TEAR Correspondent June

Story and picture by Helen Manson

Anowara is one of the people I’ve met whom I’ll never forget. She lives in Bangladesh. Her country

teems with colour, noise, lights, and a constant sea of humanity. Anowara came from a very poor family in Pat Swail Village, Natore, Bangladesh. At the tender age of 10, her parents paid a huge dowry and married her to a man in his early 20s. Scared and in a new village, she settled into married life as best as she could before discovering a few of her husband’s undesirable habits. He cheated on her with another woman, and became a father. Anowara made the life-changing decision to divorce.

In Anowara’s culture, divorce has implications that have reverberated throughout her life. Primarily, it meant that she would never be able to get married again, but what’s more heart-breaking, is that she will never have children. Returning to her parent’s home empty-handed, ashamed and embarrassed, she was sent to work in the nearby fields earning $NZ1 a day. She continued in this back-breaking work for 15 years.

After the death of her parents, Anowara decided to use her meagre inheritance to

run for her local council. She undertook a minor electoral campaign and won. Over time, Anowara was put in charge of the social welfare department for her village and the surrounding community. She made sure she employed hard-working women in council jobs like road works, and for 10 years she provided emergency food distribution.

One day a Koinonia microenterprise loan officer came to her village. Koinionia is the local partner TEAR Fund works with in Bangladesh. In a nutshell, Koinonia works with 38,000 of the poorest women in Bangladesh to help them start small businesses. By backing budding entrepreneurs, we encourage them to use their skills and talents to work their way out of poverty. In countries such as Bangladesh, it’s often really difficult for the poor to get a loan as they have no collateral. Giving them access to a fair-credit loan means they can support themselves and their family, and in turn, repay the loan so others can do the same. I believe it’s an effective weapon in the war against poverty.

But back to Anowara. Seen as an upstanding, respectable woman in her community, the loan officer asked if she’d like to gather a group of women who could benefit from a small loan. About 15

women joined and the group sprang into action. Loans were drawn for rice fields, vegetable gardens, three-wheeler bikes, house repairs, sewing machines and fish farms, and the group began to thrive.

Anowara took a loan for training. The thick accent of the interpreter I was with, meant I thought she said she trained to become a ‘bath attendant’. Confused because there are no baths and thinking why would you need someone to watch you have a bath; I finally realised she was saying birth attendant.

Anowara told me the reason she wanted to become a midwife was that she loved children and had noticed that mothers in her community were having difficulties in childbirth, and she wanted to help them. Over the years, Anowara has delivered over 320 babies.

The thing I love most about Anowara is her generous heart. When Anowara sees another in poverty—a position she is all too familiar with—she does not charge for her professional services. Instead, the family will give her a sari.

I asked Anowara to take me inside her humble home to show me just how many saris she had received over the years. Stashed inside her only wardrobe, were more saris than I dared to count. How many babies owe their lives to her in

exchange for a sari, I will never know. But I know that in this remote village, there is a lady who embodies what the Psalmist spoke of when he said: “They lavish gifts on the poor—a generosity that goes on and on and on. An honoured life! A beautiful life!” Paying it forward, personified.

Anowara is one of those people that humble you with their zest for life despite the hardships she has borne. As if her life story isn’t enough, Anowara suffers a heart problem. She is no longer able to travel as far or work as hard as she once did to deliver children. Yet her warm hands and her gentle smile still clutch mine with a knowing look that says she’ll be okay. These children are her legacy; her God is by her side, and when he calls her home, I know she’ll exchange her beautiful saris for a lifetime of colour in heaven.

TEARFUND.ORG.NZ ISSUE / JUNE 2013

STUDYIMPACT OF CHILD SPONSORSHIP PAGE 10

SAFE?PROTECTING AFGHAN CIVILIANS PAGE 7

SYRIATHE FORGOTTEN WAR PAGE 5

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • [email protected] • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

• Pray that Koinonia’s generous work would continue to transform lives as it has for Anowara.

• Pray for the betterment of people’s lives in Bangladesh as many groups work for basic human rights to be upheld.

PRAY

PAID IT FORWARD: Anowara Begum’s life was radically transformed by a microenterprise loan.

LAVISH GENEROSITY AMONG THE POOR

2 | TEAR CORRESPONDENT


Almighty Father, giver of all that is good,

We recognise you have been open-handed with

us—gifting us all you have created so that we may

use it for our enjoyment of life and for your purposes.

Give us hearts that recognise your generosity

and overflow with the motivation to pay it

forward because you were first generous to us.

Sacrificial Son, you so willingly gave yourself,

May we be part of the chain of generosity

you established on the cross. Through us,

through TEAR Fund and its partners who work

tirelessly in communities that need your justice,

may we see your example paid forward for the

benefit of those who long to step into life as you

intended it to be.

May those in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and

Cambodia we wish to support through the Pay

it Forward campaign, know the value they have because of the generosity

of others, and in turn, may they be expressions

of your generosity in their own communities.

Holy Spirit, who gives us the gift of free grace,

Our prayer is that your character may be known through the lives of your people whom you inspire for your work every day.

You are active, expressing the generosity of God at all times. May a world

so starved of generosity, experience something of it, and in so doing, be inspired to pay that

forward to those around them who need a glimpse

of you.

May you be glorified as we all pay it forward.

Amen

INSIDE OUTThis magazine has been at the top

of my reading list for some years now. It challenges my perspective

on poverty and calls me to action as I reflect on the courage, the perseverance and the innovation of TEAR Fund’s remarkable partners around the globe. This edition is no exception. From Afghanistan to Bangladesh to Cambodia we consider again what it will take to put families on a sound financial footing as we commence our Pay It Forward campaign. If only it were as easy as starting a bank for the poor. It’s not. From the uncertainties of war in Afghanistan—as our troops pull out—to the reckless construction of Bangladesh’s sweat shops our communities face huge hurdles in both making a living and keeping themselves and their livelihoods secure.

Kevin’s reflections (Page 7) on the entwined world of troops and aid workers in Afghanistan is a good inside

look at the challenges TEAR Fund faces navigating the space between security and development. Murray’s look at innovative social enterprises at home, challenges the space between private enterprise and social good.

The Pay it Forward campaign gets to the point and asks you to join us in contributing from your abundance, even as others contribute from their relative poverty. Like the poor woman at the temple in Luke 21, we have a story of Zalmay, in Afghanistan (page 4), who feels blessed enough from a livestock programme to gift the offspring of his only heifer so that another family can also benefit. This is no random act of kindness; it’s the calculated actions of a man who wants his whole community to prosper, whatever the uncertainty. Please join us and Zalmay, embracing the uncertainty, and acting anyway because together with prayer this just may tip the scales in his favour.

