TEAR Correspondent - Winter 2012

TEARFUND.ORG.NZ

ISSUE / WINTER 2012

CORRESPONDENT POVERTY MORE THAN JUST BOOSTING INCOMES PAGE 5

THE SPIRIT LEVEL INCOME, EQUALITY AND WELLBEING

PAGE 8

MICROENTERPRISE EMPOWERING WOMEN

PAGE 9

THE VALUE OF A PERSON KINGDOM ROI: A microenterprise loan has given hope and increased Rosie’s income, from the Shapla Women’s Group in Bangladesh.

Former banker, Rob Reynolds weighs up microenterprise against his experience in commercial banking and his faith, and finds a different perspective on ‘Return On Investment.’

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valuating the success of microenterprise efforts is an interesting topic. It’s difficult for me to see more than the credit side of microenterprise. My past efforts focus on lending, even though it’s more than that.

My mind goes back to my days as a banker and I think of the loan selection processes and return on investment (ROI). When I look at microenterprise, I want to know how they select their borrowers, how they cover their costs, and what their default rate is. I tend to evaluate micro-lending from a banking perspective. After all, I’m just trying to hold those involved in the microenterprise programme accountable, and ensure I’m being a good steward of my money.

My faith challenges this assumption, though. I was reading Titus recently and came across Paul’s words in chapter

three. Paul starts by encouraging Titus to remind believers to “always be ready to do what is good”. The next few verses talk about what this looks like, but these few words in verses four and five struck me. He says, “When God our Saviour revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” My efforts weren’t the motivator for God taking a chance on me – it was His love, kindness, and mercy. So, what does mercy look like when evaluating microenterprise?

I think it’s a perspective switch. When I was training for my lending authority qualification, our lender/trainer shared two principles that still affect me. The first was, that when we were evaluating a loan application, we weren’t making a lending decision; we were making a

values decision and assessing what the person was worth. This principle applied to large loans and small overdrafts. In each case, we should ask, “Is this person worth it”? Not just, “Do I loan them money”? To say no to a simple overdraft of $50, meant I didn’t believe the person was worth $50. This put people at the centre of the loan decision.

The second principle regarded good and bad loans. Our trainer said, “If you don’t make any bad loans, you’re not making enough loans. You’re avoiding any risk, being too conservative, and not taking a chance on some good people.

Some people may let you down, but many will surprise you when given hope”. The thought was that risk was inherent in lending. Sometimes the person is worth the risk, even if the loan particulars are questionable. This principle encouraged us to see the positive side of risks when lending.

If I combine scripture with life experience – microenterprise seems less about spreadsheets, cost-benefit analysis, and default rates (although these are important) and more about

PICTURE / HELEN MANSON

taking a chance and providing hope. The money becomes just a tool God uses, but it’s the belief in the person that ends up showing kindness, mercy and love. What would happen if we tried to evaluate these efforts differently? What if our evaluation was on the good they were able to accomplish in the people they were in community with? What if hope was offered not based on the recipient’s efforts, but on their value as a person created in God’s image? Well, at least for me, selection and ROI don’t seem like the only important factors anymore.

Please give hope by investing in the poor through our Ever Increasing Returns projects.

PRAY • Pray that all of us would see the real ROI for generosity.

• Pray that poor communities would be strengthened by generosity.

• Pray that those using microenterprise would know their true worth as human beings.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

2 | TEAR CORRESPONDENT

Investing in what matters to God The Editor

of the time microenterprise loans are group loans. The borrowers collectively are responsible to repay the loan, so if a tragedy befalls one, and they are not able to meet payments for a period; the group covers the repayments until they can resume paying. In many groups, borrowers pay a little extra each week into a fund, which can cover this eventuality.

In the case of Afghanistan, vets are available to protect their valuable asset.

However, the many Kiwis who support TEAR Fund microenterprise realise they are investing in people, investing in hope of a better life for the poor, and investing in something of worth in God’s economy.

We hope you will take up this investment opportunity as you read more about it and pray alongside us for a more just and equitable world.

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hen we think of an investment, we think about a financial transaction, and we look for the best possible return on our investment within the risk level we are comfortable with. Our Ever Increasing Returns Campaign is about the power of microenterprise as part of a raft of initiatives to help bring struggling families out of poverty.

However, Ever Increasing Returns highlights a much different sort of investment. It is an investment where you contribute your money for no financial return. If you sought advice from a financial broker, he or she would advise you not to invest in such a portfolio that offered no return, with your money being lent to people with no assets or collateral.

You see, Ever Increasing Returns is essentially not about a financial return for the investor; it is about a Kingdom Return; an investment in the people that God has instructed us to care for on his behalf. The scripture (Psalm 112:5) that we have chosen tells us a lot about the kind of return we can expect: “They lavish gifts on the poor— A generosity that goes on, and on, and on. An honoured life!

A beautiful life!” (The Message) The reason for choosing this scripture can be seen in the way microenterprise operates. Ever Increasing Returns is about microenterprise. This is where small loans, typically around $50 to $100, are lent to people living in poverty to help them establish a small business to help lift them out of poverty. This gift goes on and on because the money is lent again once the debt is paid.

INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO: Microenterprise is about investing in people, like this woman who has a thriving business as a tailor as the result of a loan. PICTURE / HELEN MANSON

Alternative takes on microenterprise Microenterprise is more than just financial loans. In our partner’s project in Afghanistan for instance, the currency is not money but livestock. The interest that is paid back is the return of one of the offspring from the animal they receive.

In the community-led microenterprise project run by our partner Saahasee in the slums of Bhiwandi, India, the women save their own money to create a pool of capital they can lend out. The women have total say in who gets the money and what interest is charged.

The money contributed by TEAR Fund supporters helps to fund such things as empowering the women to bring change to their community, and training in financial handling and business skills, vocational training, creating educational

opportunities for their children, and a tuberculosis intervention programme in the community.

This investment is not without its risks, however. Like all lending, there is the risk that borrowers can default.

Living below the poverty line, it does not take much to tip the balance; it may be a disaster or a family emergency that tips the balance and a poor person, no matter how much integrity they have, can struggle to make the payments. This happens here in New Zealand where we have greater access to credit, welfare and other safety nets not available to the poor in developing countries.

But there are safeguards in place with TEAR Fund’s microenterprise programmes, and surprisingly, repayment rates are as high as you would find in most high-income countries. Most

Inside Out In the poor world, credit isn’t that easy.

Loan sharks, extortionists, traffickers and labour contractors exploit the poor with credit they can never pay back, leaving them in a position of enslavement and years of misery.

in Bangladesh, India and Afghanistan.

Our latest campaign, Ever Increasing Returns, tells the stories of how microentrepreneurs, using biblical principles of good stewardship and with the support of a local microfinance programme, have

We believe the poor have the right to access credit for productive outcomes. Things like starting a small business enterprise or getting access to seeds or farm implements...

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ere is something to ponder. Do you think credit is a human right?

Before you answer too quickly, ask yourself how much credit you have access to. It doesn’t matter whether you use it or not, but how much do you think in a crisis or opportunity you could muster from an overdraft, mortgage, bank loan, credit card, assets, friends and family? We take credit for granted in New Zealand and while it is true poor credit management gets some into trouble it has created, for most of us, the opportunity to prosper through student loans, business finance and mortgaging our way into a home.

