News: Stories of Hope

ADRA New Zealand's first ADRA Connections Group, from Kindercare, have just landed in Cambodia, and are already busy bricklaying their way towards constructing a pre-school classroom. 9 Kindercare staff from around New Zealand are going to spend the next two weeks constructing the classroom as well as installing playground equipment, and sharing their skills and expertise in early childhood education in Kompong Thom Province and ADRA Cambodia staff. The Kindercare staff are excited about their once in a life-time opportunity to have a truly rewarding and enriching experience, while...

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Yanjaa’s first contact with ADRA was when she attended a workshop at the beginning of November 2011 in western Mongolia that was funded by ADRA NZ. The workshop explained all about cooperatives, how they work and what advantages they provide. Almost immediately Yanjaa had a vision of what could be achieved to help poor, small-scale farmers. By 30 November she had organised 30 founding members for a cooperative, had completed all the paperwork and had registered the cooperative with the government. Seven months later the cooperative has 191 members and there are 27 further applications waiting...

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Lhagva from Mongolia knows what hardship is. Many years ago her husband contracted meningitis, and as a result is unable to walk. To support her family of six children she worked long hours in a garment factory until it collapsed soon after the end of the Soviet era. She then herded 200 livestock in the harsh environment of western Mongolia, where winter temperatures regularly plummet to -50 degrees Celsius. In the winter of 2000/01 Lhagva, along with many other farmers, lost her animals due to extreme weather conditions. With little or no income she struggled to care for a sick husband and feed...

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For the last twenty years Oyunaa, with her husband, has been herding 70 animals, mostly sheep and goats, in the isolated and harsh climate of Western Mongolia. The income they earned from the wool barely covered their basic living costs. Late last year Oyunaa heard about a new cooperative scheme that had been established to help poor, small-scale farmers. After learning more about it, she decided to join the cooperative, which primarily provides a mechanism for the sale of wool. Each year Oyunaa’s sheep produce about 30 kg of wool. This is such a small amount that she struggled to sell it, and often...

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"Dalila’s eyes speak words her mouth could never utter, at least not now and not to me - the pain is still too fresh and too real. In fact it is present, even now as we sit behind her mud-brick hut.   She is a child living in an adult’s world. She is the only mother her siblings have. Her eldest brother their only father, and, here sitting amongst the red Kenyan dust, even the youngest must play a role far beyond his years." These are words from an ADRA staff members journal after he met Dalila Katike and her family during a recent trip to Kenya. ADRA workers in rural Kenya...

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Article Reprint - Hannah Ndungu works as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the ADRA Africa Regional Office. In this article, Ndungu shares an experience of how ADRA's work restored hope to one Ethiopian village. SILVER SPRING, Md. - In Kelafo Woreda-Somali Region of Ethiopia, lies a small village called Hargududo. The village of about 200 households whose inhabitants largely consist of agro-pastoralists are full of praise and sheer unbridled joy for what with very little words termed 'a lifeless village alive again.' I together with my colleagues from ADRA International...

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SILVER SPRING, Md. - In Thailand, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is working to rescue girls from forced prostitution in the sex slave trade. The Agency has opened a shelter that houses at-risk girls from poor families, providing them with nutritious food, education, and most importantly a safe environment that shields them from harm. "Pam" was born in the northern part of Thailand in a rural region near the Thai-Burma border. Her parents, Lahu and Akha, are from ethnic minority groups that traditionally live in the mountains throughout this part of Asia. Her family...

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In Mongolia the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is helping society transform the way they view children with disabilities, and give them access to education and health services. This is being achieved through a project called, Ensuring Access to Education and Health for Children with Cognitive Disabilities (EACH). The birth of a disabled child can be stressful for most parents. In Mongolia social welfare provided by the government assists parents of disabled children by giving them a home care allowance among other types of support. Unfortunately this vital care...

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My name is Linh, and I am 28 years old and live in Long Giang Commune in Vietnam. I am married and have one beautiful baby boy who is 14 months old. I live in a very poorly built house which is on borrowed land. Many people such as my husband and I work as daily labourers to try to make enough money to eat. But it is hard because I work for a whole day picking chilli and receive $3.50. I get very tired because my body is not strong to work all day in the sun. Sometimes I try to farm ducks, but sometimes a disease comes through and wipes out most of my flock, and I get very discouraged. But recently...

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Our village is located about 16 miles form Hsi Hsaing Township and very poor, very difficult transportation access. Soil erosion and water scarcity are big problems we are facing. 60 families are living in our village, altogether 395 people (Male-193, Female-202). We are far from town and out of trend; our underdeveloped situation is due to a lack of knowledge in social, economic, health areas and general education. At this time, we hear that ADRA (Myanmar) supported our neighboring village by installing a Pipe water supply system. The water reaches home by home from a far distant water source....

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