PICTURE / SERVEPAY IT FORWARD: TEAR Fund’s microenterprise programmes are helping to improve household incomes in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

By Keith Ramsay

Pay it Forward is about giving people in developing countries a financial hand up for their

families. We are challenging TEAR Fund supporters to pay forward the good fortune they enjoy from simply living in a privileged part of the world, where they have the resources to live comfortably and can access credit to create a business. A small microenterprise loan can be the starting point to economic empowerment and participation in the local economy for those living in the developing world.

The phrase Pay it Forward was popularised in 2000 through a novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde and the movie by the same name, but the phrase and the concept date back further. The basic premise in the story is that school pupils are challenged to do three good deeds for others in response to a good deed done to them. The ripples from this can create a movement that spreads good deeds exponentially making the world a better place. One could even say that there is a biblical message in

this as it is about loving your neighbour as yourself; to give without expecting something in return from the recipient of your good deed. The message is essentially: “Together we can change the world, one good deed at a time.”

Pay it Forward is supporting projects in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia which are helping to improve household incomes for vulnerable families. You may remember these projects from our Ever-Increasing Returns campaign last year. In this issue of the Correspondent (page 4), you can find out how your contribution made a difference and we hope that this will encourage you to re-invest in these projects to ensure our partners can help others. All three projects take a slightly different approach to achieving better incomes for the poorest. In Afghanistan the gift of animals is increasing the incomes of the poorest, while in Bangladesh a savings and loans project is helping women to improve their lives by giving them loans to start small businesses. In Cambodia, we challenged our partner to offer loans to those who would not normally qualify for loans, ensuring the poorest

can become economically empowered. They responded. They model Jesus to the poor, walk with them as they work their way out of poverty and fight the injustices that deprive their children of the future God has for them.

TEAR Fund microenterprise gives you the chance to invest in the dreams of those living in underprivileged circumstances and make those dreams become a reality. The dreams are often simply to educate their children, meet their health needs and to adequately feed, clothe and house them. The ripple effect of your good deed can also extend to others in the community as they have more income to spend, improving the lives of other business operators. The poor who can’t access loans from traditional banking institutions because they are too poor, do not have a credit history or any collateral and in desperation turn to loan sharks who exploit them, incurring debts that they can never pay back, enslaving them and their children. You can read about one man who received a cow and was able to pay back old debts that had enslaved her and start earning an income to care for her family.

PRAYER FORPay it Forward

PAY IT FORWARD

Ian McInnes TF CEO

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SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS

Written by James Mawdsley Review by Elizabeth Aitken

This is the compelling and inspirational story of James Mawdsley, a 27-year-old man who

returned home to Britain at the end of 2000 after enduring 14 months of solitary confinement and torture in a Burmese prison. Mawdsley was on his third visit to the country terrorised by a cruel and illegal regime to publicize human rights violations, when he was arrested and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment by the junta for his protests. This, however, was not his first arrest.

Sentenced to 17 years imprisonment for his protests against the cruel military regime for the junta, this was not Mawdsley’s first time to be arrested but his third voyage to Burma in what was an exercise to publicize human rights violation in a country terrorised by an illegal regime. Mawdsley describes how he came to leave university to pursue something more meaningful. He carries the reader along a path of humour, friendship, intelligence and honesty to what led him to his strong determination for peace and democracy for the innocent people of Burma. Mawdsley rejects any claim of heroism or bravery and instead

reflects on his motives, his ability to survive such isolation and how he discovered a kind of spiritual solace and peace despite his terrifying situation.

This is a remarkable book of courage and persistence in the face of brutality and what may seem to us a ridiculous task to overcome. I personally found parts of his journey dark and terrifying, yet when I thought hard about this book’s impact on me—my heart sung with the feeling of how faith can overcome fear even in the midst of hopelessness. The Heart Must Break is a well-written, extraordinary account of one man’s journey and sacrifice to fight for the true meaning of justice.

BOOK REVIEW: The Heart Must Break

FILM REVIEW: A Small Act (2010)

The Letters to the Editor section is where our readers can have their say. We love to hear from

you through this channel. We want a robust Letters to the Editor section in the Correspondent, which will include your thoughts and our response. We are all on a journey together, learning and growing, and we do not want to shy away from sharpening one another. Our prayer is simply that as we do so, even in our disagreements, we would remain united in our desire to live out the values of God’s Kingdom in ministry to the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged.

Technical details: All letters should be less than 250 words and have full-contact details. Letters may be edited or abridged. All correspondence can be sent to PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, addressed to the Editor of the Correspondent or emailed directly to us: [email protected]

Written and directed by Jennifer Arnold. Review by Murray Sheard

What difference does your sponsorship make? This heart-rending, eye-opening

film educates us while packing a punch. Hilde Back is now an elderly woman whose family fled Nazi Germany when she was a child. Her parents perished in the Holocaust, and Back was educated in Sweden becoming a school teacher. But while much younger, she did what a lot of us do. She undertook a small act of kindness. She sponsored a child.

This child was Kenyan Chris Mburu, a boy from an extremely poor family, born in a mud hut, who was able to attend secondary school because of the sponsorship. He excelled. The cascade of educational chances that followed saw him study at Nairobi and then Harvard, and pursue a career as a human rights commissioner and genocide investigator with the UN. Reflecting on his own life, and on how ‘a small act’ from Hilde transformed what was possible for him,

he starts a scholarship programme of his own to help other young African children get a chance at an education.

Fast forward. Hilde gets a phone call. It’s Chris. Imagine her surprise when he invites her to visit his educational centre — the one he set up in her name! A Small Act follows this story and the opportunities and struggles of the students.

Chris and Hilde’s story is poignantly intertwined with the opportunities and struggles of the current crop of students in Mukubu primary school who are in the same situation as Chris had been as a child, as they vie for financial help to continue their education in secondary school via a scholarship from Chris’ foundation. We are introduced to Kimani, Ruth, and Caroline —intelligent students who come from families who can’t afford to educate them beyond primary school.

