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 drove more than 120 miles (200km) to reach this village where the ADRA Network supported the local community with emergency interventions on water, veterinary services, and supplementary livestock feeding.

Zooming along a stretch of land full of sand, our eyes could only see bare terrain in all directions, until bumping into a small village called, Hargududo. There wasn’t much happening in the village, elders were seated playing the traditional game of chess while children were walking nonchalantly. As we stopped our car along the road, we immediately saw the elders walking briskly to receive us while the children – full of renewed life and energy – ran towards the car keenly peering to see what was inside.

Just across the road, there was a small open thatched house. The village elder led us there with welcoming greetings from three other elders. Within minutes, the youth, men, and a few women joined us in the small yet very welcoming abode. As is the common norm in these parts, the floor was prepared and everyone sat longing to hear what ADRA’s mission in that area would be. Within a minute, a glass with hot Somali shaa (sweetened tea) was served to each of us. After the round of introductions, the explanation from the ADRA team as to the reason for our visit was graciously applauded.

The elders’ sentiments were full of appreciation towards what ADRA is doing for the village – giving life to a village that was going through dark moments. Because of drought, the community lost a large proportion of its economic mainstay – livestock, particularly goats. “Our women and children were weak, which forced them to move to displaced person camps in order to receive relief food. This was a very painful decision we had to make, but it was better than watching them suffer here due to lack of food and water,” adds one elder, with a sad and forlorn look on his face.

At that time, the search for water and pasture was complicated because the neighboring villages had not recovered from the previous drought. Families started their journey in search of land that was unaffected by the drought. However, the moment word went around that ADRA had come to their village, those same families returned back home. ADRA provided villagers with water for domestic and livestock use, in addition to livestock feed and treatment for livestock.

The elder affirmed his words with a Somali proverb, “the man who can jump the length of a walking stick can jump a situation. Thank you ADRA for your kind assistance, and may your good deeds continue touching others.” He concluded, and took a final swig of his shaa.

Author: Hannah Ndungu

To learn more about ADRA’s life-changing work, please contact ADRA at 0800 4 999 111 or give online at www.adra.org.nz

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ADRA is a global non-governmental organization providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

 

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 consists of poor farmers, who at times work as hired hands; daily laborers who live hand to mouth due to humble salaries. To help provide for the family, Pam often skipped school to work with her mother in the fields. Her future seemed hopeless until ADRA Thailand’s Keep Girls Safe (KGS) project came to help.

KGS works to prevent young girls from being trafficked into the disturbing world of sexual exploitation. The project has opened a shelter for girls who are considered high-risk like Pam. Currently, there are 30 girls residing in this shelter with mentors from the full-time KGS staff teaching them to read and write.

Upon learning about Pam’s living conditions, ADRA’s KGS staff asked Pam’s parents to allow the project to take care of her. “We realized that Pam’s home environment represented a risk that was putting her in danger of human trafficking,” said Kusalin, shelter coordinator. “Most parents in her village do not see the importance of education. That was the reason why we took Pam to the shelter; to study, to have a new life, and to protect her.” In addition to lack of educational opportunities, Pam doesn’t hold a Thai citizenship, a combination that makes it easy to lure a young girl into the destructive cycle of the sex trade.

Although Pam could speak the two tribal languages of her parents, she could not speak Thai. This made learning at the KGS shelter more of a challenge, however after morning and evening tutor sessions to learn Thai, Pam now confidently and fluently converses with everyone in the shelter.

“I want to be a Thai teacher when I grow up,” Pam now says in Thai. “I want to teach the children in my village to speak Thai.” Pam adds, “I like staying here. I have many friends, I eat good food, and…I am happy.”

Because of ADRA’s Keep Girls Safe program, numerous girls once at-risk of being forced into the sex trade are now achieving their potential in a safe and nurturing environment.

To learn more about ADRA’s life-changing work, please contact ADRA at 0800 4 999 111 or give online at www.adra.org.nz

Follow ADRA on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest information as it happens.

