INSIDE
THIS
ISSUE
SPRING 2015
P2
A BRIGHT FUTURE...
P2
FIVE LITTLE COFFEE
BEANS
P3
CHRIST’S
TANGIBLE LOVE
P4
SPECIAL EDUCATION
IN ETHIOPIA
I Belong, You Belong
Every Face Tells A Story
Purveyors of Hope
This article was written by Dwayne Milley, our director of operations and development, after a recent visit to Ethiopia.
“If
“We’ve lost contact with ten volunteers in the
Upper Nile region. They’re most likely dead.”
This may be our paraphrase of 1 Corinthians
12:15 and 21, but it’s the illustration God uses
to convey how He sees and values us: “God
has placed the members, each one of them, in
the body, just as He desired” (vs. 18).
These words
stuck with me
as Darious,
the operations
manager for CH
Global South
Sudan, shared
a report of the
current situation
in his nation. He
said it so matter-of-factly. Two days later, he
shared that eleven people had been killed in
his hometown, but he proceeded to encourage
us with these words from Romans 5:3-5:
a foot said, ‘I’m not a hand, therefore
I don’t belong to the body,’ it clearly
wouldn’t be true. And the head can’t say to
the foot, ‘I have no need of you.’” Though
we may tout our brains and brilliance, none
of us wants a body consisting of only a
head, right?
“Each one…just as He desired.” We’re all
needed and God-ordained. And in case we
thought our ability to sing, dance, walk, talk
or preach would bump up our anatomical
MVP status in The Body, the truth is laid
out clearly: “...those parts of the body that
seem to be weaker are indispensable” (vs. 22).
We love the words in this passage. The drive
to belong is very deep in each of us and the
assurance that we are all “indispensable”
brings great comfort and security. But
unfortunately, because of poverty or
disability, many people in the world don’t
feel—or even know—that they belong.
We’re striving globally to overcome these
barriers and instead spread God’s love and
create communities of belonging. We do
that by ensuring that Fadia is getting good
food and a good education in Haiti, and by
training Ethiopian teachers in braille and sign
language so that children can come forth from
isolation to find connection and life.
When we recognize that we’re all made in
God’s image, we cannot help but find ways
to build belonging.
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces
perseverance; perseverance, character; and
character, hope. And hope does not put us to
shame, because God’s love has been poured out
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has
been given to us.
Never in my existence had I heard these
Scriptures applied in such a personalized
context—used to encourage and give me
hope. This is the work of CH Global: to be
purveyors of hope. In countries like South
Sudan, the work goes on in the midst of civil
unrest and great personal sacrifice. People
like Darious believe the calling is worth the
cost. His enthusiasm is palpable. He and our
other staff in South Sudan help communities,
families and sponsored children access
education, be nourished physically, grow
spiritually, and have a real chance to survive.
Later in the week I met an Ethiopian woman
named Shewaye. “I forfeit everything for
my child,” she said. As the grandmother
to Hanna, a sponsored child, Shewaye had
gathered together with other caregivers to
share about the impact of sponsorship on
their families.
Hanna’s parents are dead. Her grandmother
stated it straightforwardly, without
explanation. Shewaye and the other
caregivers assembled that day participate
in a financial self-help group as a required
component of the sponsorship program.
Group members learn about the benefit of
saving money, how to manage shared savings,
and how to create a return on investment.
Shewaye borrowed
from the shared
account and
bought a sheep. She
fattened the sheep,
sold it and bought
another. Eventually
she repaid the loan
and now owns
almost a dozen
sheep. Her small
herd includes a
male, so it includes
its own sustainability plan.
The proceeds from the sale of her sheep are
saved for Hanna. Before sponsorship, Hanna
couldn’t go to school, but now she’s attending
school and helping her grandmother take
care of the sheep.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
A Bright Future…
Judging from her picture, you might think
10-year-old Fadia is about to break out some
hip dance moves. Perhaps, but just wait until
she opens her mouth.