But we see things differently at TEAR Fund. We believe the poor have the right to access credit for productive outcomes.

Things like starting a small business enterprise or getting access to seeds or farm implements that will make them independent and lift them out of poverty by their own efforts, with just a little help from you and TEAR Fund. Once a loan is repaid it is re-loaned to another – we call it Ever Increasing Returns. And it’s biblical too, for as scripture says, “Those who lend to the poor lend to the Lord.” Prov 19:17. Please have a read in this issue of the Correspondent about how microenterprise is helping to restore dignity and a sustainable livelihood for the poorest

changed the future for themselves, their children and community.

Do you want to have a blast and do something really important for the poorest? Well jump on your bike and be a two-wheeled activist and get yourself, your family, church, youth group, club, or business colleagues together, and join TEAR Fund’s Poverty Cycle. It will do your heart and soul good in more ways than you might think. Read all about it in the Correspondent.

Together, we can work, pray and give our way to a more just world!

Steve

‘EVER-INCREASING

RETURNS’ PRAYER Holy Father, You are the author of life. You know both the beauty and devastation that grips your earth. We ask that your eyes be turned towards those who struggle daily to meet their basic needs, and we ask that you turn our eyes towards them to see as you see. May the work of TEAR Fund and its partners be a creative catalyst for the authoring of ideas that enable those caught in poverty to break the chains of the injustices that hold them captive.

Life-giving Spirit, You are the sustainer of life. Help us to be instruments that help build sustainable livelihoods for those who struggle. Use the little we offer to create everincreasing returns for those less fortunate. May our humble gifts act as a catalyst towards life as you intended it to be, where that life has been broken and stolen.

May TEAR Fund’s partners in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India know and tangibly see success in their work to benefit the poor.

Merciful Son, You are the redeemer of life. May the work of Kingdom Economics be a tool for the redemption of life so sorely needed in poor communities around the world.

May the redemption of such work, spread beyond economics and into every facet of life where TEAR Fund’s partners are working. May their efforts to redeem people at all levels be effective. We humbly look backwards to your resurrection as a glimpse of what can be and we hold fast to the promise of the restoration of all things to come.

May we be humble participants in that restoration and may it clearly be seen in the work of TEAR Fund’s partners. Amen.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

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Letters to the Editor Dear Sir, I wish to comment after reading the article by Murray Sheard Eating is a justice issue. (Autumn Correspondent) I agree with the concept of shopping for goods produced locally, reducing the number of visits to the supermarket, limiting oil-based packaging and using vehicles wisely. However, I feel some comments made by your correspondent lack application.

I live in Northern Southland on a moderately steep farm producing beef and sheep. The concept of growing crops after cattle grazing is ludicrous.

The hills are too steep to allow any mechanised tillage. Remote locations always mean increased cartage to markets, thus using more fossil fuels.

Does M Sheard understand that grass cover sequesters more carbon in the soil, than tilled crops? He may suggest we plant our hills with trees, which unfortunately produces no income for a minimum of 20 years.

As farmers who care for their soil and animals, we will continue to produce healthy, grass-fed stock, supplying stable markets. With the proceeds, we will continue to improve our land, coupled with giving to organisations such as TEAR Fund.

Finally, re travelling on Sundays as a family we have always prioritised worship, which for rural dwellers necessitates car travel.

Sincerely, G Grimm.

Northern Southland. (Abridged)

ILLUSTRATION / DANIEL ALEXANDER

Murray Sheard responds It’s encouraging to receive responses to our articles from people who think deeply about these issues. I highlighted several food production projects around the world that attempt to increase food security. These examples don’t translate to all situations, and in your case, replicating this would be impossible.

Land use needs to be appropriate to terrain and I wasn’t implying that your practices were destructive. In general, I advocate for reduced meat consumption

as it requires about five times the land area per calorie of food value as vegetable growth, so eating less meat results in less of the world’s land required to be taken out of forest.

For all of us the question is, ‘what we can do in our own situations to collectively build a socially-just, environmentallysustainable and spiritually-fulfilling human presence on God’s good earth’?

In your case, your efforts seem most applicable and wise. We are pleased to hear of your stewardship of the soil and

animals in your care. I encourage each person to consider the types of changes they could make, rather than seeing the ones I suggested as prescriptive. It is about making a creative response to the issues in the light of God’s call to live wisely on the earth. Your family has obviously thought this through, and we are encouraged by hearing from you.

We thank you for partnering with TEAR Fund to help alleviate poverty and work toward more people having sustainable, reliable income generation.

Technical details: All letters should be less than 200 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 can be emailed to enquiries@tearfund.org.nz

Fair-credit hope Story and Photo by Keith Ramsay

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ike many people in New Zealand starting your own business can be the first step to enjoying a better standard of living, but this usually means accessing credit to get the venture off the ground. Most Kiwis can go to their bank and borrow the capital necessary to launch their fledgling business. Many in the developing world can’t access credit from banks. This is because they don’t usually have any collateral or any savings, and because banks cannot cover the cost of lending to the very poor. The only other option for many is to borrow from local loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest they can never pay back.

TEAR Fund’s partners offer fair-credit loans But why do the poor borrow money from loan sharks knowing the risks? The answer is desperation. What happens if their crop fails and they can’t afford to plant another? Their family goes hungry. What happens if a child gets sick and they can’t afford medical help?

They simply can’t sit by and watch their child die.

When we find ourselves faced with a financial squeeze it is easy to turn to our

credit card, even though we know the risks of high interest. The consequences for us are not nearly as dire as the ones faced by those living in poverty overseas.

The poor do not have the luxury of accessing credit from banks. TEAR Fund microenterprise loans are filling the gap that banks have been unable to, providing the poor with access to credit at a fair rate and giving them hope. A loan can enable the poor to improve their livelihood or start their own business, and with extra income, they have more of a chance to replant the failed crop, get the medical help if available, feed their family and send their children to school.

While in Cambodia a few years ago, I met a woman who started a business through taking out a small loan.

With the loan she bought a small rice milling plant and used the rest of the loan to purchase enough locally-grown unprocessed rice in bulk, to increase her profit margin. Once the rice is processed, she on-sells the processed rice for a profit. This helped her realise a dream of sending her children to school and always having enough to feed her family.

In Cambodia, TEAR Fund works with its partner KREDIT to provide loans to the most vulnerable and to set up Trust Banks. As the name suggests, the

GIVING GOD CREDIT: Rice business sees children attending school. ‘collateral’ is based on the shared trust of the group, who borrows the money. If a group member defaults or is unable to pay for a period, the other members continue to make the payments; otherwise they have to negotiate with KREDIT in order to access further loans. The repayments are usually small and the loan period is generous, and divided among the group this doesn’t cause extreme hardship. In most cases, each borrower pays or saves just a little extra each week, so there

are funds to fall back on should this situation arise.

PRAY • Pray for the wisdom of all TEAR Fund partners as they tailor practices to community needs.

• Pray for legislation to curb the activities of loan sharks in countries where they operate.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

4 | TEAR CORRESPONDENT

Microenterprise models

By Keith Ramsay

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EAR Fund microenterprise, through its partners is about addressing more than just the financial constraints that deprive the poor of an abundant life. In addition to offering fair-credit loans, TEAR Fund aims to address other factors, which contribute to the poverty of individuals and communities. It is about helping to transform communities into places where there is enough; where a child can enjoy adequate food, healthcare and education.

