Author: CEDAR Fund

Emergency Relief to Flood Affected Indian Communities Completed, CEDAR Supported 13,000 Families in Kerala

“I hope to resume my work in the fields after the floodwater drains away, so that I can put food on the table.” That was the wish of a flood-affected farmer in the southern Indian state of Kerala. In August 2018, a devastating flood struck Kerala causing over 480 deaths and an economic loss of US$2.8 billion. As the flood victims go through a difficult time of recovery from natural disaster, CEDAR reached out and provided relief aid to them through EFICOR*, our long-term partner in India. Until 27 November 2018, 13,060 families have been benefited from our support. They received relief materials included rice, cooking oil, bath soaps, clothes, and bed-sheets, enough for each household’s use for

CEDAR VISITED ROHINGYA REFUGEE CAMP

Banner Photo: CEDAR’s Project Officer Pui Shan visits a Rohingya family in Cox’s Bazar. The mother, who gave birth to a newborn baby, heard about infant vaccination service during regular household visit conducted by community health workers. While strolling through a muddy and dusty field, CEDAR’s Project Officer Pui Shan saw rows of tents sitting next to each other that were simply built by timber and canvas. This refugee camp is located in Cox’s Bazar, southeastern Bangladesh, which is the largest refugee camp in the world to date. The military force of Myanmar has been oppressing the Rohingya since 2017, which resulted in death of thousands and over 700,000 Rohingyas in the Rakhine State of Myanmar fleeing to

The Letter from CEDAR | December 2018

Dear Supporters of CEDAR, Few weeks ago, I was in Donggala, Indonesia, one of the hardest hit regions by the earthquake and tsunami on 28th September. We visited the victims in 7 of the 11 villages/temporary camps, where CEDAR is offering emergency support via our local partner, PESAT. Please click for details there. Here, I want to share with you my reflection from the trip. Donggala, situated in eastern Indonesia, has a good population of Christians. The earthquake had not only caused the loss of many homes, but also brought severe damages to churches. In one of the villages we visited, the 2-year-old church building had completely gone. Today, most believers have to worship God either outdoor or inside a

CEDAR’s Chief Executive and Staff Visited Sulawesi Devastated by Quake and Tsunami to Discuss Further Response with Partner

Banner image: CEDAR’s Chief Executive Dr. Raymond Kwong passes a cooking kit to a representative of the village It has been over two months since earthquake and tsunami hit central Sulawesi, Indonesia. In early November, CEDAR Fund’s Chief Executive Dr. Raymond Kwong and two staff visited the area. The team met and talked to the affected people, as well as monitored the relief efforts and discussed about further response to meet the needs of survivors with our local partner, PESAT. http://www.CEDARfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/20181116-video.mp4(Available in Chinese Only) “By the sea, there was the tsunami; in the mountains, there were earthquake and landslides; inland, there were earthquake and liquefaction,” Yanti, a colleague of PESAT, pointed out the extensive impact of the disaster.

CEDAR Aided 8,000 Kerala Flood Survivors and Conducted Site Visit

Banner image: CEDAR received grants from the Disaster Relief Fund to distribute aids to flood-affected families in Kerala through our local partner The Kerala State of southern India experienced the worst floods in a century in August this year, killing nearly 500 people and affecting more than 5.4 million inhabitants. The survivors’ needs are huge. Our partner EFICOR* continues to distribute flood relief, such as food, clothing and hygiene items to them. Several weeks ago, we sent an officer to Kerala to inspect the progress of emergency relief. Following our allocation of around US$10,000 to EFICOR’s relief work, we were recently granted a total of HK$3.613 million from the Disaster Relief Fund by the Government of Hong Kong to

Update: CEDAR Supports Local Partner to respond to the Needs of Survivors in Sulawesi Indonesia

It has been almost 3 weeks of the earthquake and tsunami struck Sulawesi, Indonesia. The government has ended search efforts of missing people on 11th October. Over 610,000 people are affected by the disaster. More than 82,000 people have been displaced and at least 2,000 people were killed. Right now, the government is planning to relocate survivors and build temporary shelters in Donggala and Sigi. Some families have set up tents on the roadsides. A lack of proper sanitation facilities in the affected area remains a concern. CEDAR has allocated funds to support a local Christian organisation, PESAT, to distribute emergency items in 4 villages in central Sulawesi. About 1,000 households will receive food, cooking tools, and hygiene

Urgent: Indonesia Earthquake and Tsunami Relief

On 28th September, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Sulawesi, an island in Indonesia. The quake was followed by multiple aftershocks and triggered a tsunami with waves ranging from 6 metres tall. As of 8th October, at least 1,900 lives were lost and more than 2,630 people have been heavily injured, recorded by the Indonesian government. Nearly 66,000 houses were severely damaged, and about 74,000 people have been displaced. Palu and Donggala, in central Sulawesi, were heavily affected, but access to the area were blocked due to roads destruction. Conditions of the survivors in certain regions of remote areas are unknown. Humanitarian workers are expected to arrive the area in a few days. The number of deaths and affected

Uprooting Poverty: The Perspective of Christian Faith

Written by: Raymond Kwong (CEDAR’s Chief Executive) and Jady Sit In recent years, the international development sector began to emphasise the importance of human inner transformation for uprooting poverty. For instance, Cornell University Professor Kaushik Basu, who serves as the chief economist of World Bank from 2012 to 2016, shared in a public lecture, that no matter what kind of models of poverty alleviation is, one of the key factors to its success is whether people are willing to let go of some of their own interests or economic benefits and seek higher purposes, with which human being in general are common, and so, he advocates strengthening values education in society. This is about changing hearts and minds.