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Image: Luke Vodell
ADRA NEWS
Summer 2017
Helping Others Thrive It starts in another part of the Solomons: Choiseul Province, northwest Solomon Islands, where he was born. These days, Blais has a wife and two young girls, aged 5 and 6 months, and his family lives about an hour’s drive from the country’s capital: Honiara. Growing up, Blais came from a poor family and his mother died while he was completing school. He describes this as a difficult time. “I was very sad,” Blais says. “We didn’t have
much of anything. Without her, I couldn’t imagine how we were going to survive.” But his father provided for the family, and Blais went on to marry his wife and moved to her village. Blais says he used to be very shy and scared to express his opinions – particularly as an outsider in his wife’s village. To provide for his family, Blais had to move away temporarily to get seasonal work. Blais says his decision to attend some training run by ADRA on cocoa growing techniques was the key to changing his life. As part of ADRA’s Soul Cocoa project, he learnt techniques to improve the process of fermenting and drying
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Blais sits relaxed in the plastic chair under his house. His wide grin reveals a friendly personality as he tells his story.
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CEO Message As I near the conclusion of my service with ADRA Australia the impending separation serves to highlight a sense of belonging, which in the day to day engagement of work can be taken for granted.
I am blessed by the opportunity I’ve had over the last six years to belong to the group of people that collectively are ADRA Australia, and I am excited to continue working for ADRA in Bangkok. As our new CEO, Paul Rubessa, joins the group I’m sure that he too will be blessed with the opportunity to serve and be a blessing to others. In Bangladesh over half a million people have suddenly become refugees; people who, literally, do not belong – anywhere. ADRA is responsible for food and shelter provision in one camp that is now the temporary home of almost thirty thousand men, women and children. At a time when I’m most conscious of the blessing of belonging somewhere I am greatly saddened that so many people find themselves so violently not belonging. Updates from ADRA’s team on the ground in Cox’s Bazaar is that in the coming weeks the number of refugees will increase to over 800,000. That’s an enormous number of
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lives disrupted for the foreseeable future. Men, women and children without access to employment, healthcare or education and with barely enough food and shelter to stay alive. Most of us in Australia have not experienced the kind of displacement currently being experienced by the Rohingya. Yet we all share a human desire to belong and we’ve all experienced the pain of loneliness, exclusion or not belonging at some time in our lives. How should we respond then to people who have become refugees? I can’t necessarily answer that for you, but I can share what motivates many of us who work for ADRA here in Australia or around the world. The words belong to William Arthur Ward, but they represent what it means to belong to ADRA. “Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work.” As you read this newsletter and the stories of ADRA’s work I invite you to join us. Finally, thank you for the incredible support you’ve given to ADRA and me personally during my time at ADRA Australia. I know ADRA will be in capable hands with Paul’s leadership, and I’m excited for what the future holds.
T: 02 9489 5488 1800 242 372 E: adra.info@adra.org.au www.adra.org.au www.facebook.com/ADRAAustralia
ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY AUSTRALIA
Mark Webster CEO Adventist Development and Relief Agency Australia
Editor Josh Dye Contributors Beth Morrow Josh Dye Michael Peach Mark Webster Paul Rubessa
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the cocoa beans. This helped improve the quality of his beans and he was able to attract a higher price for his produce. He even entered ADRA’s Chocolate Week competition with a friend, promising: “I can’t let this guy beat me!” When he received a phone call some weeks later to inform him that he’d won third place, he was shocked. “I was so excited it felt like I was walking on air!” Blais says. The achievement brought immense pride to Blais’s family. “When I heard Blais won the award, I was so proud because this new opportunity will help our family and our community receive better income,” his wife says. Instead of keeping his newfound skills to himself, Blais chose to teach others the techniques he had learned about fermenting and drying. Patrick Mesai, ADRA Solomon Islands project manager, can’t hide his joy at Blais’s generosity. “Blais is helping amazing things happen through his generosity to others and helping them thrive. He really is an inspiration to his community.”
