John soon became involved with the Depression and Anxiety Recovery Programme (DARP) hosted by Dargaville SDA church in partnership with ADRA. DARP offers a safe environment for anyone that needs support, the free course provides positive methods for dealing with both depression and anxiety and addresses the core issues that can trigger negative thoughts and beliefs.

“I was able to get the facts about depression through the course alongside having counselling and getting into a safer environment, and I also gained a support group that has continued after the course finished. Because of this I felt more positive about things and had the hope that life was going to improve.”

Since finishing the programme, John now has a full time job, lives in a more positive environment and has a strong support network of friends. John is now engaged with other community programmes that supports others in need.

“Instead of staring into the hole, I was able to lift my head up and look at the light – the hope of improvement.”

*Name has been changed to protect privacy

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ADRA’s water specialists provide safe and clean drinking water for schools in places like Than Bo, Myanmar.

Each trip to the pond takes 30 minutes, so parent volunteers miss a half day’s work in the fields whenever they help at the school. Tin Mar Hwe worries most during the harvest season because parents cannot afford to take time off and the children must wait until lunch to get water. Even when there is enough water, it is not filtered well enough to keep the students from getting sick and missing school.

ADRA’s water specialists built a rainwater collection system with storage tanks and taps at Tin Mar Hwe’s school. Now her students can have water whenever they like, and their parents are free to do the work they need to make a living. With access to clean water, Tin Mar Hwe is confident that her students will be able to have a consistent education, a healthier life, and a more promising future.

The rainwater collection system is just one of ADRA’s water sanitation projects in Myanmar. Thanks to donations from around the world, ADRA has had the resources to install three borehole wells as well as a solar-powered pump and water tank in other Myanmar villages.

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In partnership with ADRA, Kaitaia SDA church launched the Mahi Tahi programme, an initiative aimed at engaging welfare beneficiaries in voluntary community work. This is done by finding different needs in the community and arranging transport, work, and the necessary training and equipment.

For Tesha, this meant that every Wednesday she would volunteer her time helping other families with tasks such as gardening, lawn mowing, and home improvements. Tesha has found structure in engaging with community work while also developing different skills and positive work habits.

Mahi Tahi also provides other formal training in leadership through mentorship and building positive values. The programmes aim is to help people like Tesha by shifting their focus from their struggles to the needs of others in their community and encouraging positive self-worth.

Since Mahi Tahi, Tesha has developed a timeframe and set out tasks to run her own tourism business venture with her family. Tesha is appreciative of the opportunity to “give back to people without expecting anything in return” and is now feeling positive “[I’m] more settled and focused on my life goals.”

Learn more about the different Community Transformation Partnerships ADRA has with churches throughout communities in New Zealand here.
*Image has been changed to protect identity.

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Every year, over 800,000 little ones lose their lives because the water they depend on is not safe. Mao is 43 years old and the mother of 15 children, the eldest 24 and the youngest just 18 months. As we sat and talked, she told me how eight of her children had died, all as babies and all from diarrhea, or ‘sick stomachs,’ as she called it.

Mao told us the ages of each child she lost. The first one had died at only three months old. Each had died in her arms.

The biggest killer in Mao’s village was the waterborne illness. Due to the long distance between Mao’s home and the nearest clean water source, Mao and her family often found themselves drinking water from the nearby lake, which our friend described as a “dirty, stagnant pond.”

Hygiene is also a major issue. Due to the lack of toilets in the village, Mao’s family and others do their business on the edge of the rice paddies. With the lack of sanitation facilities, the spread of disease is rampant, and the biggest victims are children under the age of 5. Their malnourished, often nonimmunized bodies, have barely developed a defensive system to fight disease.

Now knowing how difficult finding clean water would be and the deadly impact it would have on her family, Mao regrets having so many children. No parents should live with this regret. Eight tragedies that could have easily been prevented. And Mao’s story is just one of many thousands. No child should lose their life because of dirty water. There are families like Mao’s who need your help today. Without it, more children will die.

Your gift today donation to the Every Drop Matters campaign can save a child’s life from waterborne illness by providing access to clean water.

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On February 12, Cyclone Gita devastated the Kingdom of Tonga. The Category 4 storm was the strongest in 60 years and caused significant damage and destruction.