ADRA is a global non-governmental organization providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

Author:  ADRA Thailand

April 22 will mark Earth Day 2012, a day set aside each year to remind us of our responsibility to protect the rich resources available on our planet that sustain the lives of the world’s estimated 7 billion inhabitants. The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) remains committed to take care of earth’s natural resources, educating and training people to work with it in creative and beneficial ways.

“ADRA recognizes the importance of taking care of the environment and strives to implement environmentally-friendly practices in all of its activities,” said Jozimo Santos Rocha, Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture and Economic Development for ADRA International.

ADRA understands that earth’s resources are essential in supporting people’s livelihoods, fostering that approach through agriculturally friendly projects. In Western Nepal, ADRA is using sustainable agro-based activities to fight against the effects of poverty, increasing food security, and promoting income diversification. ADRA is doing this by increasing income-generating capacities of women through agriculture-related entrepreneurial and vocational classes.

In response to chronic food insecurity and poverty in Ghana’s rural communities, ADRA implemented an integrated food security project using fruit trees that not only provide supplemental food, but in addition provide thick shade that protects the soil from desertification. Citrus, mango, and cashew trees were planted, intercropped with short-term annual staple crops, to provide immediate household food needs, and to enable long-term income generation over 30 years enabling credit repayment. ADRA’s approach to agroforestry, supported by capacity building and market linkages, offered numerous opportunities for sustainable rural livelihood enhancement and poverty reduction.

“Vulnerable farmers are more prone to harm the environment due to destructive agricultural practices. This is due to various reasons, amongst the most common are the imminent need to feed their hungry families, and a lack of knowledge about the environment,” explained Rocha. “Through training and project activities, ADRA not only teaches farmers how to improve their production, but to do so in an environmentally-friendly approach.”

This Earth Day, ADRA encourages everyone to get involved in preserving the natural resources in their own communities and look for ways to be better stewards of these finite resources.

To learn more about ADRA’s humanitarian efforts, please contact ADRA at 0800 4 999 111 or give online at www.adra.org.nz

Follow ADRA on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest information as it happens.

ADRA is a global non-governmental organization providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.nz

Author: Christina Zaiback, ADRA International

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 was not available to parents of children with cognitive disabilities. This was due to limited knowledge and understanding of the condition, and the professional assumption that children with cognitive disabilities do not need permanent and special care, and do not carry a burden in terms of that care.

“When parents who have a child with cognitive disabilities apply for the disabled children’s care allowance, social welfare department officers reject them by saying that their children are normal and they are not eligible for that kind of allowance. But in fact they do require special care,” says Yadmaa, a mother of a child with cognitive disabilities. She adds that, “people generally do not recognize cognitive disabilities unless they have obvious physical limitations, for instance the child is deaf and dumb.”

These issues were discussed during a parents’ meeting group organized by the EACH project staff in partnership with the Association of Parents with Disabled Children (APDC) and the Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor. The project, with its partners, has been conducting a series of policy forums, discussions and lobbying meetings with decision-makers and key stakeholders to resolve these issues.

As a result of these collaborative efforts parents’ now have assistance. A provision has been added in Article 3.1.6 of the Law on Social Welfare to make the home care allowance payable to parents of children with cognitive disabilities. The Article specifies that, “the person or child who needs permanent care”, which means people who are unable to deal with daily needs by his/herself, include an adult or child with a cognitive disability or mental illness. Now parents of children with cognitive disabilities or those children with cognitive disabilities in permanent care will start getting a home care allowance from the government every month according to the new provision of the law.

The EACH project is co-funded by the European Commission and ADRA-UK and implemented by ADRA Mongolia.

To contribute to ADRA’s humanitarian efforts, please contact ADRA at 0800 4 999 111 or give online at www.adra.org.nz

Follow ADRA on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest information as it happens.

ADRA is a global non-governmental organization providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity.

For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org.nz

Author: ADRA Mongolia