Category: CEDAR Blog

Let Indian Voice Their Right to Information: Christian Group Bridges Government and Villagers

Banner image: CEDAR’s partner EFICOR formed and supported the Disaster Management Committees(DMC) in 15 villages of Hasanpur block of India. DMC mmember Mr. Buchi Thakur (centre) is helping women, widows, old people, and people with disability in his village to access pension and other government entitlements When confronting natural disasters, impoverished people are often the most vulnerable group. It is especially difficult for them to cope with disasters due to a lack of resources and knowledge, resulted from limited education. Although public resources are available, they may not be aware of it and do not know how to access. CEDAR’s partner organisation in India has witnessed the difficulties of poor people in obtaining information and government assistance. India,

The Church Playing a Part in DRR Work is Most Effective and Sustainable

Banner image: A PADR facilitator (first right) is explaining a ploughing method Stanley Enock Hanya is the Coordinator of Church and Community Mobilisation projects at Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), which is one of the biggest evangelical alliances in Zimbabwe. He hopes to equip faith leaders in churches to teach their congregation to facilitate community development based on biblical principles. Written by: Stanley Enock Hanya (Church and Community Mobilisation Coordinator, EFZ) The EFZ embarked on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) after calls for relief from previous project communities that had been affected by 2015/2016 El Niño induced drought. Realising that disaster response was not sustainable, the organisation began to intently look at the word of God for inspiration on issues of disaster prevention. It

CEDAR Fund & Integral Alliance Continues to Walk with the Rohingyas

Since a renewed outbreak of conflict in Rakhine State of Myanmar in August 2017, another 702,000 Rohingya refugees arrived at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh; increasing the total refugee population to 915,000. Approximately, 1.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the area. CEDAR and other Integral Alliance(IA) members have been responding to the situation by not only providing support to the Rohingya refugees, but also assisting the host communities. CEDAR has allocated funds to support Tearfund Bangladesh and the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB) to install facilities like latrines, tube wells, solar light systems; distribute items such as cooking stoves and mosquito nets; and set up Child Friendly Spaces for children and youth to learn.

Wish Them Health!

Banner image: 40-day-old Muhammad was carried by his cousin to the Mother and Child Healthcare Centre for check up According to UNICEF, neonatal mortality rate stands at 46 deaths per 1,000 births, and 81 in every 1,000 children do not live past their 5th birthday in Pakistan. 178 of every 100,000 pregnant mothers die during or after delivery. These numbers tell us that surviving and living healthily is a challenge to Pakistani children and mothers. Kohistan is one of Pakistan’s most impoverished districts. While it is highly vulnerable to disasters such as earthquake and flooding, residents are vulnerable to disease, chronic malnourishment, and health complications due to the remoteness of the region and lack of proximate or adequate health

Saving One is One

Banner image: Our partner worker carried a 12-week-old embryo baby model to deliver the message of “priceless life” to women who were preparing for abortion in the hospital. Abortion, a bloody noun. According to the interpretation of Wikipedia, abortion, also known as miscarriage or induced abortion, is the ending of pregnancy by removing an embryo or fetus before it can survive outside the uterus. Under the influence of one child policy, millions of women and mothers undergo abortion or sterilisation every year. The Chinese official report pointed out 13 million cases of abortion annually. When this announcement was still hovering around the ears, some US human rights organisations already felt unacceptable and claimed that the actual number is

Why is Reconciliation Important?

Whenever we talk about reconciliation, we always think of our good partner in Zimbabwe, Foundations for Farming (FfF). We are honoured to have Brian, their founder, to share with us the power of reconciliation and forgiveness through his journey on founding FfF. Written by: Brian Oldreive (Founder of Foundations for Farming) Over the years, we in Foundations for Farming (FfF) have learnt the importance of reconciliation and unity. It all began when I had failed miserably using the world’s conventional farming methods. This caused me to seek the Lord to show me how to farm His way, and He very graciously allowed that farm to prosper until it became one of the largest crop growing operations in Africa. In

The Ever-Roving Lisu

One might readily connect words like “refugees” and “war” to the Syrians, the Rohingya people, or the South Sudanese. In fact, besides the Rohingya refugee crisis in Rakhine State of Myanmar, another 200,000 people in the country were forced to be internally displaced from Kachin State in the north, Shan State in north-east, and Kayin State in south-east due to unceasing armed conflicts. The United Nations estimated that close to 172,000 individuals in these three states need humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, humanitarian effort is limited due to safety concern or inaccessibility in non-government-controlled areas. We have been helping the displaced Lisu people in Kachin State since mid-2017 through our partnership with the Kachin Lisu Christian Council. Lisu people whose village was destroyed or whose communities became unsafe due to

Week 4: When The Drought Hits…

In the past two weeks, we have examined two farming methods that could help restore the land. However, the nature is not always men’s ally. When abnormal weather happens, what could impoverished farmers do to help themselves? Drought is a frequent occurrence in central India where climate changes have caused great damages to the local farmers due to scarcity of rains. Climate change is one of the factors that drives farmers into a corner. In 2015 alone, there were over 12,000 farmer suicide cases due to severe financial difficulties in India [1]. Our partner in India, EFICOR, said countless farmers and their families suffered from hunger, and were forced to sell their livestock, or leave their hometowns in the hope

Week 3: Every Creeping Things on Earth

Did you know that the tiny creatures living in the soil are beneficial to plants? We learned about the ecosystem within the soil from our partner in Zimbabwe, Foundations for Farming (FfF). FfF has been teaching impoverished and marginalised farmers to look at the God’s creation at a micro level—there are lots of organic matter in soil, such as snails, ants, earthworms, and bacterium that improve soil fertility, and as they move, they help create channels for better infiltration of water and air. However, ploughing and digging in conventional farming often hamper their growth, which in turn hardens the soil over time and ultimately leads to the loss of water and nutrients. Mulching is the

TV Programmes That Could Benefit Children across the Middle East

Christianity was born in the Middle East, a region rich in culture, history, yet also, full of turbulence and persecution. SAT-7 is a Christian media network, making God’s love visible across the Middle East and North Africa through uncensored satellite television programme. Satellite television effectively break the barriers of religions, literacy, and censorship, making SAT-7’s programmes available to be broadcast across the Middle East and North Africa and accessible online internationally. CEDAR is supporting SAT-7’s new channel – SAT-7 Academy (launched in September). The channel produces holistic programmes, covering topics like education, health, and social development, for 6 million refugee and internally displaced children, and 15 million people who did not have access to proper education in the