Wind speeds of over 230km/h battered the country and heavy rainfall caused severe flooding.

Up to 80,000 people were affected by the cyclone, with many homes and crops destroyed.

The food distribution ADRA coordinated last week helped more than 500 households identified as vulnerable by the government through its national disability scheme.

ADRA South Pacific Emergency Coordinator Michael Peach flew into Tonga following the cyclone to coordinate ADRA’s response.

He paid tribute to the “incredible” support from the Adventist church in Tonga, especially the invaluable support from Mission President Pastor Saia Vea.

Mr Peach said ADRA’s food distribution was even given a police motorcade to reach some targeted communities.

“[On one occasion] we travelled three hours by boat to the small island of ‘Eua to deliver assistance to the most vulnerable. We were greeted at the wharf by the Prime Minister’s representative and driven around the island in a PM-plated 4WD,” Mr Peach said.

“Our truck followed us to the local SDA Church where we met with 45 care-givers, predominantly women, who are responsible for providing full-time care to a relative.

“We gave them a two-week supply of groceries and listened to the stories of Tropical Cyclone Gita and the added burden it’s brought their family.”

While ADRA does not have a formal presence in Tonga, Mr Peach flew in to provide assistance and guide the response.

With strong links to the Adventist church, ADRA was able to coordinate a response through church networks.

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ADRA is working with representatives of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Community Leaders, and the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) to identify and respond to the needs of the communities worst affected by the cyclone. More information will be provided as it becomes available

Please give generously if you can!

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In the teeming darkness, strange hands passed her up toward the bow and unfamiliar bodies pressed against her. She called out softly to her children, her hands feeling about for their faces.

The small boat, weighed down by more than 40 people, pulled forward unevenly under the burden of so many bodies. When it finally neared the distant shore, the driver stopped and ordered everyone over the side.

“The bank was nearly chest deep in mud,” Anwara recalled. “We had no choice but to cross on foot just to reach the other side.”

“I couldn’t afford to be afraid,” she said. “I had my children with me, and I needed to keep them alive.”

As a Rohingya woman fleeing political violence in Myanmar, Anwara knew she had much to fear. Since August, whole communities in the Rakhine State had been razed, with untold numbers of men, women, and children violated and killed.

It wasn’t long before that same violence came to Anwara’s doorstep.

“When the army attacked our village, they arrested all the men,” she said. “My husband was among them.”

The next day, Anwara set out to find her husband. Dark rumours had been circulating, and she needed to know the truth. What she found haunts her to this day.

“I was horrified by the condition of his body,” she said, her eyes red with tears.

Early the next morning, Anwara gathered her children and fled to the Naf River that separates the danger of Myanmar from the salvation of Bangladesh.

All day and night, the family huddled hidden among grazing cattle. Finally, at 2am, Anwara traded her gold earrings for safe passage on the overcrowded boat, joining 35 others in their desperate attempt at a new life.

Anwara and her children now live in a refugee camp across the river, just a few miles from her dead husband and her old life. There, she had her own house, many goats, and seven cows. Now, she has a black tarp and a ration of food aid. But at least her children are alive.

“I left everything behind to find safety in Bangladesh,” she said. “Now everything is gone.”

For refugees like Anwara and her children, the future is ominous and uncertain. But Anwara is sure about one thing.

“I will never return to Myanmar after what I have been through,” she said. “I still have faith in God, but I have lost my faith in humanity.”

For now, Anwara continues to survive. At night, she is haunted by her memories, but she wakes each morning with renewed faith in God and the humanitarian agencies like ADRA who continue to support her.

“I am very grateful to ADRA and everyone else who keeps us alive and well,” she said. “I know God will bless us and keep us.”

The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh is just one of the many disasters in the world today. February 17 is the Disaster, Famine & Relief Offering, enabling ADRA to restore hope to people affected by natural and human-made disasters.

Thank you for letting compassion shine – today and every day.

~ ~ ~

Michael Rohm visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh in November 2017. Photo credit: Arjay Arellano

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Deciding whether or not you can send your child to school is a decision no parent should have to face. Yet, for Toun Ngov and her husband, a drought meant that sending their boy to school became a luxury they could no longer afford.

