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Hope Outreach UK
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WINTER NEWSLETTER 2008
HOPE REACHED OUT
Where there is despair in life let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
Where there is sadness, ever joy
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love,
Where there is injury your pardon Lord
Where there is doubt, true faith
Make me a channel of your peace.
[The Peace Prayer attributed to St Francis of Assisi]
These words of the songwriter ring so true in our world today – “Lord, make me a channel of your peace”. From global credit crunch to domestic debt, national wars to family breakdowns, environmental disasters to homelessness, the world is in despair searching for hope. Whether in the relative safety of the western world or the uncertainty of the developing world, people remain anxious and without hope.
The challenge to the Hope Outreach UK has been to remain relevant in these situations and in practical ways to bring Hope to people in despair and need.
HOPE MISSION TO SRI-LANKA - OCTOBER 2008
A team of 14 volunteers from the UK flew out to Sri Lanka to hold a series of free medical, dental and vision clinics in remote villages. The journeys to the rural locations took us through beautiful countryside on virtually non-existent roads. The working days were long and arduous. The people remained patient and charming, sporting their Sunday best and smiling, despite their meagre daily wage of around US$3 which dictates their very harsh lot in life. We worked amongst the tea estate sector, the important foreign exchange earner for decades which provides the famous cup of Ceylon Tea.
Crude statistics are no reflection of the true impact of the Hope Mission to these needy and destitute persons. A responsible holistic approach to the needs of the people, in partnership with the national carers of these people, was the basis of our care. In the medical clinics we consulted in excess of 1000 patients, there were about 400 dental extractions, and the vision team carried out some 1200 eye tests and dispensed over 1100 spectacles. We worked from 7 different locations, reaching into isolated villages serving the hidden people. Though the teams were challenged and stretched each day they are keen to return to Sri-Lanka for further Hope village clinics.
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ONGOING PROJECTS AT NORTON BRIDGE
Animal Husbandry
We have commenced an animal husbandry training scheme. Five acres of land have been fenced off, the land cleared and sewn with the fast growing CO3 rapier grass. A cattle shed has been built and the land around it levelled to grow vegetables and flowering plants. At present the management is negotiating the purchase of Jersey milking cows. At full production we intend to have 20 cows producing 220 litres of milk per week and three truck loads of valuable manure for cultivation.
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Fish Farm
A project is underway to rear fish to provide much needed protein for the local community.
A nursery tank for the little ones and two larger ones as they mature are under construction.
Vegetable Cultivation
An area of two acres which has been cleared and planted with vegetables is already showing very promising results in the first six months. The local community will benefit from this produce.
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TEA ESTATE SCHOOL
We are supporting the educational needs of a poor tea estate school tucked away in the hills of Sri-Lanka. There are around 440 children ranging from 8 to 18 years of age. We have provided stationery, five computers and a printer to support their IT needs. We were also delighted to be able to conduct two days of medical, dental and vision clinics for these children in October. As part of our on-going support to the school, we plan to make the studying environment conducive for the children and to improve their sporting facilities.
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POST TSUNAMI REFLECTIONS
The tsunami of Boxing Day 2004 claimed over 30,000 lives and over half of them were children. The eastern and southern coastal belts were significantly deprived of their fishing and local agricultural industry. Hope Outreach UK responded in several practical ways through our local partners on the ground. The following are but a few:
1] Shipment of three containers of essential items and supplies
2] Construction of some 850 transitional shelters and 50 permanent houses
3] Extension and renovation of two children’s homes to increase capacity
4] Provision of school kits and midday hot meals to needy school
5] Provision of urgent supplies of medication, water and clothing
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Post-tsunami—New Girl’s Home, East Coast of Sri-Lanka
It was a day of particular joy and excitement for 14 of us from the UK to participate in the formal opening of the Holy Family Girl’s Home on 22nd of October 2008, International Children’s Day. There were over 400 children and 200 adults present at the ceremony which was undertaken by Rt. Rev. Dr. Kingsley Swampillai, the Bishop of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, Rt. Rev. Dr. Ponniah Joseph, the Auxiliary Bishop, and Dr Sam Muthuveloe representing Hope Outreach UK. It was both impressive and moving as children from a number of Catholic Welfare Homes presented an evening of music and entertainment of an excellent standard.