Anyone looking for a spokesperson, a
politician, or a leader with a plan and a vision?
Keep an eye on this girl.
She becomes very animated as she speaks
about her home country of Haiti.
“If our people will put our hands together
we can maybe make our country beautiful
and people will be changed,” she says. Fadia
sees many improvements that can be made,
like more roads and schools to help children.
She also sees the need to take care of orphans.
Fadia sounds like she’s running for office,
doesn’t she? “If I was president, I would
help children and build more schools and
houses. I would give food to the people and
create work.”
Quite an insightful answer for a Grade 5
student.
She may have some good ideas for her country,
but Fadia really lights up when she reveals her
plans for her own future. Fadia desires to be
a nurse. She has a brother with mental health
challenges and wants to become a nurse so she
can help people like him.
This is such a sweet display of a big heart in
a little girl. Fadia lives in a home with her big
family—seven siblings, two parents, and some
other relatives. She shares a room with three
other people and says she dreams of sharing a
room with only one other person.
Fadia has been a part of our sponsorship
program since 2010. Being a part of the
program means she is able to attend
a CH Global-sponsored
school staffed with
qualified teachers.
Without this, it is
unlikely that she would
progress past Grade 6. It
is evident that Fadia
is a bright girl with
a keen mind and
we’re thrilled to
sponsor her and
help ensure
she receives
a quality
education.
Five Little Coffee Beans
E
ach farmwoman brought five meager
coffee beans to the afternoon gathering at
the little yellow-walled clinic.
These women don’t have much, but they all
contributed a little of what they did have, and
together they collected 195 beans to make
coffee that afternoon.
It’s a beautiful act of giving that
demonstrates, in a small way, how
significantly they’ve come alongside one
another to impact their lives and their
community.
Steam poured out of
the clay jebena as the
women sat on the porch
and explained the inner
workings of their savings
and loan self-help group
(SHG): the money they’ve
saved collectively and
personally, the loans they’ve
distributed from that saved
money, and their plans to improve their
future—in fact, their whole community’s
future—by investing that money wisely.
In May 2013, about 40 women divided into
two groups—the Feta and Biftu SHGs—
each started weekly contributing 5-10
birr ($0.30 – $0.60 CAD) into collective
accounts. CH Global formed the groups and
provided financial training and oversight,
and now these women are on their own,
living what they’ve learned. As of February
2015, the two groups had a combined savings
of $2,015 CAD.
They wanted to rent land together and grow
wheat, but renting just one hectare (about 2.5
acres) costs the better part of $190 a year. So,
instead, they loaned themselves money to buy
what they needed to plant onions on their
individual farms so that after the harvest
they could collect and save the profits to rent
farmland in the future.
Rather than taking turns loaning money
to group members to pursue individual
income-generating initiatives—the
standard SHG model—they’ve decided
to work together towards one colossal
achievement: bringing life-giving water to
their community.
Right now, if a person moves fast, it’s a
one-and-a-half-hour walk to get water, one
woman explained. Sometimes it takes more
than two hours.
They’ll make the trek at least once a day, but
sometimes twice a day. They have to fetch it
for their household, as well as for the animals.
These women are hoping to
save enough money to get a
water pump installed closer
to their homes. It costs
50,000 birr ($3,100 CAD)
to drill a well, and at the
rate they’re saving they are
thinking it will take two to
three years.
If anyone could achieve
this, it’s probably these women—and all
because they learned the value of working
together and saving the equivalent of just 30
to 60 Canadian cents a week.
The leader of the Feta SHG said that besides
learning about sanitation, family planning
and receiving a loan, she’s started a personal
savings box at home. Her husband has seen
positive results from his wife being a part of
an SHG and he supports and encourages
her when others have not. He tells her to be
strong because she is on a good track.
Etaferaw, the leader of the Biftu group, also
said that the women’s husbands and other
men in the community discouraged them
initially, but after they watched the women
receiving loans to buy onion seeds to plant on
their farms, they totally changed their minds,
she said.
