WORLD HUNGER • UPDATES FROM THE FIELD • TEEN MAKES A DIFFERENCE • EVENTS

WINTER 2011

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Malawi story and photos by Claudia Massari

Above: Jacqueline Phiri in her maize field. Right: Jacqueline and her children.

We consider access to food as a basic right, but the majority in our world struggle to have enough to eat. While having no food means dying of starvation, there are also significant and long-term consequences of not having enough food as well as having the right types of food.

Without nutritious food the health consequence of undernourishment is huge. In 2009, one billion people in the world were

undernourished. According to the 2010 Global Hunger Index, child malnutrition is the biggest cause of hunger worldwide, accounting for almost half of those affected. While global figures fell between 1990 and 2006, the number has crept up in the past few years.

Undernourishment has a profound effect on health, especially on children. Low birth weights make babies vulnerable to sickness and disease, which often leads to death in the very early stages of life. Children under the age of two are at the most risk. Malnourishment at this stage harms physical and mental development, and its effects are mostly irreversible causing lifelong damage.

There are many benefits to supporting agriculture programmes in nations where undernourishment is high. As they say, prevention is better than cure, and it is easier to help people to grow their own food than deal with the consequences of hunger. With enough of the right food children do not die needlessly; they are not

as vulnerable to sickness or disease. The downstream effects are better health and the opportunity to boost household incomes, which can bring other benefits like being able to send children to school happy, and with their tummies full.

So it is not surprising that TEAR Fund supports many projects that help people to, firstly, grow enough food and secondly, enough of the right food from Malawi to the Philippines to Vanuatu.

Hardship has been a reality for Jacqueline Phiri, raising her four children, all under the age of 12. Jacqueline lives in Siyasiya Village in Khombedza. She was constantly consumed with concerns over not having enough food for her children and the health issues it raised for her growing children. She knew that her children were missing out on stimulation and socialisation as there was no nursery school for them to attend in her village. This also restricted her ability to cultivate her land properly, as she had to care for her younger children.

Just as her hardships were piling up, she heard what TEAR Fund’s partner, World Relief, was doing in a nearby community through the Anglican Church. She saw that the children in programmes were going to school and receiving a healthy meal every day. She was instantly drawn in, wanting the same for her children. After enquiring further, she asked TEAR Fund’s partner to set up a similar project creating their own CBCC (Community Based Child Care).

Life began to change for Jacqueline. World Relief provided their CBCC with meals in addition to fertiliser

and 10kg of maize seed to plant for the children’s daily meal. World Relief also provided them with training, supporting them in creating their own CBCC using the first aid equipment and children’s play and educational resources effectively.

Jacqueline is proud and thankful for what World Relief has accomplished for Saint Barnabas’ CBCC. Her children are safe, happy and healthy, well fed and educated. She is able to cultivate her land more easily in the morning knowing that her young children are safe at school. Food security is assured, and in time she is hoping to be able to create an income now that she has the time and modern skills to cultivate the land.

Her immediate concerns have been lessened but future challenges remain. There is no junior primary school in the immediate or nearby districts. Being the church secretary and seeing with her own eyes how a community can establish itself has only made her want more, and she has been inspired to strive for her dreams.

TEAR Fund has agricultural programmes in:Mongolia: providing nomadic herders with alternative sources of food and income from market gardening.

The Philippines: Helping indigenous tribes to grow food organically and set up a fish farm high in the hill areas where they lack access to this resource.

Vanuatu: Raising soil fertility to gain higher crop yields and forest restoration.

Help improve the health and wellbeing of a child by giving a gift towards one of TEAR Fund’s agricultural programmes. Simply fill in the response form in this publication or phone 0800 800 777.

A story from TEAR Fund’s Malawi agriculture programme:

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz

TEAR CORRESPONDENT

Reflections From a Car Window

DROP BYDROP EQUALS A LOT By Keith Ramsay

Poverty is a big issue and one that can leave individuals feeling inadequate to the task of helping to turn its tide.

There is a saying in Afghanistan that goes: Drop by drop, a river is made, and there are hundreds of Kiwis adding their drop to the poverty bucket.

Together they are empowering communities in the developing world to rise above poverty. For as little as $15 a month, TEAR Fund’s ChangeMaker programme allows people to help fund community development projects or disaster relief efforts, which are making life easier for those in the developing world. Community developments can be initiatives to help people grow more food which is also of a better quality. This indirectly leads to improved health or boosts incomes so that children can go to school or have better housing. It may be providing safe drinking water or funding a health or literacy programme.

You may think, ̀ What good will $180 a year make?’; the answer is that it will make a big difference. For Kiwis, $15 may be the cost of a takeaway meal, but $15 goes a lot further in the third world. This is further enhanced because TEAR Fund does not have any overseas offices or employ workers in the field. Instead, we work through local Christian organisations. But the big difference is that your $15 or more is matched with gifts of other regular givers, and in some cases, government funds. Combined, your gift can add up to thousands of dollars.