Toun, her husband, their 11 year old son and two year old daughter all live together in the Beong Bot Kan Daul village, Cambodia. Toun spends most of her days cultivating the rice field close to her home, although she often considers moving around to follow work. It is her love and protection of her children that prevents her from moving.

The drought that hit her village quickly drained the water, meaning families had to rely on alternative water sources that led to sickness.

Toun spent many of her days at home looking after her husband, children or herself and did not have the time to work as often as she could. It was a mixture of the drought, the sickness, and the unstable income that made the decision to pull her son out of school a reality.

Through ADRAs Bakan Water and Sanitation Hygiene project,  Toun and her family received a latrine, water filter and water containers. The Ngov family now has access to clean water all year round.

Toun has also been an active member in reflect circles, where men and women have the chance to learn about safe hygiene and sanitation practices.

Since receiving her water filter and applying what she has learnt in her reflect circle, Toun shares “My children have had less sickness, water borne diseases”, which meant that Toun now had more time to work in the rice field and make enough to keep her son in school.

“I am happy!” Toun enthusiastically shares, “My son would not have the chance to continue going to school”.

Thank you for supporting families in Cambodia and helping families like Touns thrive!

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A young child sharing their toy; a teenager stopping to help an elderly lady cross the road; a mother opening her purse to support charity; a church shipping a container of goods to the islands.

We should encourage, celebrate and support these kinds of God-revealing activities, shouldn’t we?

At the risk of many things I’m going to suggest, the answer is ‘well, not always’.

For a moment let’s focus on the last item on the list above – the voluminous unsolicited goods which are often packed and sent to communities in need – particularly after a natural disaster has occurred.

It may be in the backyard we call the Pacific, or some far flung corner of the globe – it may even be within our own borders. Wherever a disaster strikes most of us feel the need to respond, and it’s often the things close at hand that come first to mind.

We look around our homes and talk about it at church in conversations that often follow like this: “We have so much and they have so little. Maybe we could pack a container and send it over?”

The container may be full of good quality used goods. New things too: books, blankets, beds and other things not beginning with ‘b’, that are gathered to help those in need.

However, history has taught us many lessons about why sending unsolicited goods may not be so wise. Here are just a few reasons why you’ll never see or hear a reputable aid organisation putting out a call for containers or other shipments of goods:

Time and Cost

The time and cost associated with sending and receiving ‘unsolicited goods’ often outweighs their value. These are just a sample of the costs involved:

• The cost of a container and logistics getting it to the shipping yard, let alone the actual shipping charge
• Labour involved to pack and unpack the goods at each port
• Hours of time to compile shipping lists and other required documents
• Wharfage and handling costs, and tax or import duties.

Local Economy

Building, not decimating, the local economy is crucial to restoring livelihoods after a disaster. Shipping free goods can force down the price of locally produced items and compete with local retailers – which means less income for families at a time when they actually need more. On the other hand, cash donations can be used to stimulate the local economy by allowing items to be bought locally.

Appropriateness

Unsolicited goods are often not appropriate. Sending heavy winter clothing to Pacific Islands (this actually happens) will not really benefit those in need, and toys are secondary in need to clean water, food, shelter and the rebuilding of livelihoods.

Doing Harm

Non-life savings items can clog up docks and airports and prevent lifesaving supplies from reaching disaster-affected areas. Our desire to help may in fact be stopping help from actually arriving. We mean no harm, but as we know, good intentions are not enough.

The take home message is this: sending things overseas, particularly after a disaster, can often do more harm than good. While the impulse to give is a testament to God working in us, it’s important to act wisely.

Talk to anyone involved in logistics or aid or project management, and they’ll tell you the same. Funnily enough it’s these very things that humanitarian agencies specialise in and why organisations like ADRA ask for financial support during times of the disaster.

Why? A cash donation to helps aid agencies buy whatever is needed quickly to meet the changing and complex demands of affected communities.

If you have unused items around the house, try selling them to raise money to give to a registered charity who has launched an appeal and who can provide the transparency needed to ensure the donations reach those who need it most.

Please don’t stop helping. Don’t get me wrong, not sending goods overseas doesn’t mean you can’t help or that your help isn’t wanted. Instead let’s work together to do good, better.

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