Updates: ‘International’
Tanzania has one of the poorest economies in world, and is classified as a low income country by the World Bank. According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization, more than 70% of the country’s population earns less than two dollars per day, and the other 30% earns less than one dollar per day, which makes it difficult or even impossible for Tanzanians to purchase medicine or acquire medical services when needed. With the country’s limited medical facilities and medicines, patients that require major treatment have to go to neighboring countries like Nairobi in Kenya and South Africa where more advanced medical care is available (U.S. Department of State).
Responding to an invitation from a Bishop in Tanzania, Hidden With Christ Ministry, an international Christian ministry that spreads the love and the word of God by aiding global communities, aims to build a medical clinic in rural Maasai area. The people in this area live in mud huts, with no access to electricity, running water, or medical care.
Through the partnership with Giving Children Hope, the four day medical outreach conducted in early August in the Maasai Village of Esilalei was a success. Giving Children Hope provided the team from Hidden With Christ Ministry with medical supplies and medications. Below are some pictures from the trip.
As the situation in Syria continues to intensify, GCHope has responded by sending a container of medical supplies, bandages, wheelchairs, vitamins and other relief items into the country of Jordan. According to the UN, Jordan is now housing over 200,000 Syrian refugees. Our partners in Jordan are ready to distribute the relief items which will be of great assistance to the Syrian people.
With more refugees arriving into Jordan every day and the winter months rapidly approaching, there is still much to be done. If you wish to donate to this cause, please contact Sean Lawrence at slawrence@godaid.org or call (714) 523-4454. GCHope will continue to monitor the situation.
To our partners, donors, staff and volunteers, thank you for all your prayers and support!
After a long three-month journey of traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, Giving Children Hope received wonderful news from Dr. Tiffany Priester, a cardiologist who partnered with us to deliver medical supplies to Malawi, Africa.
In her email, Dr. Priester mentioned that she is the only cardiologist in the country and she works in four different hospitals a month, including Blantyre Adventist Hospital, where she spends most of her time in the Intensive Care Unit. GCHope shipped a container of various medical supplies which had surgical equipment, ventilator, examining tables, transport beds, world beds, and fully manual operating theater tables.
Dr. Priester was grateful that GCHope was able to provide the container of medical supplies in such short notice.
The success of this mission was made possible through the partnership between GCHope and those who share the same passion to provide good health around the world.
We look forward to partnering again with Dr. Tiffany Priester in aiding the people of Malawi.
Nicaragua, a country slightly smaller than the state of New York, is considered the poorest country in Central America (Source: CIA World Fact).
Although basic medical care is obtainable, treatment for more serious medical conditions is either unavailable or only available in Nicaragua’s capital city, Managua. Advanced medical equipment, medications and supplies are also hard to find in the country (Source: Travel.State.Gov).
Jennifer Lin of DOCARE International, a non-profit medical outreach organization, asked GCHope’s assistance in providing medical supplies in one of their medical missions to Chacraseca, a small farming community East of Leon, Nicaragua. Jennifer and her team held temporary clinics and provided primary care to the community.
If your organization or church is planning to go on a medical missions trip, we would love to partner with you! Please contact Janet Valencia for more information.
GCHope received wonderful pictures from Michele Loyo’s trip to Peru back in late May. Michele and other members of Refuge Ministries International distributed LifeStraws to the victims of the Amazon River flooding in Loreto, Peru. The LifeStraws provided flood victims safe drinking water and we asked Michele to give us a recap of her trip:
GCHope: How did you hear about Giving Children Hope?
Michele: I’ve volunteered there on a couple occasions through Saddleback Church.
GCHope: Tell us what you did in Peru and what your experience was like.
Michele: I’ve been going to Peru (Amazon) for years now ministering to villages and people living along the Amazon and it’s tributaries. When we went this past time to help during the floods, I was shocked to see the devastation. 250,000 people displaced and five times that in farmland flooded. People had set up camps on any dry land they could find. Our goal was to hand out the LifeStraws to the people who were still out on the river, provide food and clean drinking water as much as we could. We ended up distributing the LifeStraws to two villages. And, on our property, which is a half mile from a “camp” of 350 displaced people, we distributed food and clean water to anyone who needed it.
GCHope: What did people in Peru think of the LifeStraws?
Michele: Nobody had seen anything like them (including my group). They were absolutely blown away that they could drink directly from them … and out of the river. The Amazon River is a “muddy” river. It’s brown but for many that’s the only water source. A water source they know that makes them sick. Now, with the LifeStraws they can drink from the river if they have too. It took them a bit of time before they would try it. We had to do it first to show them that even the Americans can drink from their water and we won’t get sick.
GCHope: Are you planning to go back to Peru or anywhere else for missions?
Michele: Peru is where my heart is and where God has me ministering. I go to the Amazon part of Peru a couple of times every year. My next trip will be in August to follow up with the people we gave the LifeStraws to, and to also set up a water purifying system on our property where we will be able to provide clean water to the surrounding area on a regular basis.