I’m 400 kilometres south of Ulan Bataar on the edge of the Gobi desert in a four wheel drive that has seen better days. I’m travelling to a TEAR Fund project

where we are working with nomadic people helping to secure their food needs by training them in seasonal planting, irrigation, harvesting crop and seed storage. Looking out the window at this vast land with its almost infinite sweep of sky, I am challenged as I think about the connection between justice and the Holy Spirit.

In a world increasingly defined by economic efficiency, global industrialism and a widening gap between the rich and poor, it is the Holy Spirit that brings to our recall the things of lasting importance if we make the space. The remembrance of love, grace, peace, mercy; our attentiveness to how much we take for ourselves and leave for others, and our alignment to the character and justice of Christ, are examples. In fact, I would say that the Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of resistance. Resistance to every path that takes us away from our true humanity and demeans us; the unquenchable cycle of consumerism, pre-occupation with fashion and how we look, self-interest, the tolerance of violence in our culture and world, the addiction to techno-chic and virtual entertainment, and the esteeming of wealth, status and power.

I think this is at the heart of the story of Jesus cleansing the temple. It is no longer about someone else, the money lenders in the time of Jesus; it is a direct challenge to ourselves to push back on a world that tries to define us and others by what we have, our appearance, our alignment to the dominant materialist culture, our social standing or the economic contribution we make.

In the 1930’s a young, French Jewish woman, named

Simone Weil, who converted to Christianity, attempted, quite astutely, to place on its side the 17th century dictum of philosopher Renee Descartes, that ‘I think therefore I am.’ She engaged her faith and moral conviction, challenging Descartes’ rational individualism, the bed rock of western thinking, by simply writing, ‘I can therefore I am’. In other words, for Simone Weil, ‘being’ was in the first instance predicated, revealed and deeply satisfied through love, justice, solidarity and compassion. Weil’s ‘can’, challenges me to a life of generosity and justice in Jesus’ name.

Arriving at the project there is a driving wind, the temperature of this early spring day is just under 0°C. The people take me into a yurt and offer me hot salted goat’s milk and enthusiastically describe their hopes for this year’s harvest. I look at them, and I think of our supporters in New Zealand; it is good to be here.

Steve TollestrupExecutive Director

The world must invent new ways to protect people driven from their homes by climate change without copying safeguards for those uprooted by

wars or persecution, the head of the U.N. refugee agency said earlier this month.

“There is a protection gap in the international system that needs to be addressed,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told Reuters during a conference in Oslo on climate change and displaced people.

Guterres said that people moving to escape the impacts of floods, droughts or storms needed different types of support from that enshrined in a 1951 U.N. refugee convention for victims of conflicts or political oppression.

“We must now reconsider our approach to help people uprooted by global warming,” he said in a speech, adding that he considered environmental degradation and climate change to be “the defining challenge of our times”.

People in rural areas of Africa whose crops failed, for instance, were likely to move to a city in their home country rather than cross a border to seek shelter in a refugee camp run by the UNHCR. For people staying in the same country “it makes no sense” to set up camps with separate medical and water services, Guterres said. More appropriate would be local plans to cope with an influx to urban areas.

“Primary responsibility for the protection and well-being of affected populations will ... rest with the states concerned,” he said. Durations can differ with the two kinds of displacements, as those who flee natural disasters like floods may be able to return quickly -- an option rarely available to other refugees.

Guterres urged a “massive programme of support” for nations most affected by natural disasters, both related to global warming stoked by human burning of fossil fuels and to natural hazards such as earthquakes or tsunamis.

The UNHCR had refused to embrace the new terminology of ‘climate refugees’ or ‘environmental

refugees’, fearing that this would complicate and confuse the organisation’s efforts to protect the victims of persecution and armed conflict.

He suggested a “global guiding framework” to set standards for the temporary protection and treatment of people driven across borders by climate change and natural disasters.

In 2010, 42 million people were forced from their homes by natural disasters, led by storms and floods in China and Pakistan, according to a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The number, almost equivalent to the population of Spain, compared with 17 million in 2009 and 36 million in 2008 when monitoring began. It focused on sudden disasters, from hurricanes to volcanic eruptions, and excluded slow-moving events such as droughts.

It did not try to work out if global warming was a factor over the three years but said that climate change was likely to raise the numbers this century.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said climate change was amplifying the impact of calamities.

“Natural disasters are becoming more disastrous. Livelihoods are eroding faster. Larger numbers of people are being forced to move,” he said in a speech.

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However, the most important thing to remember is not to give out of compulsion but to give with a cheerful heart. As you read this magazine, we hope you will be inspired by the projects being funded by TEAR Fund through its local Christian partners.

