Posts Tagged ‘TEAR Fund’
Posted on December 1, 2008 - by Frank
Press Release: Kiwis to add Voice on World AIDS Day
THIS World AIDS Day (December 1), TEAR Fund has joined the Alive Campaign, a global initiative to urge the New Zealand Government and those that signed the Millennium Development goals, to put more resources into making antiretroviral (ARV) drugs more available in developing nations.
Posted on November 28, 2008 - by Frank
TEAR Fund Christmas Focus: Trafficking in Nepal
The following was submitted by Andrew Dallaston - TEAR Fund Education Officer.
A lot of kiwis have been trekking in Nepal. One notable kiwi trekked all the way to the top of Everest and then spent a fair chunk of his remarkable life helping the Sherpa people build schools and hospitals. But apart from Sir Edmund and the Himalayas most of us don’t know much about Nepal – that little country about the size of the South Island, sitting on top of India.
Posted on November 23, 2008 - by Frank
Trust Banks - A Tool for Responsible Business
A friend asked me a little while ago if I had any ideas relating to what they could do to use the business they are establishing, building and promoting to make it a more ethical entity and to make it something that is making a positive difference in the world. It is an exciting question to hear as I believe responsible business and business where the profit margin is not the be all and end all of what a business achieves needs to be the way of the present and future in terms of how businesses operate if we are to work towards establishing a sustainable world where people are recognized as the center of everything that is done. If a business can prove to be responsible in the way it approaches the world, it should be able to move forward and we should explore avenues to promote this.
Posted on November 17, 2008 - by Frank
Stuff iPods! Give a Goat!
Christmas is looming up fast and with it, the usual pressures of gift giving amongst people who already have everything they need. So once again you’re going to be wracking your brains about what to give your loved ones and chances are, you’re going to spend more than you can afford. Welcome to the ghost of Christmas consumerism.
As the world faces a financial crunch, many of us are probably hoping for a different way to approach Christmas - a way to escape the annual drudge of searching out the perfect gifts, purchasing them and giving them with the hope that the receiver will be genuinely happy with the thing we’ve given them. Sure, I can understand why many people enjoy this - if that’s you then this article may not be for you, but if you’re not that person and if you really want to escape what could possibly feel like a Christmas trap for you then let’s take a look at a possible alternative.
Posted on October 2, 2008 - by Frank
Bailout for Wall St? What About the Poorest?
WITH the meltdown of international banking and credit filling investors with dread, developed nations are using the crisis to legitimise backing away from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), said TEAR Fund Executive Director Stephen Tollestrup.
The MDGs signed by 189 nations promised to halve poverty for the poorest of our planet’s people by 2015 and increase aid to 0.7 per cent of their countries GDPs.
“The truth is”, says, Mr Tollestrup, “the MDGs go well beyond a handout. If we dare to think outside of the square we will find that we need to see productive and growing economies in the developing world to help us move out of this current mess and bring long term economic stability.
Posted on September 2, 2008 - by Frank
TEAR Fund Commits Aid to India Flood Victims
TEAR Fund is committing $80,000 to bring relief to the displaced millions following the worst flooding in 50 years, in India’s state of Bihar.
TEAR Fund’s partner in India, the Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief (EFICOR) is experienced in disaster relief, having responded to most of the worst disasters to hit India over the past three decades. A team is already assessing the situation and will provide much needed water, shelter, medicines and food as families flock to relief camps across one of poorest states in India.
TEAR Fund senior programmes officer, Bernard Gomes says while the death toll is not high at present, it is a huge disaster in terms of displacing more than 2 million people.
“These people have an uncertain future as their hopes and dreams have been swept away. It is now a race against time to make sure others don’t die from secondary killers such as waterborne diseases. The floods have also destroyed vital crops and killed livestock, adding to the pain, and this will have a ripple effect across India given the current global food crisis. “
TEAR Fund’s partner is co-ordinating its efforts with other aid agencies and the Indian Government to ensure an effective response and that there is no duplication of aid.
Posted on August 29, 2008 - by Frank
Watoto Choir in New Zealand
Vibrant costumes, infectious smiles and stories that will move and inspire you – the Watoto Children’s Choir from Uganda will visit Auckland and it is an event not to miss.
The 18 boys and girls in the choir, all aged between seven and 13, are orphans and are being raised through the Watoto project in Uganda. However, this is not a concert of despair. Watoto Child Care Ministries in Kampala, Uganda, was founded in 1992 to provide homes for parentless children. Watoto now cares for more than 1700 children, placing them into safe and loving families of eight foster brothers and sisters.
Local Christian aid and development agency, TEAR Fund has been fundraising and organising Watoto events since 2004.
A Watoto concert is full of music, dance and song. TEAR Fund Event’s manager Andrew Robinson said the choir is a testimony to the positive change that can be effected when people choose to invest in the lives of the poor. “It’s a fun event for the whole family and you are guaranteed to leave with your feet dancing and your heart touched by these vivacious children,” Mr Robinson said.
The Watoto choir and project has become well-known around the world and over recent years the choir has performed for the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and for US President George Bush.
Watoto Child Care Ministries is expanding its project into northern Uganda, previously closed due to the atrocities of war. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been raiding villages, killing parents and abducting children who are forced into service as soldiers. It is estimated that as many as 50,000 children have been abducted in Northern Uganda. They are establishing a similar village in Gulu to help care and rehabilitate these young victims of war.
The concert with the Watoto children is a free event and all are welcome to attend. Donations are gratefully received with all proceeds going to help care for parentless and at-risk children in Uganda. The expenses of running the tour are covered by the sale of Watoto merchandise including CDs and African jewellery.
