As an individual one may often not be able to do a whole lot, but as part of a larger group or community, there is a great deal that can be done. If many pitch in and provide concrete help, dreams can sometimes be made to come true.
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Photo: NAK-karitiav
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Photo: NAK-karitiav
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Photo: NAK-karitiav
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Photo: NAC Sierra Leone
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Photo: NAC Sierra Leone
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Photo: NAC Sierra Leone
Help in Zambia: Education is a human right. Anyone who understands this will pitch in. In a well-planned community project three additional classrooms were added to a community school in Matenda (Zambia) recently. Now there are several buildings next to each other: classrooms and housing units for teachers. With the extra space and new teachers provided by the government, the large number of children wanting to go to school can be provided for. Together with NACRO, the humanitarian aid organisation of the New Apostolic Church Zambia, NAK-karitativ supported the project, providing 74 per cent of the necessary funds.
The village eagerly helped with the construction of the two housing units and the three classrooms. They not only baked bricks and supplied sand and gravel, they also provided manpower for the construction. NACRO supervised the project and ensured its successful implementation. The government provided extra teachers for the school so that the school now has three full-time teachers and two assistants.
Zambia’s population is young. Forty-seven per cent of the 17 million inhabitants are 15 years of age or younger. This poses a challenge for the county in providing age-appropriate education for the many children and young people.
The festive inauguration was a dream come true for the pupils and their parents.
Help in Sierra Leone: The Jörg Wolff Foundation and the New Apostolic Church Sierra Leone undertook a nationwide distribution of food and non-food items to poor communities in Sierra Leone. Apostles and district leaders were put in charge of the distribution in their respective working areas, together with Priests Nyandemoh Charles and Abdulai K. Sannoh from the Church offices. As a result, the emergency aid could be delivered personally, which was an invaluable gain for the people. They were overwhelmed at not having been forgotten!
The programme, called “Hungry and Needy”, was initiated by the Jörg Wolff Foundation. So far people with disabilities in Nyandehun, a school for the blind in Kenema, facilities for the physically disabled in Pujehun and Port Loko, and three orphanages in Freetown—Network for Children in Need Orphanage, Saviour of the World, and Children Redemption Orphanage—have benefitted.
A day designated by UNICEF: Days designated by UNICEF: “You are not forgotten” is how one could caption the special day that is observed by UNICEF annually on 19 August: World Humanitarian Day. It is dedicated to the women and men who are committed to help people in distress. On this day, the world automatically also pauses to think of the many people across the globe who are suffering from poverty.
It is still a fact that every ten seconds a child dies from conditions related to hunger and malnourishment. Child labour still exists, as do child soldiers, and child prostitution. Children are sexually abused, are forced into genital mutilation, into marriage, and are beaten. Many grow up as orphans and have to take care of their younger siblings. They are disadvantaged because they are girls or have a disability.
Helping those in poverty and need is not only dictated by Christian love—it is a moral imperative.