The concepts learned in the SHG are
influencing many more people than just the
group members. We can’t wait to see what
progress and impact on their community
these women have made in another year.
A New Life Kickoff
Wilson has been stitching together and selling
soccer balls for the last 42 years. His workshop is
located in the Korogocho slums on the outskirts
of Nairobi. His employment strategy is to only
hire street boys. Over the last 10 years, he has
trained 300 boys who are currently running their
own soccer ball stitching businesses in various
towns across Kenya.
Until a few years ago, Wilson said he just focused
on making money and never imagined that God
and money could go together. He never thought
about the spiritual lives of the former street
boys either. But then his perspective changed
in 2012 when he participated in Biblical
Entrepreneurship Training with Go Ye Africa,
our ministry partner in Kenya.
Through these
devotions, Wilson
says that 50 of the
300 boys he’s worked
with have accepted
Christ.
“After training with Go Ye Africa on biblical
discipleship and entrepreneurship, I learnt to
blend God and work because He is the one
who commissioned us to work. Every time
I work I feel I am fulfilling His command,”
Wilson said. “I have also learnt to respect these
former street boys. I not only want them to
learn to stitch soccer balls, but also to develop
spiritually. We therefore start every morning with
a Bible study and praise session.”
Paul, 22, is the youngest of three men currently
working for Wilson. Poverty forced him to
leave his western Kenyan village of Bondo to
come work here. “Wilson has acted as a father
figure and a spiritual role model for me since I
came here three months ago,” he said. “He has
encouraged me to read the Bible regularly and
also to respect fellow mankind.”
90% of
The global
literacy rate
for women
with disabilities
is
as
low
as
children with
disabilities
in developing
countries don’t
attend school
Source: A 1998 UNDP Study
Source: UNESCO
<There used to be a lack of understanding of the needs of children
with disabilities. As a person who knows—who understands
their situation—I’m motivated to help them, to bring them out
of the darkness and bring them to the school and give them the
opportunity to learn.
– Wubie, Itaya SNE unit department head, Ethiopia
CHRIST’S TANGIBLE LOVE
This story was written by our partner, Maple City Baptist Church, in Chatham, Ontario.
Five years ago, our church became involved
with CH Global’s work in Guatemala. Each
year we travel there with a group of roughly
fifteen people to build relationships, help
with construction projects and facilitate Bible
programs for children.
Three years ago we were introduced to
El Moro, a highly remote village tucked
away in the mountains of Guatemala. The
child sponsorship program supports over
100 children there, which has created an
opportunity to minister to the people. Each
time we have visited, our
church has fallen more in
love with these people
who are sweet, joyful, and
thankful—though they
have so very little. We’ve
been able to partner with
the community to assist
with various building
projects at the school, the village’s most
valued asset. We also run a Vacation Bible
School where the children participate in
games, crafts, and English and Bible classes.
The relationships we build in just one week
(each year) are life changing for us, and
hopefully for them as well. At the end of
every trip we are overwhelmed and humbled
by their gratitude. As a result of our church’s
bond with this community, several of our
members have become sponsors even though
they haven’t personally travelled there.
As we have partnered in Guatemala,
specifically in El Moro, it’s been evident
that the people’s greatest need is to know
Jesus. Tangible demonstrations of Christ’s
love—like meeting physical needs—have
opened the door to sharing the Gospel.
It is a sincere joy and privilege to be the
hands and feet of Christ to the people of
this beautiful village. This love is manifested
directly by
those who
take part in
the trips, but
also by those who are willing to faithfully
provide support through the sponsorship
program.
It’s an amazing experience to meet the
sponsored children (and those awaiting
sponsorship) and have their little hands
lead us to their homes so we can meet
their families and see where they live.
How wonderful it was to see firsthand the
difference that child sponsorship has made
in so many of these families! Sponsorship has
given these kids hope. It provides not only for
their material needs, but most importantly,
it allows them to hear the Good News of
salvation in Christ.
To see the impact of sponsorship in this
community firsthand, visit chglobal.org.