In the film, we see the new hope and confidence that the possibility of the scholarship gives these students, but also the fear that they will miss out if

their grades are too low. The programme is small; how many will qualify for a scholarship? Will their fragile hopes be dashed? Some of the film’s most powerful and suspenseful moments occur as they sit their exams and endure the wait for results. Attaining the scores needed to win a scholarship can determine their very lives, especially for the young girls. Caroline’s family owns no land and without an education her, and her family’s options are limited.

The Hilde Back Educational Foundation has supported 350 children and includes teacher support, leadership training and school provisions.

Weaved simply, this film demonstrates the exponential impact of a single gesture of goodwill. It neither delves into political analysis nor preaches, but it does not need to. The story tells itself in a way that is both heart-warming and challenging.

If these children pass and go to college, (and I’m not telling whether they do), what careers may await them? What other lives will they touch? How far can

an act of kindness go? Hilde Back took a small step; performed a small act. She threw a small stone and created a large ripple. This is an engaging illustration of the power of giving. I recommend it for churches and small groups wanting to be inspired about what a small act can accomplish.

Learn: Read more about the impact of child sponsorship on page 9.

PICTURE / DANIEL ALEXANDER



Last year, many of you gave generously to our ‘Ever-increasing Returns’ projects.

Over the year, our partners have been implementing these income-generation projects

we featured, and below we have some examples of the lives you have helped to change in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Bangladesh. These microenterprise development projects have impacted many more lives, and with Pay it Forward, we hope to reach even more people so that they can work themselves out of poverty too. I hope these stories will encourage you to reinvest in these projects and in the lives of the poor, as you pay it forward.Breeding financial independence

Our project in Afghanistan is making a big difference in the lives of the poorest by donating pregnant cows and goats to struggling families.

This gives them the means to help feed their families and earn an income from the milk and cheese their animal produces. Once the animal gives birth, the weaned animal is returned to the breeding programme and once it becomes pregnant, it is given to another poor family.

Haider Khan from the Kandak village of Dar-I-Noor district and has a lot of mouths to feed. He received a goat from the programme. Haider says “it was hard to feed my seven children. I was

very poor. I did not have enough money for our basic food needs. I collected wood and charcoal in the mountainous areas, which I tried to exchange for wheat, corn or flour in the neighbouring villages. When SERVE started its goat distribution programme in our village, the village elders registered me to receive a goat.

“My goat gave birth to twin kids; one I gave back to the project and the other one I kept. Since then, my two goats have become nine goats that I feed along with other villagers’ goats in the mountainous areas. The villagers give me 7kg of wheat and 7kg of corn per goat per season for this. My finances are now growing daily. In the past, I had lots of problems, and nobody trusted me or my financial situation. They wouldn’t even consider giving me a loan, but now that I have goats; everybody trusts me. My family and I are very happy with SERVE’s project.”Land of milk and money

Cows are also giving hope to struggling families. Zalmay from

the Alingar district was desperate and caught in debt because of his poverty but the gift of a cow has turned his debt into financial freedom. Zalmay tells his story.

“When I was two years old, my mother died and I couldn’t go to school, so I remained illiterate. I was jobless, and in debt for a long time. Nobody wanted to give me loans. Then SERVE chose my family to receive a heifer. The heifer was pregnant and gave birth. It produced 7

litres of milk a day and I started making cheese and sold it in the bazaar. This helped me to pay back all of my loans, and I was even able to help other people by giving them yoghurt and buttermilk. Now everybody in the village trusts and respects me. According to the agreement, I gave SERVE one heifer for redistribution. Now, two more heifers have become cows, and a man from the village wants to buy them. I live a very happy life now, and I am thankful to SERVE.” Reaping a profit in Cambodia

Meing Kanga used to be deep in debt with money lenders in her

village. Despite her husband’s income as a labourer in Thailand and her earnings as a farmer, their family lived in poverty.

“My family was very poor, I couldn’t afford to send my children to school,” said Kanga. She wanted to increase her rice yield and start raising farm animals but she had no capital.

When KREDIT formed Trust Bank groups in her village, Kanga immediately joined and got her first loan. With NZ$60, she was able to buy 30kg of fertiliser which she mixed with organic compost and scattered on her rice field. The following harvest season, she made a good profit from her rice harvest and was also able to stock up on rice for the family needs for the whole year.

On her second loan, she started to raise pigs which she sold in a few months and made a NZ$360 profit. She reinvested the profit and bought more

piglets. By the end of 2010, she was able to buy a new motorcycle with her income and savings.

At the start of 2011, Kanga wanted to start her own sugar palm production business as she noticed that there were only a few people in her village who were engaged in this kind of livelihood. She asked her husband to return to the village and help her with her new business.

Kanga’s husband was happy to return home and be with his family. “I don’t need to go to Thailand to work anymore,” he said. “We can have a good income with the new business that my wife has started.”

Kanga and her husband rented palm trees for NZ$70 per year. They produced 30kg of sugar palm per day, which they can sell for NZ$27.

Kanga has big dreams for the future. She wants to buy a water pump to make their rice production more sustainable. “I want to buy land and farm animals that I can give to my children when they get married,” Kanga says.

PICTURE / SERVE

LIVES YOU HAVE HELPED CHANGE THROUGH MICROENTERPRISE

STOCKED UP: Your investment in last year’s campaign is paying dividends for vulnerable families in Afghanistan.

• Pray that the returns on the investment you, our wonderful supporters, make into micro-enterprise, would continue to grow in the lives of poor.

• Pray that the work of our partners would help free people from crippling debt.

PRAY


5

By Frank Ritchie

This wonderful verse sits within the biggest sermon in the Bible; the one given to the people of

ancient Israel by Moses just before they entered the land that would become their home. It was the last given by Moses just before he died and was the culmination of all the events leading up to it — from leaving Egypt as slaves and making their way through the desert, to becoming a nation in their own right. It captures all they had been through and all they had been taught. Deuteronomy is the message that pulled it all together and told them how they needed to live and who they were called to be.

Within the message are instructions around giving, debt and how to treat the poor. The first half of chapter 15

focuses in on a practice of forgiving and cancelling debt every seven years. Debt being written off; what a concept!

At the heart of the chapter is the recognition that God would bless them, and that as a nation, they would have enough resources to live comfortably and look after each other. Verse 4 talks about how there was to be no poor among them because God would bless them lavishly. The idea is simple, God was saying, “I’m going to be generous to you, so be generous to others — pay it forward.”

Yet we get to verse 11, following the encouragement to be openly generous in verse 10, and we see the acknowledgement that there would always be poor and needy people. This demonstrates that God understood what would happen, even though he was giving them enough so that there

would not be any poverty among them. In response, generosity, paying it forward, was offered to the people of God as a command.

