WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING?

When we first started working with our Cameroonian partners in 2010, they were planning and working on providing basic education in rural areas of the country. Poverty was endemic and literacy was a luxury.

Their work was enthusiastically welcomed in local communities and has grown rapidly. Our partners were also pioneers in providing education for orphans as well as providing holistic support for families, from cooking utensils to basic health care.

Then, violence erupted (and continues) between different groups in the region and our partner NGO found a sudden urgent need to be helping the thousands of people displaced by the conflict, mostly women and children.

These courageous staff continue to expand their work, including vocational training for those who graduate from their schools – this includes options such as fish or chicken farming, well-digging and carpentry.

This shipment will include:

• Educational supplies
• Gym mats and camping mattresses for families who live in makeshift shelters
• Clothing and household accessories for the ongoing work with displaced people

Mary’s Story

Mary (not her real name) was left with nothing after her home and village were burnt down in escalating violence in her area of Cameroon.

Despite having no money and being mobility-impaired, she managed to reach a regional centre where Crossroads’ partners were able to provide her with clothes, basic household supplies and encouragement that allowed her to start rebuilding her life.

As well as educational supplies, our upcoming shipment will include clothing and household necessities to help many others like Mary.

Enrolments in our partner’s charity schools have more than doubled in the twelve years we have been working with them. “Instead of spending money on building wooden benches for students to sit on, Crossroads’ school furniture donations meant we could afford to build toilets,” they reported.

Gym mats and camping mattresses from Crossroads’ previous shipment are loaded up to be taken to areas where villages had been destroyed (above, left). There the mats were distributed among family groups like this one (above, right), who live in makeshift shelters like the one below. Across our multi-year partnership, we have shipped thousands of goods for education and relief for people who have lost everything in the conflict.

Sponsor other shipments like this: We need HK$50,000 to send any of our waiting shipments on their way. For a list of exciting projects needing help, email partnerships@crossroads.org.hk

Give goods: Got goods to give? We can help your company or group find projects that need your quality superseded goods. Email partnerships@crossroads.org.hk

Volunteer: We need regular volunteers in a huge variety of roles across the work, from manual labour to administration and specific skilled roles. Visit www.crossroads.org.hk/home/connect/volunteer-2

Reference No: S1358D

WHO IS THIS SHIPMENT HELPING?

Despite making great strides economically over the past decade, Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in Africa, and that poverty is far worse in rural areas.  Those who live in the countryside continue to struggle with lack of basic necessities such as clean water, food security, basic health care and educational opportunities.

Crossroads is working with an NGO in Malawi that is bridging the urban/rural gap one district at a time, providing entrepreneurship and horticultural training, and health education.  Indirectly, such projects have led to a 30% decrease in illiteracy in their target regions because more children are able to attend school for longer in the districts where they work.

The shipment we are preparing will include items enabling our partners to set up a community resource centre in a new area: books for a library, computers for a training centre and internet café, furniture, office supplies and sporting equipment for their “youth space.”

Because the area’s schools battle access to basic resources, we will also be including toys to establish a toy library and shoes, clothes and stationery kits for students.

Four of Judith’s eight children (now adults) were forced to drop out of school due to the family’s poverty. Despite their hardships though, she couldn’t ignore all the AIDS orphans in her community. She now cares for twelve of them. Business training and microloans from our partner have now enabled her to establish a successful grocery store which provides enough income to provide for the whole extended family.

Most children at rural schools struggle to afford basics such as stationery, books and shoes.

A typical rural community in Malawi.

Maria and her husband have four of their own children and they also care for three young, orphaned relatives.  Her husband has a professional job but his salary is not sufficient for all the family’s needs.  Maria farms maize to provide their staple food.  Before joining one of our partner’s programmes, the harvest would only last half a year but in thefour following years her harvest has increased seven-fold.  She now sells the surplus grain and buys flour to make bread that she sells locally. Maria is proud to be helping her husband provide for the family.  As well as providing food security and a financial “cushion” against hard times, she hopes that her baking business will bring in enough profit to allow her to start a small second-hand clothing store.

This shipment will include goods to equip the programmes that helped Maria and so many others become more economically resilient.

S5658