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Author: CEDAR Fund

From Sewing Sanitary Napkins to Three-Layer Face Masks

Banner image: Theit Theit Shwee sewing face masks made by cloth (Source: CEDAR’s partner) “Kacha…Kacha…” Theit Theit Shwee, a woman from the slum area of Myanmar, sat in front of a sewing machine and sewed the fabric. She carefully wrapped the two white bands and sewed them with the fabric and finished making a three-layer cloth mask. This has been her daily job, making cloth masks with other women in the community center of CEDAR’s partner. Due to the local outbreak of COVID-19, Theit Theit Shwee, who was already over 40, immediately lost her job. She had been working so hard to raise her child for many years, but the pandemic has made her lose all her income.

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When the Pandemic Never Goes Away – Implications on Poverty Alleviation and Social Economic Lifestyles

MC: Lai Ka Chun Lai: What impacts do the pandemic will have on developing countries? Fung: Even before the pandemic, the economic situations in many developing countries were not good. Most of the population belonged to the lower-income group, their sanitary facilities were inadequate and many individuals already suffered from malnutrition. Therefore, the pandemic will have a very profound influence on them, and it will be very difficult for them to recover from the present predicament. Emergency relief from international organisations can only provide short-term help. When the countries’ economies are paralysed and the people are sick, it is very difficult for them to restart their economies. Chan: Most of the developed countries are struggling to fight the pandemic themselves. I

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An Overloaded Clinic in Lebanon

Written by: Edward Lai The pandemic makes us realise the importance of having a sound medical system, which does not only require sufficient medical personnel, but also a stable supply of medicine. Lebanon has been identified as a priority country in the United Nations’ COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan. As the country that has the highest per capita proportion of refugees in the world, Lebanon has taken in 1.5 million Syrian and 200,000 Palestinian refugees, who currently make up more than 30% of the country population. The exponential growth of refugees in Lebanon has put the already fragile medical system under pressure. The outbreak of COVID-19 further places enormous burden on its medical services, brining them to the

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The Letter from CEDAR | July 2020

Dear supporters, In mid-May, I was appointed as the Acting Chief Executive to continue the work of Dr. Raymond Kwong Wai Man. Although I was not fully prepared for it, I decided to respond with a humbled heart to continue realising our mission: to live out the integral mission of the Church in partnership with Christians around the world. Indeed, I had some hesitancy in undertaking the new role. However, when I sought God through prayer and meditation, He reminded me of His promise that “I am with you”. Perhaps, that is all I need to know. The future of an organisation does not depend on a single leader, but how well we function as a team. In

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Anti-Pandemic Relief Report in Mainland China

Banner image: Distributing spectacles to pandemic prevention personnel in the communities In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic is raging around the world, bringing a major public health crisis to all regions. At the beginning of February this year, CEDAR saw the lack of anti-pandemic supplies in Mainland China, where the initial outbreak of the coronavirus occurred, and the people there were in worries. Hence, CEDAR urgently allocated about HK$513,000 to support two partners in China to provide anti-pandemic support in Hubei, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Part of the anti-pandemic relief work is the distribution of anti-pandemic supplies. A Chinese social worker who participated in the project expressed his gratitude and impression for receiving CEDAR’s anti-pandemic items. It filled her

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‘SHARE’ 237 – When the Pandemic Never Goes Away

The World Health Organisation has warned that COVID-19 may never go away. This means that there may not be an end to the fight against this disease. If that is the case, how can we adapt the strategies of our international poverty relief programmes to make them more effective in helping the destitute? Do we need to change the economic development pattern which has long been taken as “normal”? As part of the Christian community, how should we continue to care for the poor and defend their dignity? Articles of this issue Download this issue

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The First Sign of Disaster has Appeared: Cries of the Poor in Developing Countries during the Pandemic

Banner image: medical workers treated the sick after putting on their personal protective equipment (Source: CEDAR’s partner) “For poor places, [the spread of COVID-19] implies calamity.” ‘The Next Calamity’, The Economist, 28th March Globalisation has made it impossible for any one country to avoid the risk of being affected by contagious diseases. When there is a pandemic, developed countries can still make use of their resources to procure pandemic prevention materials. They can also utilise their financial reserves to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on their medical systems and economies. For many poor and densely populated developing countries, their medical systems were already vulnerable even before the pandemic and there had always been a lack of social welfare.

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The Special Letter from CEDAR | May 2020

Dear friends of CEDAR, This coronavirus pandemic has brought about lots of reflections. Pray that you and your family are well under the pandemic, and God continues to lead each of us to be the salt and light in this time of darkness. Thank you so much for your generosity towards the needy over the years. I am writing to inform you that, after 4 years of service, I will be leaving CEDAR in mid-May. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve the vulnerable around the world alongside you. As my calling is ministering to the impoverished, I believe our paths will cross in the future.  From 16th May 2020 onwards, sister Chan Pui Si, our Head

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Love in the Time of COVID-19

Written by: Edward Lai (Senior Communications Officer) Combating virus in China In China, the coronavirus has rapidly spread cross the country’s territories. During the early stage of outbreak when anti-virus materials were lacking in China, CEDAR made an allocation of approximately HK$513,000 to provide emergent relief aid in Hubei, Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Through the local networks of our Christian partners in mainland, we provided medical personnel, disinfection workers, impoverished families, as well as civil servants who were on shift duty to combat the disease, with hygienic and protective supplies. We also mobilised volunteers to care for the poor families and offer living supplies. As the novel coronavirus is highly contagious, our partners strove to keep person-to-person contact

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Serving Beyond Your Ability

Written by: Raymond Kwong (Chief Executive) Over the past nearly 30 years, CEDAR has participated in over 100 relief campaigns and the most touching thing for us is seeing the disaster-stricken victims help each other. They do not worry about what will happen to them next, instead, they make every endeavour to help those around them. Even though they barely have enough for themselves, they still try to help others, which is not an easy thing to do. This spirit of selflessness is a grace from God. In the Bible, the Macedonian churches are an exemplar of selflessness. In 2 Corinthians 8, the apostle Paul described how the Macedonian churches served the poor Christian believers in Jerusalem. Back

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