Overview of how microenterprise works Groups borrow money from the capital and use the money to set up a business.

Usually the amounts are small, up to $100 for a first loan. The borrowers pay back the loan in manageable payments. As the poor don’t have collateral, lending groups are formed so that they are accountable to each other to pay back the loan. If the loan is defaulted the group has to renegotiate with TEAR Fund’s partner to access subsequent loans. If a borrower falls on hard times and can’t make payments, the group covers the payments until the borrower can catch up.

Many groups pay a little extra in interest to form a fund that can cover this eventuality.

Why is interest charged?

There are two main reasons for interest to be charged. The first is that the interest helps cover the cost of lending, and the support the groups receive from TEAR Fund’s partners, such as business

mentoring or basic literacy and numeracy, which will help the borrowers’ businesses to succeed. Secondly, the aim of TEAR Fund’s microenterprise is to make the borrowers independent of microenterprise and eventually borrow from commercial banks where they will be charged interest.

By that time, they will have a proven credit history, which the banks require.

TEAR Fund’s partners don’t have a onesize-fits-all approach to microenterprise.

Our partners work with communities to find the best solution for their situation.

For example, in Afghanistan, the loan comes in the guise of a heifer or a goat.

You can read more about that project on page 6. The two financial models we work with are micro-loans and savingsled model. There are advantages and disadvantages with both approaches.

Micro-loan model The micro-loan model requires TEAR Fund microenterprise supporters to supply the capital used to provide the loans. This model provides more people with loans, helping to establish income streams much sooner than the savingsled model. One drawback is that the costs in achieving sustainability are higher.

Another criticism of this model is its failure to serve the poorest. This can be overcome by the ability to cross-subsidise programmes that create surpluses to fund those that don’t. KREDIT Cambodia is one of our partners who serve the poorest.

They have developed a savings programme targeting women who are too destitute to run a business. After about a year of

SUSTAINING HOPE: Women who are given a hand up out

CASH IN HAND: Different microenterprise models are used to meet the needs of individual communities. PICTURE / ALEX CARTER support and training, they introduce a self-employment programme which will eventually lead to them receiving a loan.

As poverty is not just about improving incomes, many of our partners also run community and social programmes alongside microenterprise. This means that donor grants or subsidised loans are usually required.

Savings-led model In many countries TEAR Fund supports groups that use the savings -led model, such as Saahasee in India.

The women save a little each week which goes into a fund from which individuals can borrow at low interest.

It takes longer to build up the fund and not as many loans can be made, but the money is their own. The women decide who gets a loan and what interest is charged; our partners do not have a say in this. From this they get a sense of empowerment and self-determination.

So, while the money that TEAR Fund supporters give is not used to

provide capital, it is used to support and empower the women not only to improve economically but to improve their social circumstances and wellbeing in the community. TEAR Fund and our partners realise that economic empowerment is only part of the answer to helping the poor lift themselves out of the poverty cycle. Saahasee offers the women’s self-help groups vocational skills they can use to develop small businesses or find employment, basic literacy and numeracy skills and business training. They also educate the women on their rights and empower them to make their communities better.

PRAY • Pray for the success of those using microenterprise so they may move to using commercial banks.

• Pray for the ability of recipients to repay loans so they can establish healthy credit ratings.

Biblical Snapshot: Psalm 112:5

By Frank Ritchie

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salm 112:5 forms the centrepiece of our Ever Increasing Returns campaign to build sustainable livelihoods for the poor. It is a verse aimed squarely at those who claim to follow God and have the means to be generous.

Psalm 112:5 sits within a set of three Psalms that seem designed to work together. Psalm 111, 112, and 113 all begin with the same refrain, ‘Praise the Lord,’ and the first two of these Psalms closely parallel each other.

That opening, ‘Praise the Lord,’ encapsulates the theme of these Psalms – they are about recognising God and his goodness. Psalm 111 praises the work of God; Psalm 112 praises the

work of those who live righteously, devoting their lives to God and his work; and Psalm 113 adds a key emphasis to two points – the call to praise, and from verse seven, his special care for the poor.

It is the second emphasis of Psalm 113 that pulls us back to the fifth verse of Psalm 112, the Psalm about how the righteous live. Here it is good to remember that the word ‘righteous’, and the word ‘justice’ have the same root and point to the same thing – making things right. It is clear in these Psalms that what is ‘right’ is how God wishes to act in the world and for the world.

God’s work takes precedence, and the righteous live it out.

Psalm 112:5 offers a hallmark of the righteous that enables God’s work to be done and brings to fruition the

PICTURE / FRANK RITCHIE

emphasis in Psalm 113:5 where God is seen to ‘raise the poor from the dust and lift the needy from the ash heap…’

The righteous are people who are generous and lend freely; they conduct their affairs with justice. It is these character traits that demonstrate God’s goodness and should act as a catalyst for God to be praised. It is the actions that flow from such marks of righteous character that enact God’s special place for the poor.

It is this idea that is embodied in our Ever Increasing Returns campaign

where we are encouraging generosity around the microenterprise schemes of TEAR Fund’s partners in order to generate the type of ever-increasing returns for the poor that raise them up.

We are to be people who are openhanded and conduct our lives with justice. In so doing, we demonstrate an active God to a world that needs him and we enable the poor he cares for so deeply to be ‘raised from the dust and the ash heap’ through the everincreasing returns that flow for them when we are generous.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

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HAND UP: A business can help the poor work their way out of poverty.

PICTURE / TEAR FUND

Quality of life as important as boosting incomes

By Keith Ramsay

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ncreasing the incomes of the poor by stimulating economic growth would be seen, by most economists, as the way to address poverty. However, while the market plays an important part in helping lift people out of poverty, a lack of opportunities and freedoms is an important part of the process. For example, the rapid growth of Brazil from 1968 to 1981, coined the “Economic miracle of Brazil”, saw the GDP of the country rise dramatically.

But while the economy was doing well, how well were the people doing?

Vicente Navarro says, over this period, the infant mortality rate was growing dramatically rather than declining, as one would have expected if economic growth were benefiting all Brazilians.

The infant mortality rate increased from 70 infant deaths per 1,000 live births at the beginning of the “miracle” to 92 per 1,000 at the end. For the top 5% of the population, the percentage of national consumption increased from 20% at the beginning of the “miracle” to 48% by the end; for the bottom 50% of the Brazilian population, consumption declined from 20% to 12% over this period.

Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen realised that lifting the GDP per capita of a country did little for those living in poverty. In his book, Development as Freedom, he argued that poverty “is a deprivation of basic

capabilities, rather than merely lowincome”.

Sen reasoned that the poor in any country— regardless of its economic status—suffered deprivation, and therefore development focused on economic growth was inadequate to address poverty, equality and social justice, for which he was concerned.