We live in a world where there is more than enough for every man, woman and child. When we consider our lives, let’s recognise where God has been generous to us and find ways to pay that generosity forward with no expectation of personal return.

This is what our income generation schemes encourage among those our partners work with. They receive generosity and through the programmes, they give out of the generosity they receive, thus helping others in turn. These programmes embody the principles that undergird Deuteronomy 15. What does it mean for them to play out in our lives as well?

BIBLICAL SNAPSHOT: DEUTERONOMY 15:11

TEAR Fund UK

Not a day goes by when Mariam doesn’t mourn for her beleaguered country. She fled

to Jordan from Syria nearly two years ago and now lives in a tent her brother made from scraps of material other people have thrown away.

“Every morning I wake up and grieve,” she says. “I cry over the ruins of my country. We fled to Jordan because we had nothing to lose in Syria but our souls. Everything at home was destroyed and burned down. The situation was intolerable. We had

snipers everywhere, at every corner. We needed to survive, to seek a safe haven, so we travelled to Jordan.”

Mariam escaped among a group of 20-30 other refugees, taking 13 hours to leave Syria. She now lives with her brother and his wife in extremely basic conditions.

Her passion to return home remains undiminished: ‘I hope to go back to

Syria, but it’s going to be many years before we can go back.

“I learn about the situation in Syria from what people tell me. It is difficult to find out what’s happening there. I just want to go home and live in peace.” TEAR Fund partners are helping thousands of refugees in Jordan

and Lebanon, providing them with essentials such as blankets and wood-burning stoves. But the need for help is growing as more than a million people have now fled Syria, and that figure could treble by the end of the year, according to the UN.Over a million refugees and counting

The two-year conflict has claimed the lives of more than 70,000, more than

4 million people are homeless within Syria, and more than one million have fled to neighbouring Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan and Iraq. These multitudes have lost everything and are struggling to survive. The countries supporting these refugees are struggling to cope; they are overwhelmed and crying out

for help. Unless they get support, there is a very real chance that the region will become destabilised as tensions are growing.

To help people like Mariam rebuild their lives and eventually return home, visit tearfund.org.nz/syria

CRYING OVER THE RUINS OF SYRIA

DANGEROUS GAMES: While our children play with toys, children in Syria play with casings and unexploded RPG shells.

Mariam

PICTURE / GEORGE KURIAN IRIN

PICTURE / ELEANOR BENTALL

We had snipers everywhere, at every corner. We needed to survive, to seek a safe haven, so we travelled to Jordan.

• For the safety of those fleeing Syria, that families will not lose each other as they travel.

• For families as they come to terms with the loss of loved ones.

• For all those supporting the relief effort in Syria and neighbouring countries.

• Wisdom for TEAR Fund partners as they respond to this worsening crisis.

• For peace to come quickly.

PRAY

“There willalways bepoor people

in the land.

I command youopenhandedtoward your fellow Israelites

in your land.”who are

POOR AND NEEDY

to be



By Denise Hunter

Recently I had the privilege of visiting Bangladesh to see some of the work done by our partner

Compassion (child sponsorship) and Koinonia (Microenterprise). This was my first trip to a developing country, so I was asked to share my impressions. Before going, I felt anxious, as I wasn’t sure what to expect. As I went through the terminal, I saw a line of women, peering at us through the narrow opening of their restrictive black burqas. They seemed astounded by the sight of four unaccompanied women in clothing that revealed areas of their skin.

We drove from the airport into a teeming sea of vehicles — cars, buses, and bicycles coming from all directions. There seemed to be no order to their migration. With no traffic lights, the job was left to one lonely policeman who tried to direct the traffic with a piece of wood, but no one seemed to take any notice.

Early the next morning we were on the road for a six-hour drive to see the first of the Compassion child sponsorship projects. The trip north to Dinajpur was interesting; there were lots of stalls selling a variety of items, but what struck me the most were the ones selling meat. Fresh meat carcasses were hung in the shop fronts, and goats

were tethered to a post at the front of the stall. Nearby were pools of blood. We passed brickworks where people were performing the soul-destroying work of breaking down bricks to be re-kilned. Beyond the villages a large number of rice paddies stretched before us, with labourers tending the crops, and rubbish piled alongside the roads. There didn’t seem to be any rubbish bins.

When we arrived, we were greeted by an orderly line of children singing a song of welcome to us, and throwing flowers over us, like confetti at a wedding as we walked down to the hall. This was so humbling. I just wanted to hug them all! Here are parents and children who have hardly anything, showing their love and respect to us, and I personally felt I had done nothing to deserve this. Some of the children did a dance for us, and we saw the work they do at the project; the health lessons, the clothes provided, the sanitation, cooking facilities and the well for water. This project has not been going long, but they are doing an amazing job.

We visited six-year-old Ariful and his family. He has a two year old sister but his eight-year-old brother has special needs which the project doesn’t have the facilities or staff to deal with. His father is a rickshaw puller, and the family is lucky if they earn NZ$2 a day. Both parents have health issues. Their home is very small and dark and is owned by the mother’s family. It consists of one room with one bed, and it sleeps all five of them. The room is a lot smaller than most bedrooms in a New Zealand home. All the hopes of this family are on Ariful, who is sponsored. I don’t think I will ever forget this family.

The next Compassion sponsorship project we visited had been going for three years and the difference was amazing. This project also had a child survival programme for mothers and babies. These mothers are given instruction on hygiene, health matters, and taught how to play and interact with their babies and young children. They are also given a meal every day to make sure they get the nutrition they need for

the baby. Each of the project children is given a daily nutritious meal and the result is much healthier, brighter children. From there we went to see the work of Koinonia

The staff at Koinonia, is so proud of what has been achieved through Microenterprise, and wanted to show us all the communities, but we didn’t have time. We travelled in a motorised rickshaw visiting some of the Koinonia communities (until the thunderstorm and heavy rain) which enabled us to gain a better understanding of village life, as we travelled the back roads through the different villages. It was amazing seeing the reactions, especially of the men seeing white women.

Some of the women we visited had changed their lives significantly since taking out a loan. One had managed to buy a weaving loom; one had a fish farm as well as goats and cows and a mango orchard; she had also improved her house from one constructed of mud, to one made of corrugated iron. The difference in these women and the pride of what they had achieved was fantastic. They also had the backing of their husbands, whom some had hired in their business.

