Some parts of the world have lived with conflict for decades. Northern Uganda is one where the suffering is almost indescribable. For twenty years, it was devastated by the Lord’s Resistance Army. During that time, most of the population had to move into camps for safety. We visited those camps and were stunned. There was no education. No medical care. Little water and an unreliable food supply. Fast forward to today and the area now faces two huge problems. First, those in their twenties and thirties have had no education. How, then, can their community start over? Our partners on the ground, NGO Salt & Light Uganda, are deeply connected into their community and have walked the entire journey with it. They have little by way of resources, though, because, once the war was over, many NGOs left the area.
We have been able to see them set up with a series of training programmes for the young people, themselves now parents with families to support. These programmes are manageable for those with little or no education. They include catering, dress-making, car mechanics, carpentry, bee-keeping, ox and plough provision and broader care. They have also set up a school for today’s children. Additionally, the founder of Salt & Light Uganda, David Livingstone Okello, recently lost a two week old son because the local clinic had unreliable electricity, and, with support through Crossroads, has now seen a solar system established in that clinic to keep all machinery operating at all times.
A second problem now faces this beleaguered community, however. The massive fighting in its northern neighbour, South Sudan, is seeing refugees pouring over the border and needing to draw, also, on the very limited resources in the area. We recently sent 3000 solar lights to the refugee community there as power is a major problem.
Again, Crossroads, from Hong Kong, cannot reach directly to these people who have suffered so greatly, but we can help others help others.
None of us can forget the terrible earthquakes that shook Nepal in 2014. We, here in Hong Kong, could not ‘reach’ the victims, of course, but we could support those dealing with the crises on the spot. At first, we rushed rescue supplies by an airline (which is too modest to be named) that took three loads per week. During that time, Hong Kong’s generous community positively flooded us with disaster kits which they brought to our gates in massive numbers, day by day. It was wonderful. Later, some people donated money for reconstruction purposes. We have carefully metered that out over the years with a major partner in Nepal as it is undertaking an excellent programme. (One huge problem after disasters is that, before long, they get forgotten and people can struggle with the aftermath for, literally, decades.) The group in Nepal has two major goals: it is not only re-constructing needed homes, but is also training the local builders in ways that will help these houses be more resilient in case of future earthquakes: ‘Building back better’ as the saying has it. Additionally, they themselves can multiply their knowledge by training others. Again, all of this would be beyond our direct reach in Hong Kong. That is why we love to help others help others.
This shipment was, surely, a gift that would keep on giving. A group in Ghana put labour and love into the building of a much needed medical clinic. Their resources were few, but they managed to get the construction completed and then wrote to us. What does it take to furnish a clinic? More than one might imagine but, happily, items that we typically receive from the generous Hong Kong community. Medical provision, of course: surgical items, hospital beds, crutches, and the like. As well, though, a clinic needs tables, chairs, computers, office furniture and equipment, catering supplies (stove, pots, pans, crockery, cutlery), clothing for the patients, toys for the children’s section and even extra touches such as pictures for the walls, curtains for the windows. Additionally, as the electricity supply is intermittent in their area, we sent a generator. This clinic was literally empty one week and, just seven days later, was open for service. It is just one more example, of many, where we help others help others. 
NGO St Stephen’s Society has, for decades, brought people with drug dependency back into fulfilling lives. They begin with the immediate withdrawal and then move to ‘half way homes’, apartments all over Hong Kong, which are staffed by people who help them re-enter normal lives. Crossroads began providing furniture for these homes soon after we started, in 1995. In 2015, we asked St Stephen’s how many of these homes we had furnished. They said, “We really couldn’t count them all, but you have supplied furniture for pretty well all of them!” As the saying has it, this has truly been a gift that has kept on giving! St Stephen’s has seen people not only freed from drug dependency, but go on to help others within Hong Kong and in other countries around the world. Our partnership with St Stephen’s has been a delight and is, again, proof that, while we may not be able to help people facing addiction ourselves, as we don’t have direct contact, we can help others help others. 
In South West China, mountains make it difficult for some to earn regular income. We routinely partner with the Chinese Relief and Development Foundation, an NGO helping disaster victims, people in medical need, the elderly, families struggling with poverty and ‘left behind children’ whose parents have moved long distances to other parts of China for employment, leaving the kids in the care of grandparents or institutions. With the constant drain on their resources, they have received donations of 1,694 pairs of shoes, 15,000 pieces of babies and children’s clothes, 15,466 pieces of adult clothing, along with a range of equipment and accessories. This group has networking throughout the local area and beyond: assisting people whom we, ourselves, could never reach. We help others help others.
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