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The Salvation Army's international magazine
Citation preview
APRIL–JUNE 2010
VoL 48 No 2
food for thought
Haitifrom
Contents
2 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
same difference
Visit All the World online at:
www.salvationarmy.org/alltheworld
Editor: Kevin Sims
Artwork, illustrations and design: Berni Georges
Editorial Office: The Salvation Army International Headquarters,
101 Queen Victoria Street,
London EC4V 4EH, United Kingdom
Tel: [44] (0)20 7332 0101; fax: [44] (0)20 7332 8079
Email: [email protected]
Founder: William Booth General: Shaw Clifton
Editor-in-Chief: Major Laurie Robertson
Annual subscription from Salvationist Publishing and Supplies
(periodicals), 66-78 Denington Road, Denington Industrial Estate,
Wellingborough, Northants NN8 2QH, United Kingdom
(United Kingdom £3.00, worldwide surface £3.50,
worldwide airmail £4.50). Single copy 40p (UK), or from any
Salvation Army headquarters. Published quarterly
Published by Shaw Clifton, General of The Salvation Army,
and printed in Great Britain by Lithmark Ltd
© The General of The Salvation Army 2010
FOR some reason the earthquake in Haiti
seems to have had less of an effect on the
public than the 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami. I can’t really understand why. The bare
facts and figures – getting on for a quarter of a
million deaths, with hundreds of thousands of
people left homeless and without access to basic
necessities – seem similar but it seems the
tsunami resonated in a way that the Haiti
situation hasn’t.Extreme poverty in Haiti has made this
earthquake into probably the worst
humanitarian disaster of modern times. As the
many agencies and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) look to the long term
they are having to start from scratch because
what existed before the earthquake is not worth
rebuilding.This situation was emphasised by a
colleague who had visited Haiti about six
months before the earthquake and seen how
desperate the situation was even before this
disaster. ‘I heard about the 230,000 deaths,’ she
said, ‘and I thought, “How terrible”. But then I
thought about the conditions facing the people
left and I realised that the ones who were killed
were in many ways the fortunate ones.’
Which takes me back to my earlier point –
why did the Indian Ocean tsunami affect the
public more than the terrible Haiti earthquake?
Unfortunately, the only reasons I can think
of are not good ones. Do people find it worse
when devastation is wreaked on a beautiful
coastline rather than a city that was already
extremely grim? Perhaps worse, did the
tsunami strike a chord because there were so
many tourists affected?
There’s something strange about human
nature that seems to place more value on
people ‘like me’. The national media plays on
this, giving attention to a major disaster in
proportion to the number of its own people
affected.I recall becoming extremely cross on my
journey home from work when I saw a
newspaper headline: ‘British girl, 2, swept to
death’. The girl’s death was a tragedy, no
doubt, but I knew that at least 300 people had
lost their lives in that particular disaster, yet the
only newsworthy part of the story – according
to this paper – was the death of one person ‘like
me’ or like its readers.Perhaps my job means attitudes like this
stick out like a very sore thumb. My aim is to
provide stories and features that people from
anywhere in the world will relate to. As far as
I’m concerned, everyone is ‘like me’, no matter
where they’re from or what their culture is.
I believe I’m in excellent company regarding
this attitude. Jesus, telling the now-familiar
story of the Good Samaritan, made it clear that
loving your neighbour – as instructed in the
Ten Commandments – included loving people
of a different race and a different culture. It’s
like he was saying: ‘Samaritans are people
too.’As you read in this issue of All the World
about The Salvation Army’s work in Haiti, it’s
worth remembering that Haitians are people
too – as are Chileans, Canadians, Moldovans,
Zambians ... you get the message!
– Kevin Sims, Editor
Contents
In the NewsRecent happenings
around the Salvation Army
world
Haiti 1Not just another disaster
Haiti 2Setting up a Salvation
Army camp
Haiti 3A first experience of a
major response
ChileGiving help after an
earthquake and tsunami
CanadaMaking the most of
the Winter Olympics
MoldovaProjects with a biblical
basis
ZambiaReflections on a
change in culture
5
7
12
13
14
16
18
3
(please note new email address)
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 3
in the news
planting seeds of hopefor returning villagersDEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
THE Salvation Army in the Democratic
Republic of Congo is helping people
affected by years of war. Salvation Army
officers and personnel from Goma and
Kinshasa are working with repatriated
families in Masisi and Rutshuru territories
to recommence agricultural activities to
provide food and income to the most
vulnerable people.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has
been at the centre of what has been
described as Africa’s ‘world war’. The
conflict has claimed an estimated
5.4 million lives, either as a direct result
of fighting or because of disease and
malnutrition. It is possibly the worst
emergency to unfold in Africa in recent
decades, although the international
media coverage has been negligible.
The recent signing of an agreement
between some of the warring factions
has brought hope that the country is
entering a time of greater stability. In
some areas, families have begun to
return to their villages and homes to try
to rebuild their lives.
The Salvation Army has trained a team of
20 volunteers and obtained the services
of two agronomists (agronomy is the
science of soil management and crop
production) to live in two villages and
assist 750 repatriated families – around
3,750 people – to increase their
agricultural productivity.
Families are trained and supplied with
seeds and equipment to produce a crop
and encourage sustainability. Priority has
been given to households headed by
women or children.
Working in two teams, each under the
guidance on an agronomist, the
volunteers are trained to help set up
Above: returning villagers and a Salvation
Army officer show their new crops
in the news
‘sitting room will soon needelastic walls’
associations consisting of between 10
and 15 families. These associations will
share their expertise, develop seed
banks, encourage greater representation
and help stimulate income generation
and community development for the long
term.
Each family was given a three-month
supply of beans and rice to sustain them
through the growing season before they
can harvest their first crop.
SIERRA LEONE
A FOUR-BEDROOM apartment is the
first home for The Salvation Army in
Sierra Leone, west Africa, and – in spite
of limited funding and the unreliability of
electricity and water supplies – Captains
John and Rosaline Bundu are full of faith
and enthusiasm for the future.
The captains, officers (ministers) of The
Salvation Army’s Liberia Command, have
returned to their homeland of Sierra
Leone to open the work of The Salvation
Army there.
The first holiness meeting and Bible
study was held in the sitting
room/meeting room of the captains’
apartment, which is big enough for
around 60 people. Lasting three hours, it
was attended by 10 adults and eight
children. A regular Sunday Bible study
and holiness meeting have now been
established and the captains are
engaging in intensive house-to-house
evangelism in the local community. On
continued on page 4
4 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
presentation offers 1.4 billionreasons to end poverty
New Year’s Eve 2009, 39 adults and 16
children attended a special meeting – the
sitting room will soon need elastic walls!