He believed that development should focus on ensuring that all are able to

SEN’S FIVE FREEDOMS 1. Political freedom and civil rights, 2. economic freedom including opportunities to get credit, 3. social opportunities: arrangements for health care, education, and other social services, 4. transparency guarantees, by which Sen means interactions with others, including the government, are characterized by a mutual understanding of what is offered and what to expect, 5. protective security, in which Sen includes unemployment benefits, famine and emergency relief, and general safety nets. enjoy various freedoms that contribute to improving their well-being; in other words, what they can become.

This contested the general belief amongst economists that lifting income was the means to the development of

low-income countries. According to Sen, development should be measured by how much freedom a country or individual has— since without freedom people cannot make the choices that allow them to help themselves and others.

His focus was on the ends of development rather than the means to development; and that was to remove the barriers or the “unfreedoms” that prevent the poor from choosing the quality of life they desired, based on the realistic choices open to them. It is about improving quality of life.

TEAR Fund microenterprise helps to improve communities TEAR Fund is interested in more than helping families increase their incomes. For example, a family’s income could be raised but they still might not have access to adequate healthcare, education and other social necessities of life.

That is why TEAR Fund is invested in creating sustainable livelihoods of which microenterprise is one of the tools in helping improving the quality of life for those living in poverty.

Saahasee in India

In our projects, microenterprise borrowers meet together regularly to pay back their loans and this is where community building begins.

TEAR Fund’s project in a slum in Bhiwandi, about 60km from Mumbai, India, is about more than just facilitating microenterprise loans.

The microenterprise loans play a part in a wider vision of community enhancement and improved quality of life. As you can imagine slum life can be tough and a lack of access to water and many other community facilities make life in Bhiwandi even tougher. To make matters even worse, religious tensions between Muslims and Hindus are high.

The microenterprise project run by our partner Saahasee is bringing women from both religious factions and this is helping to break down the barriers that separate them and get them cooperating. This has helped relieve tensions between the groups. This has cleared the pathway for the women to lobby the government for changes to be made in their community. Saahasee staff tell the women about their rights and entitlements and this empowers them to do something about their situations in the community.

LEARN • Development as Freedom. A Sen. New York: Knopf, 1999.

• Navarro, V. (2000). Development and Quality of Life: a Critique of Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom. International Journal of Health Services, 30(4), 661–674.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

6 | TEAR CORRESPONDENT

Livestock— the currency in Afghanistan

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nstability in Afghanistan has resulted in lack of investment, few marketing opportunities for products, minimal job opportunities and low income streams. Low levels of literacy and shattered education and vocational training systems in the regions of Dara-i-Noor and Shewa Districts in Nangarhar Province, where TEAR Fund’s partner SERVE is working, have inhibited economic development. In addition adult literacy is ranked at 150 out of 151 countries measured.

SERVE is addressing these problems through a microenterprise project involving the provision of cows and goats, and a literacy programme for the Pashai, a marginalised minority group in the region.

means of income and food resource.

In these districts people were killed or displaced; losing knowledge, experience and traditional ways of living and farming. In the animal husbandry programme, the poorest are given an animal but they must return one of the offspring to be redistributed to another needy family; So in this microenterprise project, the currency is livestock. All recipients receive training in animal husbandry, dairy production and marketing.

Contract veterinarians and SERVE field workers are available and meet regularly with beneficiaries to ensure that animals are vaccinated and healthy.

Animal husbandry programme

Many schools were destroyed in the fighting. Most teachers and educated people were displaced or are living in other countries as refugees. Young people, also, (men and women) missed the chance to go to school due to war and displacement, and work as

Due to the war in Afghanistan, many people in these districts lost many of their material resources, including livestock, which is their traditional

Literacy programme

Famine in West Africa almost unavoidable

DESPERATE: Food is scarce, especially for the most vulnerable, like this mother and child from Niger. PICTURE / JASPREET KINDRA / IRIN

Nine-month-old Karima screams as her tiny body is measured for malnutrition. The results confirm what the eyes suspect - Karima needs urgent help. She is given a food supplement, and slowly she starts eating.

By Tearfund UK

K

arima is just one of thousands of victims counting the cost of Niger’s food crisis. ‘I feel weak and I have no breast milk for my baby which makes her cry,’ says her mother, Dayaba. She tells of how they came to be at the clinic, when their millet crop failed. ‘We didn’t collect any food from the harvest. At the time we planted millet there was not enough rain.’

Along with the majority of men in the village, Dayaba’s husband, Jada, left to find work in different countries. ‘We had to go because we had nothing,’ said Jada, ‘we had to find work so we could send back some money.’ Three months ago, however, the work ran out in Burkina Faso - Jada returned to Niger with an uncertain future ahead.

“We don’t know when the next harvest will be. Only God knows. The worry is that if the rains don’t come at the right

STOCK MARKET: Livestock can be raised to produce an income.

PICTURE / ESTHER DUCAI

labourers to support their families.

Literacy levels are low as a result.

Cultural restrictions mean that women are not able to join or travel to educational establishments, especially in the rural areas. The vernacular language is only verbal and the Pashai are limited in how much they

can participate in development and conduct business in the region. T his literacy programme is addressing this need. It was apparent that these people needed an education, but until recently, there has been a lack of interest by the government to support minority languages.

time, I will be forced to leave again. I have fear in my heart because if not for the grace of God I might lose my daughter.”

Experience has taught Jada that this is not an unrealistic fear — six years ago, he lost his five-month-old son to malnutrition. For the moment though, Karima is getting treatment and there is finally hope on the horizon. But much more is needed as the vulnerable fall victim to malnutrition.

TEAR Fund is distributing emergency food to vulnerable families in Niger but more is needed to avoid widespread famine, especially if the rains fail or harvests are poor. TEAR Fund’s longterm plans are to continue to work in Niger, working closely with vulnerable communities, partners and local churches to bring, hope, support and love where it’s needed most. And with the country still deep in the throes of one of the worst food crises in their region in recent history, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

To give to TEAR Fund’s Save the Sahel appeal, go to tearfund.org.nz or phone 0800 800 777.

Cows bring hope to Afghan family

PRAY • Jada’s prayer is that ‘God will give us a good harvest. It may rain but that might not give us a big harvest.’ Please pray for a strong, successful harvest that will transform the hopes and livelihoods of families like Jada and Dayaba.

• Give thanks for the work our partners do, not only in Niger, but across West Africa. Pray that their work will continue to bring lasting change to those most in need.

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hen Allah Nazar returned from Pakistan, she found her house had been destroyed by war. She and her nine children (five daughters and four sons) had no choice but live with a neighbour in Said Kamal village of Dara-i-noor, Afghanistan.

Allah was extremely poor. She says, “The villagers sometimes gave us milk and buttermilk for our children because we weren’t able to buy a milking cow”.

When TEAR Fund’s partner SERVE selected Allah to receive a heifer, life began to improve for Allah and her family.

Allah says, “All my family members worked to care for the heifer very well.

After birth, according to the project agreement, we returned a 1½ year old heifer to the project for redistribution.

We sold two bulls in the local market, and used the money to construct a house. We have moved into the house now and have three milking cows with two calves. During the spring our family made cheese and, on average, we sold 21kg of cheese (equal to Pak Rs.6000/ month/NZ $130) as additional income. Our whole family also uses milk and other milk products for our own consumption.”

Please help other desperate families like Allah’s, by giving to TEAR Fund’s Ever Increasing Returns projects.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

7

STEMMING THE TIDE OF URBAN DRIFT Over the past few decades, the number of people migrating to the cities has increased exponentially with more than half of the world’s seven billion people living in cities.

