Category: CEDAR Blog

What is the Function of a Church in the Community? – CEDAR’s Project Experience in China

“Suppose that a community that was moderately equipped with a food market or a supermarket, a hospital, a school, a police station, and a church. Now you are asked to get rid of one of these institutions, which one would it be?” Lorraine, one of our colleagues in China, posed this question to the participants during training programmes, and that one answer coincided among them was “the Church”. As the answer revealed that the market, the hospital, the school, and the police station remained a pivotal role in the operation of the community. So, where does the church stand? For the non-believers, a church that could be separated from the community was merely an accessory, apart from the

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

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

CEDAR Supports Post-Flood Relief in Kerala State

Banner image: CEDAR Fund’s Indian partner EFICOR provides food and non-food aid to flood-affected families in Kerala (Photo credit: EFICOR, 27th August, 2018) “This is a wonderful moment as this act of love is a great and timely support for my family to survive for one month… It is a god-given comfort for my family.” Indu, resident of Kerala in southern India, says. Last month, Kerala suffered the worst floods in a hundred years. Indu is still reeling from fear. The floods took away all her belongings and destroyed her house. Indu and her family temporarily stayed in a relief camp. Since her husband has been living with kidney disease, Indu could not imagine when their house could

Let Indian Voice Their Right to Information: Christian Group Bridges Government and Villagers

Banner image: CEDAR’s partner EFICOR formed and supported the Disaster Management Committees(DMC) in 15 villages of Hasanpur block of India. DMC mmember Mr. Buchi Thakur (centre) is helping women, widows, old people, and people with disability in his village to access pension and other government entitlements When confronting natural disasters, impoverished people are often the most vulnerable group. It is especially difficult for them to cope with disasters due to a lack of resources and knowledge, resulted from limited education. Although public resources are available, they may not be aware of it and do not know how to access. CEDAR’s partner organisation in India has witnessed the difficulties of poor people in obtaining information and government assistance. India,

The Church Playing a Part in DRR Work is Most Effective and Sustainable

Banner image: A PADR facilitator (first right) is explaining a ploughing method Stanley Enock Hanya is the Coordinator of Church and Community Mobilisation projects at Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), which is one of the biggest evangelical alliances in Zimbabwe. He hopes to equip faith leaders in churches to teach their congregation to facilitate community development based on biblical principles. Written by: Stanley Enock Hanya (Church and Community Mobilisation Coordinator, EFZ) The EFZ embarked on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) after calls for relief from previous project communities that had been affected by 2015/2016 El Niño induced drought. Realising that disaster response was not sustainable, the organisation began to intently look at the word of God for inspiration on issues of disaster prevention. It