You can support our community development work through regular giving, starting from as little as $15 a month to as much as you like. You can even make one-off gifts. Fill in the form on page seven and tick ChangeMaker

TEAR FUND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES INCLUDE:

Agricultural programmes: Malawi, Philippines, Vanuatu and Mongolia

Health Programmes: India, Cote d’Ivoire, Cambodia and KwaZulu-Natal

Water and Sanitation Programmes: India, Sudan, Cote d’Ivoire and Malawi

Human Anti-Trafficking Programmes: Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and Nepal

Education Programmes: Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Pacific Islands and Colombia

Peace and Conflict Programmes: Solomon Islands, African Great Lakes Region, Somaliland and the Middle East

UN says climate talks will miss Kyoto deadline.

RE-THINK FOR CLIMATE REFUGEES NEEDED By Alister Doyle, Reuters

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz

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NUTRITION - A KEY TO REDUCING CHILD MORTALITYBy Frank Ritchie

Nutritious food can help lower child mortality rates.

In September 2000, world leaders agreed on a partnership to tackle the issue of extreme poverty in the world. Out of that, they produced an agreed set of eight goals known as the Millennium Development Goals. TEAR Fund is committed to working towards these goals.

The fourth goal they set was to reduce child mortality rates by two thirds by 2015. The strength of this is the recognition that children

are the most vulnerable and that where poverty and oppression are rife, it is children who are often the ones most subject to suffering. For this reason, too many children die before their fifth birthday. In 2008 it was reported by UNICEF that 8.8 million children died before reaching the age of five. The figures continue to decrease but the problem is still large and we cannot turn a blind eye to it. The measure of a good community is how well we look after the most vulnerable and if children are a part of that, then as a global community we can and should be judged by how well we look after the children.

The solution to the problem of child mortality is not an easy fix as it involves recognition of the part a whole community plays in the well-being of a child’s development and willingness for us to engage it all. Some key components in addressing the problem are health, water, sanitation and education, along with murky areas such as governance and politics; the systems that either oppress families and communities, or allow them to flourish.

Another area that is closely linked, demonstrating the interwoven connections between various issues

of poverty, is food security and strong agricultural practices in rural areas. These are issues that would be easy to overlook when it comes to child mortality as we often spend time looking at symptoms rather than causes, yet it does not take much to make the connection.

The health of a mother and immediate family is paramount for the well-being of a child. For a mother, it affects her ability to pass adequate nutrients to an infant when breastfeeding and once a child is on solids, access to good, healthy, diverse food is essential for growth, development, and the avoidance of illness.

For this reason, teaching and encouraging good agricultural practices in rural areas is paramount to

addressing ongoing family health in those places, and therefore the well-being of children under five. We want them to ‘survive past five’. TEAR Fund has several projects focused on improving agricultural practices to provide food security and generate incomes, enabling rural families to adequately meet their needs in a sustainable way.

As an organisation committed to child well-being and support of the fourth Millennium Development Goal, TEAR Fund continues to seek ways to tackle the issue of child mortality. We are doing this by addressing whole family and community needs rather than just symptoms. We ask you to take that journey with us.

In our technically advanced world where visiting Mars is almost within reach, solving the problem of world hunger seems beyond our grasp. It is not

that we lack the resources to achieve the goal it is that we lack the commitment. In 1966, the 160 countries that signed and ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) made a commitment to work together to eliminate world hunger. The covenant regarded that “being free from hunger’’ was a human right. This covenant was enforced in 1976. However, more is being spent on weapons than trying to live up to the commitment to make this human right a reality.

In many of the signatory countries, people are dying from overeating, or at least suffering severe health issues as a result. In low-income countries people are dying to eat or suffering the effects of chronic undernourishment. The fact is, hunger is a manmade phenomenon. There is no shortage of food in the world. One of the biggest contributors to global hunger is the world market systems that put profits ahead of people. These systems prevent food from getting to the hungry. World governments, protected markets that pay subsidies to farmers, and global investors, are largely to blame.

Subsidies paid to food producers make it difficult for low-income countries to compete in global markets, and food produced in these price-protected countries, sits rotting on ‘Food Mountains’. This situation is scandalous. In 2008 alone, Britain threw away half of all the food produced on farms. This equates to about 20million tonnes of food: equivalent to half of the food import needs for the whole of Africa. While it is feast in high-income nations, it is famine in low-income countries. Another

huge factor is that people living in poverty don’t have enough money to buy food as food prices soar.

The situation is intolerable and we have to do something about it now. The world could look very different. It could be a place where extreme hunger is not a reality and everyone is provided for. We can be part of shaping that better reality, a reality we can all look forward to. Jesus took a boy’s lunch and fed more than 5000 people. He can take the little you have and make a big difference with it too. We can help shape a new global story; God’s story. Here are some suggestions.

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YOU CAN HELP END WORLD HUNGER

How can you be part of the solution?Support agricultural programmes that help the • poor grow more foodSupport initiatives that help people afford food • Lobby Government to honour its commitment • to Millennium Development Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hungerSupport initiatives to help reduce the impact • of climate change by reducing your carbon footprint and by lobbying government to honour its commitments to reduce climate impacts Support peace-building programmes • (maintaining peace allows people to work their land, grow more food, to earn a living) Support land rights that give back control of the • land to the impoverished Support fair trade initiatives, buy fair trade products • Support Disaster risk reduction programmes (these • can lessen the impact of a disaster on the land and its people) Help everyone get their fair share of food.

