Tag: health

  • Thoughts on Health & Economic Development, from World Relief

    06.02.11 | Comment?

    “How Can a Church That Cares About Health Change a Community?” by Maurice Kwizera

    The World Health Organization (WHO) uses a broad definition of health “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

    In Rwanda, WR is partnering with many local churches committed to address people health in broad sense – but with a definition that includes “spiritual health” as well.

    Before I share about their work, here are a few facts about health in Rwanda:

    Health Facts for Rwanda:

    ● 43% of households in rural area are headed by women, widows, or children.

    ● 19% of children under 5 are malnourished.

    ● 1 in 5 children will die before their 5th birthday – most from curable and preventable disease.

    ● 3% of adults have HIV/AIDS.

    ● Life expectancy is 52.7 years.

    Churches are well positioned to minister to the health needs of the vulnerable: more than 2/3 of the population attend church at least once a month. Churches are in the remotest areas where access to health care and information can be poor. The community trusts in church leaders and church members in general; any health initiative from them is recognized as a crucial component in successful delivery of health services.

    A church delivers health services with remarkable cost effectiveness: Churches are able to use their volunteers and influence to cascade information throughout the community in a short amount of time. Rwanda has many health success stories on this:

    Maternal and child health: In one district where World Relief empowered 2,800 church volunteers and 350 church leaders in community mobilization for maternal & child health, more than  29,000 households were regularly visited  twice a month for health education. As a result, the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets increased from 3% to 70% in the target population, severe malaria cases in district Hospital decreased from 570 cases (2003) to 108 Cases (2006), and annual death cases due to malaria among children under 5 years of age steadily decreased from 30 to 0 within a period of five years.

    HIV/AIDS prevention: World Relief worked with the local churches from which 5,800 peer educators were selected, equipped with knowledge and tools and then committed to the education of youth on HIV/AIDS. After 5 years, more than 373,000 youth aged 12-24 years were reached with knowledge and life skills for HIV prevention through small groups regularly meeting at church.

    Fighting stigma & traditional beliefs: Word Relief has also worked throughout the country to help churches overcome the stigma of AIDS and be a leader in the community at accepting the sick for who they are.  Also, church are fighting traditional beliefs and encouraging people to go to hospitals instead of “traditional healers.”

    Where a local church cares about health, a holistic healing is brought to the community.

    Photo: A volunteer from a local church helps weigh a baby as part of a nutrition and child survival intervention in Rwanda.

    (Maurice Kwizera is the community mobilization manager in WR’s Child Survival program and has previously served as manager of WR’s HIV/AIDS program.)

    ~~~

    “Why Is Economic Empowerment More Important Than Giveaways?” by Pascasie Nsanzabozwa

    We’ve all heard the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” As cliché as it sounds, the concept of giveaways versus economic empowerment is a huge issue in development work. In Rwanda, there are many people with serious and urgent needs and sometimes we just don’t have the ability or resources to take care of the root causes of their poverty.

    As we try to follow Jesus’ example of having compassion on the vulnerable, we instinctively want to help that immediate need as we are able. However, handouts are not going to create a sustainable skill and often rob those we try to help of the self-esteem and independence they could achieve from learning how to improve their economic development.

    “Savings for Life” groups in Rwanda are mobilized by church leaders. WR’s role is to train volunteers from these churches in how to train these groups to save.

    So how do savings groups work?

    1. 15-25 community members are mobilized by local churches to form groups.
    2. Groups meet weekly and each member deposits their weekly savings (usually less than $1) into the group savings fund.
    3. As the fund grows, members borrow from the fund to start small businesses.
    4. A social fund is set aside as an emergency grant for members who experience crisis.
    5. Group members add to savings between meetings using daily savings.
    6. Loans are repaid with interest and the savings fund grows even more!
    7. At the end of the 9-12 month cycle, each member receives their savings PLUS a portion of the interest collected. (They use these funds to pay school fees, buy livestock, and start small businesses.)
    8. The group then decides to disband or begin a new cycle. (Almost all continue for several additional cycles.)

    Because the church is involved, members learn more than how to save in these groups; they form relationships with others who are trying to lift their families out of poverty. Over time, they grow to love and trust each other.

    I visited a group last week called, Twitezimbere which means “let’s prosper.” The 20-member group, almost all of whom are women (78% of the program’s clients are women), are growing in unity.

    Hadidja, a Muslim member has been welcomed into the group. She has been inspired by how the group members, most of whom are Christians, love each other.

    Another women’s husband has been hospitalized for the past three weeks, and the group decided to donate the social fund to his family and spend time together weeding his cassava fields.

    These examples of compassion and caring for people who might have been strangers 2 months ago, is truly moving.

    These savings groups are giving a ministry to churches to empower people to help themselves – rather than making them dependant on support from outside.