The Bundus are organising prayer
meetings, weekday Bible studies and a
Sunday school, determined to lay a firm
spiritual foundation for the work. In
January three children were dedicated to
God.
When the captains arrived in Sierra
Leone in December 2009 they initially
stayed with family members but within
two weeks they found a suitable place,
which they secured by paying a year’s
rent in advance. The apartment has a
spacious kitchen, pantry, two toilets and
bathrooms.
The Bundus spent a week cleaning,
painting and making the building secure,
Project – it is a great, simple way for us
all to learn why there are still so many
people living in poverty, but also what we
can do to take action and end extreme
poverty once and for all.’
Other speakers at the event included the
Anglican Archbishop of York, Dr John
Sentamu, and Douglas Alexander, the
UK Government’s Secretary of State for
International Development. In addition,
actor Hugh Jackman recorded a special
message showing his support for the
cause in which he stated: ‘It’s time to
re-energise this movement.’
For more information, visit
www.globalpovertyproject.com
as well as reporting to local government
offices to begin the process of obtaining
official registration of The Salvation Army
in Sierra Leone.
On Sunday 20 December 2009 the
Salvation Army flag was flown for the first
time in Sierra Leone as the captains and
their young son marched through the
streets of the capital city, Freetown (see
photo on previous page). This new
opening brought the number of countries
in which The Salvation Army is at work to
119. (Editor’s note: The number has now
increased to 120, with the official opening
of work in Nicaragua.)
In the words of Captain John Bundu:
‘The light is on, the flag is up. We are
moving forward. To God be the glory!’
continued from page 3
Right, from top: making a joyful noise; lively
worship; the captains and congregation members
Speakers at the launch included Hugh Evans
(above) and the Archbishop of York (left)
UK
AN audience of more than 800 people
attended the launch of the Global
Poverty Project’s 1.4 Billion Reasons
presentation at St Paul’s Cathedral,
London, UK. The launch was co-hosted
by The Salvation Army’s International
Development Department of the UK
Territory.
Hugh Evans, chief executive officer of
the Global Poverty Project, appealed to
hearts and minds with the ground-
breaking presentation which – through
words, pictures and film – graphically
illustrated the need to eradicate extreme
poverty.
Hugh urged viewers to look beyond
stereotyped views of trade and aid to
help the 1.4 billion people who are living
on less than US$1.25 per day, claiming
that tackling extreme poverty is ‘this
generation’s greatest challenge’. He
drew attention to the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals and
warned that, despite pledges on the
issue, the global community is in danger
of falling considerably short of the
objectives it hoped to achieve by 2015.
The presentation will be rolled out across
the UK in 2010 to universities, schools,
different faiths and businesses.
The Salvation Army International
Development Department in the UK
Territory is a key faith partner of the
Global Poverty Project. It hopes to
deliver the 1.4 Billion Reasons
presentation throughout the territory in
2010 and beyond.
Graeme Hodge, the department’s
assistant director, said: ‘We are really
proud to be a part of the Global Poverty
in the newsin the news
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 5
Haiti
continued on page 6
Haiti
PREPARING to fly out to Haiti a few
days after the 12 January earthquake,
I was asked whether I was ready and
emotionally prepared for the sights I would
see and the situation I would encounter. My
reply seems rather blasé now – I politely
thanked the enquirer for their care but
reminded them that as an experienced aid
worker I had deployed to earthquake relief
efforts in Turkey, Pakistan and Peru and that
I had seen and experienced it all before.
Arriving in Haiti I quickly discovered
just how wrong I was!
Thankfully, I have never experienced a
major earthquake. I have usually arrived in
the field just days after the event, but
I don’t mind admitting that aftershocks I
have experienced over the years have
frightened me, and that certainly played on
my mind.
It didn’t help that on my first morning in
Port-au Prince we were rudely woken by a
large aftershock which had us jumping
from our beds and running for open ground.
For the next few weeks none of the
team slept soundly – anxiety for the
unpredictable tremor helped me empathise
with those who had survived the horror of
the initial earthquake and who remained too
frightened to sleep inside their homes.
I had expected to be camping in a tent so
our hotel was a pleasant surprise. The
exotically named Coconut Villa had
survived remarkably unscathed –
something which seemed all the more
surprising when confronted by the
completely flattened homes in its
immediate vicinity. The sight of homes
reduced to rubble was not new to me but I
quickly became aware of the extent of the
damage. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004
caused suffering on a huge scale but the
roads, homes and infrastructure just two
miles from the shore had been unaffected.
Haiti was a different situation altogether –
the damage seemed to go on for mile
after mile.
Haiti was impoverished before the
earthquake. Facilities were limited with
everything focused in and around the
capital city of Port-au-Prince. This situation
added to the challenges being faced by aid
agencies.
Port-au-Prince dock was damaged and
inaccessible. The airport was closed to
commercial passenger flights. Aid
agencies, search and rescue teams, United
Nations (UN) personnel and military units
all jostled for the very limited airspace and
tightly controlled landing slots.
Warehouse space was never plentiful but
many buildings had fallen victim to the
quake. Aid agencies had little choice but to
stage incoming relief goods in the open,
fringe areas of the airfield. With limited
space and a shortage of logistical facilities
we found ourselves under pressure to move
goods out immediately.
by Major Cedric Hills
a disaster
Above: a Salvation Army worker with local boys in
Port-au-Prince
HISTORY WILL RECORD the
earthquake that hit Haiti on 12
January 2010 as the most
devastating natural disaster of
modern times. More than 230,000
people are known to have died and
the figure keeps rising. The Salvation
Army reacted swiftly to this huge
disaster and much of this issue of
All the World is devoted to the Army’s
response, as recalled by three
workers coming from very different
perpectives.
Damaris Frick, an experienced
emergency services worker, reports
how The Salvation Army came to
take responsibility for a camp of
20,000 people – the first time in its
history that the Army has taken on
such a task. What she is too modest
to say, as manager of the camp, is
that outside agencies who assessed
the site took away footage of The
Salvation Army’s camp to show
others the good practices in place
there.
For Major Kelly Pontsler, Haiti was
her first experience of a major
disaster. She writes about being
placed into a situation that was totally
unfamiliar but one that she feels she
was meant to be part of.