SLUMMING-IT: About one billion people live in slums, causing a raft of health and social problems.

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bout a billion of urban dwellers live in slums. Over 90 per cent of urban growth is occurring in developing countries, which adds an estimated 70 million new urban residents each year; that is more than the population of France. TEAR Fund is committed to helping to create sustainable livelihoods so that people are not forced to move to the cities.

Urban drift causing health and social problems Why has there been a massive explosion in the number of rural poor moving into cities? The reasons are varied, but the underlying reason is poverty. A host of things are making it more difficult for parents to provide for their families.

Many rural dwellers believe they can have a better standard of living in the city. They move for many reasons; sometimes their crops fail and it is difficult to feed their families, sometimes

URBANISATION FACTS: • Nearly two billion new urban residents are expected in the next 20 years.

• Over 90 per cent of urban growth is occurring in developing countries, which adds an estimated 70 million new urban residents each year.

• By 2030 all developing regions, including Asia and Africa, will have more people living in urban than rural areas.

• The urban population of the world’s two poorest regions, South Asia and SubSaharan Africa, is expected to double over the next 20 years.

• (Source: The World Bank’s World Development Report 2009) adequate nutrition and appalling water and sanitary conditions. Their cramped homes are constructed out of a mishmash of discarded materials that barely protect them against the elements, leading to

For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s people live in cities. they lose their land or the land is split among the children—reducing its production capacity, or they simply believe there are more opportunities for a better life in the city.

However, for the majority, their dreams become a nightmare. In the rural areas, they grew their own food, now they have to pay a high price for it. Their health becomes compromised by a lack of

further health problems, and they have to pay higher rent for their hovel. Many of the people from rural areas are unskilled which makes employment difficult, and unemployment is high in the cities. A big proportion of the work is casual labour. In general, they are worse off.

In other cases, the men leave to seek work in the city to supplement the family income. Often this means a long period

PICTURE / FRANK RITCHIE

away from family. The women are left to take care of growing food as well as looking after the children and domestic work, and the children are left without a father figure. After long periods, many men start to drink, as illicit alcohol is plentiful, and there is the temptation of prostitutes, which fuels human trafficking and can spread HIV/AIDS. To help circumvent the problems experienced through urban drift, TEAR Fund is working to help those in rural areas make a sustainable living. In Afghanistan for instance, TEAR Fund’s partner runs a cow and goat breeding programme—helping the local rural poor to generate an income from animals.

The most vulnerable of the poor in the communities, such as widows or disabled people, are given a pregnant goat or heifer to help them generate an income.

To make the scheme sustainable, they gift back the offspring of their animal to the programme so that others can benefit.

The milk produced by the animals gives their families much-needed nutrition, with the surplus being sold or turned into cheese for sale. Small

SLUMS • Around one-third of the urban population in developing countries – about one billion people – live in slums, according to estimates.

• Between 2000 and 2010, the number of slum dwellers increased by six million every year.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL 7, TARGET 11: • 2010 was the halfway point towards the deadline for the “slum target” of the Millennium Development Goals (by 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers).

• Between 2000 and 2010, 227 million people in the developing world have been lifted out of slum conditions; 74 per cent were in Asia, primarily China and India.

• (Source: UN-HABITAT State of the World’s Cities Report 2010-2011) microenterprise loans are also available so others can buy animals. More than 80% of the local dairy cattle breed is now improved by the use of pure bred bulls and most of the communities now prefer to use these improved locally-bred bulls.

All recipients receive training in animal husbandry and dairy production and marketing. Contract veterinarians meet regularly with beneficiaries to ensure that animals are vaccinated and healthy.

PRAY • For the success of TEAR Fund’s partner programmes in rural areas that combat urban drift.

• For health programmes in cities with large population increases.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

8 | TEAR CORRESPONDENT

Income, Equality and Wellbeing: The Spirit Level PICTURE / ALEX CARTER

By Murray Sheard

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hat does poverty feel like?

“Poverty is pain; it feels like a disease. Not being able to earn enough attacks a person materially and morally. It eats away one’s dignity.” This statement from a woman in Moldova, sums up the reasons for microenterprise development, which aims to lessen inequality in wealth and in the control of how income is earned. But what is the effect of inequality and poverty in New Zealand? On average we are rich enough. But while GDP has grown, so has the gap between rich and poor over the past 30 years. It raises interesting

when examining physical health, mental health, drug abuse, education, imprisonment, violence, teenage pregnancies, child well-being, obesity, social mobility, and trust and community life—is that the societies which do best have narrow income differentials. Japan and the Nordic countries do best, while unequal societies like the USA, UK and Portugal do worst, with New Zealand, Australia and Canada in between.

Inequality causes shorter, unhealthier, unhappier lives. The case is easiest to make for violent crime. For young men with no economic or educational route to achieving the status and earnings perceived necessary for full citizenship, the experience of daily life at the

If it is true that when we let the rich get richer they will create jobs, why aren’t we drowning in jobs? questions. One is a challenge to the mantra that if we let the rich get richer they will create jobs. So why aren’t we drowning in jobs? But also, what kind of society do we want and is a high level of inequality really serving us?

Economic growth has done as much as it can to improve material conditions in the developed countries, but now, in some cases, there are signs it may be damaging.

The Spirit Level In their 2009 book, The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett argue that once a nation has achieved ‘developed’ status, increasing income does not correlate to increased well-being. Instead, well-being is improved by increasing equality. They say there are “pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, [and] encouraging excessive consumption”.

The striking conclusion reached—

bottom of a steep social hierarchy is understandably enraging.

Other authors have challenged the central claims and point to the omission of countries like South Korea, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, which are relatively equal but don’t achieve high levels of well-being. They have also pointed out that the correlation between two sets of data does not imply that one causes the other.

However, when there are so many indicators suggesting a link between social inequalities and social problems, there is a case to be answered.

Affluence and Meaning The Spirit Level taps a sense that something has gone wrong. Once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference. In the past 40 years, average income has skyrocketed in industrialised countries, yet happiness levels peaked in the 1970s and have dropped since.

I suggest two challenges. The first

is about personal and societal goals and how we create meaning. Economic growth for the sake of quality of life has been an unchallenged shibboleth of the West for the past 60 years. Now, we are the first generation to have to find new ways to further improve the real quality of human life.

What should we turn to if not economic growth? The implications do seem to point to a focus on collective good over

this ‘aspiration gap’ are the dominant determinants of happiness. This might explain why most people fail to get much happier as their salaries rise. Instead of satisfying our desires, most of us merely want more. The ‘good life’ remains just out of reach.

Accumulating more does not work.

People have a default happiness level to which they continually return. When we enjoy the same standard of living as

Regardless of how rich or poor they are, most people believe that if they just get 10% more income, then they’ll have enough and will be content. promoting the individual’s desire to get ahead. It raises prickly questions about what basic level of access to societies’ goods and institutions must be in place – for all – in order for freedom and democratic participation to mean anything.

In the same way that microenterprise gives not only income generation but control over the conditions of work, the authors of The Spirit Level suggest that more control over the experience of work – through, for example employee ownership—can lead to greater meaning and health at work. The authors argue that removal of economic impediments to feeling valued—such as low wages, lack of control at work, low benefits and low public spending on education—will allow a flourishing of human potential.

