.

The Grosvenor Road students have come back with their faith strengthened and their understanding of poverty deepened and our partner Agape are encouraged to know that Christians in Ireland were supporting and praying for them.

Overseas trips do not always bring immediate benefits to the poor but they can lead to transformation in the lives of the people who go overseas; changing the way they view the world and impacting the future course of their lives. For a trip to be more than mission tourism I believe that we need to go prayerfully asking God if this is the best use of our resources, with real humility realizing the limited skills that we can bring, in true partnership standing alongside the local church, and committing to ongoing prayer and support for their needs.

If your church or youth group is interested in working alongside a Tearfund partner overseas then check out our Transform website. The trips are a journey of discovery where you will learn about God’s heart for the poor and how the church is responding. 
It doesn’t matter what age you are. Transform offers a variety of trips both short and long term, volunteering with Tearfund in some of the world’s poorest communities. It looks a little bit complicated but persevere because it will be worthwhile. Start planning today!

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Healing the wounds of sexual violence in Congo – 4 Sep 2009

Sarah has seen sights that no eyes would want to witness. Sights that could disable her mind and shackle her memory to a lifetime of pain, anger and bitterness. Sights that could leave even the strongest faith in humanity blurred and dazed, if not irrevocably shattered.

The incidents of rape, torture and murder that she has seen in the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) makes her response to the perpetrators all the more remarkable: `I have very strong faith. I have forgotten everything already. I have forgiven them. If I don’t forgive them, I won’t be free.’ It’s a jaw-droppingly forward-looking statement from a 37-year-old woman who was so traumatised after being attacked that she thought people coming to help her were actually going to kill her.

Sarah’s story begins in Maniema Province in eastern DRC where she was living with her husband and three children.

Buried alive

Fighting there between government and rebel forces did not spare the civilian population and one day it touched Sarah’s life like a hammer on glass. `There were lots of attacks against people by rebel soldiers,’ recalls Sarah. `They even dug holes and buried people alive. `They told people to have sex with their own partners in the presence of everyone, even to have sex with their own brothers and sisters. If we didn’t do that they would kill us. Many women witnessed that.’

Sarah was raped but survived although after the attack there was no treatment available for her physical injuries, let alone the emotional ones.
Tearfund has been working through local church partners in DRC for 20 years.

Surgery

One of those partners is Heal Africa which runs medical services centred on a hospital in Goma, in neighbouring North Kivu province, and it was its workers that found Sarah.

The prevalence of conflict-related rape in eastern DRC means Heal Africa counsellors travel long distances into danger areas to help women like Sarah. She recalls, `At first we were very scared and refused to go with them because we didn’t know where we were going and feared maybe these people were going to kill us. When we heard it was a hospital, we agreed to go.’ Based now in Goma, Sarah is receiving treatment for her physical injuries and is awaiting surgery.

She’s also getting help from Heal Africa staff for her deep emotional suffering, which has been compounded by being rejected by her husband who has kept two of their children. `When we have counselling we are told that we are human beings and we feel better in our hearts and encouraged.’

Her family’s rejection means Sarah will be vulnerable economically when she eventually leaves hospital and starts rebuilding her life. Here too Heal Africa is helping with its Healing Arts Programme. This teaches women, who have been attacked and rejected, new skills that can enable them to earn an independent living, such as how to make clothes, bags and crafts.

When a Tearfund team visited recently, Heal Africa’s hospital had 164 women like Sarah who have been sexually attacked, with operating rooms and surgeons dedicated to their treatment. In addition it runs a mediation service to help reunite women with families that have rejected them because they have been raped. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has praised the work of Tearfund partner Heal Africa in helping women who have suffered sexual attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mrs Clinton made her comments during a visit to conflict-affected North Kivu province in August.

There she met with hospital workers and patients, including women recovering from the physical and psychological effects of rape.
`Heal Africa is doing amazing work,’ said the Secretary of State, who is on a seven country tour of Africa.

But the scale of the problem is immense, with the UN Children’s Fund estimating that 200,000 women and girls have been assaulted over the past 12 years in DRC, as rape has been used as a weapon of war. With the recent arrest of a key rebel leader improving the prospects of peace, Tearfund has launched an emergency appeal for those affected by conflict in DRC to further support the work of partners like Heal Africa and that of our own disaster response teams.

Recovery work

Since last August, some 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to fighting between Congolese and rebel forces, with North Kivu being particularly badly affected. Another 150,000 have been displaced since last December in north east Province Orientale where Ugandan LRA rebels have entered DRC.

Tearfund’s emergency appeal aims to help these people and also to assist in longer term recovery work, such as that in South Kivu. Here Tearfund teams have supplied new homes, rebuilt schools, provided sanitation and given agricultural support so people can earn a living again. Since 2002, more than 50,000 people have been helped to resettle into their conflict-affected communities and to rebuild their lives.

It would be easy to consider a country that in recent years has seen more than 5 million people die and another 2 million become homeless due to war and humanitarian crisis as a lost cause. But Sarah, who has seen so much of its suffering, has an attitude that offers hope and challenges indifference. `We want to live in peace and unity. If we live in unity, there will be many people willing to help us.’

• Names have been changed to protect identities.

• More about: Congo, the Democratic Republic of the, Emergencies
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