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Hope Outreach UK funded the construction, while Caritas/EHED the social welfare wing of the Catholic Church, undertook the project management. There were numerous challenges on the way, involving title deeds of the land, governmental permissions, local security considerations, an escalation of building costs and the uncertain political situation in this war ravaged area.
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This will be home for 30 destitute children who have suffered greatly, both from the ongoing war and the tsunami. The sisters of Holy Family Convent will provide the pastoral care as they continue their education in a caring, supportive and encouraging environment. They will be understood, consoled and loved, enabling them to reach their intended potential. Where there is despair we seek to bring hope and peace. The children are aged between 8 and 18 and will require educational scholarships and vocational training in the years to come.
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Post-tsunami—Green Canopy Programme
Though not funded by ourselves, we were thrilled to see the impact of an innovative programme of greening the soil post tsunami. In January 2005 when a whole community of 95 family homes in this eastern coastal village was washed away, we provided 88 transitional shelters, thus facilitating the move from refugee camps to temporary homes. This enabled them to commence rebuilding their lives. These families have since moved into permanent houses built by Habitat International. The land was bleached by the salty seawater which destroyed all the vegetation along the coastal belt making agriculture almost non viable.
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Deep wells were dug, tube wells were sunk and rapid irrigation of the soil was undertaken to specification to “wash out” the salt from the land. Special agricultural techniques were brought in, the soil was tested, climate and rainfall studied and local people’s preferences considered. Over a space of 12 months a productive plant nursery was set up giving free technical support and young plants to the resettled families for home gardening and larger scale cultivation.
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The vegetables include beans, bitter gourd, aubergines, carrots, pumpkin, green leaves of several kinds, chillies and fruit bearing trees such as banana, paw paw, citrus etc. Tall trees are also being planted to give needed shade, as wind breakers, for medicinal value and ultimately for wood. The area now is green and productive, the land bringing forth its goodness and much needed vegetables and fruits in abundance. The land that was made barren by the tsunami has been restored and is now blooming!
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WIDOWS’ MICRO-LOAN PROJECT
The ongoing vicious war has rendered several thousands of young able bodied and capable women widows in a short space of time. We are at present supporting around 100 such women through a micro-loan project, enabling them to begin a cottage industry of their choice so they may become self-sufficient in caring for their families. This is a hand up rather than a hand down. The projects chosen by these widows have included poultry keeping, basket weaving, lunch parcels, animal husbandry, sweet stalls, child minding and dress making.
The programme is closely monitored by knowledgeable village welfare workers who give the necessary counsel and encouragement to ensure the project succeeds. A success rate of over 95% has been achieved in loan recovery to date. In the next six months we hope to roll out this programme to a further 100 widows. Through this scheme, young bereft widows are given a sense of purpose, dignity, self-worth and self-reliance, making them good role models in the community and moving them from despair to hope and from sadness to joy.
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THE HOPE TEAM MEMBERS October 2008
Medical: Dr Sam Muthuveloe, Dr Ayesha Muthuveloe,
Catherine Hall, Roger Hall, Sarah Bunch & Richard O’Brien
Dental: Dr Maya Desai & Manjula Koria
Vision: Heather Cox, Catherine Pannett, Zoe Herbert,
George Herbert, Eileen Weston, Jacqui Watson
THANK YOU
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Our projects and programmes would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of persons such as yourselves. We express our gratitude to you for your generosity and together we have been able to make a practical difference in the lives of so many people today. Thank you.
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
We take this opportunity to wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous 2009. The simple story of Christmas is that God sent Jesus into the world to be our Hope. Into our darkness He brings light, in our sadness He is our joy and in our despair He is our Hope. He reached out in Hope to us.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Dr Sam Muthuveloe
General Secretary
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“MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY”
An informal Carol Concert for all the family THURSDAY 18TH DEC.
at 7.30pm
This informal concert with audience participation will take place at
St Andrew’s, Gt Linford.
All proceeds will be in aid of the “Displaced Children of Sri-Lanka”.
Tickets: £3 (children free)
Please Visit our Contact Us page for further information
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Reach out to the needy, bringing hope to the poor
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Hope Outreach UK - 21 Lower Stonehayes, Great Linford, Milton Keynes MK14 5ES
Registered Charity Number 327898
© Copyright Hope Outreach UK - All rights reserved to the contents documentation and Images published 2008
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