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Page 1: with Hope for every child SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER …...love, mentoring; things that every child deserves. Step 3 - A repatriation program works to reunite non-orphaned street children

with

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2014Hope for every child

“WE MUST GIVE HOPE, ALWAYS HOPE”

Page 2: with Hope for every child SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER …...love, mentoring; things that every child deserves. Step 3 - A repatriation program works to reunite non-orphaned street children

IN THIS ISSUE• Securing hope for street children in Uganda• Typhoon Haiyan Child Protection Program report • Investment in a playground to build bodies and heal minds• Trafficked from Bulgaria to the USA• Living Below the Line for ORA

Families and communities around our world live trapped in poverty for generations. Giving hope for tomorrow to the youth of a community changes the future of that community. Raising one healthy, educated, competent generation creates hope, and alleviates poverty.

I so agree with Mother Teresa, ‘we want to create hope for the person ... we must give hope, always hope.’ I was so excited to read the Typhoon Haiyan Child Protection Program report about the hope, healing and life change experienced by children and their extended families. Providing counseling and practical help in a place where children could be safe, play and creatively share their experiences facilitated healing and recovery.

Hope leads to healing, and healing leads to transformation. Thank you for taking the time to read about ORA’s work around the world and partnering with ORA to give hope to children around our world.

Jan Barker ORA NZ Country Director

Hello friends of ORA New Zealand

‘We want to create hope for the person ... we must give hope, always hope.’ Mother Teresa

Check out our website: www.oranewzealand.org

Check out our facebook page: www.facebook.com/oranewzealand

Absolute poverty and lack of hope walk hand in hand. The absence of hope both creates and sustains poverty traps. ORA aims to provide children living in poverty with hope for their future. Hope is a gift we can all give.

A tribute to Sue CorneyMany of you will know Sue. It is with great sorrow that our dear friend, ORA co-worker, missionary and intercessor passed away in July. Sue will be forever remembered as the dearly loved and loving wife of Chris, mother to Helen and Phil, and a very faithful friend to many. A woman of great compassion to those in need, Sue put her hand willingly to whatever task was in front of her, including many years in the ORA New Zealand office, with ora Connexion and the ORA Garage Sale. From Taranaki to Tajikistan, Hamilton to Uganda, Mexico and Cambodia, Sue went wherever she and Chris felt called. Now, after a life lived to the full, a life spent giving hope to others, Sue’s been called home and is missed dearly.

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Many die of malaria or typhoid, and those that survive are at risk of being sold into slavery. Due to their place at the bottom of society, the street children are not missed when they are taken. In comes Hope Foundation Arua…

Step 1 - The Hope Foundation team mentors children on the streets, forming relationships, providing counsel, and letting them know that help is available.

Step 2 - Children who used to live on the street move to the Safe Home or a foster home where they can have a happy, healthy childhood; education, medical care, clothes, love, mentoring; things that every child deserves.

Step 3 - A repatriation program works to reunite non-orphaned street children with their biological families, providing mediation with families and offering ongoing support after re-entry to the family home.

PROTECTING LIVES / UGANDA

SECURING HOPEThe street children of Arua live their lives in society‘s blind eye, making them highly vulnerable to exploitation. Unloved, uneducated and extremely vulnerable, they are largely either shunned or exploited by their communities.

We all need boundaries in our lives, boundaries bring us security. The Hope Foundation Arua Safe Home needs a boundary wall, to secure the home for the safety of children. A wall will make it easier for staff to provide a friendly environment for the children, stopping the community from intruding into the children activities and encroaching onto Hope Foundation land with their gardens. A wall will also control children sneaking out. They have been accustomed to a lot of freedom on the streets. It will cost approximately $120 per

metre to construct a solid, secure 2m high wall around the Hope Foundation Arua land. How many metres could you build?

Working while others go to school

Taken in

to Hope

Foundation’s

Safe Home

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DISASTER RELIEF / PHILIPPINES

CHILD PROTECTION PROJECT REPORTA HAIYAN RESPONSELife Change is a term used to describe children who previously suffered from psychosocial distress but can now play, laugh, better cope with schooling, and develop their skills and talents.

Following Typhoon Haiyan, a Child Protection Project (CPP) run by ORA partners brought Life Change to many children and their families. The CPP prevented exploitation and neglect of children, teenagers and senior citizens. Families now work together through difficult circumstances. Teachers embrace their responsibilities to their students. Senior citizens contribute and find great meaning late in life. Communities have been empowered to help their own people in a time of great difficulty.

Super Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Central Philippines in November 2013, affecting 16 million people. Months after the storm, large numbers were still found living in tent communities and evacuation centers. In early discussions ORA partners had with the youth in affected communities, the children spoke about the many needs they saw around them and their need to be part of the cleanup process. They sought more activities to help them recover from the traumatic event.

ORA partners implemented a six-month CPP in close coordination with various humanitarian groups working in the region. This project aimed to contribute to the physical and psychosocial wellbeing of children and adult survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, specifically providing a safe venue for children aged 3 to 17; a place where children could play and creatively share their experiences in order to facilitate

healing and recovery. Forging partnerships with local churches and establishing a Children and Family Support Group mechanism ensured sustainability of interventions.

Many of the team working with the children were survivors themselves and required debriefing from the traumatic aftermath of the storm. Their main motivation quickly became a love for the children and a need to reach out to them at such a time as this. The love for the children turned into joy as the team worked to rehabilitate and return the kids lives to normalcy. Simply seeing smiles on the children’s faces brought a sense of fulfillment every day.