By Keith Ramsay

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz

TEAR CORRESPONDENT

The wind outside the felt-covered yurt has strengthened and the wind chill is a good minus 5. Inside, the dung-fuelled stove keeps the 30 workers from TEAR Fund’s Bangoyol community agriculture project in central Mongolia, cosy and snug.

We drink warm, salted sheep’s milk with additional mouthfuls of fermented camel’s yogurt. A woman across from me, her face still

coloured from the ochre dust that is whipped up on the edge of the Gobi desert, asks me a question. “How cold does it get where you come from?” I reply, “In Auckland it gets down to about 1 or 2 degrees Celsius”.

The yurt explodes in raucous laughter and astonished disbelief. I ask “how cold does it get here”? One old woman, still with tears of laughter, and continuing to chuckle replies, “minus 50 degrees Celsius.” I think to myself; that is seriously cold. So I ask how they handle it. “We have our dung stoves, yurts and warm blankets.” Then a pause, and she says with grit and determination “besides, we’re tough.”

When the terrible blizzards of 2010 known as the ‘dzud,’ swept across the high Mongolian steppe, even these tough people faced the unbearable. Outside, their herds of sheep, goat, camel and horses were freezing to death in the millions. By the time the dzud had ended and the herdsmen counted the cost, they found over 8 million head of stock dead. They were without adequate food, income or livelihood. They were almost destitute.

The dzud was a national crisis, with nearly 50 percent of the nation’s herd lost. In response, the Mongolian government in cooperation with TEAR Fund’s Mongolian Christian partner, Family Agricultural Resources Mongolia (FARM) requested a food security and income generation programme that provided enough stored root crops from summer gardens to provide food security throughout winter and

a surplus to be sold to buy new animals.The project involves building cooperative community

farming, agricultural training, nursery development, irrigation and underground food stores and lots

and lots of tough determination and guts to survive – something these Mongolian herders have by the truckload. Listening and working alongside them in the early spring winds, I watch them breaking up the

ground with hand tools and the single tractor they have. Laying organic fertilizer and mulch, carefully handling new seedlings, they are singing songs together as they work. Your support of TEAR Fund is helping to make

this happen.In 1990 there was one church in

Mongolia. Today there are over 700. The FARM project is a clear witness of Christian compassion and the role of the church both nationally and internationally to stand in solidarity with those in need. With TEAR Fund,

FARM is building a nation and a church.Would you as church, home group, company or

individual prayerfully consider supporting FARM? Together we can serve Christ, through serving others.

Steve Tollestrup (centre) with the people of the Bangoyol community agriculture project in Mongolia.

COLD COMFORT IN MONGOLIA By Steve Tollestrup

When the terrible blizzards of 2010 known as the ‘dzud,’ swept across the high Mongolian steppe, even these tough people faced the unbearable... The dzud was a national crisis, with nearly 50 percent of the nation’s herd lost.

FLOOD-HIT PAKISTANIS MOVE INTO NEW HOMESWhen the worst floods in Pakistan’s recent history demolished her home almost a year ago, widow Bibi Sakina faced a precarious plight. TEAR Fund NZ alongside our sister organisation TEAR Fund UK, are helping flood victims rebuild their lives.

The 55-year-old had to flee her village of Yousaf Matchi seven months ago to escape the raging torrents that inundated this part of Sindh province.

More than 1,750 people died and 20 million others were affected by the flooding, which swept from the north to the south of the country after torrential monsoon downpours led to the mighty Indus River bursting its banks. Bibi ended up in a camp miles away from her village along with thousands of other displaced people, enduring harsh conditions and struggling for everyday necessities.

Numerous problemsIn the intervening months, Bibi moved from place to

place, facing “numerous problems” such as food and water shortages, more heavy rain and cold conditions. “In a

nutshell, you can say that I’ve had many problems beyond my expectation as a result of the floods,” said Bibi.

Destructive powerPakistan’s floods reduced

many homes to rubble but TEAR Fund is rebuilding them.

A few months ago, Bibi returned to her village and built a temporary shelter as she tried to get her life back on track. On arrival, she received household goods through TEAR Fund and thanks to generous support for TEAR Fund’s flood appeal; she now has a decent roof over her head once more, built by TEAR Fund’s in-country partner.

Ill-equippedIt’s a far cry from what she has been living in for the last

few months – a flimsy shelter comprising a patchwork of tarpaulin, plastic sheets and grass that looks ill-equipped to withstand any bad weather. The mother-of-two’s new wooden home, complete with veranda, has a decent roof and sits on a raised platform for greater protection from future floods.

Surveying her new abode, Bibi said, “When I heard TEAR Fund was conducting a survey in order to provide shelter in our village, I was happy although I wasn’t sure that they’d select me. But by the grace of God I was selected and I’m now living with peace of mind. I am indebted to TEAR Fund for changing my life.”

