To donate to the emergency appeal, click here or call 0800 800 777. You can also visit www.tearfund.org.nz Here is some information about our response in Pakistan and how your money will be used if you choose to donate: We are supporting two emergency responses of two of our local partners on the ground: First Partner: One of our local partners responded to the SWAT valley refugee crises in the North of Pakistan last year, [...]

The following is reprinted with permission from the author, Saundra Schimmelpfennig. The original can be found here on Saundra’s excellent blog Good Intentions Are Not Enough. Imagine that you’re at work when whatever natural disaster is most probable in your state strikes. For me it would be an earthquake, for you it might be a flood, volcanic eruption, or hurricane. The natural disaster has toppled telephone poles and cell phone towers, damaged roads, and collapsed [...]

With the major rescue efforts being called off in Haiti and those resources being diverted to the continuing provision of emergency relief and care, alongside efforts to stabilise the country another pressing problem is becoming of increasing concern, child trafficking. Child trafficking in Haiti was already a problem with several NGO’s noting a sharp increase in the number of children being trafficked out of the country into the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas in 2008. [...]

The following images from Sri Lanka include a few from within the war zone during the last days of the civil war and the defeat of the Tamil Tigers (they are the images towards the end). We also have images from the war zone that we chose not to include due to their graphic nature – they are heart breaking. The war zone pictures were taken by an unnamed priest. Also included are images from the [...]

Tens of thousands of people, trapped in ‘safe zones’ in the north eastern Wanni region are at increased risk from the escalation in attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, Amnesty International said today. via ReliefWeb » Document » Sri Lanka: Thousands of civilians under attack as fighting intensifies. TEAR Fund’s Easter Focus this year is the situation in Sri Lanka. Our partner in the area is the [...]

Article by: Ian McInnes – Country Director World Concern Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s three decade old conflict between the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) and the Sri Lankan Government is at its fiercest. 70,000 have already lost their lives in a separatist struggle for control of ‘Eelam’, a self-designated homeland for Tamils by the LTTE. Having lost control of the East of the island in 2007 the LTTE now faces a fight for survival in an ever [...]

Thoughts after a recent trip to Myanmar. When Cyclone Nargis hit the southern most end of the Irriwaddy Delta in Myanmar, on May 2nd most of us were fast asleep. Some may have heard news of that a cyclone was bering down on the country from the Andaman sea. Just another bit of weather news in a far flung part of world. The village headman whom I was talking to had seen nine months earlier [...]

Just prior to the second round of presidential voting in Zimbabwe, NGO’s (Non Governmental Organisations – aid organisations) were banned from the country with anti government bias being cited as the reason for the ban. This and the nation’s dire economic situation has resulted in around two million people being in critical need of food assistance. Thankfully, just hours ago that ban was lifted and relevant organisations were able to begin assessing the situation and [...]