Not only were these women changing the lives of their own families, they were also an inspiration to the others in their little village. I was so impressed by the work our partners are doing in such difficult circumstances. We are changing people’s lives and helping them to become self-sufficient and improve their lot in life. I praise God that he heard the cries of his children, and his children over here have listened to his calling to help them.

Our prayer for going was to see things through God’s eyes. I believe He has delivered.

By Helen Manson

Making and selling 6000 medical belts a year is all part of Sajjaba’s booming business

thanks to TEAR Fund’s partner, Koinonia, in Bangladesh. Sajjaba is married with two children aged 25 and 30 and grandmother to three. She is the chairwoman of the Koinonia group in her village and takes care of the 28 women in the programme.

Her day begins at 5.30am taking care of her three cows and four goats before completing her housework. Sajjaba makes 25 belts a day supplying 16 hospitals in Bangladesh. Her business has grown rapidly, and she is now making and selling 500 medical belts a month. She often works well into the evening, sometimes until 11.30pm, to produce enough belts. The belts assist people with spinal pain and women who have recently had caesareans.

Over the past 11 years, Sajjaba has taken out three loans through Koinonia for items such as tree saplings, goats, cows, beds, a house, a wedding and expenses for her children. Her two biggest loans were for a vehicle repair workshop that she bought for her son and the machine and material for her medical belt business. Her husband works for her as well as others.

“How I can express (how I feel); I had nothing compared to what I have now.” She says her family and the group members used to live in straw houses with small rooms, but their small businesses have given them the income to build concrete houses with bigger rooms. She says “we have all benefited from Koinonia’s programme.” Her dream for the future is to purchase three or four more machines, so she can meet the demands of the hospitals and have other women involved in the project.

BANGLADESH THROUGHGOD’S EYES

PICTURE / ROSLYNN SHEARMANGREAT EXPECTATIONS: Denise with the welcoming committee.

Reaping what she sews

STITCHED UP: Sajjaba making medical belts in her home. PICTURE / HELEN MANSON

• Pray for the healthy development of children our partners work with in Bangladesh.

• For the work of empowering women in their communities.

PRAY


7

By Kevin Riddell

Recently I visited one of our programmes in Sri Lanka to report back on its progress.

This is a dairy farming project with a peace-building component which brings together Singhalese and Tamil farmers. The project was started during the civil war and is continuing to build bridges between the two communities today, as well as increasing dairy production.

During the height of the civil war, more civilians were killed and injured than the number of combatants. TEAR Fund believes in doing everything it can to protect civilians from such violence at all times. After all, we are there to support communities in need, and if we endanger them, we become a liability and our projects bring harm rather than good. With opposing armed combatants on both sides of a conflict, and humanitarian agencies in the middle, it is easy for the humanitarian workers and the people they are trying to help to become a target through association. So how do we work in this environment without these communities and humanitarian workers becoming a target?

Aid agencies such as TEAR Fund have been working with the New Zealand military to ensure that their military operations contain and preserve what is called the ‘Humanitarian Space’. This term is used to describe a neutral zone in which humanitarian workers can give assistance to civilians without both becoming targets for militants. If this space is overlooked in military operations, it can jeopardise the safety

of humanitarian workers and the people they are trying to help. This is because they can be seen as part of a military operation and the civilians can be viewed as collaborating with ‘the enemy’, putting them in danger.

Over the past 25 years I have lived and served in many conflict zones, including Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. I have seen how these conflict situations can change from a danger zone into a safe zone; where communities, civilians, military operations, humanitarian stakeholders and emerging local governments have been able to establish stability and security, and where people also have the opportunity to improve the economy. However, I have also seen when this can go tragically wrong; creating even more conflict and human misery. Sometimes this has been due to military operations overlooking the importance of preserving the Humanitarian Space. This reinforces the fact that most post conflict situations are shifting landscapes where it is the combined efforts of aid agencies and the military that ultimately makes the difference.

In recent years, I have been working with the New Zealand armed forces and talking to them about the importance of preserving the Humanitarian Space to ensure that all civilians in areas where our military is serving don’t become military targets.

No situation epitomizes the need to protect civilians more than Afghanistan. TEAR Fund has been working to make sure this space is preserved in Afghanistan. The programmes implemented through our partners cover the whole country from the Pashtu

speaking ‘Taliban’ regions in the south and east, to the drug-smuggling areas in the north and west and in the relatively calm ‘Dari’ speaking region of the central highlands. In one of the programmes we support we have been providing microenterprise programmes, but instead of money, they have been providing heifers and goats to the poorest families so they can earn a living from milk and cheese and help feed themselves.

Our partners have also played a significant part in keeping the communities they serve safe. Our partners have been in Afghanistan through many years of upheaval and conflict surrounded by Taliban forces implementing these programmes. During this time, there has been little or no harm done to these communities receiving outside western help. All of this assistance has been implemented without the use of force; without the need to carry arms and without the assistance of military operations. Below are some of the reasons for this success. The keys to this relative success have been built on: •Long-term relationships built over

years of working in the communities as non-intrusively as possible.

•Heeding local advice and applying ‘culturally’ - appropriate mechanisms in the programmes.

•Empowering communities to be self-sufficient through economic and social development.

•Encouraging participation of all members within a community in programme activities, through self-help groups, maternity health care and

women’s literacy. •Peace-building programmes which

initiate interdependence between communities.

The results are:•TEAR Fund’s partner has remained

welcomed in the communities.•Programmes being implemented are

strengthened and not perceived as a threat to traditional ways of life.

•Vulnerable families in the communities are being given better options.

•A stronger sense of ‘optimism’ and ‘growth’ is created within communities.

•An increased desire to cooperate and a weakening of divisiveness between communities.

Regardless of the on-going dispute between the ‘Taliban’ opposition and the Afghan Government, and the presence of Western military forces supporting the current government, the ‘opportunity and choices’ created through TEAR Fund’s programmes is bringing about positive change in many poor and vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.

Apart from the trauma of poverty, people being helped through TEAR Fund’s programmes in Afghanistan are not showing the usual signs of psychological scarring Westerners have come to expect in such a war-torn environment. They actually believe there is a future for themselves and for their children!

HANDS UP: The ‘Humanitarian Space’ created through TEAR Fund’s programmes is bringing about positive changes for poor communities in Afghanistan.

PROTECTING AFGHAN CIVILIANS: Fine line for troops and aid workers

• Pray for the healing of those traumatised by conflict.

• Pray for wisdom amongst troops and aid workers in what they do.