First, though, Major Cedric Hills – a
former International Emergency
Services Coordinator – reports on his
experiences in Haiti, where even
somebody as experienced as he is
had much to learn.
like no other
Ph
oto
by J
ere
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att
/Th
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alv
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an
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a a
nd
Be
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6 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
HaitiHaiti
The Salvation Army around the world
has developed many positive relationships.
Within North America we are widely
recognised, appreciated and supported. As
we endeavoured to find a way forward in
Haiti we found ourselves giving thanks for
this positive standing in the USA. Senior
officers from the US 82nd Airborne
Division approached us to offer their help.
Their willingness to provide security
support for distributions and essential
logistical assistance with freight at the
airfield came as an answer to prayer.
We were quickly engaged in huge-scale
relief distributions, often with up to
300,000 meals being handed out at each
distribution point. We joked that ‘The
Salvation Army only works in 6 figures’ –
but the support of the
82nd and the efficiency of
the food supply pipeline
created by our colleagues
at the Salvation Army
World Service Office
(SAWSO) in the USA,
made such huge figures
possible. I’ve witnessed Salvation Army
relief operations all around the world but
the scale of our programme in Haiti was
something new.
The enhanced relief activities required a
new approach to management too. For
some years the nine-position
‘Incident Command System’
has been employed as a way
of managing American
domestic emergencies. At an
international level we had
often discussed the virtues of
this structure and Haiti
seemed an ideal operation to
implement it.
The sys tem needed
adapting to suit the needs of a
UN-driven event.
Specifically, we needed
three team members working
full-time to ensure we
attended the various UN
cluster meetings and coordinated properly
with them and our colleague aid agencies.
Logistics specialists were deployed to
the field to ensure the smooth reception and
transmission of relief
commodities. In addition
to the f ield-based
command centre, a
similar centre was
established in The
Salvation Army’s USA
National Headquarters.
Specialists ensured that warehouse
operations operated efficiently, with flights
chartered to get relief supplies to the front
line as smoothly as possible. It was a
reminder to me that those in the field are
only as effective as the team providing the
logistical back-up and supply chain.
As I look back over five long and
demanding weeks in the field I am
immensely proud of the team effort that
resulted in more than 2.5 million meals,
hundreds of pallets of water and thousands
of tents and other relief supplies reaching
the people who so badly needed them.
Having witnessed the Army at work in
Haiti, can I now say I’ve seen it all? Ask me
again next time!
Major Cedric Hills is corps officer at
Portsmouth Citadel in The Salvation
Army’s UK Territory with the Republic
of Ireland
continued from page 5
Those in the field are only as effectiveas the team providingthe logistical back- up and supply chain
a disaster like no other
Above left: Major Cedric Hills helps unload relief
supplies; above right: a Haitian officer translates
at the Salvation Army health clinic; below: military
support was vital in providing security
Ph
oto
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/Th
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alv
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THE night before I left Haiti the
emergency camp’s committee
arranged a surprise farewell party.
They had decorated our camp office and
brought soft drinks and a cake with
‘Je t’aime’ written on it. They had even
brought a tape player and, thanks to the
generator we and our partner organisations
had repaired to provide light for the camp,
we had music and sang and danced happily
along to ‘We are the World’. People from
the camp looked through the window and
the open door, and the whole atmosphere
was cheerful and celebratory.
A few weeks earlier I couldn’t have
imagined a moment like this. The
earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January had
devastated large parts of the country
including its capital, Port-au-Prince. As of
27 January, the Haitian Government was
reporting that 112,392 people had died and
196,501 people had been injured by the
earthquake. But there were still countless
people missing and some estimates put the
death toll as high as 250,000. The number
of displaced people could be as high as
a million.
More than 400 spontaneous settlements
had emerged all over Port-au-Prince. One
of the biggest ones was right next to The
Salvation Army’s divisional headquarters
compound. In fact it was
actually on the Salvation
Army compound because
the wall that used to
separate the compound
from the adjacent football arena was broken
and so the shelters spread onto Salvation
Army land.
Major Lucien Lamartiniere, The
Salvation Army’s divisional commander for
Haiti, had decided against rebuilding the
wall and moving people off the land.
‘These are the people from our community,’
he said. ‘We need to put the signal out that
we are there for them.’
The camp was a mess. More than 3,000
families lived in small makeshift shelters.
There was no water and no sanitation. The
area was covered in all types of debris –
including human waste. Food was in short
supply, people were desperate and all over
Port-au-Prince the situation was tense.
The Salvation Army has
assisted in many emergency
camps all over the world,
working alongside the
Uni t ed Na t ions and
other non-governmental organisations,
usually filling the gaps that ‘bigger’
agencies could not deal with.
Now here we were in Haiti with one of
the biggest camps in the city next door to
our compound while the shelter and camp
management cluster led by IOM
(International Organisation for Migration)
was struggling to find NGOs willing to take
on the role of camp managers. After
consulting my line managers I raised my
hand at the camp coordination and camp
management meeting and The Salvation
Army was officially accepted as the camp
management agency for ‘Place et Parc de
la Paix’.
I had little idea what I had got myself
into but a few days later I was appointed the
camp manager – responsible for an
overcrowded camp that was home to a
We need to put thesignal out that weare there for them
we are the worldby Damaris Frick
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 7
HaitiHaiti
continued on page 8
A young girl carries
food for her family
8 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
HaitiHaiti
yet-to-be-discovered number of people. It
was a scary thought!
We had carried out an initial food
distribution but to do it properly and on a
regular basis we would need exact names
and numbers. Without that information,
how would we ensure we didn’t miss the
most vulnerable people, the ones who were
too old or too weak to push their way to the
front of the crowds that gather when a truck
is spotted?
Young people connected to the local
Salvation Army volunteered and an
assessment team of 40 was trained and then
sent to the camp. In pairs, they walked from
shelter to shelter and registered each family,
giving them a ration card.
At this point these vital cards were
simply Salvation Army envelopes with a
stamp and number so we could tell they
were genuine. In time they would be
replaced by more conventional ration cards
and then laminated cards, of which more
later.
For now, even these envelopes would
enable each family to receive the food or
non-food items they needed. It took the
team nearly a week to register all the people
in the camp.
By the time we finished we had
discovered that 3,216 families – 15,716
individuals – lived in our camp.
The problems in the camp seemed
overwhelming. Food was a priority and we
tried to deal with that immediately.
Healthcare was also vital. Fortunately,
The Salvation Army’s pre-existing mother-
and-child first aid unit on the compound
could be extended to a proper field clinic.
With the help of another medical group
which volunteered to partner with us, more
than 300 patients were treated there every
day.
