Helpers at work (5): looking ahead

People who are sick or injured used to have to travel long distances to get medical help. Now the people around Dankbaarkondre in Suriname have a health care facility right on their doorstep, where they can receive a wide range of medical services such as health education programmes, vaccinations, and first-aid. The facility can save lives.

Investing into the future

In Companiekreek, in the interior of Suriname, people also have little or close to no access to medical care. Stichting Corantijn, the aid agency of the New Apostolic Church Netherlands, is planning to set up a similar health care facility as in Dankbaarkondre. This is still supposed to happen in 2023 and is also where most of the funds are going this year.

human aktiv, the aid agency of the New Apostolic Church Southern Germany, on the other hand, has set itself three goals it still wants to achieve this year: “This year we would still like to introduce the ‘Fit for School’ project in Sierra Leone,” Stephanie Rastedter reports. This translates into hygiene in schools: they will be equipped with handwash basins, and the parents, teachers, and pupils are to be trained in hygiene and health. “This fall we also still want to launch a relief consignment with food for the civilian population in eastern Ukraine,” says the project manager. The war has massively weakened Ukraine and the supply situation is often very poor. The third objective is of a technical nature: “We are currently working on a new homepage,” Stephanie Rastedter reports. “We plan to launch it before the end of the year.”

Plans that help

The other German aid agency has also set itself three further goals for 2023. NAK-karitativ would like to gain more attention for sustainable projects, as well as acceptance by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. This would enable the aid agency to finance projects in Zambia that work towards a sustainable and reliable food supply. The aim is to introduce sustainable irrigation and agricultural methods. NAK-karitativ would also like to create alternative sources of income and improve people’s livelihoods in Zambia through beekeeping and goat rearing.

And the third objective that NAK-karitativ still hopes to achieve this year is to launch a menstrual health and hygiene project.

Looking back and forward

It has been ten years since Typhoon Yolanda destroyed homes and livelihoods in the Philippines. In 2013, the cyclone, which is also known as Haiyan, left a path of devastation as it crashed through the islands of the Visayas group in the central Philippines. With funds from the Swiss aid organisation NAK-Humanitas and NAK-karitativ, NAC SEA Relief helped with reconstruction in the Philippines. An important step for the aid agency of the New Apostolic Church South-East Asia is now to review the sustainability of the investments made at the time and to reassess the aid projects.

The aid agency of the New Apostolic Church USA, on the other hand, is looking to the future. Thanks to a number of dedicated teams, reCharitable Ministry makes healthy eating possible for low-income families. The Denver Metro Food Pantry provides tinned and fresh food to those in need. “One of the primary objectives of our organisation remains to support dedicated volunteer teams in our congregations,” says correspondent Kim Kolb. “We want to continue to grow our grassroots efforts in connecting local teams with local service organisations to help provide services for their local communities.”

Looking into the future

Around thirty pre-school children come to the New Apostolic church in White River, Solomon Islands, every day for an early childhood education programme. The aim of the programme is to get them school ready. The project was initiated by NACare. But the demand in the neighbourhood is much higher. NACare is therefore planning to build additional space. An adjacent building comprising two rooms is to be expanded so that eighty to one hundred children can be accommodated next year.

NACare is also already looking into next year and planning for a group of volunteers to visit the project, help build further facilities, and teach the children.

You can find further information about the aid agencies of the New Apostolic Church around the world, including contact information and opportunities to support them, on their websites:

• human aktiv (Southern Germany)
• Kumea (East Africa)
• Masakhe Foundation (Southern Africa)
• NAC Foreign Extension (Canada)
• NAC SEA Relief Fund (South East Asia)
• NACare (Australia)
• NACRO (Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe)
• NAK-Diakonia (Switzerland)
• NAK-Humanitas (Switzerland)
• NAK-karitativ (Germany)
• re Charitable Ministry (USA)
• Ser Prójimo (Argentina)
• Stichting Corantijn (Netherlands)