Free Concert Dates
Manurewa
7pm
Saturday September 6
Manurewa Marae
81 Findlayson Ave, Manurewa
Glenfield
10.30am
Sunday, September 7
Life City Church, 16B Poland Road, Glenfield, North Shore
Avondale
6.30pm
Sunday September 7
Encounter Christian Centre, 495 Rosebank Road, Avondale
Te Awamutu
7.30pm
Tuesday September 9
Te Awamutu Bible Chapel, Chapel Drive, Te Awamutu
Tauranga
7pm
Wednesday September 10
Bethlehem College Auditorium, 24 Elder Lane, Bethlehem
Warkworth
7pm
Tuesday, September 16
Lifeway College, 20 Goodall Road, Snells Beach
Doubtless Bay
7pm
Wednesday September 17
Doubtless Bay Christian Centre
7 Mill Bay Road, Doubtless Bay, Northland
Kerikeri
7pm
Thursday September 18
Frontline Christian Centre, 119 Hone Heke Rd
Whangarei
7pm
Friday September 19
St Pauls Kamo Co-op Parish, Corner Boswell Street and Station Road, Kamo, Whangarei
Pakuranga
7pm
Saturday September 20
Eastgate Christian Centre, 5 Ben Lomond Crescent
Auckland Central
10am, 5pm, & 7pm
Sunday September 21
C3: Christian City Church, 145 Newton Rd, Eden Terrace
Posted on August 27, 2008 - by Frank
Emergency Aid and Community Development
When many of us picture aid and charity to developing nations, I think we often picture the heady times of the 80’s and the aid that poured into Ethiopia due to the work of people like Bob Geldof and Live Aid. We were bombarded with images of poverty and rightly the world’s heart was moved, resulting in one of the biggest outpourings of aid and charity that the world has ever seen. Aid in the forms of food and supplies poured into the starving region, alleviating much need.
At that time it filled a gap, but some would argue that it was also somewhat naive in that it failed to address long term issues and simply created dependency. The ongoing problems of that are being seen now, with the effects of the latest Ethiopian famine destroying the lives of many and the nation being ill equipped to cope without depending on a large amount of outside assistance. There are clearly internal issues that need to be addressed, with Ethiopia having a large army that uses much resource, but it cannot be denied that the dependency on aid has somewhat crippled the nation.
It is this problem that many have in mind when they speak of it being futile supporting NGO’s (Non Governmental Organisations) working in and amongst communities in developing nations. But it is here that we can highlight the difference between straight aid and community development.
Let’s use TEAR Fund New Zealand (part of the global network of Compassion International partners) as an example of a healthy model.
TEAR Fund New Zealand engages in emergency aid in crisis situations as a part of what they do, with an eye for long term stability and development where such crises have had an ongoing detrimental effect, but by far their greatest work is in ongoing community development and long term advocacy.
The TEAR Fund model is built on partnering with local churches and projects in poverty stricken areas to equip, empower and resource indigenous groups to solve their own problems. Indigenous groups are encouraged towards problem solving that leads to long term stability and eventually, independance that sees them no longer needing the services of organisations like TEAR Fund. It is a long term strategy where child sponsorship programmes that equip an up and coming generation, and micro-enterprise schemes that give a hand up to local entreprenuers are a central part of that development.
The community development model is a very different aid strategy than the emergency aid that flooded into Ethiopia in the 80’s. Community development has become a science that looks to move communities towards independance rather than third party dependance. Good community development takes into account the social intricacies of that which it is partnering with. No longer can we rest back and use the wrong assumption of irresponsible aid as a reason not to give. Whilst such irresponsibility continues in some organisations, there are many organisations involved in the sort of community development we would endorse.
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Image in post: CC Some Right Reserved. Original by Carf.
Posted on May 27, 2008 - by Frank
David Bussau and Microenterprise - NZ Tour
He has been shot at, captured by pirates, stoned and survived two plane crashes, but this has not deterred Kiwi entrepreneur David Bussau from continuing his mission to fight poverty in developing countries.
TEAR Fund is privileged to host David Bussau while he tours New Zealand talking about how Microenterprise works and how it is empowering small business people in the developing world to break the poverty cycle. TEAR Fund NZ bases most of its microenterprise programmes on David’s revolutionary microenterprise model which has seen millions released from poverty.
Abandoned by his parents, David Bussau grew up in an orphanage in New Zealand (Masterton) before finding himself out on the street at 15 with nothing but his wits. Despite this he managed to accumulate significant wealth through building up and selling a whole series of businesses.
Posted on May 22, 2008 - by Frank
Burma / Myanmar Update - Word from the Field
First hand Report Ayerayawaddy District
We were invited to visit the affected area, an area that we had been to in the past, with a leader who was returning to his native village. He had been visiting his home village with his eleven year old son on the night of the storm.
As the wind and rain increased he had realised that there was going to be a lot of damage so he went from house to house in his community and persuaded people to move from their bamboo and wooden houses into the brick church building, The next morning he went with his son intoYangon for help, travelling by boat, motorbike and foot, arriving cold, wet and exhausted in the evening.
Posted on May 13, 2008 - by Frank
Burma / Myanmar: TEAR Fund Press Release
TEAR Fund has just dispatched an initial $50,000 to help its partner working on the ground in Myanmar, deliver much needed aid to the desperate Burmese people.
“While the situation regarding restrictions on external workers and aid flows is totally unacceptable, charitable funding given to TEAR Fund is getting through and being used wisely and effectively in this very difficult and almost unprecedented situation, “said TEAR Fund NZ executive director, Stephen Tollestrup. “In fact our partner’s team is working 24/7, in ways I can only describe as heroic.”
(more…)
Posted on May 12, 2008 - by Frank
Angels of Hope - Philippines Street Dwellers
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