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Author: CEDAR Fund

‘SHARE’ 247 – THE AES GIRLS WE ENCOUNTERED IN NEPAL

Written by: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) My colleagues and I had a trip to Nepal. We met our partner (Samari Utthan Sewa) in the southern part of the country for a new project, ‘Prevention of Trafficking and Exploitation of Women and Girls in the Adult Entertainment Sector’. We would like to know the progress of the newly launched project on-site. Unexpectedly, one of the stops turned out to be a visit to a ‘nightclub’. We were overwhelmed by the raucous singing and accompaniment in the nightclub that we had to shout to hear each other. Almost every customer around us was puffing out clouds of smoke. They walked up to the stage and swayed their bodies to the

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Words from a Youth of Nepal

Written by Ness Ma (Communications Officer) In November 2022, the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC(COP27) took place in Egypt. Shreya KC, a 24-year-old youth from Nepal, spoke at the conference, ‘we constantly live in fear of being drowned(by the ice water).’ Why did she say that? What the climate conference has to do with Nepal’s glaciers? In fact, the impact of climate change has not only resulted in such phenomena as storm surges and sea level rise, which we often hear of, but it also led to the threat of flooding in Nepal, located in the Himalayas. The water that floods the country’s land is not the sea but the melting ice

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Children Living in Disasters

Previous Next children living in disasters Floods, droughts, heatwaves… as adults struggle with different natural disasters, we can imagine just how much children suffer physically, mentally and emotionally when faced with such catastrophes. Children are not yet mature in their physical development as opposed to adults and suffer more serious impacts due to disasters. And when disasters affect their parents and adult caregivers, children’s care and protection are lost, jeopardising their emotional and mental health. As family livelihood is destroyed by natural disasters, children will also be forced to have their education halted due to the loss of financial support. They may also become homeless or even orphaned. CEDAR Fund promotes humanitarian aid and disaster risk reduction programmes

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Poor Countries Suffer the Worst Consequences of Climate Crisis

Written by Samuel Chiu “If you, Israel, will return,    then return to me,”declares the Lord.“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight    and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way    you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’then the nations will invoke blessings by him    and in him they will boast.” This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:“Break up your unplowed ground    and do not sow among thorns. Jeremiah 4:1-3 Among the environmental news from 2019 to 2020, the forest fires in the United States, Australia and Europe were the most striking. The scope of the fires was unprecedentedly widespread. The frightening scenes had been widely covered by the media. Severe forest fires in

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‘SHARE’ 247 – The AES Girls We Encountered in Nepal

Editor’s Note At the end of November just past, CEDAR’s staff members went to Nepal to visit several partners. During the trip, apart from showing our care for our partners, we also monitored the progress of the projects, hoping that the projects would have better results. In ‘Focus’ of this issue, is the sharing from our staff about the new project ‘Prevention of Trafficking and Exploitation of Women and Girls in the Adult Entertainment Sector‘ in Nepal and the situation of the beneficiaries. In ‘Back to the Bible’, we can think about the relationship between climate change and developing countries and how we in rich areas can lend a helping hand from the Book of Jeremiah. In ‘Learn

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Karongi Church Empowerment Zone

Project Name Karongi Church Empowerment Zone Project Location Rwanda Project Natures Church and Community Mobilisation Livelihood Development Project Objectives Through training and other means, build up local churches to bear united witness in their communities, serving the vulnerable groups in their areas and fulfilling Integral Mission. Beneficiaries Local church leaders and vulnerable groups (including malnourished children and impoverished farmers). No. of Beneficiaries 10,362 Key Activities Church Mobilisation: Provide comprehensive training to local churches and enhance the functions of the Church Network Committee, enabling Integral Mission to be practised in various communities. Economic Development: Establish savings groups and offer financial management training to participants. Strengthening Family Function: Conduct Bible-based family group training, fostering healthy families by building strong marital

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Strengthening Reconciliation Cell Groups to Foster Sustainable Peace

Project Name Strengthening Reconciliation Cell Groups to Foster Sustainable Peace Project Location Rwanda Project Natures Peace and Reconciliation Project Objectives Support peace fellowships formed by community members, enhance the quality of life of members and strengthen the healing of psychological and social trauma after the genocide while maintaining the peaceful relationship of members. Beneficiaries Members and their families in the 14 community peace fellowships No. of Beneficiaries 449 Key Activities Enhance the post-trauma healing capacity of the community peace fellowship. Train CEDAR’s local partner and local community peace facilitators so that they can use the knowledge and skills they learn to further the journey of repentance and forgiveness of former genocide perpetrators and survivors. Provide a three-day advanced

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Integrated Approach to Reducing Sexual Gender Based Violence in Mzilikazi, Bubi and Umugza Districts, Zimbabwe

Project Name Integrated Approach to Reducing Sexual Gender Based Violence in Mzilikazi, Bubi and Umugza Districts, Zimbabwe Project Location Zimbabwe Project Natures Advocacy Children and Youth Development Project Objectives Enhance community residents’ awareness of sexual violence, gender-based violence, and human rights. Assist survivors of sexual violence and gender-based violence and other individuals in need in accessing sexual and reproductive health services at community clinics. Help women and girls in need access living subsidies and psychosocial support. Beneficiaries Residents of Mzilikazi, Bubi, and Umguza communities, community leaders, church leaders, and survivors of sexual violence and gender-based violence. No. of Beneficiaries Approx. 2,320 Key Activities Community education: organise training, community dialogues, men’s groups, and other activities to promote awareness of

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Light in the Darkness

Interviewee: Chung Pui Ling (Acting Head of Programme)Editor: Ness Ma (Communications Officer) From late September to early October recently, CEDAR’s Acting Head of Programme, Chung Pui Ling (Ling) visited Myanmar and Lebanon. Monitoring the progress of CEDAR’s programmes which are implemented by the local partners, she could see a closer view of the picture. Stepping into reality in those places instead of understanding the programmes and partners through videoconferencing and documents, Ling experienced a greater variety of feelings and had more reflections. Although partners in Myanmar and Lebanon were facing different struggles, their resilience and persistence deeply touched Ling. The Journey across Myanmar ‘It is like seeing some old friends, even we have never seen each other before.’ The

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Ride Out the Storm to Carry the Holistic Mission forward

Writer: Ness Ma (Communications officer) When churches start new projects, they often face many challenges regarding resources, manpower, and knowledge, which can be inevitably overwhelming. C&MA Living Stones Church (hereinafter referred to as Living Stones Church) encountered the same when establishing Queen’s Hill Service Station. Over the past year, CEDAR has worked with Living Stones Church to share experiences, and provide mentorship and financial support so that the service station could work well. In an interview earlier, they summarised the unforgettable experience and outcomes. Living Stones Church shared that initially, not all the church members agreed on opening a new service centre. The argument is based on a lack of manpower, insufficient funds and resources. Moreover, they are

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