Under very basic circumstances the local
and international medical staff had to do
surgeries but were also able to assist in
continued from page 7
I literally spent manynights worrying about the
desperate situation
Far left: registration
in the camp office;
left: photos were
taken so that ration
cards could only be
used by the people
they were assigned
to; below right: in
front of the
destruction a small
sign of hope as
goods start to be
sold again; below
left; the first ration
cards were Salvation
Army envelopes;
bottom left: Damaris
Frick uses the
innovative UPS
Trackpad system
we are the world
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 9
giving birth to several beautiful babies. So
that was one need ticked off my list.
But then there was the lack of water and
sanitation, the need for more-durable
shelter, waste removal, protection issues,
children-related issues ... the list of needs
seemed endless. I had meetings with the
camp committee, a group of 10 men and
one woman that had been formed out of
their own initiative in an attempt to deal
with the needs in the camp.
These meetings were intense and the
people were angry and frustrated with the
situation but also with the humanitarian
community. Aid just didn’t seem to get into
the communities fast enough.
My heart felt heavy and my head ached
after these meetings. How do you explain to
continued on page 10
Above: the Salvation Army camp; below:
obtaining water was a priority for the camp
desperate people all the logistical
challenges?
Captain Agnes Wahli, a Swiss Salvation
Army officer, was working in the camp
with me. We spent many nights worrying
about the desperate situation, trying to find
solutions and making plans. Many days we
worked till late at night and sometimes I
even got up in the middle of the night to get
back on my computer because of urgent
thoughts or things to do.
Fortunately we don’t have to do
everything by ourselves. We found really
good partners. Two agencies took on the
responsibilities for water, sanitation, waste
management and hygiene promotion.
Another group wanted to do supplementary
feeding for children. UNICEF (United
Nations Children’s Fund) came and
discussed education topics. Every week we
met with these partner agencies to share the
present situation, the needs and the plans
for the next few days.
And things started to change. After a
short time we had a water supply in the
camp – at least enough to cover the need for
drinking water. By the time I left the first
latrines were under construction, 12 pre-
existing washing facilities were cleaned
and ready to be used, the generator had
been repaired so there was light in the
evenings, a mother-and-child breastfeeding
tent was set up and a child-friendly space
was almost finished.
We added four women to our camp
committee to slowly reach a more gender-
balanced group and installed 10 people
from the camp to keep an eye on security
day and night. We had also received
a donation of a Trackpad barcode
system from the delivery company UPS,
which really helped our distributions and
record-keeping.
The Salvation Army’s logistics officer,
Craig Arnold, an American Salvationist,
was employed by UPS and through him we
established a great relationship with his
company. Not only had they released him
for three weeks to assist in the immediate
disaster relief, they also transported lots of
supplies for free.
A discussion about how to improve the
distribution arrangements led to the idea of
adapting UPS’s Trackpad system –
designed to track parcels – so it could be
used to monitor the families in our camp.
Every family was then invited to
re-register at our camp office. That gave us
the chance to add some more data and also
verify the information for families that had
reported their cards being stolen or lost.
Each family got a new laminated card with
a barcode that could be read by the hand-
held devices supplied by UPS. We took
photos so that we could be sure the person
who turned up at a distribution really was
who they claimed to be.
The new plastic cards replaced the
previous paper ones that broke and got wet
and had to be replaced frequently, taking up
valuable time and energy. With the new
cards it was also much easier to record and
report the data, using a laptop also supplied
by UPS. This was an important step to be
even more accountable to beneficiaries, the
UN cluster and coordination system and
eventually to donors.
With the people from our camp coming
to re-register we got to know them much
better. Behind the huge numbers there were
suddenly all these individuals, all their sad
stories, all the tragedies.
I met Natalie, a 20-year-old who lost two
family members and is now all by herself.
She told us she slept in the camp, on the
floor under a piece of sheet. In spite of all
the safeguards we put in place, it worried
10 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
HaitiHaiti
me to think of a young, pretty girl being
alone in the camp.
Another woman we met was Desilma,
who lost all her belongings and four
members of her immediate family in the
earthquake. With nine other family
members she had made a small makeshift
shelter out of some bed linen. This might
offer at least some privacy but no
protection from the rain. When it rained
Desilma sat on a bucket with her baby on
her lap. Her family was assigned the
number 1121 and with her card she had so
far received food on a weekly basis, a
hygiene kit, a jerry can, a bucket and a
tarpaulin. The tarpaulin would provide at
least some protection against the rain.
Natalie and Desilma were just two of the
thousands of people who came to our office
to get their new cards and have their photos
taken. You can see in the photos (see facing
page) the grief in their eyes.
Over time, our camp became a place
where the UN and other groups came to
visit and bring visitors. Our most famous
visitor was probably Kris Allen, last year’s
winner of the most popular TV show in the
USA, American Idol – although being
slightly ignorant when it comes to shows
like that I had never heard his name before!
His visit lasted an hour but I reckon his
appearance may well have raised awareness
of the ongoing situation in Haiti. If some of
the money raised through his visit goes to
help people in camps like ours then I will
be pleased.
By the time I left Haiti life in the camp
had improved but it was still tough. There
were by no means enough toilets and hardly
any privacy for bathing. We had distributed
tarpaulins to give some protection from the
rain – there was not enough space for
everyone to have tents – but we still had
worries about the upcoming rainy season
and potential flooding. Most people were
continued from page 9
Below left: Damaris Frick (right) and Captain
Agnes Wahli (left) with some members of the
camp committee; below right: a child plays
between the shelters in the camp
we are the world
without livelihoods and had little hope of
returning to their own homes.
Every day brought new challenges. But
every day also brought some small steps in
our attempts to improve the situation, some
tiny rays of hope and a growing friendship
with the committee and the other people we
interacted with.
Singing along to the cheesy song ‘We are
the world, we are the children’ with them at
my farewell party was fun, but it was also a
symbol of people from different parts of the
world uniting in their attempts not to give
up but to make a change. In the many
farewell speeches – one by every member
of the camp committee and the security
team – one person said: ‘Our community is
blessed because we have The Salvation
Army living in the neighbourhood.’
I pray that I and The Salvation Army can
try to carry on acting in the way the Army
has acted in Haiti – not putting up walls or
closing our eyes to the unpleasant and at
times scary situations we see, but being a
radical, life-changing blessing to the people
around us.