The Aspiration Gap The second challenge is the fact that some of the main barriers to both action toward justice and charitable giving are our assumption that money leads to happiness. Studies show that unhappiness is not proportional to what people have, but to the size of the gap between a person’s aspirations and what they have. As well as genetic, work and health factors, the quality of our relationships and the narrowness of

our peers we feel satisfied and when we don’t, we feel we are missing out. The challenge is to choose to have less for Kingdom reasons and find satisfaction not in outdoing one another in wealth, but in service, time and meaning. As the author exhorts in Heb 10, “spur one another on towards love and good deeds”.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds”

Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)

As the author writes, “the relationships between inequality and poor health and social problems are too strong to be attributable to chance”. A wellfunctioning democracy does not require perfect equality, but it does require that citizens share a common life.

LEARN • TEAR Fund has produced three studies around microenterprise and trying to achieve a more equitable world. You can find them by clicking on the Ever Increasing Returns banner at tearfund.org.nz.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

9

Microenterprise empowering poor women WOMEN’S RIGHTS: This microenterprise project is lifting incomes and the status of women in Bangladesh.

By Keith Ramsay

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wo of the projects we are featuring in our Ever Increasing Returns campaign, are targeted at microenterprise income generation for women and raising the status of women in their societies. The projects are Saahasee’s Bhiwandi project in India, and Koinonia’s project in Bangladesh.

Reasons for targeting women There are many reasons for targeting women in our projects. When it comes to using money wisely we have found women are better at managing the finances. The money they generate from the business they establish with their microenterprise loan is more likely to be spent on the needs of the family, especially on the welfare of their children. Women are better at forming community and networking, which is not only good in a business sense, but

in supporting one another and breaking down barriers within the community.

As women gather for the purposes of making loan repayments, our partners such as Saahasee, use this as a platform for empowering the women to transform their community. For example, there is a lot of religious and political tension in the community between Hindu and Muslim residents in Bhiwandi. The savings and loan microenterprise project has brought these women together and they are changing their community together by lobbying the Indian government at local and national level, to provide basic services for their community.

Lifting the status of women in Bangladesh Targeting women helps to lift the status of women, not only in their community and culture but in their homes too. Koinonia’s microenterprise project in Bangladesh is lifting the status of women and helping them to

stand up for their rights. Bangladesh communities are a mix of faiths and cultures. The majority are Muslim, and the women are subject to inequalities in the family and the community, as well as in the workplace.

Discrimination against women starts at birth and continues through their lives; they suffer disproportionately from the impact of gender discrimination and violation of their fundamental human and social justice rights in all facets of their lives. There is an uneven distribution of food, health care, education, and social opportunities resulting in poor nutrition, high illiteracy, early marriage, frequent divorce, dowry, physical torture, abandonment, separation from children, illness, hunger, widowhood, and migration to urban areas. Domestic violence is prevalent and Koinonia provides educational and motivational messages through group meetings about women’s rights, in an effort to raise a collective voice against social

PICTURE / MARTY PRITCHARD

discrimination.

Koinonia starts programmes in areas where women are considered the most underprivileged; where communication is difficult and there is a low level of socio-economic status. The organisation works mostly in communities where the majority of the inhabitants are engaged in small business—growing crops or other agricultural activities, day labourers, or suffer from different health complications, such as malnutrition, and where the people face widespread unemployment or financial adversity.

Koinonia also works with rural women who possess skills to generate an income but where they have no access to seed capital to make this a reality. Koinonia is helping them to work their way out of abject poverty.

Please help poor women in Bangladesh and India to become more economically and socially independent, by giving to an Ever Increasing Returns project.

Searching for Peace in South Sudan

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ot yet a year old, South Sudan is the youngest country in the world. It is also one of the poorest, with the highest maternal death rate, the lowest female literacy and among the highest infant mortality rate in the world. Although slightly more than twice the size of New Zealand, South Sudan has less than 40km of paved road.

South Sudan is also one of the most violent countries in the world. It faces renewed air attacks from the north in their attempt to secure access to the lucrative oil field that borders the nations. As if this wasn’t enough, the vicious tribal war in the north-east state of Jonglei, is so violent, that the police are afraid to enter the area. All of these

factors threaten to destabilise the fragile and emerging nation.

In April, TEAR Fund Executive Director and International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, Steve Tollestrup, travelled with a small team of WEA representatives to Yei, South Sudan. The team met with over 100 tribal and political leaders from Jonglei, as well as central government representatives, in search of a political and economic pathway forward that would end the violence.

Jonglei suffers from some of the worst tribalism in Africa. This has been made worse by small arms smuggling with the result that well over 10,000 lives have been lost from people being shot. Steve

Tollestrup says, “I spoke to women who were too terrified to get water from the local well or send their children, for fear they would be murdered, raped and kidnapped into servitude.”

Steve says, “South Sudan has many things going for it. It has oil, mineral wealth, rich volcanic soils, and the Nile River with opportunities for power generation and irrigation. It is also one of the most churched nations on the continent. Harnessing these things together is the challenge.”

The week-long discussions made progress by agreeing on the need for the church to play a central role, first through a coordinated effort of building unity between them, then working in peacebuilding education at the church level,

especially with Jonglei congregations.

Extreme poverty in the region will also require the churches to partner with local and international NGOs for community development and the need to continue to lobby and work with the central government to improve infrastructure, particularly roads, Steve says.

PRAY • Pray for peace and unity and that the Gospel would change hearts from cruelty to compassion and mercy.

• Please pray too for an agreed peace settlement between the North and the South with a just solution to resource sharing.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

10 | TEAR CORRESPONDENT

Abandoned child shown selfless love Mahalakshmi stands tall at 11 years, with a charming, open smile that instantly draws people to her. She is in Year 7 at her school in India.

Story and Photo by Jayaseelan Enos

M

ahalakshmi is talented – an excellent singer, artist and a story-teller. She dreams of becoming a doctor. However she has a sad story; Mahalakshmi is blind in one eye. Born into a life of poverty and misery, Geetha and her husband, Palani, could barely provide for their only son, Gopinath. They lived near the government hospital and in those days, the area they lived in was scary, as people believed in the presence of evil spirits. This was particularly true because dead children were buried in that area.

One dark morning, Palani got ready for work. All of the sudden, he heard cries and a scream. A new-born baby was thrown and left to die amidst thorns.

A large crowd had gathered. Everyone looked at the sight, with sympathy, even as the little girl baby was being bitten by ants. The baby’s left eye had apparently been eaten by a pig, and she was found in a pool of blood. Palani and Geetha could no longer endure the misery. They swore to give a new beginning, a new life, to the baby.

They brought her home, wiped her, applied ointment and took her to the hospital for treatment. They named the baby Mahalakshmi. Gopinath began loving his new-found sister.

Their abject poverty did not allow Geetha to buy milk for the baby. “I added sugar to water to give her instead of milk,” says Geetha, sadly.

“I remember the times we didn’t have enough to eat – we only ate one meal in the night. In the morning, we usually had no food, or else we would pour water

into the leftover rice and keep it till evening and have it as rice gruel. There were times we were without a meal even for two days.”