Image: Luke Vodell
“I don’t want anyone to be left behind – I want everyone to grow and improve together.”
school fees and other expenses for those in need, reflecting his strong desire to help others thrive. “I don’t want anyone to be left behind – I want everyone to grow and improve together,” he said. “After I placed third in the competition people wanted to put me on a pedestal but I told them if we all work together we can all improve the quality of our beans and we can all benefit.” Through his involvement in ADRA projects over the years, Blais said he has gained more confidence. “I was a very shy person. Now I am comfortable expressing my opinions and providing support and guidance to my community,” he said. “I’m proud and it made me realise that I am able to do great things and have an impact.” His success growing cocoa means he can now stay with his family and doesn’t need to work away from home any more. Blais’s daughter, Jamin, smiles as she says: “I’m happy with my daddy, he loves me so much.”
With the extra income received from selling his beans to overseas chocolate makers, Blais has helped form a community savings group to cover
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Get to Know Our New CEO
As you may already know by now, we have a new CEO – Paul Rubessa. But you might be wondering: “Who is he?” So we thought we’d ask Paul a few questions, so you can get to know him.
back in 1986. I have since worked at the South Pacific Division, Avondale College, Victorian Conference, ACAST Superannuation Fund and most recently with Risk Management Service.
Can you tell us about yourself and your family?
Why did you apply to become CEO?
I grew up in Perth and my connection to the west remains strong with mum and dad still living in my childhood home. My wife Linda and I have lived in both Sydney and Melbourne, but now call Cooranbong home with our four school age kids.
Where have you worked before? Most of my working life has been in finance and related roles, starting as an assistant accountant in the Western Australian Conference office way
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Do you attend a church? Yes, I attend the Plus One congregation at Avondale Memorial SDA Church in Cooranbong. It’s a fantastic church family – I love it. It was a prayerful decision but the opportunity to work in an organisation that directly and positively impacts people is quite motivating.
How did it happen? There were a number of obstacles along the way but somehow God kept dissolving them and taking away my excuses. In the end I felt like I’d be ignoring his answers if I didn’t accept the call. So now I am relying on his strength in my weakness.
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Why do you think ADRA’s work is so important? Jesus was pretty clear about our responsibility for others (Matthew 25 for instance) and ADRA provides a structure where many of us can join together to help others.
What unique skills and experience do you bring to this role?
What is your vision for the future of ADRA? I find ADRA’s current vision inspiring: ‘A world without poverty. An agency of excellence. A church making a difference.’ The team and I now need to determine how I can best contribute to that vision – and that’s something I am excited about.
What do you love doing outside of work?
I am new to ADRA so I am coming with an open mind. I am a prayerful person and tend to be organised and thorough. My goal is to bring out the best in those I work with to maximize ADRA’s impact on the lives of those we serve.
I enjoy surfing, motorcycles and mountain biking but find I am happiest when engaged with my family – which pretty much means engaging in things the kids find interesting. Oh, and I love any sport with a ball or an engine.
Is there one thing ADRA does which is particularly compelling to you?
What are you most looking forward to about starting at ADRA?
Not yet, and I am hoping I won’t see it that way. I think our focus should be on applying our energy and resources to programs where we can make a tangible difference in the lives of people. In this context, all the programs will be compelling.
Getting to know the team – learning about their skills, talents and passion. Engaging with the volunteers and donors that make ADRA’s work possible. Working together these people are the real agents of change bringing help, hope and love to others.
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Disaster Updates With a vast international network ADRA is able to effectively respond to almost every disaster. And in the past few months there have been plenty of disasters.
Bangladesh
Many have hiked for days or weeks, arriving with only the clothes they were wearing and minimal food. The United Nations has described this crisis as the "most urgent refugee emergency in the world". In response, ADRA has mobilised a team of experts to provide urgent food and shelter for the displaced Rohingya refugees, considered the world’s most persecuted people. In October, ADRA began distributing food parcels to 5400 households, which will benefit 32,400 people. Michael Peach, ADRA South Pacific Emergency Coordinator, says the crisis is unlike anything he has seen. “It is literally breath-taking to walk into these mega camps, hike to an elevated spot and look around at the thousands of tarpaulin tents stretching for kilometres in each direction,” Mr Peach says. The situation in the camps is critical. There is massive over-crowding and sanitation is poor as Bangladesh recovers from catastrophic flooding during the monsoon season. Please donate to ADRA’s Rohingya crisis appeal – adra.org.au/rohingya
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Image: Britt Celine Oldebraten
More than 400,000 Rohingya refugees have fled ethnic violence in Myanmar seeking safety in Bangladesh.