Damaris Frick is a member of
The Salvation Army’s International
Emergency Services team
Left: Kris Allen, 2009
winner of ‘American
Idol’, plays with a child
in the Salvation Army
camp; right: putting
faces to the numbers –
some of the thousands
of people registered as
living in the Salvation
Army camp in
Port-au-Prince
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones
who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving ...
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me
From ‘We are the World’ by
Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie
12 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
OUR small nine-seat airplane swayed
back and forth as it descended
through the strong breeze into Port-
au-Prince. It had been a long day of travel
from the USA. As we touched down, the
pilot rolled the plane off the tarmac and onto
a patch of open field.
Stepping down from the small cabin and
into the hot and humid night, I wondered for
a moment what I’d gotten myself into. But
in the next instant I sensed the quiet confi-
dence that this was where I needed to be.
My journey to Haiti had begun a week
earlier. I don’t have the credentials of formal
disaster training, although my service as a
Salvation Army officer has taken me to
many countries. In response to the breaking
news of the earthquake’s destruction, I
would have been content to make my
donation and let others do the hands-on
work. But the Lord had other plans! The
welcome from the team was warm and I felt
quickly at home in the strange surroundings.
As the group met together the next
morning, my own role began to formalise,
with tasks assigned to me relating to
administration, finance and public
information. While the operation of the
disaster response was new to me, organising
and documenting are skills that come pretty
naturally. And so I hit the ground running,
picking up where others had left off.
Viewed from a distance, the
work of any disaster team may
appear to be chaotic and
confused. People seem to be
running in every direction at
once, but it is more like a
complex but well-orchestrated
dance, every element of
movement needing to be in
coordination with all the rest.
And I have to say, the view of the
action from my chair in the
admin office was impressive!
I landed in Port-au-Prince just
two weeks after the 12 January
earthquake. Nerves were raw and
people still in shock. Those who
HaitiHaiti
survived the destruction were still too afraid
to go inside the buildings left standing.
Some of the scenes etched in my mind are
almost beyond description – buildings of
historical importance or national pride now
toppled over or flat as pancakes; the
crowded conditions of the camp near our
property as families of five shared space
enough for one; the stench rising off the
piles of waste as they baked in the hot
Haitian sun; the signs posted everywhere,
saying: ‘We need help’.
Too much to be done, hard decisions to
be made, where do you start? A few days
before my arrival, Lieut-Colonel Danny
Morrow prayed on behalf of the team: ‘Let
us do no harm,’ and it became a focus for
decisions in the days that followed. The
team strategised and solved problems. And
as they did, they ministered God’s grace
with confidence and compassion. By divine
appointment, I was privileged to be a partner
in that process. That was perhaps the most
impressive part of all.
I will remain eternally grateful for my
experience in Haiti. As I boarded the flight
home I was thoroughly exhausted but
content. I’d been where I needed to be!
Major Kelly Pontsler is Divisional
Secretary for Business in the Golden State
Division of The Salvation Army’s USA
Western Territory
where I neededto beby Major Kelly Pontsler
Above: Major Kelly Pontsler with a baby born at the
Salvation Army clinic in Port-au-Prince;
below: Major Lucien Lamartiniere, commander of
The Salvation Army’s Haiti Division, with his family.
Their home was destroyed in the earthquake
Those who survived thedestruction were still too
afraid to go inside thebuildings left standing
Chile
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 13
IN the week after the earthquake, aid was
collected in Santiago. I offered to be part
of the team that took the donations to
Concepción, known as ground zero because
it was the place closest to the epicentre of
the earthquake. We could see clearly the
massive structural damage suffered by the
town.
The plan on our first day, Saturday 6
March, was to offer help in the seaside
town of Dichato but we discovered that the
Navy had sealed the town off because of the
number of bodies and the risk of
contamination.
We returned to our base – the Salvation
Army centre just blocks from ground zero
in Concepción – to receive new
instructions, unload our personal things,
have something to eat and wait for the truck
that was bringing food donations. The truck
was under military guard as there had been
significant looting.
We unloaded the donated goods and kept
watch over them to avoid them being
looted. We put together 800 family
hampers, each one with a kilo of
sugar, salt, a packet of noodles, a
packet of macaroni, a packet of powdered
milk and some hygiene items such as a
toothbrush, toothpaste and soap.
The next day we carried out our first
emergency operation in Caleta Tumbes, a
fishing town on a beautiful bay, which was
devastated by the tsunami. One person told
us the earthquake had caused no damage
but that 30 minutes later the wave arrived,
sweeping everything away.
The place was devastated as the sea had
risen about five metres above its normal
level, taking the wood and brick houses
with it.
We prayed with people and distributed
400 food hampers. A community leader
said there were up to 2,500 people in the
place but that only one aid delivery had
arrived.
There was a desperate need for food and
water. The people also needed detergent
and bleach to clean with, clothing and
shelter. We gave food hampers to those who
were staying on their own property and to
those who were perched on the hillsides,
waiting for the aftershocks to stop and for
the Government to send help so they could
build shelters.
The Salvation Army teams worked to
give strength to the people by distributing
food, praying and showing them that they
were not alone, but that God was with
them.
We helped to clear the rubble from
people’s homes until 3.30 pm, when we
returned to base. A group of volunteers
from Concepción Corps (Salvation Army
church) stayed behind to continue
supporting the families.
The next morning one van left with
people to work in Las Salinas and another
took volunteers to Dichato, which was no
longer under quarantine.
A colleague and I visited several
residential zones in Concepción, finding
that many of our neighbours’ houses had
been flattened and they were having
problems getting help to remove the rubble.
We gave out hampers and told Major Carlos
Aguilar – corps officer (minister) at
Concepción – what we had seen so he could
form a team of volunteers to help these
people.
The volunteers who had gone to Las
Salinas returned to report that the town was
devastated.
Those who went to Dichato said the
community of 3,500 inhabitants was very
organised but that it was the most
devastated place they had seen, almost as
though an atomic bomb had been dropped.
Most people were living in camps and,
while they had received food from other
organisations, they needed medicines. The
volunteers dedicated their time to cleaning
the camps and talking with families.
It was decided that the group from
Santiago would concentrate on Dichato,
while the people from Concepción will go
to help another community.