PURVEYORS OF HOPE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
I am excited to bear witness to the
determination of Shewaye as she and
Hanna invest in their future.
I am humbled to partner with a giant of
the faith like Darious—I see the hope
he has for South Sudan as he perseveres
through difficulties.
I am overjoyed at the generosity of you,
our donors, for helping people in need
whom you have never met. I know I’m
beholding the Gospel message in action.
The world is full of evils: poverty, war,
disease, and inequality. If we focus
on these we can become paralyzed.
But we are not called to take these on
singlehandedly; we are called to be
a light in the darkness. As the verse
in Romans says, we press on because
God’s love has been
poured into our hearts.
Each day thousands of lives are touched
by our ministry. The darkness is pushed
back. And God’s love and light are
shown. Thank you for trusting us
with your resources as we work in
South Sudan, Ethiopia, and other
countries around the world.
Laying The Groundwork For
Special Education In Ethiopia
When
Aselefech
was a Grade
9 student she
had a teacher
with a visual
impairment. This planted in her heart a desire to
someday work with students with disabilities.
Years later, Aselefech is doing just that as she
teaches in a special needs education (SNE) unit
in a primary school in Itaya, Ethiopia, a couple
hours from the capital, Addis Ababa.
Without the training, Aselefech wouldn’t be able
to help her students with disabilities, she said.
But they still lack resources, face challenges, and
do not have enough training—especially when
it comes to sign language. Signing may be a
student’s only way to communicate, yet a teacher
may not know enough to fully understand
or respond. The SNE teachers especially face
challenges when it comes to students with
developmental disabilities.
The SNE unit in this school originally consisted
of just one classroom divided into five sections
for different grades and different disability types.
SNE units teach Grades 1 – 4, and then the
students are mainstreamed for Grade 5 and
beyond. They have colossal challenges to
PRAY Please support our ministry
in prayer. “Unless the LORD builds
the house, the builders labor in vain.”
Pray with us that God will continue
to bless our work as we reach out to
support those dear to His heart—the
helpless, the widow, and the orphan.
overcome. For example, blind students suddenly
have to learn solely by listening to teacher
lectures, and they’re dependent on other people
to read to them. Deaf students must learn from
reading the teacher’s lips and reading what is
written on the chalkboard.
Though these may seem like insurmountable
obstacles to some of us, it’s been astounding to
see these students persevere and excel—some of
them are at the top of their class.
By partnering with government schools
to open 81 SNE units since 2006, we’ve
created opportunities for 1,700 Ethiopian
students with disabilities to complete
foundational grades of learning before being
mainstreamed.
She’s one of 203 Ethiopian teachers CH Global
has given a one-month, hands-on training in
SNE. The teachers are taught skills like basic
sign language, and reading and writing braille.
The goal is to equip them as thoroughly as
possible to teach students with visual, auditory
and developmental disabilities.
So, what can I do?
Opening a SNE unit generally means we
configure a classroom, train two teachers in
SNE, and provide school materials, student
uniforms and breakfast. After a number of
years, CH Global phases out support and the
government takes over. This SNE unit in Itaya
has been on its own since April 2014. It has
also expanded to include another full classroom
subdivided for three more SNE classrooms. This
is a wonderful achievement for a community
that, when the unit first opened, was unwilling
to send their children with disabilities to school.
We are continuing to create awareness for the
need for SNE and have launched a new project
to provide educational opportunities for 1,000
more students with disabilities in the next two
years, give further training for 331 SNE teachers,
and renovate or refurbish 30 SNE units to
accommodate more students.
25 Sportsworld Crossing Road Kitchener, ON N2P OA5 Canada
Tel: 1.519.650.0966 | Toll Free: 1.866.362.6810 | Fax: 1.519.650.8984
[email protected] | www.chglobal.org
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LEARN We’re active in 7
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to do more, but it’s only through
your generous gifts that we’re able
to serve those living in exceptional
circumstances around the world. If
you would like to give, please mail
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