HappyAshraf Mall, TEAR Fund’s country representative for

Pakistan, said Bibi was the first villager to receive a new home built with TEAR Fund’s support and others were looking forward to getting theirs. “The villagers are extremely happy that these houses are going to be built for them. They are made from quality materials and the finishing and raised platforms are just perfect,” he said. Along with other villagers, Bibi will also receive TEAR Fund’s help to resume agricultural livelihoods. This latest stage of work responding to the Pakistan floods follows emergency aid in the initial aftermath when partners provided food, water and shelter.

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The types of homes being built by TEAR Fund for people like Bibi.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz

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A lack of food can have a powerful impact on young lives but TEAR Fund’s Compassion Child Sponsorship Programmes are helping children like Denis who probably would have died from undernourishment without help from child sponsorship.

Denis speaks quietly; he has a sweet chuckle and is shy; he has frail hands and is short. But seven year old Denis’s shortness is not genetic;

it is the result of being undernourished. By the time he was born, Denis’s father, Constant, like many young men in Ugandan villages, had left for the city to earn a living for his family. He left his wife with their two children and sent money to look after them. The couple visited each other whenever they could.

“One day”, Constant says, “My sister called me and told me that my wife had gone, leaving the children with her. Denis was only seven months old!” Constant did not have the time or skill to look after his children. He worked in a brewery as a casual labourer where he earned a meagre wage. He would leave for work at 5am and return home at 11pm. He decided to take the children to his aunt who had brought him up because he was orphaned at a young age. The aunt was 70 years old and did not have much help. As such she was not able to give the children the care they needed, especially Denis who was still a baby and should have still been breastfeeding. Constant bought him milk but it became expensive so he had to buy less. As a result Denis kept falling sick.

Two years later, Constant remarried and decided to bring the children to live with them. His new wife gave birth to two children and they had four children to feed. Constant and his family live in a one-bedroom house in one of the slums in Kampala. It is crowded and some of the paths to his home flow with sewage. Everyone sleeps on mattresses on the floor.

Denis’s living situation came to the attention of Compassion staff and Denis was registered in the Child Sponsorship Programme. Now that Constant had a new wife and Compassion International had registered his child, he thought life would be better. As usual he was hardly home and left his home before the children awoke and came back when they had slept. He says sometimes a week would pass without seeing them. One day he says he took a day off and did not believe his eyes the next morning when he saw his son Denis.

“I saw that my child was in a terrible state. His skin had changed colour, his joints hurt, his hair had turned from black to brown; it was wispy like the hairs of a caterpillar and his whole body was swollen. He hardly talked or moved any part of his body. He was so weak that he could have easily been blown away by the wind. I took Denis to the Child Development Centre to seek help and we took Denis to hospital. When the doctor examined Denis, he said he was severely malnourished,” Constant says.

At the age of six, he only weighed 9kgs. Denis was admitted for three months in hospital and Compassion International took care of all his bills. Constant says he is grateful to Compassion International for its timely intervention. He says when he saw the hospital bill and all the money Compassion spent to save Denis’s life, he was speechless because he could not have afforded it.

After three months, the doctors discharged Denis and recommended that he remain on the special diet and receive special care. Denis’s aunt decided to care for Denis. She was trained how to prepare his meals and was given money to buy the special food. His diet consists of maize flour, soya, millet, eggs, ground nuts, fresh fruits, rice, bananas, corn meal porridge, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, fish, meat, chicken and fish.

These foods were specially mixed and he was given five meals a day. While Denis is not there yet, he is catching up fast and weighs 14kgs. Previously he could not move any part of his body, but now he can play soccer and even walk long distances. During the time he was sick he had to leave school, but now he is back at school and is catching up. He does not say much, but the little beam on his face gives hope that one day he will be fine.

Denis (right) is thriving again much to the relief of his father, Constant.

SPONSORSHIP SAVES DENIS FROM SLOW DEATH By Caroline Atuhwere

East African Drought

Drought in Somalia and Djibouti has forced the countries’ governments to declare the situation a

national disaster, according to the U.N. OCHA. As of the end of April, approximately 8.8 million people face acute food shortages and threats to their livelihoods in the region. In Ethiopia, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has increased from 2.8 million to 3.2 million, OCHA said in a briefing note.

Myanmar’s Persecuted Ethnic Minority Groups

Violence continues in many of Myanmar’s border areas, home to ethnic minority groups, according

to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Southeast Asian country, Ojea Quintana. He said “systematic militarization” contributed to human rights abuses. “These abuses include land confiscation, forced labour, internal displacement, extrajudicial killings and sexual violence. They are widespread, they continue today, and they remain essentially unaddressed by the authorities,” Quintana said in a statement.

Today’s disaster death tolls are falling By Thin Lei Win

From the flood-ravaged provinces of Pakistan and tsunami battered shorelines of Japan to the

storms, floods, landslides and quakes that struck Australia, New Zealand and Spain, disasters have hogged the headlines in the past 18 months.