PRAY

PICTURE / KATE HOLT IRIN



DIG DEEPER

• http://thekitchen.net.nz• http://rekindle.org.nz• http://thought-wired.com• http://elikasports.com• http://ushahidi.com/

GOOD BUSINESS: Auckland entrepreneurs addressing social needs. PICTURE / SUPPLIED

By Murray Sheard

A woman upcycling old house materials and training young people in carpentry; a start-up

developing brain-computer interface technology to help people with severe disabilities; a group developing disaster mapping software in Kenya and New Zealand and a sports management company looking after the mental well-being of athletes. All this is underpinned by a shared-office space in Auckland that hosts them. Across the world, new sustainable enterprises are using innovative ways to address social needs — using a business model.

These include those of

TEAR Fund’s partners, KREDIT in Cambodia and SERVE in Afghanistan. Let’s take a look at similar initiatives right here in New Zealand. Welcome to the new world of social enterprise.

A growing segment of small businesses in New Zealand are focusing their efforts not only on profit, but on producing social and environmental good. For the past 18 months, I’ve straddled my part-time role at TEAR Fund with setting up “The Kitchen”, a shared office for these small businesses (www.thekitchen.net.nz). I have always been drawn to work in organisations that attempt inspiring solutions to contemporary problems, especially those working toward a just, sustainable, spiritually-fulfilling human presence on this planet. TEAR Fund is one such organisation and the same values drew me to co-create The Kitchen.

These enterprising people have found ways to combine their passion for a better world by starting businesses which provide them and others with employment. The sector includes those whose business is focused on community benefit, those who dedicate some of their profits to charity, and some not-for-profits who find their skills are in demand commercially and use that to fund their charitable work Internationally and locally, micro-

enterprise and social enterprise are ways of “paying

it forward”.

Can you imagine the uses demolition wood

could be put to? Juliet Arnott could. Her brainchild,

Rekindle (www.rekindle.org.nz) takes wood destined for landfill

and upcycles it into simple but beautiful furniture. She has opened up a place in Christchurch to train unemployed young people in wood-working skills—providing employment opportunities and actively promoting craftsmanship. The project encourages a culture of the reuse of wood, and reduced wood waste.

Where do you find people like Juliet? Established last year, The Kitchen aims to create a well-resourced work environment and community hub for those focused on more than profit: change-makers creating social and environmental good. As the name suggests, these people are cooking up ideas for action, experimenting with recipes for practice, and finding the right ingredients to make a difference.

Over 20 organisations have a home there and members can choose from part—or full-time options. Each has a strong motivation to deliver combined value: social, environmental, creative, and economic. With like minds but diverse activities and skill sets, working in the same space provides peer-to-peer advice and collaboration opportunities and also fosters creative collisions.

Here are three other businesses from diverse fields that have their home at The Kitchen. Thought-wired uses their founders’ skills in software, health psychology and brain science to help people with profound disabilities. Dmitry and Konstantin Selitskiy have a relative with cerebral palsy back in Russia. Last year, they hooked up with Sarvnaz Taherian and James Pau to provide ways for people, with impaired control of their limbs or who cannot speak, to be able to communicate with their loved ones and interact with a computer using their thoughts (http://thought-wired.com).

Lawyers Ralph and Sara-Jane Elika are passionate about sports—but they were deeply concerned with the welfare of young athletes who may be taken advantage of and whose sporting careers may be cut short. Having witnessed this in their own Samoan communities, they branched out to focus on strategic career planning so that aspiring young athletes, with their families, can make wiser decisions and handle the pressures they will face. With a spate of bad behaviour from sports stars in the news lately, this is sorely needed. (http://elikasports.com)

“Ushahidi”, which means “testimony” or “witness” in Swahili, started as a website that allowed Kenyan citizen journalists to map reports of violence during the post-election fallout at the beginning of 2008 (www.ushahidi.com). Based in Auckland, Robbie Mackay, an Ushahidi software developer, joined as a community participant after the Christchurch earthquake. His contributions are used by a global community who map post-disaster events, co-ordinate relief, enable election monitoring, and help to democratize information.

TEAR Fund chooses equally innovative partners in the delivery of social value internationally. These include KREDIT’s trust bank loans for agriculture in Cambodia and SERVE’s farming training and animal rotation in Afghanistan. The same business enhancement focus and skills training is essential.

In all these, I sense a gratitude for what we have and a desire to “pay it forward”, helping to build the community fabric and enhance others’ lives. Responding to social and environmental needs with a business model, rather than a grant-funded model, underlies this growing world of both local and international social enterprise.

Creative collisions and inspirational projects. Welcome to the world of Social Enterprise

MORE THAN PROFIT: THE NEW WAVE OF BUSINESS FOR GOOD


9

By Gavin McCulloch

TEAR Fund was privileged to host former Ugandan sponsored child Lillian Nakabiri and award-winning singer songwriter Juliagrace on the Beautiful Survivor

tour. The tour was a huge success with over 2,000 people attending 20 events in April. Audiences were treated to Julia performing hymns off her new EP, It Is Well. Each night Lillian shared her remarkable story of survival and how one person’s act of kindness made such a difference in her life and the life of her family. Hundreds were challenged, encouraged and inspired by her amazing story.

As a result of the tour and generosity of those attending, 215 children were sponsored. This means that there are 215 children who are connected to New Zealand sponsors who are able to help them become someone like Lillian. We especially thank all the churches that hosted the tour and helped make it a huge success.

EVENT REVIEW: Beautiful Survivor Tour

UPCOMING EVENTS visit tearfund.org.nz for the latest info

Live Below the Line is a challenge that encourages New Zealanders

to live on NZ$2.25 a day for their food and drink over five days. This is the daily reality for more than 1.4 billion people in the world. We are encouraging Kiwis to put themselves in their shoes and get friends and family to either sponsor or take part in the challenge with you. The funds you

raise for our partner Share and Care, Nepal, will help prevent some of the 15,000 girls from being trafficked into India from Nepal each year. With eight aid and development organisations on board such as World Vision, UNICEF and Oxfam, we’d love you to Live Below the Line for TEAR Fund. Check out the TEAR Fund page on livebelowtheline.com

