The Glen Waverley Uniting Church PSALTERBack to OutreachMissionalGroupHome
Congregation Outreach Projects for 2010
1. Kids Hope
Amount Allocated $1,000
Project Description
Kids Hope is a World Vision program aimed at creating a positive impact in the lives of vulnerable Australian children and their families. It is a mentoring program built on a partnership between local churches and primary schools, where a caring adult from a church spends one hour each week with a child.
- ONE CHILD, ONE HOUR, ONE CHURCH, ONE SCHOOL.
- After a couple of years of planning, recruiting, training and patiently waiting for the right time to start it was with much excitement and a little bit of nervousness that seven volunteers from our congregation began mentoring at Highvale Primary School last term. Although most mentors have only met 5 or 6 times with their child there are already many stories to be told as relationships and trust begin to grow. Each mentor also has a prayer partner from our congregation who prays for them and their child as they meet and throughout the week.
The money donated from COP will pay the 2010 annual affiliation fee to World Vision who provide support, newsletters, monthly resources and training updates for mentors. It will also help set up a “resource box” of games, art materials and activities to do during the mentoring hour at the school, for mentors to use.
2. Friends of Baguia
Amount Allocated $3,000
Project Description
- When visiting the sub-district of Baguia in East Timor in September 2009, Judy and Meagan Lowe and Jane Hart from the GWUC congregation were asked to help the people in a number of ways. A high priority was the funding of teacher salaries at the small mountain school of Osafulari. This school is currently entirely staffed by voluntary teachers and receives no government funding. A teacher’s salary is approximately USD $100 per month and we were asked to fund salaries for the 3 teachers.
- The people of Baguia see education as a key way to provide their children with pathways to jobs and new opportunities, contributing to the rebuilding of their nation. In East Timor 46% of adults have had no schooling at all, so lack of education and unemployment are two of the biggest problems facing the country. Meagan was able to share the news of this funding with other teachers in Baguia during a trip in July 2010; this was met with much gratitude, as they are all keen to see this small under-resourced school receive a helping hand.
- The funding received from COP 2010 will approximately pay for two teachers salaries for a year.
3. Cheryl Emms
Amount Allocated $500
Project Description
- With the devastating earthquakes that have struck the Yushu Qinghai region in western China, there is an ongoing need for physical therapists to treat individuals, provide training for the caregivers and help identify suitable resources to assist the local staff. This is a region with many minority groups living on a low income under difficult conditions.
Cheryl is planning to serve in China from early 2011 for a term of 6 to 12 months in partnership with Serving in Mission (SIM). Her primary activity will be volunteering as a physiotherapist with ongoing opportunities to build relationships with the families affected and the community she will be living in. SIM as an organization interviews and rigorously reviews candidates for their suitability to serve in an independent situation. A regional mentor is available for support. There is a period of preparation including an orientation course with SIM to equip Cheryl practically, culturally and spiritually to work in another culture as part of a diverse team.
- Cheryl will be responsible for funding ALL expenses including the cost to attend the orientation course in Sydney (AUD2500), documentation costs, travel and living expenses while she is in China (approx.AUD8000 for 6mths to AUD12000 for a year). We are seeking a COP donation of $0 to $1000 to assist Cheryl in her mission to serve others.
4. Frontier Services
Amount Allocated $3,870
Project Description
The Frontier Services arm of the Uniting Church is the main provider of aged care and disability support in the Northern Territory. With Commonwealth funding failing to keep up with the costs of these programmes it is increasingly necessary for Frontier Services to look to its support base within the church community. Three commode chairs and a mobile shower chair for the centre at Terrace Gardens, Darwin, will be a significant support for the residents who are 58 frail elderly and younger disabled people who live there. About half the residents are indigenous Australians.
The Old Timers in Alice Springs, founded by the Rev John Flynn in 1947, provides care for senior citizens and disabled young people. An increasing number of its 100 residents have serious mobility problems. A tilt chair will make life much more manageable for people in the nursing home and hostel sections of OT.
5. Friends of Ermera
Amount Allocated $5,500
Project Description
- Berwick Rotary Club has already agreed to fund the $14,000 (US $13,150) required to rehabilitate an excellent and large building provided by the ERMERA district for a Women’s Centre. It is well placed opposite the Market place.
- Friends of Ermera have asked GWUC to donate $5,000 to $6,000 (part of the $11,000 (US$9,929)) required to furnish and equip this facility with meeting and training rooms, kitchen, cafe, lounge and some accommodation.
- Once operating, these facilities will be used for a range of educational programs available to WOMEN including literacy, reading to children, writing their stories, a community library managed by women, financial management and book keeping.
- At present only men are able to access any government education and training programs in East Timor.
6. Kenya Outreach Group
Amount Allocated $3,130
Project Description
Located in Nakuru, Kenya, Mission in Action is an orphanage that cares for 43 children and has a wider purpose in the missional outreach in the local community. They now have the first stage of a school in operation, a general store and a hairdresser. They employ an ‘evangelist’, Mrs. Pastor who seeks out families in need and works to meet those needs with the support of Mission in Action sponsors. Mission in Action implements a range of community support projects such as food hampers, health check days, water tanks and access to the general store (instead of traveling into town).
A group of young people similar to the group that traveled to Kenya in 2009-2010 will return to Kenya in December 2010 - January 2011. The funds will be dispersed on a needs basis (medical treatments, food supplies, clothing, bedding, etc). A truck delivery to a remote community will be investigated and sustainable food practices to promote community growth and local supply of fresh food will be explored with Mission in Action management.
If you would like more information about Mission in Action, visit: www.missioninaction.com.au
7. Hotham Mission, Outer Eastern Asylum Seeker Support Network (OEASSN)
Amount Allocated $3,000
Project Description
- “Humanitarian appellant” children” are children of families who are lawfully appealing to the Minister for Immigration for leave to remain in Australia on humanitarian grounds, subsequent to a rejected refugee claim. They are no longer eligible for government assistance through the Red Cross after having their first application to the Minister refused. Those whose parents have not been able to get work may be completely without income and vulnerable to destitution.
Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project (ASP) urgently needs funds to support these families to ensure that their children have their basic social, health and educational needs met. It is unlikely, in an election year, that the necessary legislation will be brought before parliament. The requested funds would be directly used for these humanitarian appellant children.