Yet there is a sliver of good news – the risk of being killed by a cyclone or flood is lower today than it was 20 years ago, despite more people living on floodplains and storm-prone areas, according to the second United Nations (U.N.) report on reducing the risks of disasters, launched recently.

Food aid filters through to Nigeriens

Aid is finally reaching tens of thousands of families in southern Niger who have survived mainly

on wild leaves and fruit for the past six months, according to a report by the U.N. news agency IRIN. It says the incoming civilian government led by President Mahamadou Issoufou has launched a cash-for-work programme covering 325 of the 354 affected villages in Magaria District, in the southern region of Zinder, to help the more than 200,000 people identified as food insecure. However, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Niger and other agencies have warned about the worsening situation in Magaria ahead of the traditional lean season which began last month.

Vietnamese at threat from rising sea levels

For centuries, residents around Can Tho, a city of 1.1 million people in southern Vietnam, just 0.8

metres above sea level, have depended on flood cycles to grow crops, IRIN reports. However, experts warn there is a possibility that sea levels will rise in the delta region around Can Tho in the wider Mekong delta due to climate change, causing devastating floods that will displace millions and destroy those crops. More than half of Vietnam’s rice is produced in the delta, as well as 60 percent of its fish and shrimp. A 1 metre sea-level rise could displace more than seven million residents of the Mekong Delta, and a 2 metre sea-level rise could double that number, according to a study by the Columbia University Center for International Earth Science Information Network in New York, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and other groups.

All briefs compliments of Reuters Alertnet

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PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz

TEAR CORRESPONDENT

CAMPOLO INSPIRES TEENAGER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCEWhen 16-year-old Stephanie Choywent to hear Tony Campolo speak on a recent TEAR Fund Tour, she did not realise that this would change, not only her life, but the life of a child living in poverty. TEAR Fund’s Keith Ramsay caught up with her to ask her what she got out of the experience. What made you decide to hear Tony Campolo on his recent TEAR Fund tour?

Stephanie: When I first heard about the Tony Campolo tour, I wasn’t keen on going. However for a long time my Mum has wanted to hear Tony speak, so our whole family decided to go. I went and it changed my life.What challenged or excited you about what he had to say?

Stephanie: I’ve found that humour is the best method of capturing my attention. Tony Campolo had me in hysterics, hanging on his every word. That in itself was exciting. It was the most riveting sermon I’d ever had the privilege of attending and the most amazing pastor I’d ever heard speak. He played us a short video about four sponsored children (who are now adults), and they each told their story. I don’t really consider myself an empathetic person, but this time it was different. These people on the screen – they seemed real. I felt a force inside me, working in me, shaking me, challenging me, spurring me to do something. I heard them say “they saved my life... a teenager.” At that point I started crying. I knew then, I had to help someone. I knew that He wanted this. I didn’t care how much it would cost me; I would sponsor a child no matter what.

Had you thought about sponsoring a child before then?

Stephanie: Yes, when I was younger (perhaps eleven or twelve, I can’t really remember), I considered sponsoring a child. However, it would have cost me $40 per month. At that stage the idea of sponsoring a child was very interesting, but I earned exactly $40 a month and the thought of giving it all away seemed too big of an ask. So I didn’t. However, when I went to that Tony Campolo service, everything changed. I realised this was bigger than me. I still earned $40 a month but was determined to work harder to earn the total needed ($45 a month) for sponsoring a child.

My parents had encouraged me to spend some of my money on something, if I wanted to. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? (Isaiah 55:2) I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted to spend my money on and whenever I did buy something, there was a sort of shadow of disappointment in myself. But sponsoring a child was different... how could I not be satisfied with saving someone’s life. That

seemed like the best thing I could possibly do. I haven’t heard from Alejandro (my child) yet, but I already know what I’ve done is right. It feels like I’m being affirmed from God.What excites you most about sponsoring a child and what sort of impact do you want to make on behalf of the poor?

Stephanie: To know I’m making a difference, to know that through the money I am sending to my child, I know he will have a better life. Alejandro doesn’t have a “voice”; if he suffers, no one will hear him. There are millions of people just like him all over the world; they don’t have a chance to speak out. At every opportunity I tell someone who this boy is. I tell them what I’m doing; I hope that they will perhaps think of whether they could do something, anything to help people like Alejandro. What would you say to others about sponsoring a child?

Stephanie: Please, please, if you can afford to sponsor a child, do it. We are so blessed to live in New Zealand, a land where we have freedom of speech, democracy and we aren’t persecuted for our faith. It is a blessing for me to sponsor a child. Before I’d even known Alejandro’s name or seen his photo, this verse spoke to me: Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. (1 Peter 1:8) I want to be able to help him and his family in any way I can. If you have the money, sponsor a child! You don’t often have a chance to play “Superman” but you can really save someone’s life. Change their life, give them hope. Please, don’t think you can’t. I’m sixteen, a student and I’m sponsoring a child. His name is Christian Alejandro Reyes Rodriguez. I don’t think he knows it, but to the world he may be one person, but to one person, he means the world. He means the world to me and I’m doing something to make his life better.

