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MARCH / APRIL 2016Hope for every child

Snapshots of lives changed

ORA focuses on changing lives with project partners who put the child at the centre. We tell you about a six year old who loves skipping and drawing, but her grandmother can’t pay school fees. And we share the success of a graduated sponsored child.

ORA focuses on transforming lives through social business. A market garden in Kenya is successfully feeding all 75 vulnerable children in a school, and to add to the long term sustainability of the school they have plans to purchase a maize grinder.

ORA focuses on protecting lives in the fight against modern slavery. We share the needs of children who were at risk of being trafficked, now rescued from the street in Uganda, and the success of a young man training to be a farmer in Myanmar, when ten years ago he could have been a child soldier.

Snapshots don’t tell the whole story, including the input of many individuals leading up to the moment the snapshot is taken. We at ORA New Zealand are so grateful to everyone that joins us to see lives changed, our donors and prayers, our volunteers, and especially the staff and volunteers working for ORA’s international partners, and the beneficiary children and communities themselves.

Jan Barker ORA NZ Country Director

Hello friends of ORA New Zealand

Check out our website: www.oranewzealand.org

Check out our facebook page: www.facebook.com/oranewzealand

We’ve put together a few snapshots for this Connect; snapshots of lives being changed over the last twelve months, and a preview of the year ahead. Snapshots that are brief views into real lives; real people and where they are now, in their moment of success, in their moment of need, in their riches, in their poverty, in their joy, in their despair.

Educate a child, Restore a dream, Give hope for every childEstimated number of orphans worldwide: 153 Million.Estimated number of caring adults to change an orphan’s life: 1.

Nine year old Frank loves to go to school and learn, especially Maths. He wants to be a carpenter. Frank’s father died when Frank was small. His new guardian struggles to fed and clothe him as well as pay the school fees.

Katherine is six. She loves drawing, skipping and singing songs. Her father died when she was little. Katherine lives with her grandmother who struggles to pay for school fees and medical care.

Sharon enjoys athletics, games and singing songs. Her father died and she was abandoned by her mother immediately after her birth. Ten year old Sharon is bright and determined to achieve her goal of being a nurse.

We urgently need 22 new sponsors for ORA Uganda’s new intake of children onto their sponsorship program. Please contact the ORA New Zealand office to sponsor a child.

HOPE FOR EVERY CHILD

A preview of some of the projects ORA is raising funds for in 2016UGANDAHepatitis B Vaccinations: Need $6,800 Raised $480In some districts of West Nile Uganda 21% of the population have been infected with Hepatitis B. ORA Uganda is asking us to help them vaccinate the ORA sponsored children.

ORA Base Agricultural: Need $2,250 Raised $200Agriculture supplies a portion of the food needed for children in the ORA homes. The farm is also a demonstration garden training sponsored children, families and wider community. Tools, security hedging and fertiliser are needed.

Re-Thatching Meeting House: Need $970 Raised $0 Built in 2007, the ORA Uganda paillote is used for extra tuition classes, staff meetings, functions for sponsored children, microfinance meetings, and also by the local community. The roof is leaking, so it’s time for a re-thatch.

VT Tools: Need $7,100 Raised $2,000 15 ORA Uganda sponsored children completed vocational courses in 2015; another 17 will graduate in 2016. The tools of their trade will help these young men and women earn a living from the skills they have learnt.

Residential Care Home: Need $7,500 Raised $3,750

16 sponsored children can be cared for in the two homes at ORA Uganda. All the children are high risk, some are HIV positive. $40 a month per child provides food, clothing and pays the wages for the loving carers of these children.

KENYAMaize Grinder: Need $10,900 Raised $0A commercial mill to grind flour from their market garden’s maize is another step towards self-sustainability. Chafisi won’t be paying others to grind their maize, and will raise funds hiring the grinder to the nearby community.

BULGARIAAnti-Trafficking Education: Need $5,000 Raised $1,860 ORA New Zealand’s partner in Bulgaria educates teens in orphanages, and the women and children of Gypsy communities about the dangers of human trafficking. Prevention is a great tool!

The above are very brief snapshots of these projects. Please contact the ORA New Zealand office if you want more information.

A SNAPSHOT OF THE LAST 12 MONTHS

Homes of Life – Safe Homes in Uganda, Myanmar and MoldovaWhenever we are confronted with the abysmal world of the extremely poor we find a group of people whose freedom is threatened most: children! Covertly they are trafficked and sold, conscripted as soldiers, trafficked to serve in the sex industry or toil as cheap labour in mines and factories. Through ORA’s Homes of Life campaign we support loving, nurturing homes for street children, child soldiers and children in need.

HOPE FOR EVERY CHILD

Child Sponsorship – UgandaSponsored children’s guardians gather together at the ORA Uganda base. ORA Uganda staff discuss the sponsorship program and community development, and the guardians share their successes and struggles.

Water Project – West Nile – UgandaA community group undergoing training to form a water committee for a proposed protected spring. We ensure our project partners involve the community in all activities. Over the years we have especially seen the effect of good community participation versus poor community sensitisation with water projects. When the community is involved from the initial stages they take care of the protected spring.