South Asia Flooding Meanwhile, 40 million people in the South Asia region have been affected by severe flooding, with thousands of houses, schools and hospitals damaged. ADRA Australia has contributed to the global ADRA network response in Nepal, providing shelter, food, bedding and kitchen kits to 620 flood-affected families.
Hurricane Irma In the Caribbean, the ADRA Network responded after Category 5 Hurricane Irma hit the Caribbean by distributing shelter kits and tarps, mosquito nets and hygiene kits. In Florida, ADRA is working closely with the SDA Church and emergency response authorities in the affected areas.
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Development Education
Why orphanages aren’t best practice Children are so often at the heart of why we give to charity. In them we see the hope for a better future. This is perhaps why so many people support orphanages all around the world. However, development experts and credible NGOs increasingly believe that orphanages can cause harm to children and communities. One reason is that orphanages can create orphans. An estimated 80 per cent of children in orphanages have at least one parent.1 When we pour donations into orphanages instead of community development, it can force parents to choose. They may not want to send their children away, but the orphanage provides food and shelter that they might not be able to.2
method of staying for a few days, giving affection that the kids crave, then leaving again a few days later is a recipe for attachment disorders.
Another reason is that institutional care has been proven to have a negative effect on a child’s development. Upon leaving an orphanage, children can lack skills that enable them to thrive.3 Children are also at risk of neglect from overstretched staff or even abuse from volunteers with ulterior motives.
Supporting vulnerable children is incredibly crucial. However, institutional care should be a last resort and temporary option. It’s important that we look at better ways to help. Foster care and community care are good ways to keep orphan children in their communities. Along with this, when we support community development through organisations like ADRA, we help keep more would-be-orphans at home with their parents or caregivers. It’s best for the child’s wellbeing, and empowers whole communities to participate in their development.
Take Cambodia for example. Earlier this year, there was a push to outlaw “orphanage tourism” to the country’s many orphanages.4 Some of these orphanages have good intentions but many are being run for profit and thrive off the wealthy tourists who come to volunteer. These volunteers are often well-meaning but their
Sources: 1 http://kinnected.org.au/resources 2 http://globalsl.org/why-unicef-and-save-the-children-areagainst-you-caring-for-orphans 3 http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/ The_Risk_of_Harm_1.pdf 4 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-02/exploited-cambodianchildren-orphanage-tourism-trade/8668506
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Image: Britt Celine Oldebraten
Diary from a Disaster Zone
In September, Michael Peach spent 2 weeks in Bangladesh leading ADRA’s response to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh. We’ve asked him to tell us what it was like.
While you were in Bangladesh, what did your typical day look like? 5:30am – Wake up and prepare for a 6am Skype call with ADRA’s Regional Emergency Coordinator covering resourcing, planning, staffing, engaging donors, logistics etc. 7:00am – A quick breakfast in the hotel. 7:30am – Either leaving for the camps or meeting in my office for worship. Driving to the camps took up to 2.5 hours. It wasn’t far (75km) but the roads are small and extremely congested with the humanitarian effort.
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9:00am – Meet with other NGOs or local government for up to three hours. 12:30pm – The rest of my day was filled with supporting my team, helping prepare the twiceweekly situation reports, reviewing proposals, budgets (lots of budget revisions), or responding to emails. We had regular debriefs whenever someone returned from the camps or a cluster meeting. 7:00pm – Dinner together before going our separate ways. Sadly, my nights would always push towards midnight, but I made a rule to try and get six hours sleep each night. There was just so much administration to look after.
What’s the hardest part? The hardest part is the vicarious trauma that is experienced when you visit the camps and hear the refugees’ stories. It’s difficult to process the scale and tragedy of this civil conflict. More than 500,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border
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from Myanmar to Bangladesh, settling in camps ill-equipped to provide adequate food, shelter, water and sanitation to the rapidly expanding population. This forced displacement situation is extremely complex, many years in the making and unlikely to resolve itself anytime soon – this too is hard to deal with. I have responded to many natural disasters, and while they are traumatic, they generally track positively through the stabilising phase (food, water and shelter), to early recovery and longerterm rehabilitation and reconstruction. Humanmade crises are sadly more complex, and prone to becoming ‘stuck’ in a protracted stabilising phase. With limited available land, access to capital and household security, the Rohingyas will struggle to make the transition to community empowerment and self-reliance.
