Feedback:

Zambia has faced an unsteady economy in recent years, and nowhere is that more visible than in the nation’s rural areas. There, the poverty rate is almost triple that of people living in urban areas. Managing the Covid-19 pandemic has put an additional strain on already-stretched resources.

We were delighted to ship to an organisation in rural Zambia who is working hard to develop their communities by establishing sustainable foundations of education and vocational training. Crossroads sent a huge range of goods for their projects, from school furniture to computers, to Covid-19 protective equipment, to wheelchairs, to office furniture, stationery and more.

Our partners spoke enthusiastically about the impact the shipment made on their credibility as an organisation. It boosted their reputation and trust among the community, as well as with the government.

“When the container arrived, loaded on a big truck and trailer, it sent a serious message that international organisations are partnering with us. Even the government has now placed much more faith in our work.”

Distributing the goods also gave them new opportunities to interact with their beneficiaries, meeting more of them face-to-face and giving a platform to better assess their needs and help more effectively.

Some of the goods in the shipment – Covid-19 prevention supplies and other medical goods – were particularly timely.

“The shipment arrived when Covid-19 was at its highest peak. The medical equipment could not have come at a better time.”

Other goods have been transformational in different ways, including office equipment and furniture, computers for the library of a health sciences college, school furniture and supplies, and goods to help run training programmes such as fish farming.

Receiving these goods saved thousands of dollars from their budget in equipping their new building complex. “We now have furniture for our office, computers, printer and chairs to use in our hall. Our kitchen has equipment and many training sessions have now been conducted using the projectors, white boards, chairs and so on.” We’re so grateful to all who helped make this shipment possible. See photos and captions for more stories of impact!

“When the container arrived, the community was elated,” wrote staff. “They were on hand to help unload the items!”

This rural school received stationery, school supplies and 60 desks from the shipment, increasing enrolment by an estimated 30 percent. Staff said that being easily portable, the separate desks have also made it easier for the school to facilitate social distancing during Covid-19.

Computers from the shipment are now installed in a local college of health sciences, allowing tertiary students to go online for research and coursework.

Vocational training for fish farmers
Our partners’ new centre (above, left) was recently completed, and our shipment filled it with the furniture, equipment and supplies they needed to run skills training workshops. “As a result of this shipment, we were able to hold training for provincial fish farmers, which included participants from the Ministry of Education.” So far, they’ve trained 45 start-up fish farmers, which will create job opportunities and improve food security for their communities.

What’s more, the shipment raised our partners’ profile to such a degree that they’re now eligible to monitor all fish farmers in the province. “The cooperative will reach more than 200 fish farmers in its first year. This has all come about because of the shipment!” they wrote.

Rebuilding after fire: distribution for vulnerable families
After a house fire destroyed everything for one local family, our partners were able to help with goods from Crossroads’ shipment (pictures above show before and after the donation). The range of goods we shipped meant they could give them enough to completely start anew, with furniture, bedding, clothing, curtains, kitchen appliances and more. Basic goods like these reached hundreds of families in our partners’ region. They reflected that the distribution gave them a special opportunity to go out and assess the needs of their local community, listening to their concerns and responding with what they most needed. “This was of great help,” they said.

Supporting schools through Covid-19

“Funding for schools has been difficult lately,” wrote our partners. “There is pressure on government coffers due to the pandemic. Efforts have shifted to spending on health equipment and medicines.”

They appreciated being able to support schools with the donated educational goods from the shipment, like stationery and books, as well as face masks for students.

S5481

Feedback:

As a nation, Liberia is still suffering deep social and economic wounds from a civil war that ended in the early 2000s. Violence and assaults are sadly common. A government study found that over 60% of women aged 15-49 in Liberia have experienced physical violence. Often, with high unemployment rates, youth are turning to crime because they feel hopeless.

This shipment was Crossroads’ third to an NGO in Liberia who reaches out to children and youth at risk. When they were first established, they ran programmes to solve youth crime problems, but they soon realized they had to get to the root of why youth were turning to crime. They decided that education and mentorship were the answers, helping open more doors to youth so that they wouldn’t feel like crime was the only way to survive.

We shipped computers, furniture, clothing and shoes, electrical and household goods, school supplies, toys and other goods that they are now using strategically in their projects.

Impact of the shipment included:

• Equipping a newly built vocational training centre with furniture and computers, saving them many thousands of dollars.
• Goods to expand their street library, reaching community children and youth with educational workshops and literacy skills
• Furniture for student accommodation to house more than 300 students at a time.
• Clothing for vulnerable community members struggling to afford basic necessities.

The goods from Crossroads were so strategic in improving their projects to a high standard that the organisation secured funding from the United Nations for new projects with youth.

We are pleased to have been able to give an investment of goods once again to support these trusted partners in their work with children and youth at risk in Liberia. We’re grateful to all who contributed to make it possible!

Crossroads’ volunteers load the shipment at Crossroads village in Hong Kong.

In Liberia, community comes together to help unload the shipment at our partners’ headquarters.

Furniture other goods from the shipment have helped bring to life a new centre where our partners offer job skills training, life skills and anti-violence workshops, and educational activities for children.

“At first, the centre was so empty. So when these things came in, we felt so good!”

Bill, NGO centre supervisor

“I didn’t have a desk, to do my work in birth registrations. I didn’t even have a chair. This has made my burden far less.”

Mouna, social worker

“Before, we were doing our work on mobile phones, or working from our home. My first day at work after the donations was so happy!” Joseph, NGO centre supervisor

“The impact on my work has been massive. We’ve been able to launch new projects.”
William, IT/Comms manager

Hundreds of impoverished families were reached with shoes and clothing from the shipment, relieving some of their burdens.

S4381B

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING?

This shipment feedback has arrived! Click here to read more.