    Photo: A savings group gathers at a weekly meeting to contribute to their savings fund.

    (Pascasie Nsanzabozwa is the economic development manager at WR Rwanda.)

  • Trusting God for Transformation

    05.22.11 | Comment?

    by Jessica Isakson

    Here’s what happens to me psychologically during the Spilling Hope campaign. First I hear about the need and I feel empathy, an emotional response to what I perceive to be the distress of brothers and sisters in Africa. Following empathy I feel a strong desire to help and to pray. And following that I give money and trust God. But what happens between giving money and building a well, and how does a well transform a community? In other words, for what, exactly, am I trusting God?

    To be honest, I can’t answer those questions entirely; I only know a few more things this year than I did last year. Nonetheless, I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned. This is what I’m trusting God for:

    In prior years, all the money raised during the Spilling Hope campaign was donated to Living Water international. Bethany has partnered with Living Water International to provide clean drinking water to a specific group of communities in need of better water in Ntungamo District, Uganda. To me it’s amazing that all our saving, praying, and generosity is focused on this one small part of the world. We are praying for this specific place, these people. It sounds silly, but I kind of thought that they were just digging wells all over the continent, wherever the need was greatest. I’m trusting God to transform lives in the Ntungamo District.

    This year I saw photos of the previous water sources in each of these communities. I had suspected that whoever was choosing photos to share had picked the dirtiest looking “previous water source” photos, and that’s why I had only seen a few. But in fact, all the photos look the same. I’m not exaggerating; they look like the same four water sources shot over a few years and in different seasons. They are all dirty, and in every community where Living Water International goes, people are suffering from preventable diseases.

    I had heard how children without clean water are often not healthy enough to learn, or simply don’t have the time to go to school because they’re fetching water, but I never realized that the sites chosen for clean water for an entire community are near schools. All the wells that we have funded are near schools. The students and school staff have access to the clean water when they need it. This improves both the attendance and health of the students. Clean water gives the children in these towns a chance to learn.

    I also didn’t know what happens besides LWI driving up, digging a well, and leaving. LWI also provides health and hygiene training to the community. The LWI staff share the gospel with people in the community. Additionally, each community assembles a water committee to oversee the management and maintenance of the well, and they’re provided with a LWI contact in case the well is ever broken or stolen. Apparently it’s possible to steal a well, which I also never knew.

    I wrote that in previous years all the money raised during the Spilling Hope campaign had gone to Living Water International because this year we will also be partnering with World Relief to fund church empowerment in Rwanda, just across the border from where LWI has been doing work. World Relief seeks to pick up where LWI tapers off. They train leaders in churches to make a difference in their communities. Their mission is to empower the local church to serve the most vulnerable. This an exciting addition to the Spilling Hope campaign, and I trust that just as God continues to transform lives in Uganda through the work of LWI, he will likewise further his kingdom in Rwanda through the work of World Relief.

  • The Iceberg

    05.21.11 | Comment?

    by Beau Abdulla, Living Water International

    When we humble ourselves and seek God’s will, I believe our actions in obedience can reach farther and impact in ways we can’t imagine. After all, it is all for His glory and not ours. Many times in a ministry like LWI it is easy to focus on the water projects. These are tangible things. I don’t want to diminish the value of the water project but I find myself reflecting on the impact outside the water projects the LWI Uganda ministry is having. I want to share with you how Bethany Community Church’s support of this program has reached beyond the borehole.

    1. The LWI mission is to provide a cup of water in Jesus’ name. I want to you know that the projects you have supported have opened doors we never could have anticipated. An example of this was when the First Lady of Uganda dedicated a number of water projects in Ntungamo directly. When she does, it is not a political show. Imagine your First Lady coming to your community, sharing her testimony, and telling you the only reason a new project has come is because Christ answered her prayers. It is awesome!
    2. Bethany Community Church has financially supported 33 water projects in Uganda. The LWI ministry has completed over 60 projects in Ntungamo and over 90 in the entire country. Bethany’s support has enabled the LWI Uganda to grow. You are a part of over 90 projects here. 
    3. For my wife and I, the LWI Uganda staff is also our ministry. LWI Uganda currently employs 15 people (12 Ugandans, 2 Kenyans and 1 Indian). Jobs are not easy to find here. Your love and support is helping to provide jobs. The effect one working person has in their family can easily reach 15-20 people.  We are planning to add more staff in the coming months. By the end of 2011 we hope to employ over 20 people locally.
    4. Your support has helped the LWI Uganda program learn and grow in Ntungamo. Because of this program, LWI has received interest in starting new zones using Ntungamo as a model. Rest assured the Ntungamo program will not be compromised by this. But I just want you to know that the love you have shown to the people of Ntungamo has captured the attention of other people and they want to replicate the model in an area they feel called to. How amazing is that? It is possible that by 2012 LWI Uganda will have expanded to 2 zones, doubling our impact for God’s kingdom.
    5. Clean, safe water sources in open areas may lessen AIDS. When I first heard this, I had to make sure I heard correctly. It’s something I never thought about. During many dedication ceremonies the local officials make this remark. They say that previous water sources deep in valleys or surrounded by thick bush were places young girls would be attacked. They say that these new water sources will lessen the incidence of rape and AIDS. 
    6. I’m sure you thought that your gift of clean safe water would help save lives. Did you ever think it was because a child wouldn’t be eaten by a crocodile while fetching water from a river or lake? We hear people say “thank you, now we won’t lose our children to crocodiles.” It’s hard to even imagine.
    7. These projects can help communities gain self-esteem. 
    8. These projects can be the beginning of a revenue generating point for future community development.
    9. The support programs targeting youth can greatly impact the future as these young men and women become leaders in their communities.
    10. The largest impact is one that we can’t measure. It is the impact the LWI ministry makes on someone’s heart. You can be sure that all LWI Uganda project are done boldly in the name of Christ through an indigenous staff. It is our prayer that people’s hearts turn toward Christ. We have to lift this up to God.