PICTURE / ALEX CARTER

PICTURE / HELEN MANSON

PICTURE / HELEN MANSON

If there was something you could do which would powerfully transform the

lives of the poor and oppressed and set the captives free, would you do it? TEAR Fund is calling for courageous people to join our Poverty Cycle event this September; those who are not afraid to spend some sweat and tears to break the cycle of poverty for the poor. Every year, hundreds of Nepalese girls are cruelly exploited in human trafficking, part of a trade worth an estimated $4 billion annually. The ride will stretch you

physically and challenge your supporters financially, but in return, you will help bring freedom to the enslaved, and help build stronger communities in Nepal. Get on your bike and ride as if human life depends upon it! This year you can participate by entering a six-rider team in the Corporate Relay Challenge on Saturday September 7 in Clevedon, Auckland, or by supporting an Elite Cyclist. Help break the cycle of poverty! Register at povertycycle.org.nz

Sept 7: Spin your wheels for poverty

June 14-15 The Daniel Walker StoryDaniel Walker, author of the book God in a Brothel, spent years working undercover, investigating the human trafficking and sexual exploitation of people throughout the world. His work

helped prosecute many traffickers and rescue hundreds of women and children. Join us for a powerful and eye-opening evening as Daniel examines this form of modern-day slavery and explores how we can make a difference. The events are in Auckland. Go to tearfund.org.nz for details.

Sept 23-27 Could you live on $2.25 a day?

$2.25



By Keith Ramsay

Many of us who sponsor children through TEAR Fund will have wondered at some point

whether child sponsorship is effective and if the impacts are measurable. We have all read stories of children’s lives being changed, but the cynical side of us says: “Is it working for the majority, or only a few”? The good news is that our child sponsorship programme run by Compassion International is effective and the impacts are measurable.

This has been proven by a new peer-reviewed independent study on the viability of international child sponsorship by Dr Bruce Wydick, (professor of economics and international studies at the University of San Francisco). The two-year study spanning six countries showed statistically significant impacts on life outcomes for children enrolled in child sponsorship programmes. The research shows that children who participated stayed in school longer, were more likely to have salaried or white-collar employment and were more likely to be leaders within their communities and churches, than their peers who did not participate in the programme.

The life outcomes which the study focused on were the years of formal education, the type of employment they had secured and the leadership positions they held within the community.

Dr Wydick says, “We were surprised to see that no one had ever done research to determine if international child sponsorship really works. So we conducted a study of Compassion International’s programme in six countries we believed to be representative of its work around the globe. What we found was that Compassion’s child-centred development approach to sponsorship has many strong, positive impacts on the adult life outcomes of these formerly sponsored children.”

Dr Wydick, referred to Compassion’s child sponsorship programme as “the great equalizer” in that it levels the playing field for children seeking an education in the developing world. He discovered that in countries where there was a greater need or where children face greater obstacles to achieving an education, Compassion tended to have a greater impact.

Ian McInnes, TEAR Fund’s CEO says, “This is a particularly heartening study and underscores why, in the case of child sponsorship, TEAR Fund and Compassion choose to work directly with individual children in need.” Having seen child sponsorship programmes at work, Ian is not surprised this research points to such strong impacts for the children

enrolled in programmes. “Locally-run child sponsorship

programmes that invest in the lives of children over a number of years, ensure these children do not fall through the cracks. They grow up better educated, healthier, more confident and spiritually connected. It’s not the only way to tackle poverty; community development programmes can address broader needs impacting children and their families. However, it’s a particularly effective way to nurture children directly, and it’s clearly working.”Psychological benefits of Compassion’s programme

Dr Wydick also points to the psychological benefits of Compassion’s child development programme. While some criticise Compassion for giving the children an openly Christian education, he found that the faith aspect of the programme was a vital part in transforming children’s lives. In a follow-up study, he found that Compassion-sponsored children scored better than their peers on happiness and hopefulness. He argues that building children’s self-esteem and aspirations could be as important as providing financial help and schooling. He says, “Bringing hope to children is a trite phrase but it actually may be a profound and little researched aspect of development.”About the research

The research focused on Bolivia, Guatemala, India, Kenya, the Philippines and Uganda, where Compassion provided child sponsorship between 1980 and 1992. That time period was chosen because children enrolled in Compassion’s sponsorship programme during that time frame would be adults by the time the research was conducted between 2008 and 2010. 1,860 formerly sponsored children were interviewed.

As control groups, the team also studied non-sponsored siblings who were too old to join the programme, other non-sponsored children in their communities and children in outlying communities where Compassion’s programme wasn’t offered. In all, over 10,000 individuals were interviewed. The objective was to compare the life outcomes of children who were supported through Compassion’s programme to those who were not.The study focused on the following life outcomes:•Years of formal education•Type of current employment•Community leadership positions•Learn more

The full study has been published in the Journal of Political Economy edited by the economics department at the University of Chicago.

Bruce Wydick, Paul Glewwe, and Laine Rutledge, “Does International Child Sponsorship Work? A Six-Country Study of Impacts on Adult Life Outcomes.” Journal of Political Economy 121:2 (published April 2013).

Study shows our child sponsorship is effective

Educationsponsored children

stay in school

1 to 1.5 yearsLONGER

formerly sponsored children are

to secure white-collar employment

than their non-sponsored peers

morelikely

andare

more likely to complete UNI

Employment50-80%

Leadership

35%

formerly sponsored children are

to become community leaders

up to 75%more

likely

See the info-graphic for some of the key findings.

11

Story and photo by Bernard Gbagba

Dunya Afi, Happy’s aunt, says “Happy was in the village with her father. I took her to Hohotoé,

because I feared poverty would kill her

over there. Many children of the village live in a precarious situation. When I returned to take her elder sister with me, I was told that she died a few days ago,” said Dunya Afi. Happy has started primary school, thanks to TEAR

Fund’s partner Compassion, which has set up a child development centre at the Pentecost Church of Tchilimé.

In March 2012, the centre opened its doors to 200 children from the community and surrounding villages. Among these children was Happy. Aholoukopé is a small village with about 300 inhabitants. It is situated about 50km from Lomé, the capital city of Togo. Most of the men in Aholoukopé are farmers and fishermen and the women earn money making charcoal. There

is not even one primary school in this village. The nearest health centre is in another village, about 3km away. To find drinking water, the people have to travel to other villages.

Before her aunt rescued her, Happy lived with her father and his wives. Her father is a motorcycle taxi driver. He makes just NZ$1.18 a day which is not nearly enough to feed all the people in his family. The children are left to care for themselves and daily life is an ordeal. When Happy lived with her father, she ate only once a day, and the meals she did have were not nutritious.