Now my group will focus on Dichato,
supporting this large group of people who
became homeless in an instant.
scenes of devastation
Chile
After an earthquake and tsunami caused devastation in Chile,
Tamara Sepulveda volunteered to help The Salvation Army, along
with her university friend Mariela Alarcon, a Salvationist. Tamara ended
up travelling to Concepción and saw some of the places that had been
worst hit by the disaster, as she reports here:
It was almost as though anatomic bomb had been dropped
Left: Salvationists working to
clear debris pray with local people
in a tsunami-hit community
SPECIAL OFFER SPECIAL OFFER SPECI
Canada
14 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
There’s a Boy Here‘When God made John Gowans he threw away the
mould,’ writes Retired General John Larsson of the subject
of There’s a Boy Here, the autobiography of the man who
led The Salvation Army from 1999-2002.
The book gives a unique insight into the background, life
and thoughts of Retired General Gowans, from his childhood
in northern England through to officership, on to his writing
of Salvation Army musicals and then to leadership in the
movement in France, the UK and the USA – right up to
holding the Army’s highest office of all.
To order copies at the special price of £3.50 including post
and packing (usually £4.95), send a cheque made out to
‘The Salvation Army’ to: Communications Section, The
Salvation Army International Headquarters, 101 Queen
Victoria Street, London EC4V 4EH, United Kingdom. Please
be sure to include your name and address. There’s a Boy
Here is also available from territorial trade departments and
on amazon.co.uk. Prices may vary.
SALVATION Army volunteers in Vancouver, Canada, served
more than 600,000 free cups of hot chocolate and coffee to
spectators, vistors and residents during the 2010 Winter
Olympics and Paralympic Games. This was just part of The Salvation
Army’s work in association with the organisation More Than Gold,
which promotes the Christian faith to the large number of people
who gather at events such as the winter and summer Olympics and
the soccer world cup.
The Vancouver Sun reported: ‘The 2,000 volunteers are mostly
locals with some teams from other parts of North America and
Europe. They can be seen serving coffee and hot chocolate at
TransLink stations, Vanoc bus depots and wherever crowds are
gathering.’
Local police commended Salvation Army volunteers, saying that
the offer of free drinks had a positive impact in crowded areas,
taking the edge off any potential problems.
Throughout the Olympics, the drop-in centre at The Salvation
Army’s Vancouver Harbour Light – a centre for the homeless –
hosted guests from the downtown eastside area of the city, many of
whom enjoyed watching the games on a 65-inch big-screen TV in a
home-like environment. The drop-in centre was decorated with a
Team Canada theme and guests could enjoy snacks and
refreshments, and even some live entertainment from local
musicians.
Kecia Fossen, who works for The Salvation Army at Vancouver
Harbour Light, thinks it’s significant that The Salvation Army
provided a place for the homeless community of the downtown
eastside to celebrate the games.
‘It’s so nice. Rather than being told they need to feel a certain
way about the Olympics, they can at least have the opportunity to
participate in enjoying the games and the Canadian pride taking
place in our city.’
The Salvation Army provided free Olympic big-screen viewings
in other Metro Vancouver communities as well, including in North
Vancouver, South Vancouver and Burnaby.
For more information on The Salvation Army’s work at the
2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, go to
www.saolympics.com. Information on the More Than Gold
programme can be found at www.morethangold.ca
more than sport
£3.50SAVE £1.45
INCLUDING POSTAGE & PACKING
Canada
Publicising More Than Gold on a parade through Vancouver
Moldova
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 15
THE Republic of Moldova, one of the
countries of the former Russian
Federation, is the poorest country of
Europe. More than 70 per cent of its
inhabitants live under the poverty line.
Outside the larger cities people have no
electricity and they still have to go to a
public well to get water. Carts and horses are
a common sight but there are few cars. For
someone from one of Europe’s richer
countries, a visit to Moldova is like a trip
into the past.
In 1994 The Salvation Army started its
work in Moldova, where it is now growing
faster than in any other country of the
Eastern Europe Territory.
An hour’s drive from the capital,
Chisinau, on roads which are badly effected
by the cold winter weather, is Rusca Prison.
Almost 300 women are imprisoned here.
For many of them freedom is many years
away, but together with The Salvation
Army they work at improving their future.
Most of the buildings of the prison were
built before the Second World War and
need to be replaced. The building in which
the women live, however, is more modern.
The rooms for two, four or six women don’t
look like prison cells and are shared by
women of a similar age. The youngest
inmate is 16, the oldest over 70. Sentences
vary but the woman with the longest
sentence is only halfway through the 25
years she must serve.
The regime is particularly tough during
the first six to nine months of a sentence.
During this period the women have to stay
in their room on the ground floor almost
constantly. Twice a day they are allowed
out for an hour, to take in some fresh air in
a cage behind the building.
After those first months the rules are not
so strict. The women move to another floor
and can take part in work programmes,
making uniforms for prison guards and
customs personnel for instance. They can
grow grain, bake bread or cook the meals.
Those who adhere to the rules and work
hard will have their sentence shortened by
up to 45 days. It motivates the women to be
busy during the day and to get used to a
certain kind of discipline.
For a few years they have also been able
to have computer lessons, which are given
by Salvation Army personnel. Once a week
there are two classes for 20 women, one in
the morning and the other in the afternoon.
At lunchtime the Army also provides a
meal and gives the women an opportunity
to talk about the God who can change
their lives.
The women share their thoughts with
Salvationist Anna Stasiuc, who coordinates
the work and prepares the meal.
Change can be seen and heard in the
stories of some of the prisoners. Twenty-
six-year-old Elena* is four years into a
nine-year sentence. She suffers from
examples of faith
‘Then the King will say ... “Come,
you who are blessed by my Father;
take your inheritance, the Kingdom
prepared for you since the creation
of the world ... I was sick and
you looked after me, I was in
prison and you came to visit me ...
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for
one of the least of these brothers
and sisters of mine, you did for me.”’
Excerpts from Matthew 25:31-40
Today’s New International Version
Elena threw a knife at hermother-in-law and killed her
and loveWords and photos by
Ruud Tinga
continued on page 16
Moldova
A guard from Rusca Prison talks with Anna Stasiuc – coordinator
of the Salvation Army work in the prison – and Major Vivien
Callendar. The major and her husband, Major Ian Callendar, are
leaders of The Salvation Army’s Moldova Division
*Not her real name
16 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
depression and has had difficulty
controlling her emotions. She is in prison
because, during an argument, Elena threw a
knife at her mother-in-law and killed her.
To make matters worse, while Elena was
in prison her father had a fight with her
husband, hitting him so hard that he died
from his injuries. Her mother now looks
after Elena’s six-year-old daughter.
Elena is seeing a psychologist but she
believes her new-found faith will make an
even bigger difference. ‘I know that I still
have many years to go before I get out,’ she
says, ‘but this computer course run by The
Salvation Army will help me to get a better
future. It will be easier to find a job after I
am released.