    The list could go on and on, but I’ll stop here. I’m sure there are many impacts that we don’t even know about. That is OK. Maybe sometimes when we know too much about the impact we have, we tend to own the impact and diminish God’s glory. Perhaps it is best for us not to know all the answers. Maybe it is best for us not to understand how everything interconnects and links. At that point all we can do is stand in awe and praise God. He is an awesome God!

    We give all the glory to Him and thank you for the support of His ministry here in Uganda.

    Beau and Staci Abdulla

  • Kick-Off Event Photos

    05.14.11 | Comment?

    photos by mattgebhart.com

    On May 4th, we "stepped into the journey," gathering to learn more about life in Uganda and Rwanda.

    Experiencing a dinner of rice and beans . . .

    Engaging in activities like beadmaking . . .

    Learning more about health issues like HIV/AIDS . . .

    Malaria . . .

    And Diarrhea . . .

    And considering the difference clean water and other development programs make in these communities . . .

     

  • Stepping Into the Journey

    05.07.11 | Comment?

    by Susie Salgado

    Wednesday night, I had the privilege of supporting Spilling Hope by being a part of their “Step Into the Journey” event. The evening’s activities were organized so that attendees could catch a glimpse into what daily life is like for those living in Rwanda and Uganda. Different stations were set up around the building based on the variety of ways Spilling Hope supports the communities it enters.  For example, there was a station highlighting personal savings habits, a station for bead making (a skill taught to women in order to encourage entrepreneurial business), washing clothing, pumping water, and a number of stations highlighting personal health and hygiene. That’s where I was. More specifically . . . the diarrhea table.

    Diarrhea isn’t exactly the most glamorous or . . . conventional subject to talk about with strangers. In fact I could barely keep from laughing out loud when I was assigned to the table during setup the night before. Despite my initial school-girl giggles, I hope I was able to break through the usual social convention and address the truth of the topic . . . with maybe only a few side jokes thrown in.

    As it turns out, diarrhea claimed the lives of 1.5 million children under the age of five in 2009 alone. In 2004, diarrhea was the 3rd leading cause of death in developing countries, and on average, children under three years old, will experience three different diarrheal episodes each year. All of this is most commonly attributed to inadequate or unsafe water sources. These are staggering facts considering how privileged we are, with safe drinking water usually a short walk away from any place we may find ourselves. Additionally, the overwhelming death rate can partly be attributed to the lack of understanding most mothers have on how to treat the disease.

    This goes to show how important Spilling Hope’s work is within these communities. Not only to bring clean water for drinking, mixing, and cooking, but for educating and empowering sustainable development. With clean water and the Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), which can be made from common household ingredients, or Oral Rehydration Salts from a clinic, a sick child can return to health within a few days.

    Having gone through my fair share of biology, health, and development courses in college, I was more or less aware of the impact the disease had in developing countries. Having statistics casually rolled off in some lecture somewhere, I remember being surprised but the facts hadn’t really stuck. The severity of the numbers had not been accompanied by any additional perspective or understanding. That’s what last night was about — learning for the sake of understanding and encouraging action.

    By the grace of God, Spilling Hope truly blesses the communities they enter, supporting the people and enabling them to grow. I really loved being able to contribute to the success of the evening and appreciate all the work that went into planning, organizing, and pulling it together. I can’t wait to see how God uses Bethany’s resources through Spilling Hope, World Relief, and Living Water International to touch those in Uganda and Rwanda! I’m honored to be a part of it and encourage others to simplify, learn, and give as well.