Palani had no proper job and they struggled to make ends meet. Life was full of hardships and disappointments and now they had another huge responsibility – to look after Mahalakshmi, the newest addition to the family.

Geetha found out about a Child Sponsorship Programme run by TEAR Fund’s partner Compassion International, through a child’s parent.

When Mahalakshmi’s situation was explained, she was enrolled in the Child Survival Programme. At that time, Mahalakshmi was two years old. Staff at the project showered great love upon the family and gave them hope.

Through the programme, they received fresh vegetables, milk and meat, as well as hygiene supplies such as soap, oil and powder. They also received other needed things like blankets, mosquito nets, beds and mats. When everything seemed to be going well, something unexpected happened. Palani deserted the family.

“We were shattered and our hearts were broken. I had several questions in my mind; how can we live without him and how can I take care of my children?” says Geetha.

It was the programme staff who comforted Geetha and her children and encouraged them. Geetha began to work to meet the needs of the family. However, she found it incredibly difficult to look after her two children with her meagre income. They did not have enough to eat or proper clothes to wear.

“I thank God for Compassion. They have taught me to surrender everything

LEFT FOR DEAD: Mahalakshmi was abandoned at birth, but a poor family was supported by Compassion so that she can live life to the full. in the hands of God. Compassion is supporting us and we are living peacefully today,” says Geetha.

“Furthermore, because Mahalakshmi is in the programme, I have no worries about her at all, be it food, clothing or her education and her future.”

In 2004, Mahalakshmi was transferred to the Child Sponsorship programme, which helped the family put her in school. The Child Survival Programme cares for children under four in their most critical developmental years and then the children in need of help can transition into the Child Sponsorship Programme.

Today, 11-year-old Mahalakshmi is a picture of joy and delight. Mahalakshmi has learned good things in life. She

respects elders, helps everyone in need, helps her mother with household work, obeys her parents and is lovable and active.

Mahalakshmi has a loving mother, brother and other relatives to care for her. She is extremely talented and has won awards for her school work.

Her mother is immensely thankful to Mahalakshmi’s sponsor. Mahalakshmi is proud of her mother, Geetha, who pledged to give life to a thrown-away child amidst her own financial crisis and hardship, and who continued her support even after her husband deserted her. She is also sure that she could never have learned so much, received so many material blessings or received so much love and care were it not for the project.

Children making a difference

By Anita Dobson

T PICTURE / HELEN MANSON

CHILDREN LEAD THE WAY: Ethan (3) and Johnny (5) with their newly sponsored children.

wo Tauranga children worked hard to fill their piggy banks, and on May 2, travelled to TEAR Fund’s head office in Auckland to put their savings towards sponsoring a child. After driving with their parents, Heather and Dave Mann, Johnny (5) and Ethan (3), arrived with their piggy banks in hand and ready to choose two sponsor children.

“Shall we give the children the notes and you boys keep the coins?” said

their father. “Yeah, great idea Dad,” replied the boys. Showing true hearts of generosity, Johnny and Ethan emptied the coins and notes, from their piggy banks, and a selection of child profiles was laid out before them to choose a child each to sponsor. Johnny and Ethan selected two young African boys to sponsor, Mwingo (5) and Carlos (3).

We may not be able to change the world alone, but the act of kindness illustrated

by Johnny and Ethan, show us that we all have the capability to change the world for one child, or maybe two.

PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz

YES! Name:

11

I WANT TO INVEST IN THE POOR!

Title

First

Last

Address:

Phone:(H)

Darby

Deyli

Djorgi

Mobile:

9 year old boy, Haiti

13 year old girl, Guatemala DOB 24 July 1998

7 year old boy, Indonesia

DOB 28 December 2002

Email:

Darby loves soccer. He goes to primary school and regularly attends church and Vacation Bible School.

Deyli works at home carrying water, gathering firewood and teaching others.

There are 5 children in her family.

Soccer, hide-and-seek and running are Djorgi’s favourite activities. He goes to primary school and church.

DOB 19 November 2004

These children need HELP URGENTLY!

(W)

Tick here and TEAR Fund will, from time to time, keep you informed on events, projects and disasters by email.

Sponsor one of these children for just $45 a month. Fill out the form on this page, tick the circle of a child and send to our address below, or call 0800 800 777.

I WANT TO SPONSOR A CHILD FOR $45 PER MONTH. If you have ticked an image on the left, please leave these preference boxes blank.

My preference is: Girl No Preference Boy From:

South America

Africa

Asia

No Preference Central America Please add Sponsorship Plus for $10 extra per month:

Fanta

Flavia

Francis

9 year old girl, Burkina Faso

3 year old girl, Uganda

7 year old boy, Tanzania

Fanta lives with her grandmother.

For fun, she enjoys playing with dolls, jumping rope and hide-and-seek.

At home, Flavia helps in the kitchen.

She lives with her father and mother and 3 other brothers and sisters.

At home, Francis is responsible for carrying water, buying or selling in the market and caring for his brother.

DOB 31 December 2002

DOB 7 October 2007

DOB 17 May 2005

TEAR FUND PROJECTS & MINISTRY I would like to become a Community Development supporter by making regular monthly donations of: $15

$35

$50

$100

Other

Monthly Payments: Please send me a direct credit form Please use the credit card details below I would like to make a one-off donation of:

Gifty

Gisubizo

Josué

6 year old girl, Ghana

5 year old boy, Rwanda

8 year old boy, Honduras

Gifty has 3 brothers and sisters. She helps by carrying water and cleaning at home.

Gisubizo lives with his stepmother who sometimes works as a farmer.

At home, he helps with gardening.

Josué lives with his mother. Playing with cars, art and playing ball games are his favourite activities.

DOB 22 September 2005

DOB 2 October 2006

DOB 2 January 2004

$15

$35

$50

$100

$350

Other

For:

Ever Increasing Returns microenterprise Save the Sahel project Disaster Relief Fund Other

PAYMENT OPTIONS: Cheque (make payable to TEAR Fund) Visa / Mastercard (please complete below)

Joyce

Koini

Mohit

8 year old girl, Peru

8 year old boy, Kenya

7 year old boy, India

Joyce lives with her mother.

Her duties at home include making beds, running errands and cleaning.

For fun, Koini enjoys playing soccer.

He attends church activities regularly and is in kindergarten.

Mohit’s father sometimes works in the market, his mother maintains the home. He helps by running errands.

DOB 22 August 2003

DOB 8 August 2003

DOB 27 August 2004

Card Number:

/

Expiry date: Cardholder name: Signature:

To save posting your credit card details, use our secure online payment facility tearfund.org.nz

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

2126

Information on becoming a volunteer Advocate

Nabam

Nathawoot

Sefia

7 year old girl, East India

5 year old boy, Thailand

11 year old girl, Togo

Caring for animals, washing, and making beds are Nabam’s chores.

She loves singing, art and dolls.

For fun, Natthawoot enjoys playing with cars, art and walking. He lives with his grandmother.

Sefia has 8 people in her family.

She helps by helping in the kitchen, running errands and cleaning.