GCHope: Any other comments you would like to add?
Michele: We would love to get more LifeStraws! News travels fast in the Amazon and our church partner there has been bombarded with requests from more remote villages for some LifeStraws … We are looking for someone who may want to partner with us to be able to take another shipment of them in August. So far, we haven’t found anyone but with God’s help, someone will step forward. We do our part, He’ll do His 
. We are also looking for someone to sponsor the two cisterns we need for the water purification system, which again, will bring a permanent clean water drinking solution to the area and will serve approximately 200 people on a regular basis. That cost is $600.
Thank you to GCH for all you do and for your donation to us thus far! We couldn’t have made the impact we did without your help and I look forward to working with you again and again in the future.
GCHope’s staff would like to thank our donors and partners for extending a helping hand to ease the troubles of our brothers and sisters in Peru. If you would like to become a sponsor or make a donation for LifeStraws, please contact Janet Valencia for more information.
It takes a lot of will power to sacrifice a Saturday morning after a long week at school, a trying week at the office, or a tough week with the kids at home. Last weekend, a group of volunteers of all ages made the great sacrifice and served their local community.
With smiles, these volunteers helped to sort medical supplies for international shipments, stuffed backpacks with canned food items for homeless children in Orange County, and even cleaned our Mobile Medical Clinic!
Thank you for your tireless efforts and support! We are so thankful for your willingness to sacrifice your weekend to serve!
Sonia, a partner working to better lived in the Philippines, recently came to Giving Children Hope to receive supplies from the Mission Store. While visiting, she bumped into President & CEO John Ditty. See her story:
A team of foreign exchange students from Spain, France and Finland spent their day volunteering at GCHope.
These students were able to help in the Giving For Living and Mission Store area, assembling products for local distribution.
Thanks for your hard work!
Cancer Advocacy Through Support (CATS) Foundation, a student run organization that promotes cancer awareness and relief, stopped by Giving Children Hope last Friday to donate supplies for Japan relief.
The officer team and President of CATS donated nearly $200 worth of brand-name toothpaste as well as toothbrushes to be included in the recent shipment to Japan.
Thank you for the continuous support of our disaster relief efforts in Japan!
Every so often we receive interesting mail in the office. Most of the time it’s junk mail like “The Pyramid Collection: Myth, Magick, Fantasy and Romance” clothing catalog. Don’t worry. The postal service is delivering it to the wrong address. I think.
Unless someone in the office has a secret life we know nothing about…
Anyway…
This week I received “Philanthropy Matters”:http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/PhilanthropyMatters/doc/philanthropy_matters_18_1.pdf magazine from the “Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University”:http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/. The issue featured an article called “Generosity without Borders” that gave insights about donors who give to nonprofits that address global needs. The most interesting part of this data came from the percentage of Americans who gave to international communities.
As noted in the article, research on international giving is in its early stages, but these findings are worth repeating:
- Less than six percent of U.S households give to international causes.
- For the 2004 Asian tsunami relief efforts, 30 percent of U.S. households gave
- Giving to international causes is the fastest-growing subsector of U.S. giving.
- Giving to international causes and disaster relief increases as households’ education level, income level, and frequency of religious attendance increased.
- Within the U.S. donors are propelling international giving to double-digit annual growth
- People living in a community with a greater ethnic diversity or a large foreign-born population increased the likelihood that donors gave to international causes.
They key in all of this, as Una Osili, Director of Research at Philanthropic Studies at Indiana University points out, is that there is a need for knowledge about international philanthropy to inform a donor’s decision. The article also mentions that nonprofits need to leverage conversations about international issues and capitalize on donors’ increased awareness, especially, I think, in the wake of a disaster.
After the earthquake in Haiti, despite the bad economy, Americans gave $1.3 billion to help with immediate relief. This giving was fueled by the information the media was streaming into the living rooms of Americans almost 24/7. Yet, this international attention eventually faded; media coverage of Haiti (as in all disasters) has slowly faded into the background.
It’s important for us (GCHope) to bring the most current information on the communities we serve through our web site, social media, media coverage, newsletters, etc. __Natural disasters are most devastating in places where basic resources are already scarce__. When we respond to international disasters, we want to make sure donors understand how their money is helping with immediate needs, but we also want to inform them of the history of the communities they are helping.
Even when there is there hasn’t been a disaster, we are constantly working to keep the nation’s interest in developing countries. We do have an advantage. While we focus on international medical development, our organization also serves the basic needs of Southern California and the rest of the United States, whether if it is with food or medicines or with disaster relief (we’ve responded to Hurricane Katrina and Ike). As people learn about our local programs, they also have an opportunity to learn about developing communities around the world.
I have hope that as the world becomes a smaller place through technological advances, that the majority U.S. households will no longer be able to turn away from international communities in need. **You will either choose to respond to the knowledge you have received or you will chose to ignore it.**
** Statistics and research were taken from the following sources in the “Generosity without Borders” article: Who Cares about Development? Learning About Cross-Country Differences in Generosity; Giving USA; and Preferences for International Distribution.
