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Category: Focus

‘SHARE’ 257 – God Plants Forgiveness in a Land of Hatred

Written by Tony Chan (Senior Communications Officer) ‘He was an animal!’ said Faine, a survivor of the genocide, as she described Jean, the former enemy who took part in killing her husband. Written by Tony Chan (Senior Communications Officer) He was an animal! Said Faine, a survivor of the genocide, as she described Jean, the former enemy who took part in killing her husband. 31 years ago, Rwanda witnessed a genocide that shocked the world. In just a hundred days, around a million people were killed, most of them Tutsi, while most of the perpetrators were Hutu. Yet when you walk through Rwanda today, you see former perpetrators and survivors sitting together, chatting and laughing, worshipping God side

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‘SHARE’ 255 – Walking with the Afflicted: Seeing Hope in Weariness

Written by Ken Wong (Communications Officer) In a turbulent world, news of wars and disasters always surrounds us. In Afghanistan, Lebanon, Ukraine, and Myanmar, the war has devastated countless families, as if there is no end in sight. Although we are not directly affected in Hong Kong, we may still feel powerless and exhausted from the perspective of supporters, donors and bystanders—tiredness that comes from the depths of our hearts and is difficult to resolve. This weariness comes not only from our inability to quickly resolve the problems of war and the problems it brings but also from ‘information fatigue’ and ‘compassion fatigue’. Every day, our screens are filled with tragic news, but there is little glimmer of

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‘SHARE’ 254 – Rural Development Model: ‘Relationship, Relationship, Relationship’

Written by Winnie Fung (Chief Executive) If you ask a real estate agent the three most important factors for buying a house and determining its value, the answer will be ‘location, location, location.’ If you ask a development worker the three most important factors for rural development, the answer will be ‘relationship, relationship, relationship.’ When doing rural development, everything is about relationship. There is deep interdependence with nature and climate, significant identity ties to the land, and a necessary reliance on informal networks. Interdependence with Nature Most rural communities rely on farming, animal husbandry, and/or fishing for livelihoods. What the land produces is what they can consume. As a result, soil, water, and natural resource management is a

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‘SHARE’ 252 – Macedonian Call

Written by Clara Chiu (Head of Partnership Development) Over the past 30 years, CEDAR has continued to support poverty alleviation programmes in more than 40 countries worldwide to transform poor communities and improve the lives of the poor from the vastness of God’s grace. However, apart from the guidance of the Lord, human responsibility is also indispensable. To present the best to the Lord, CEDAR has been careful with the initiation of the projects. At the same time, we are entrusted by our donors to make the best use of our resources so that we can fulfil our duty of helping the poor and the needy worthwhile. Two Main Project Categories: Humanitarian Relief and Community Development CEDAR’s projects

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‘SHARE’ 251 – ‘Seeing is Changing’ – an interview with the new Chief Executive of CEDAR Fund, Dr. Winnie Fung

Gloria Cheung (Senior Communications Officer) CEDAR Fund’s new Chief Executive, Dr. Fung Wan Yi (Winnie), comes across as a polite and smiling lady, and, to our surprise, she knows how to drive a motorcycle and shoot, which were learned for visiting and working in poverty-stricken areas. Was she a bold and daring person? Winnie immediately denied, ‘Of course not! It was just because motorcycles are often used in impoverished areas, and firearms are seen from time to time in war-torn areas, so it is always good to know about them.’ Winnie’s dedication to those experiencing poverty began by seeing the ‘unseen’, causing her to quit her role as a scholar and serve in a poverty alleviation organisation. How

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‘SHARE’ 250 – Quality Education Transforms Lives

Written by Clara Chiu (Head of Partnership Development) Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6 Written by Clara Chiu (Head of Partnership Development) ‘Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.’ (Proverbs 22:6) This bible verse is probably very familiar to many of you. As Christians, when we hear this verse, we think of the Bible’s teaching that parents shall discipline their children according to the will of the Lord so that their children can walk in the truth of the Lord throughout their lives. This bible verse is

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‘SHARE’ 249 – An Experience Connecting with the Impoverished – Barefoot Walk

Written by Clara Chiu (Head of Partnership Development) Awakened by Getting into the Impoverished’ Shoes CEDAR Fund organises Barefoot Walk, our flagship walkathon, every November. Participants have to walk barefoot along a designated route in Hong Kong. We have to prepare almost a year in advance to make it happen, including venue application, route planning, experiential activities’ design, promotional collateral production and event registration. One of the preparation works involves all our colleagues: our trial barefoot walk on the planned route, and it recalls my first day in the CEDAR Fund –‘Colleagues Barefoot Walk’. It was my first time walking on the street barefoot. Apart from dirtiness, I got worried about people’s gaze. Yet, I was walking with

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‘SHARE’ 248 – Learning Brings Hope amid the Gunfire

Written by Ness Ma (Communications Officer) In Hong Kong, it is common to see students carrying school bags and playing with their classmates on the streets before and after class. It seems ordinary, but it is not a must that students can go to school safely without worrying about sudden attacks. In other parts of the world, children may be unable to go to school safely. Since the coup d’état in Myanmar began in February 2021, the country has been engulfed in ongoing conflicts. In January 2023, the UN reported that after two years of coup d’état, over 34,000 civilian buildings, including homes, clinics, schools, and places of worship, have been destroyed in Myanmar. The country has 1.2

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‘SHARE’ 247 – THE AES GIRLS WE ENCOUNTERED IN NEPAL

Written by: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) My colleagues and I had a trip to Nepal. We met our partner (Samari Utthan Sewa) in the southern part of the country for a new project, ‘Prevention of Trafficking and Exploitation of Women and Girls in the Adult Entertainment Sector’. We would like to know the progress of the newly launched project on-site. Unexpectedly, one of the stops turned out to be a visit to a ‘nightclub’. We were overwhelmed by the raucous singing and accompaniment in the nightclub that we had to shout to hear each other. Almost every customer around us was puffing out clouds of smoke. They walked up to the stage and swayed their bodies to the

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‘SHARE’ 246 – Transformational Mindset for the Change and Growth in the Community

Written by: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) Two cows are eating grass in the cowshed. Mixed feelings arise when Pastor Francois sees such a scene; nevertheless, a few years ago, owning two cows was impossible for him and his family, no matter how hard they tried. To him, this is a miracle of God. Looking back upon his life, Pastor Francois finds himself a 48 years old man coming from a poor farming village. With six children and a wife to raise, his meagre income could barely support his family expenditure. When the family’s financial stress had been tremendous already, there would not be any extra savings for livestock that help sustainable agriculture. In Karongi District, located in western

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