‘I started reading the Bible and that gives
me peace of mind. My faith in Jesus Christ
gives me the power to go through this
punishment for what I have done wrong. It
is not easy, but I accepted that I have to stay
here for another five years.’
Next to Elena sits 50-year-old Janka*,
who has completed half of her 12-year
sentence. She explains that some so-called
friends asked her to collect money. ‘I was
too naive to realise what I was doing,’ she
says. ‘I had no idea that I was involved in
human trafficking. I gave that money to my
“friends”, who disappeared. Then the
people who gave me the money wanted to
know what had happened. I was stupid – I
should have known better.’
What hurts Janka most is that she has not
seen her children for years. Her son and
daughter were 13 and 15 when she was
imprisoned. ‘When I was arrested,’ she
says, ‘I lost my house so my children had to
live on the streets. There was nobody who
could take care of them. As far as I know
they still are still homeless and I do not
know if they are all right.’
Anna and the Salvation Army workers
who go to the prison have promised they
will look for Janka’s children and ask them
to get in touch with her. This promise eases
the pain a little, but Janka admits that she
still worries about her children. ‘I feel that I
failed as a mother. I ask God and my
children to forgive me because I could not
live up to their expectations.’
‘Although the regime is not very hard,’
says Anna, ‘it still is a prison. The women
do not always want to talk about their
personal feelings. The little attention I give
along with my testimony
about what God means to me
and how he can change
people’s lives give them
confidence that they are not
written off.’
EVERY Saturday, Salvationists Nicolae
and Tatjana Caraman depart for one of
the many small villages in the Moldovan
countryside where time seems to have stood
still. Medical care is unknown to most
villagers. When they need it, they cannot
afford it. According to Nicolae there are
1,600 villages and medical care is available
in only 600.
That leaves 1,000 villages – and
hundreds of thousands of people – whose
only opportunity for healthcare lies with
organisations like The Salvation Army
and the dedication of people like the
Caramans, both of whom are medical
doctors.
During the week Doctor Nicolae runs a
Salvation Army clinic in the capital,
Chisinau. The Salvation Army has also set
up a mobile medical programme which sees
Doctor Nicolae and his team of doctors and
nurses visit various villages. Each village is
visited every six months and while this
seems less than ideal the Salvation Army
MoldovaMoldova
continued from page 15
Top left: inmates enjoy the meal
provided by The Salvation Army;
above left: Anna Stasiuc teaches
computer skills; right: a doctor
examines a woman’s eyes for
signs of disease
examples of faith and love
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 17
team offers the only healthcare the villagers
will receive.
On a bitterly cold morning people gather
at the derelict town hall in Clisova. One of
the nurses puts the Salvation Army sign
outside and four offices become a clinic.
Four doctors will examine the people today.
The medical instruments they use are
outdated but still do the job.
The eye doctor changes the lenses in the
old-fashioned frame. One of his colleagues
takes the blood pressure of a woman. In the
same office Doctor Nicolae explains to a
16-year-old girl how a hearing aid works. It
is a model that was used in more-developed
countries more than 30 years ago. He puts
an earpiece in her left ear and then one in
her right ear. The girl’s face lights up – she
can hear!
Dr Tatjana Caraman examines a 15-year-
old girl who has been diagnosed with breast
cancer. To buy the girl’s medication, her
father sold a cow, which was – to them –
worth a fortune. But Dr Tatjana has a
difficult message to tell the girl and her
parents, who also have health problems. The
medication did not work and the only
solution is an operation in Chisinau. ‘My
husband will do everything he can to get you
into a hospital,’ she tells the girl, explaining
to her parents: ‘If your daughter does not get
this operation, she will die.’
The doctor sees the devastation in their
eyes and leans on her faith to provide words
of comfort. ‘God will help you and keep
you,’ she says. All she can do is tell them
once again that Dr Nicolae will make sure
the girl gets the surgery she needs – free of
charge.
A woman comes in with her 13-year-old
grandson, who has mental problems. She
explains that she cannot pay for the
medication he needs. His parents work in
Italy and, although they send money on a
regular basis, it is not enough for the drugs
to keep him calm. To her relief, Doctor
Nicolae is able to prescribe the medication
the boy needs.
Because it will be at least four and maybe
up to six months before the medical team
returns to this village, patients such as this
boy leave the temporary clinic with a bag
full of medication. There is no charge,
because these poor people only earn the
equivalent of £30 to £50 a week. The cost of
their medicine would sometimes be more
than they would earn in a year.
Second-hand crutches and wheelchairs
are also distributed.
While the clinic is running the corps
officer (minister) and Salvationists from one
of the larger cities organise a programme for
young people. They sing Christian songs,
play together and listen to a Bible story.
Parents are also welcome to join in. All of
the children go home with toys. Smiling and
happy faces all around!
Later that day Doctor Nicolae makes
home visits to patients who cannot get to the
town hall. One visit is to an elderly woman
who can hardly walk because she did not get
enough vitamins when she was young. Her
legs are bent and she needs ongoing
physiotherapy.
‘My dream is to open a physiotherapy
centre where we can treat people like this,’
says the doctor. ‘A place where they can stay
for a while and where we can improve their
quality of life.’ He does what he can but he
knows that it is not enough, because some
of the patients he has seen today need
medical treatment more often than once
every four or six months.
When it gets dark, the people head back
home, maybe to a place without heating or
electricity. At least something good has
happened in their village today.
MoldovaMoldova
To buy the medication,the girl’s father sold acow, which was – tothem – worth a fortune
Left: Dr Tatjana Caraman speaks to an
elderly patient; below: Dr Nicolae Caraman
fills out a prescription
18 ALL THE WORLD APRIL–JUNE 2010
Zambia
AFRICA was the last place I
imagined I would visit. It certainly
wasn’t on the list of places to travel
in my retirement!
It has been said that once you commit
yourself to a trip such as mine, your life will
change forever. This has been true of my
experience in Zambia.
My journey began with a request from a
former soldier of Tuggeranong Corps
(church) in Australia, Anthony Watson, who
is stationed on The Salvation Army’s
Chikankata compound. He needed a
volunteer to assist him. I only had a vague
idea of the place, knowing officers who had
served there, but I’m retired and have time
on my hands so, after discussing the trip
with family and friends, I was on my way.
The experience was very rewarding,
especially after I became accustomed to the
cold showers, power cuts, limited food and
mosquito nets. But hey, what did I expect? I
came to realise time and again how fortunate
we are in Australia with comfortable homes,
cars and easy transport.