DOB 31 August 2004

DOB 7 June 2006

DOB 23 September 2000

Information on KREDIT trust banks Please take me off your mailing list

Please send to: TEAR Fund, Freepost 140677, PO Box 8315, Symonds St. Auckland 1150

Psalm 112:5

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. (NIV) Tuyishimire

Yishau

Yolett

5 year old girl, Rwanda

13 year old boy, Ethiopia

3 year old girl, Mexico

Tuyishimire enjoys playing with dolls and playing group games. She lives with her parents, brother and sister.

Yishau lives with his mother and stepfather. They sometimes have work as labourers.

Playing house, dolls and group games are Yolett’s favourite activities. She also attends Bible class regularly.

DOB 7 December 2006

DOB 29 May 1999

DOB 14 August 2008

Call 0800 800 777 NOW to sponsor one of these children

Call 0800 800 777 or Visit tearfund.org.nz

12 | TEAR CORRESPONDENT

TOURS AND EVENTS Coming up in 2012 - visit tearfund.org.nz for tour dates and venues DEREK LIND TOUR

POVERTY CYCLE, A GREAT EVENT FOR AN EVEN GREATER CAUSE

F

or over 25 years, Derek Lind has been touring around New Zealand, in support of TEAR Fund Child sponsorship. It goes without saying, that he has made a phenomenal impact in the lives of so many children in his lifetime.

This September, he will embark on a tour around the central North Island, sharing the needs of the poor. We invite you to join with Derek, as he takes you on a lyrical journey of life, hope and faith. Full of substance, Derek’s style is personable and genuine. A must for lovers of blues and folk-rock music.

Derek Lind.

PICTURE / ALEX CARTER

Greys-fully giving A

s an older person, are you living life to the full or are you winding down? TEAR Fund believes that your retirement years can be the most fruitful time in your life and we have developed a free seminar to help those of retirement age get the most out of life. The Greys-Fully Giving seminars are presented by TEAR Fund relationship manager Sue Braithwaite-Smith. They are designed to encourage and motivate older people to live life to the full.

Sue has successfully delivered these free seminars all over New Zealand, to parishes and community groups, and says their one of the high points of her job.

“I try to make the seminar interactive and fun; a place where people can share their stories, learn, and receive encouragement from each other.

REVIEWS WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE Directed by Porter Speakman Jr Reviewed by Frank Ritchie

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ith God on Our Side is a look at the Palestinian / Israeli conflict from a perspective that is seldom heard and therefore carries a clear bias—to tell the story from the view of part of the Palestinian evangelical community.

The film begins by highlighting the perspective of political Christian Zionism that lends uncritical support to the State of Israel and believes the Palestinians are an invented people currently residing in land they believe belongs to modern Israel. The film assumes this is

We cover topics such as myths and assumptions about old age, motivation, attitudes, how to step out of your comfort zone and much more.” The material is relevant and up-to-date, much of it being supplied by Age Concern New Zealand where Sue is a board member.

“I always give people a brief run-down on the work that TEAR Fund is involved in and we finish the seminar by talking about living gifts and bequests and choosing the right charity for you. In addition, we discuss what questions we should be asking our charity of choice.”

Bequests are a vitally important part of every charity’s income — a gift that keeps on ‘greys-fully’ giving.

For more information on bequests and Greys-Fully Giving Seminars call 0800 800 777 or email enquiries@tearfund.org.nz

the default position for many evangelical Christians, especially in the United States. This is not representative of all Christian Zionism, but an examination of one populist position. The film tells the story of the Palestinian Christian community and demonstrates how this view affects them. It shows the reality of life for them including how the military occupation of the West Bank makes life extremely difficult.

The film concludes with a clear call to embrace a reconciliation that recognises the humanity on both sides of the conflict. The film warns of the danger of demonising either Palestinians or Israelis. Salim Munayer, the director of Musalaha, a reconciliation organisation run by Palestinians and Israelis, makes the point that Christians tend to side with either Palestinians or Israelis and that often this inflames the situation.

The challenge is clear—what does it mean to faithfully represent Jesus within the conflict? If Christians are to take seriously our call to be

Elite cyclist Michael Poole is one of the Poverty Cycle ambassadors.

By Garrith Parker

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EAR Fund has been giving Kiwis the opportunity to do something about extreme poverty and hunger throughout the world. Now TEAR Fund’s Poverty Cycle Challenge will give businesses this same opportunity.

The Poverty Cycle is a road relay race and the circuit is in Cleveland, Auckland. The Poverty Cycle Challenge pits teams of five against each other, racing to complete five laps of a 20km circuit (100km in total). Businesses can put together a team who have a passion for cycling to help raise awareness and funds for extreme poverty and injustice nationally and internationally.

This year our goal is to raise over $200,000 towards the rescue and rehabilitation of some of the world’s most vulnerable children caught up in human trafficking in Nepal. The Poverty Cycle is a fantastic team-building event for businesses that will help

peacemakers, what does it mean for us to act as peacemakers in relation to that conflict rather than allowing our theological perspective to inflame the issue? This is the point of the film. We also need to ask how we can support the Church on both sides of the conflict to help bring peace and reconciliation.

There is no doubt that some will find the film challenging and it is important to remember that it is telling the story from one perspective and therefore carries a bias. This said, for anyone wanting to obtain a perspective not often heard, it is well worth watching. The film can be bought through Amazon.

THE IRRESISTIBLE REVOLUTION: LIVING AS AN ORDINARY RADICAL Written by Shane Claiborne Reviewed by Tim Manson

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he Irresistible Revolution debates what a Christian lifestyle should

PICTURE / SUPPLIED

further challenge, unite, and encourage employees. It is also an excellent event for spectators and supporters. We are really excited about the Poverty Cycle Challenge, and the opportunity we have to partner with businesses to help save lives; it’s going to be a great event for an even greater cause.

TEAR Fund has teamed up with elite cyclists who are ambassadors for the Poverty Cycle campaign. When an athlete is sponsored by a member of the public, the funds raised will go towards the sporting development of the athlete and to TEAR Fund.

TEAR Fund is proud to partner with: Clark Ellice, Sophie Corbidge, Roman van Uden, Elizabeth May, James Oram, Michael Poole, Simone Ackermann, Megan Blackett, Alana Lythe, and Elise Salt.

For more information or to register, contact the Poverty Cycle team on 0800 800 777 or povertycycle.org.nz

really look like.

The author challenges the reader to examine his or her own interpretation of what Jesus actually taught us about following him. He argues that many Christians have watered-down the gospel message to suit their comfortable lifestyles.

He draws on his personal experience to describe the way he feels Christians ought to be living. This includes time spent in Calcutta, India, with Mother Teresa and a trip to Iraq during the 2003 USled bombing campaign. He advocates a radical lifestyle that does not conform to the pattern of this world. This book is very challenging and Claiborne does not pull his punches. He addresses some of the ways we can be modernday Pharisees.

Irresistible Revolution is for people who are willing to examine themselves.

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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.

Editor: Keith Ramsay.

Contributors: Steve Tollestrup, Frank Ritchie, Murray Sheard, Garrith Parker, Tim Manson, Chantelle Meikel, Anita Dobson, Rob Reynolds.

Graphic Designer: Alex Carter. Cartoonist: Daniel Alexander.

Printing: Horton Media.

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PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand • enquiries@tearfund.org.nz • 0800 800 777 • tearfund.org.nz