In 20 years, what will you most remember about this trip? What sticks in my mind is the scale of the situation: both the number of people and the size of the camps, particularly the mega camp of Kutapalong. It literally takes your breath away.
When you first arrive and stand on high ground, you get the opportunity to do a 360-degree scan and it has to be seen to be believed. As far as you can see in any direction is just so many people and the totally denuded forestry land jam-packed with colourful tarpaulins.
Can you share a story that resonated with you? I met a lady who told me she has not heard from her teenage son for a month. One night, she said, soldiers surrounded their village and commanded all first-born sons to be sent out and fight. She said her son went out with nothing but his bare hands and she hasn’t heard from him since. Later that night, the lady said her village was burnt to the ground. They all fled to the border and crossed to safety. She assumes her son is dead, but still carries hope because they didn’t hear any gunshots that night. As the father of a teenage son, this story really resonated with me.
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Please donate to ADRA’s Rohingya crisis appeal – adra.org.au/rohingya
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Image: Melissa Baleilekutu
Minds in the Fields
In early October, the ADRA Community Centre in Macquarie Fields in southwestern Sydney held an important event… Minds in the Fields is an initiative run by the ADRA Community Centre in partnership with the local Police to help remove the negative stigma surrounding mental health. The event was particularly aimed at school students, and six local primary schools participated on the day. Melissa Baleilekutu, manager of the community centre, believes the day was successful. “It turned out very well, we got some great feedback from the community,” she says. The day included a martial arts and physical fitness workshop, a movement workshop, calming art, and a drama performed for the kids. It’s just another way that ADRA is helping the local community in a tangible way. “It was very interactive and enjoyed by all of the kids,” says Melissa. The event helped to educate the children about mental health. Melissa says at the beginning of the day, there was a collective sigh when the
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students heard they would be talking about mental health. But by the end of the day when asked to fill out an evaluation, all the kids answered that they looked at the topic in a more positive light. The program came as a response to feedback from primary school teachers who were worried about their students suffering from anxiety. “The kids in their schools were becoming more and more anxious at a younger age,” Melissa says. The day helped provide resources not just for kids, but also for the schools that attended. Each child left with a bag filled with activities and each school left with a kit containing even more activities. Melissa believes it is vitally important to help equip teachers to deal with mental health, particularly in younger children. “They’re the ones that see their kids all the time, they’re the ones that really need more assistance,” she says. Planning is currently underway to hold another event aimed at high school students. Melissa says she would like to see Minds in the Fields become an annual event, encouraging students to help plan the event and tailor it to their needs.
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Volunteer Profile
The day starts with prayer in Berwick, Victoria as volunteers from Pakenham Church prepare for a roadside traffic collection for the ADRA Appeal.
“Sure enough, at the end of the day you have a few aches and pains, but God blesses you for doing what you do for him,” she says.
Debbie, leading her team of 22 volunteers, says she’s always surprised by the people who give.
“ADRA just helps so many people. The more that they get, the more people they can help.”
"It's those with the battered cars that just hand you this massive handful of coins. It's just amazing!" she says.
In the end, Debbie says the team raised about $2800 for the day.
Taking part in the ADRA Appeal is important to Debbie because of the great work that ADRA does, she says.
Debbie and her son head up the team at their church. Since suffering a back injury, volunteering for ADRA enables Debbie to serve in a meaningful way that isn’t detrimental to her health.
What an amazing effort. Thanks Debbie and team!
Share Your Story We love our volunteers and want to profile your stories. Do you have one to share? Email news@adra.org.au ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY AUSTRALIA
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You can run a
in your church, school or organisation!
This Christmas you can help people in your life celebrate and replicate the generosity of God by helping them give meaningful gifts to people in need.
is for others to thrive Register now to receive your Christmas Tree pack. WWW.ADRA.ORG.AU/CHRISTMAS