1,572 children in six different locations were reached and directly impacted by the program. New relationships were built and existing ones strengthened as the kids began to openly share their lives, discover their talents, and repair their confidence. The program was able to alleviate fear, prepare children for future natural disasters, and train them to avoid risky lifestyles. Food, medical and educational needs were met as well, crucial to the survival and development of children at high-risk. More than anything else, the kids felt loved and valued, which contributed much to their self-esteem!

Communities reached by the program felt this was more than just a relief project or activity. They now have a real sense of hope, healing and a Life Change.

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The Haiyan Child Protection Program far exceeded its expected results and target numbers. It raised awareness on child rights and protection while providing both physical and psychological first aid to children and their communities. It also served as a pilot activity to determine the impact of a CPP to children and communities in the wake of natural disaster.

ORA New Zealand invested funds donated for the Typhoon Haiyan Appeal as well as all our undesignated funding into Typhoon Haiyan relief. Our present aim is to have a Relief Fund set aside… so that when a disaster occurs in an area where ORA New Zealand has a trusted partner organisation we can provide immediate support.

ORA International funding offices worldwide are committed to work together to provide programs similar to the Haiyan Child Protection Project to the victims of future natural disasters.

Please join us and donate to ORA New Zealand’s Relief Fund.

RELIEF FUND

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CHANGING LIVES / UGANDA

WHAT DO YOU HEAR AT A PLAYGROUND?Children laughing and squealing for joy. Children calling out “Come over here and play with me!” Most vulnerable children seldom, if ever, experience this kind of joy and fun in their lives

At the ORA Uganda Base this is what we are fostering, children playing together having fun and also using the playground as a tool for overcoming trauma. The playground is a focal point for the children at the ORA Base and it also draws the children from the community. It is seen as a place of meeting and forming relationships as well as promoting healthy minds, minds that are alert, encouraging children’s skills and talents, and very much an aid to children’s development and healing.

In 2010 a wooden playground was built at the ORA Uganda base. In April 2013 initial funds were given to start the building of an upgraded playground, made mostly out of steel to safeguard from termite attack. The swings are finished and are well used, being the centre of much

activity. It is a delight to hear the chatter and excitement of the children’s voices. This first stage of the playground is a great tool that allows children who are devoid of any family to express themselves, and for a time become like any other child on any other swing in the world, having fun and making friends.

To finish walking platforms, monkey bars, slide and playground surrounds we require another $1,000. This will add important experiences for the vulnerable children at the ORA Uganda Base.

Can you help ORA today, to bring joy to these children and healing for their hearts and minds, by giving a donation towards the completion of the ORA Uganda playground?

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PROTECTING LIVES / BULGARIA

ORA New Zealand regularly supports ORA Bulgaria’s anti-trafficking work. Would you commit to a one off donation or regular support so that less young Bulgarians become trafficking statistics?

THE SLAVERY OF OUR TIMESIt is estimated 120,000 women and girls are annually smuggled to the Western part of Europe to offer sexual services. 11% of the cases investigated by Europol between 2009 and 2013 were from Bulgaria.

A young woman shared her personal testimony at an ORA Bulgaria conference earlier this year. A student in Plovdiv University, in 2013 she applied through an agency for work in the US. Arriving in the States she was given no information about her job, and was left in a building by a highway with some other girls from Romania and Russia. When nobody visited them for several days she became suspicious. She managed to telephone her parents who contacted ORA Bulgaria asking for help. ORA Bulgaria phoned some acquaintances living in the same US state, who acted quickly to the SOS call. They checked the company for the promised job and could find little information about it, so they searched for the building and rescued the girl. Together they went to the police. The owner of the business this young woman was expecting to work for was on the police list of suspects for trafficking.

The main focus of ORA Bulgaria’s Human Trafficking work is prevention education. Volunteers present seminars about human trafficking in orphanages and to community groups, especially Roma who are a high risk target group for modern slavery. Informing young people about human trafficking and sexual exploitation helps them to be more careful, especially when they look for jobs in Western countries. Most of the children and youth attending presentations have never heard of human trafficking. Although shocked at what they learn, in time they ask questions and share their thoughts. Volunteers advise youth how to be cautious, and how to check their future working place and employer.

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We would love to hear from you! If you have any questions about ORA New Zealand or just fancy a chat, you can send us an email, give us a call or post us some mail...

Email: [email protected] | Phone: +64 7 843 2224Post: ORA New Zealand, PO Box 4318, Hamilton East, Hamilton 3247, New Zealandwww.oranewzealand.org | www.facebook.com/oranewzealand

HOW CAN YOU HELP?GET INVOLVED!We all volunteer at ORA NZ. Do you want to join us? Are you passionate about helping change the lives of children and communities affected by poverty, disease and exploitation? Do you have marketing, fundraising, financial or administrative skills? Please contact the ORA office for more info. We need your help!

GIVE!Want to fuel ORA’s mission to bring HOPE TO EVERY CHILD? You can regularly sponsor a child or project, or make a one-off donation towards ORA’s work. Here’s how you can donate:• Directly into ORA New Zealand’s ANZ bank account: Chartwell Branch, Hamilton 01 0370 0032261 01• Online at www.oranewzealand.org• By cheque with the enclosed response slip

PRAY!Never underestimate the power your prayers can bring to God’s work worldwide. Your prayers for the children and workers of ORA are appreciated.

Switch to the email version of our newsletter by emailing [email protected]. You’ll get the news faster and you will help ORA’s resources to stretch further!

HOPE FOR EVERY CHILDChild at the centre CHANGING LIVES

Social business TRANSFORMING LIVES

Freedom from slavery PROTECTING LIVES

CONNECT WITH ORA ONLINEWebsite: www.oranewzealand.orgFacebook: www.facebook.com/oranewzealandTwitter: www.twitter.com/oranewzealandInstagram: www.instagram.com/oranewzealand


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