Stephanie Choy with her sponsored child’s profile

Life in Christchurch continues to be a struggle as new quakes have caused more destruction, physical and emotional trauma and disruption to people’s lives. Since the earthquake of February 22, TEAR Fund’s regional manager Bruce Morriss, has also seen changes in his role.

For an NGO that normally assists those in need overseas, TEAR Fund has been helping those on our own doorstep; including many of our

supporters. TEAR Fund has been active since the earthquakes in several ways. Following the initial response phase, TEAR Fund provided a grant to the Christchurch Easter Camp organisers. This assistance enabled children from earthquake-affected families to attend the camp by subsidising their camp fee. Camp organisers report that this made a huge difference and enabled the children to have fun and valuable fellowship with others from wider Christchurch youth groups. More than 3700 attended the camp.

TEAR Fund has produced a 24-page resource booklet for New Zealand churches on Psychosocial Support following disasters. This has been promoted and distributed free to churches and is proving a popular resource as churches support those affected by the earthquake. The booklet is based on TEAR Fund’s work

overseas but tailored to New Zealand. This is available on our website or you can order a hard copy, by phoning 0800 800 777.

Since February 22, TEAR Fund has met regularly with other NGO agencies. This group has enabled a coordinated response to the various needs of Christchurch and valuable sharing of resources and contacts. Church leaders from across the city have met together a few times to coordinate efforts and resources to meet needs. TEAR Fund has assisted in this coordination.

In April, TEAR Fund brought Tony Campolo to speak to more than 400 people at Christchurch City Elim Church. He encouraged them to be disciples and keep the hope alive as they rebuild. TEAR Fund is pleased to be playing a part in supporting churches and the people of Christchurch affected by the earthquake and the aftershocks. We will continue to assist where we can. Thank you to those who have financially supported our work in this disaster – it has been much appreciated.

Bryce Wastney is planning a tour with TEAR Fund later this year and for those who love heartfelt songs woven through with beautiful

melodies, he is a talent not to be missed. Bryce has released a well-respected debut album, A

Perfect Day for Travel, jam-packed with catchy songs and a big sound. This album has gained favourable reviews, with six songs off this album featuring alongside Cat Stevens, in the multi-award winning New Zealand feature film; Last Paradise. Be prepared for an entertaining and heart-warming experience at one of his national concerts.

Visit tearfund.org.nz shortly, for Bryce’s national tour schedule.

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ASSISTING QUAKE VICTIMS ON OUR OWN DOORSTEP

A PERFECT DAY TO CATCH BRYCE WASTNEY

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz

Call 0800 800 777 or Visit tearfund.org.nz

Call 0800 800 777 NOW to sponsor one of these children

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Sponsor one of these children for just $45 a month. Fill out the form on this page, tick the circle of a child and send to our address below, or call 0800 800 777.

6 year old girl in TOGO DOB 5 September 2003

Seraphine enjoys playing jacks. She helps in the kitchen and runs errands.

Seraphine

8 year old boy in PERU DOB 2 June 2003

Alejandro helps by making beds, running errands and cleaning.

Alejandro 11 year old girl in the PHILIPPINES

DOB 12 December 1999 Christine attends church activities and

Vacation Bible School regularly.

Christine

5 year old boy in RWANDA DOB 6 June 2006

Kwizera lives with his father and mother who both work as famers.

Kwizera

6 year old girl in TANZANIA DOB 16 January 2005

Neema loves singing and playing house.

Neema

4 year old boy in ETHIOPIA DOB 11 March 2007

Ibrahim loves telling stories and playing hide-and-seek.

Ibrahim

6 year old girl in THAILAND DOB 10 November 2004

Duangruedee goes to primary school. She enjoys swimming, playing and art.

Duangruedee

5 year old girl in TOGO DOB 13 February 2006

Bene’s family has 5 children. She loves playing group games.

Bene

10 year old boy in PERU DOB 10 March 2001

Jair comes from a family of 8 and art is one of his favorite activities.

Jair

4 year old boy in COLOMBIA DOB 29 July 2007

Juan lives with his mother. He loves playing with cars, and soccer.

Juan

9 year old girl in the PHILIPPINESDOB 4 December 2001

Regine loves playing with dolls.

Regine

11 year old girl in THAILAND DOB 9 July 1999

Earn participates in church activities, Bible class and camp.

Earn4 year old boy in COLOMBIA

DOB 20 October 2006 Didier lives with his mother + stepfather. He goes to the Compassion bible class.

Didier

9 year old boy in INDONESIA DOB 31 January 2002

Kana’s father is employed as a laborer and his mother is sometimes employed.

Kana

4 year old boy in COLOMBIA DOB 20 January 2007

Mateo has 4 other siblings. He attends church activities regularly.

Mateo3 year old girl in UGANDA

DOB 10 May 2008 Nakilyowa has 5 brothers and sisters.