The war in Syria has been devastating lives for more than 10 years now. According to the UN refugee agency, there are 13.5 million displaced Syrians – more than half the population. Some of these people have sought refuge in other nations, but many have been internally displaced, living in temporary homes or in war zones, trying to survive with their families.

Crossroads has shipped twice to partners who are helping internally displaced people in Syria. Goods from our shipments have helped with immediate needs, such as warm clothing and sleeping bags and toys for children who have grown up in a war zone. They’ve also helped with longer-term needs, like school furniture to set up classrooms for displaced children and goods for job creation, in areas where employment is at rock bottom.

We are pleased to be able to ship once again to support their vital work with such vulnerable communities. Our shipment will include clothing, footwear, toys, school supplies and household goods.

“This is a war zone,” write Crossroads’ partners. “Everyone does whatever they can to survive.” The photo to the left shows the kind of damage to buildings in the area where they serve. Both displaced people and those who were already living there are battling the poverty that comes with years of living through war.

Our partners help with training and job creation programmes to support those who are struggling, often finding it hard just to feed their families.

Sleeping bags from Crossroads have been a truly valuable donation in this area where many are living in tents without sufficient bedding. Temperatures can be bitterly cold through the winter months.

Thousands of brand-new toys from our shipments brought joy to children in this rural, war-torn area who have never held a new toy in their lives. They have spent their entire childhoods displaced or living in a war zone.

Abdul’s story

Abdul is a 42-year-old father of five and he lives with his family in the war zone where Crossroads’ last shipment to Syria was distributed. Abdul earns a small income from farming, but it’s barely enough to keep them alive. The family lives in tents made of old sheets and fabric. They get wet when it rains, they feel freezing in winter and boiling hot in summer.

After Crossroads’ shipment arrived, staff visited Abdul’s town with goods from the shipment. “The area in which they live has never been reached by aid from any organisation or association,” said staff. Abdul’s family were among those that received help, including new clothes and new, warm sleeping bags. His children were given new toys, along with more than 6,000 other children in the rural areas they visited.

This shipment will include goods to support the urgent needs of more families like Abdul’s.

S5477B

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING?

Malaysia has recently benefited from an economic boost due to a growth in manufacturing. However, the disparity in wealth between urban and rural areas mean that rural areas experience a poverty rate nearly 4 times that of the towns and cities.

Malaysia, along with neighbouring countries has also taken in many Rohingya Muslim refugees who, due to violence and persecution, have fled Myanmar/Burma. In fact, 86% of all Myanmar/Burma’s refugees are Rohingya and around 2,500 of these live in the area in which our partner NGO operates.

To help care for these people in need our partners have been helping refugees and underprivileged locals with clothing, food, school uniforms and healthcare. They also operate the only food bank in the area and their resources are stretched thin.

With this shipment we aim to be able to provide them with the equipment they need to continue to grow their operation and reach many more people. Goods we hope to ship include medical equipment, clothing/shoes, school equipment, study materials and household items.

Supplying essential food to the community

Our partners understand that to properly serve and grow their community they must start by meeting their most urgent needs.

One of the ways they do this is by operating a soup kitchen and food bank (the only one in the area, serving 10 villages). Here people with low incomes can provide for their families with fresh, organic food donated by local businesses.

Mr. Chen’s Story

Our partners shared the story of a man called Mr. Chen with us. They said, “Mr Chen’s wife suffered a stroke and was left in a wheelchair. Shortly after, their only son moved out”. With their son’s income gone, Mr Chen couldn’t afford to provide food for himself and his wife”.

“In 2018 Mr. Chen heard about the soup kitchen and began to collect hot meals from us; they now have food every day”.

Goods from this shipment will help expand the reach of services like this and help more people like Mr. Chen and his wife.

The people that our partners help are spread out over a large area, so through field visits, they connect with and help as many in the community as possible.

Our partners hope to provide school equipment and study materials to the students in the community so that they are fully equipped for their education.

(S5609A)

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING?

Since achieving independence, the people of Armenia have been working to re-establish their country, culture and economy.  This has included everything from decommissioning highly polluting industrial plants to returning land to agriculture in order to provide food security without relying on imports.

Sadly, during the Soviet era, it was common to confine orphans and people with disabilities to institutions, with minimal care or contact with the outside world.  We’re shipping to an organisation who is working hard to bring these children back to their families where possible, and provide holistic support for all involved, whether providing medical care, school supplies or counselling for those moving from institutions into independent adult life.

They support day care centres so that parents can work but are still able to keep special needs children at home and they run special programmes for children in institutions who are unable to be returned to their biological families.

We are sending a shipment of goods including furniture and home appliances to support families who would otherwise not have the resources to receive their children back home. We’ll also include school supplies, computers, clothes, toys and medical equipment for selected orphanages, and sports equipment for their summer camps.

‘Melik’ was born with a deformity that was gradually pulling his neck and part of his face to one side and that would eventually have killed him when he could no longer breathe. Crossroads’ partners raised funds and organized life-saving surgery. Goods from this shipment will support these programmes, changing  the lives of young people like Melik.

’Lena’ was born with such a severe spinal deformity that she looked as if her body were sitting next to her legs (above, with two of the sponsors for her surgery).  Because of her special needs she needed to be kept in an institution for people with disabilities. Crossroads’ partners found sponsors, organised corrective surgery and physiotherapy.  Her smile below shows her joy at being able to stand upright and live at home, outside of institutional care. Goods from this shipment will help our partners support more children like Lena to live full, joyful lives.

One of the most iconic sites in Armenia, Khor Virap and its associated monastery is ancient site of importance.  Mt Ararat (now in Turkey) towers above it.

The unique Armenian alphabet, invented in the early 5^th century CE, has remained almost unchanged over centuries.

S5801