Chikankata has an amazing history. It was
set up by The Salvation Army in 1928 and
since then has had a prominent presence in
Zambia as a hospital with supporting health
services, high school for 800 students and
five corps (churches).
Serving a population of more than
90,000, the hospital strives to support the
sick in tuberculosis, HIV, children’s,
intensive care and general wards with a team
of dedicated staff. However, it is always
struggling with a lack of funds for vital
equipment.
Through funds supplied by my friends
and Tuggeranong Corps I was able to
purchase much-needed medical equipment
and plaster of Paris, and to give toys,
clothes, shoes and stationery to the patients.
My main role was to supervise projects
and staff at the Chikankata Development
Programme. This included buying 100
laying hens paid for by Tuggeranong Corps
and purchasing – with funds donated from
the United States – five large white pigs for
meat production. I have recently been told
that one of the sows has given birth to five
piglets.
The major task, though, was rebuilding a
number of huts, showers and a toilet block
with funds supplied by Salvo Stores in
Melbourne. These huts, made of mud brick
with thatched roofs, will be used by visiting
groups to Chikankata to enable them to
experience living the Zambian way.
A personal highlight for me was
travelling with the nursing staff to rural
clinics. I watched as more than 120 mothers
and children, walking up to five kilometres
under the hot summer sun, attended a pre-
and post-natal clinic. It was intriguing to
watch the babies being weighed on scales
attached to a branch of a tree.
In 2009 Peter Trick – a Salvationist from Canberra, Australia – spent
three months as a volunteer at The Salvation Army’s Chikankata Mission
Hospital in Zambia. He wrote about his experiences for the Australian
Eastern Territory’s publication Pipeline, which has given permission for
the article to be reprinted here:
to Zambia with love
Zambia
to Zambia with love
Above: Zambian children receive
gifts from Peter Trick
APRIL–JUNE 2010 ALL THE WORLD 19
I was challenged while visiting one of
these villages – Godson Farm – and seeing
the abject poverty. It broke my heart. This
farm, once a flourishing coffee plantation
with full employment, was recently closed,
leaving many people out of work. The
people are really suffering – little food,
clothing and home comforts – yet they are
still happy! I took three tennis balls with me
and such fun was had playing ball with the
children.
I was so challenged by what I saw that I
went back to the village with bags of
clothing to try and help but was besieged by
hundreds of people in want. There was a
crushing riot with small children in danger
of being trampled. Even if a container-load
of material were sent it would not be
enough.
During my stay at Chikankata, a 14-year-
old boy was abandoned at the hospital by his
family. He tested HIV-positive. Children are
also brought to the hospital with burns,
malaria and malnutrition. One poor child of
eight was diagnosed with tetanus and died
the following morning as there was no life-
saving vaccine available to save her.
A special lady at my corps had knitted
toys that we were able to distribute to the
very ill children in the wards. I was so
appreciative of this support from home.
On the positive side, The Salvation Army
in Zambia is thriving and there are more
than 23,000 senior soldiers. Eight thousand
attended the territorial congress, led by
General Shaw Clifton and Commissioner
Helen Clifton, which was held while I was
there.
I also had the pleasure of worshipping at
the main corps in Chikankata, which is led
by an American officer, Major Beryl Pierce.
It is a thriving corps with a small brass band,
rhythm group and many different singing
groups, a huge junior soldiers’ group,
guards, scouts and home leagues. I found
God’s Spirit so strong and alive in these long
meetings which included testimonies,
prayers and songs. There were so many
young, faithful people alive for Christ.
One of the special spiritual highlights
each Sunday evening was visiting the
nurses’ chapel and enjoying the a cappella
singing from the students and nurses and the
wonderful songs – eight or so from the
Salvation Army song book –
being sung so harmoniously.
The gripping sermons given
by the students also provided
much blessing.
I met so many people
without shoes, so in an act of
compassion I commenced a
project to seek out people
who didn’t have any
footwear. For only Aus$3 I
was able to purchase new
shoes for them.
One officer I met had
walked 28 kilometres to a
meeting at Chikankata as he
had no form of transport. I
was able to give him donated
money so he could buy a bicycle to ride
when he visits his congregation. It was a
humbling, wonderful experience for me that
he rode the 56-kilometre round trip to say
goodbye.
So many of these poor people did not
speak English yet the joy and gratitude
expressed by their beautiful smiles – and the
special thank-you Zambian hand claps – was
so overwhelming. I also was able to pass on
clothing and shoes that had been supplied
from friends in Australia.
I experienced many joys and times of
sadness during my three months in Zambia,
with many heart-lifting and soul-warming
moments. It was a God-glorifying time in a
special part of his Kingdom. I feel truly
blessed by being asked to go to Chikankata
and I would certainly return if there were
future projects for me to undertake.
I am also truly thankful for the support I
have received from Tuggeranong Corps and
friends. I pray that in a small way I was able
to make an impression and give hope to
someone at Chikankata.
One officer I met hadwalked 28 kilometres
to a meeting atChikankata as he hadno form of transport
ZambiaZambia
Top right: a parade of flags at the
Zambia Territorial Congress;
above right: Peter Trick plays
with the territorial band at the
congress; left: a Zambian officer
with his new bicycle
It’s not just a packet of rice.
It’s not simply food.
It’s not merely a handout.
It’s not only a source of nutrition.
It’s a sign someone cares.
It’s ‘You’re not forgotten’ wrapped in plastic.
It’s thousands of grains of ‘God loves you’.
It’s heart to God and hand to man.
It’s the gospel preached without words.
It’s not just a packet of rice.
Kevin Sims
‘PrEACh ThE GOSPEL AT ALL TImES. USE wOrDS If NECESSAry.’
This quotation is often attributed to francis of Assisi but modern scholars can find norecord of it within 200 years of his death. what is clear, however, is that its messagealigns itself well with the thoughts of the man who told his followers, ‘Let all thebrothers ... preach by their deeds.’
The packet of rice, dried vegetables and chicken flavouring pictured on the cover of All the World – put together by Numana for the Salvation Army world Service Office(SAwSO) – certainly fulfils francis’s ideal. It contains a meal for five people and isidentical to many hundreds of thousands of packets given out by The Salvation Army in haiti. It also has words of advice and encouragement in English and haitian Creole.
for more than 20,000 people helped by The Salvation Army in haiti these meals havebeen the difference between life and death. But for people who wondered if the worldcared or even knew they existed, these packets have been far more than just food.
Message
in
a
packet