He helps to care for the animals.

Nakilyowa

Proverbs 22:9“The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share

their food with the poor. ”

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14 year old boy in the PHILIPPINES DOB 30 April 1997

Ruben’s chores include carrying water and helping in the kitchen.

Reuben

4 year old boy in RWANDA DOB 2 February 2007

Irambona’s favorite activity is playing soccer.

Irambona

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • tearfund.org.nz

TEAR CORRESPONDENT

While the hundreds of bike riders who participated in our inaugural Poverty Cycle enjoyed the ride, the aim was to help break the cycle of poverty. We would like to

thank all the riders who partnered with us in making life easier for at-risk children and youths, both in New Zealand and in the developing world. While many riders made it their mission to raise money, the people pictured below were recognised for their efforts in raising the most by being awarded a bike through the generosity of Avanti, one of our major sponsors in the event, alongside, Radio LiveSPORT, New Zealand’s Rhema and Wurld Water.

See photos from the events at

POVERTYCYCLE.ORG.NZ

Biggest Poverty Cycle fundraisers receive an award

Congratulations!New Plymouth Fundraising Winner: Sacha Bland, 8, of Auckland

Auckland Fundraising Winner: Bryce Necklen, Auckland

Under 18 Fundraising Winner: David Tan, 16, of Auckland

National Cycle Event Fundraising Winner: Brenda Douma, Invercargill

Brenda Douma claims her prize from Pete McKenzie of H& J Smith’s Outdoor World Bike Department in Invercargill.

Bryce Necklen was the winner of the

fundraising award for the Auckland Iconic Ride.

Sacha Bland is thrilled with his new bike presented to him by Avanti’s Amanda Till.

Biggest Poverty Cycle fundraisers

David Tan receives an Avanti bike from

Avantiplus Albany manager Scott Mac Donnell.

PUBLICATION DETAILS:Editor: Keith Ramsay.Contributors: Steve Tollestrup, Claudia Massari, Frank Ritchie, Sarah Jamieson, Bruce Morriss, TEAR Fund UK, Caroline Atuhwere.

Graphic Designer: Alex Carter.

Printing: Horton Media.

CONTACT: 0800 800 777 • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz tearfund.org.nz

A new TEAR Fund production called My Life was Changed has been well received across Auckland City. Soon to tour around New Zealand, this

event confronts people’s feelings of rejection, loss, abuse and depression and merges them with an undeniable hope and a real sense that God’s love is present in these very dark moments in our lives.

The inspiration behind the concept came from the lives of four former TEAR Fund Compassion sponsored children whose lives were radically changed by teenagers who were moved to sponsor them. All the sponsor children went on to attend University. Their moving stories show how one small act - sponsorship, changed their lives, showing God’s love and bringing about a different future for them than one of living in poverty.

TEAR Fund events manager Sarah Jamieson took this idea of one person’s act of love transforming another’s life and adapted this concept into a multi-media and artistic performance event, featuring the powerful testimonies of people’s lives that were radically changed here and overseas.

This was the case in Sarah’s own life. Sarah was adopted and she battled feelings of rejection and low self worth. Becoming a teen mother, her life hit an all time low when she attempted suicide and ended up in North Shore Hospital. “I knew then something had to change,” she said. In her testimony, Sarah describes the moment when God’s love was revealed to her when a friend helped her through the issues she was facing. “God truly made something beautiful out of such a dark ugly time. It’s that dark place that people relate to and it’s these stories which should be shared.”

Sarah’s story is one of a collection that this tour pulls together. Accompanied by song, dance, cultural performances and poetry; My Life was Changed impacts people for all walks of life. “It is a moving night where God’s glory takes its rightful place in stories of ordinary people whose lives have been transformed by simple

acts of love and how we can all share that love with others by a simple act.”

Sarah said, she had been excited by the calibre of people who have collaborated on the tour shown by their real desire to help others here and impoverished children overseas. There has been overwhelming positive feedback received from churches and people who have attended a show. Pastor Martyn Barrett of Manukau City Baptist said: “It was neat to hear everyday Kiwis share. We often forget that God is doing amazing things right here in New Zealand.”

NEW TOUR RESONATES WITH AUCKLAND AUDIENCES

Sarah Jamieson at My Life was Changed.

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OUR PURPOSE: The purpose of TEAR Fund is to glorify God by extending His Kingdom in ministry to the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged, and to encourage God’s people in NZ to live out the values and principles of His Kingdom by sharing with those in need. TEAR Correspondent is published three times a year.

Speakers and artists include Mumsdollar and Shooting Stars vocalist Ben Claxton, Joshua Martin from world-ranked Prestige dance crew, Parent’s Inc communicator Zane Scarborough who is also part of the South Auckland Poet’s collective, C3 youth pastor Natalie Blucher and Terrence Wallace, originally from Chicago who now heads up the United Maori Mission.

For more information on this tour, please contact TEAR Fund on 0800 800 777 or visit www.tearfund.org.nz/mylifewaschanged

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