“In the village, everyone eats whatever they can so that they are not hungry. We do not think about quality. Sometimes dough is prepared with corn flour, and the sauce is also made with corn flour. At harvest time, villagers eat beans several times a day for several weeks,” says Tata Ekoe, Happy’s uncle. Many village children suffer from malnutrition. Many of them have red hair and bloated stomachs. “When they have the opportunity to eat, they eat as if it were the last meal of their life,” says Afi.

Afi decided to bring Happy to Hahotoé, with the consent of the child’s father. Six months later, Happy was registered in the centre.

“When I wanted to bring Happy to the town, even my husband did not agree. He said the child would die at home because she was too frail; she had a big belly and completely red hair. In the village, she ate a lot of clay because nobody cared for her. Several people said that I should not take her with me. Everyone believed she would die. It is a special grace to bring Happy to Hohotoé,” says Afi.

Happy’s uncle is a driver but, he has not worked for more than a year and her aunt’s business is struggling. But for Happy, the project makes the difference. Every Saturday, Happy goes to the project and eats well. Physically, Happy is doing well. No more red hair, no more bloated belly. Every Saturday, she returns home with a special meal. In fact, the project always gives Happy food to take home. Project staffers also tend to Happy’s medical needs.

“When we registered her, we found she was ill. According to the checkups, she had worms. We treated her and now she is in good health,” said Ablam Komi Akakpo, the project director.

For the current academic year, the project has provided her school supplies. “We thank the project because we did not know how we would be able to send her to school this year. The project helps us a lot,” says Afi.

More than 17,000 children in Togo attend activities in the projects. About 4,000 of those boys and girls have not yet been sponsored. They participate in all activities and have access to the various benefits from the project. Thanks to the Unsponsored Children Fund, every child who is not yet sponsored receives the same attention as those who are sponsored.

PUBLICATION DETAILS:Editor: Keith Ramsay. Contributors: Ian McInnes, Murray Sheard, Frank Ritchie, Helen Manson, Kevin Riddell, Denise Hunter, Bernard Gbagba, Gavin McCulloch.Graphic Designer: Alex Carter. Cartoonist: Daniel Alexander.Printing: Guardian Print.

CONTACT0800 800 [email protected]

OUR PURPOSE: The purpose of TEAR Fund is to glorify God by

extending His Kingdom in ministry to the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged, and to encourage God’s people in NZ to live out the values and principles of His Kingdom by sharing with those in need. TEAR Correspondent is published three times a year.

Mixed SourcesProduct group from well-managed forests, and other controlled sourceswww.fsc.org Cert no. SCS-COC-2324© 1996 Forest Stewardship Council

ON THE BRINK OF STARVATION

Nine-year-old Happy was in danger of starving when her aunt rescued her, just in the nick of time. Her village was one of the very poorest in West Africa’s country of Togo.

HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER: Happy now eats three times a day instead of once, since she went to live with her aunt and joined the child sponsorship programme.

Call 0800 800 777 or Visit tearfund.org.nz

Call 0800 800 777 NOW to sponsor one of these children

PLEASE SEND ME:Information on remembering TEAR Fund in my will

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FirstTitle Last

WILL YOU BE A HERO?

Each of these children needs a hero. Someone like you to rescue them from the bully of poverty. You can change the life of one of these beautiful children for just $45 a month. Call 0800 800 777 today.

ALINEAge 5. From Brazil

DOB 06-Jun-2007Aline lives with her parents. She is in

primary school, and loves rolling a hoop, playing house and playing with dolls.

BYRONAge 13. From Nicaragua.

DOB 26-Nov-1999Byron is responsible for gathering wood, washing clothes and making beds. He loves basketball and playing with cars.

CAROLAge 8. From Philippines

DOB 18-Nov-2004Carol helps at home by running errands.

She lives with her mum. She is also in primary school.

CRISELAge 7. From Indonesia

DOB 01-May-2006Crisel enjoys singing and playing group

games. She attends church and is in primary school.

CHARLESAge 4. From Burkina Faso

DOB 03-Mar-2009Charles makes his home with his parents. Playing with friends is his favorite activity.

He also attends Bible class regularly.

CHRISTEHILLAHAge 5. From Haiti

DOB 21-Feb-2008Christehillah lives with her parents She is responsible for running errands. Playing

with dolls is her favourite activity

I WANT TO SPONSOR A CHILD!

I WANT TO SPONSOR A CHILD FOR $45 PER MONTH.

PROVERBS 11:25A generous person will prosper; whoever

refreshes others will be refreshed.(NIV)

GUGULOTHAge 12. From India

DOB 25-Feb-2001At home Guguloth does laundry and

makes beds. He is in primary school. He loves ping pong, and telling stories.

FIKIRTEAge 15. From Ethipoia

DOB 26-Oct-1997Fikirte lives with her parents. At home

she helps in the kitchen. She is in middle school and her marks are above average.

FARLYAge 7. From Indonesia

DOB 29-Dec-2005Farly lives with his parents. At home,

duties include running errands. Playing ball games is his favourite activity.

NADIATIAge 4. From Burkina Faso

DOB 15-Dec-2008Nadiati helps by running errands. She

lives with her parents. She loves playing with dolls and playing group games.

LUKICAAge 9. From Uganda

DOB 20-Jul-2003Lukica lives with his grandma. His chores include carrying water, gathering wood

and buying or selling in the market.

YEFRYAge 6. From Dominican Republic

DOB 24-Sep-2006Yefry lives with his parents. His chores include carrying water and cleaning.

He loves playing with cars.

ODONGPINYAge 6. From Uganda

DOB 01 Jan 2007Odongpiny lives with his Grandma. His

duties are carrying water and caring for children. He loves soccer and art.

RENATUSIAge 15. From Tanzania

DOB 11-Feb-1998.Renatusi lives with his mother. At home, duties include carrying water, gathering

firewood and washing clothes.

HECTOR8 year old boy from Nicaragua

28 Apr 2005Hector lives with his mother. He helps by running errands. He loves soccer,

playing with marbles and art.

JUAN6 year old boy from Colombia

29 Apr 2007Juan lives with his mother. For fun, Juan enjoys playing ball games, running and

playing group games.

NITESH8 year old boy from India

07 Nov 2004Nitesh lives with his parents. There are 2

children in the family. Nitesh enjoys hide-and-seek, running and playing games.

JANTHIMAAge 16. From Thailand

DOB 05-Mar-1997At home, Janthima helps by buying or selling in the market, caring for children and laundry. She lives with her parents.

Documents

TEAR Correspondent June