HOPE FOR EVERY CHILD

A graduated sponsored child’s story – UgandaWhen visiting Uganda last year we watched Robert splint a broken arm. He leads a team of nine at a rural health clinic. Robert trained as a nurse, graduating in 2014. When asked what life would be like if he hadn’t been sponsored, he shared about his peers in the village, who are struggling with life, alcohol, drugs and early parenthood. He aspires to be a doctor. Currently he is contributing to the university fees of another ORA graduate who completed nurse training in 2013 and is now studying medicine in Gulu. Robert also contributes in many ways to his family, which has had a big impact on his father, whom we interviewed as well.

Study Hour – Education – UgandaEducation plays a big part in lifting children and communities out of poverty. Electricity to the Hope office in Uganda has extended the time the children can study each evening. ORA Uganda runs extra tuition classes after school for the sponsored primary school children, mainly to help them improve their English. Both programs are seeing children’s grades and pass rates rising.

Water Project – West Nile – UgandaClean, safe water is something we take for granted in New Zealand. ORA New Zealand aims to support at least three clean water projects per year. In June 2015 this protected spring was handed over to the community who also had a big part in the building of it. Now these kids can drink and wash in clean water.

HOPE FOR EVERY CHILD

Market Garden – Social Business – KenyaWilliam and the team at Chafisi have a vision to educate and empower destitute children and their families. Chafisi is a boarding and day school for orphans at a private nursery/primary school. Most of the children return to extended family and community during school holidays, although some stay with William’s family. Nursery schools and lower primary schools are also run within rural communities. ORA NZ’s goal is to enable the Chafisi team to attain their goal of self-sustainability. We’ve started by helping them with their vision to attain some fertile land and grow food for the children.

Hope – West Nile – UgandaKeeping ex-street children who have been used to a very active life on the streets amused during the holidays can be challenging. One school holiday activity for the children at Hope is tailoring. A couple of extra staff help out during these times and the Hope campus becomes a lively, fun hub of creative sewing.

Child Focused Community Development – West Nile – Uganda In a rural community development program in Uganda, agricultural projects such as giving fruit tree seedlings and goats to children play a big part. The children are taught how to tend for the fruit trees. When the trees mature the fruit not only feeds the children and their families, excess crop pays for soap, school materials, and even school fees for siblings not sponsored.

HOPE FOR EVERY CHILD

Anti-human-trafficking Education – BulgariaPrevention is a great tool. ORA NZ supports a project in Bulgaria, educating teens in orphanages, and the women and children of Gypsy communities about the dangers of human trafficking. Our partner is also very active in combined NGO network meetings about human trafficking in Eastern Europe. An example of this networking last year is our partner rescuing a Bulgarian girl who had been trafficked into Germany for prostitution.

Project AK47 – Upper Mekong Region – MyanmarThe difference 10 years can make! And a safe home…

10 years ago Dao was frail, scared and sick from malnutrition. His father died when Dao was young; his mother was unable to care for her family. Dao was a perfect target for predators. Local warlords threatened him with forced conscription. From a poor village with no opportunities for work or education, his future was bleak. Dao was terrified of becoming a child soldier, ‘I don’t like war. I feel that it is very bad for young children.’ If you were to meet Dao today, you would find a strong, passionate young man, full of hopes and dreams. Education, deep love, and a safe place to live have changed Dao’s life. He is learning to be a farmer, to provide local children with opportunities unavailable to him.

Child Sponsorship – West Nile – UgandaA rural child Sponsorship Program is at the core of ORA Uganda’s work. Sponsorship meets the educational needs of the vulnerable children by paying their school fees from Nursery School to University. Children’s basic medical care is also covered. The Sponsorship Program is not just about practical support; the family homes and schools are visited regularly, children and their families are counselled, taught about hygiene and relationships. The ORA staff treat these children as their own.

Snapshot taken from ORA New Zealand’s Annual Report, available at oranewzealand.org or contact the ORA office for a copy.

We would love to hear from you! If you have any questions about ORA New Zealand, you can send us an email, give us a call or post us some mail...

Email: info@oranewzealand.org | Phone: +64 7 843 2224Post: ORA New Zealand, PO Box 4318, Hamilton East, Hamilton 3247, New ZealandNZ Charities Act Registration # CC24875

HOW CAN YOU HELP?GET INVOLVED!We all volunteer at ORA NZ. Do you want to join us? Are you passionate about helping change the lives of children and communities affected by poverty, disease and exploitation? Do you have marketing, fundraising, financial or administrative skills? Please contact the ORA office for more info. We need your help!

GIVE!Want to fuel ORA’s mission to bring HOPE TO EVERY CHILD? You can regularly sponsor a child or project, or make a one-off donation towards ORA’s work. Here’s how you can donate:• Directly into ORA New Zealand’s ANZ bank account: Chartwell Branch 01-0370-0032261-01 • Online at www.oranewzealand.org• By cheque with the enclosed response slip

PRAY!Never underestimate the power your prayers can bring to God’s work worldwide. Your prayers for the children and workers of ORA are appreciated.

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HOPE FOR EVERY CHILDChild at the centre CHANGING LIVES

Social business TRANSFORMING LIVES

Freedom from slavery PROTECTING LIVES

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