Congregation Outreach Projects for 2011

1. CHRISTMAS ALIGHT

Grant money would be used to promote the program in a more effective way by professionally printing our advertising fliers as more people will take notice of the fliers.
In past years the fliers have been have been designed by a GWUC community member and then photocopied in the GWUC office. They will be designed the same way this year however the 6000 fliers would be professionally printed.

There is currently only one kindergarten in the whole district of Baguia, and this is situated in Larisula village which is 4 hours walk from the main village of Baguia. A newly refurbished building in 2010 has provided a suitable space to develop a much needed kindergarten in Baguia village, and the local people have started the kindergarten with limited supplies and voluntary teachers. Currently 6 people from Baguia have undergone basic kindergarten training in the town of Baucau, several hours away from Baguia.
The grant would be used to fund the six part time teachers’ salaries. Salaries would be $50 per month for each teacher. Funding 6 teachers for one year is going to cost $3,600.
Friends of Baguia hope that the government will fund the teacher salaries once the kindergarten has been operating for a year.

The grant would be used to support the Habitat for Humanity’s ‘Brush with Kindness’ (BWK) program in the bushfire affected areas around Victoria.
The funding is to enable Habitat to purchase a tool trailer specifically for the BWK projects, together with a selection of tools. This will considerably help future BWK projects to continue to address the needs of the many families still seeking help and support, nearly 3 years after the devastating ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires.

Hotham Mission Asylum Seekers Project (ASP) is the most experienced Non Government Organisation in Victoria in providing accommodation for asylum seekers who would otherwise be homeless while they await an outcome on their protection applications or humanitarian appeals.
Single women are especially vulnerable and Hotham has eight women currently sleeping on floors and couches of friends. They are mostly young, but range in age to over 50 years. Until Hotham obtains houses to place them in, they need funds for providing transition accommodation which is safe and stable.
The funds would be spent on rental costs of appropriate transition accommodation until housing can be provided.

Fatubessi is a very remote village in the mountainous District of Ermera in the new nation of Timor Leste. During her recent visit Jan Trezise (President of Friends of Ermera) was impressed with the teaching and learning program provided to the 170 students. There is a desperate need for additional classrooms.
With the $4000 grant a permanent classroom would be built as an extension of the existing permanent classroom. Friends of Ermera would need to look to other sources of funding to furnish the room.
The Ermera District Development Officer would manage the project and original invoices for all payments will be provided to Friends of Ermera. It is anticipated that local builders would be employed on this building project as they did for the existing classroom.

Mission in Action (MIA) 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 evangelists, who seek out families in need and work to meet those needs with the support of Mission in Action sponsors.
Another team of people, with some of the members who travelled to Kenya last year, wish to support the work of MIA during late December 2011 to January 2012 and to be able to disperse funds where need is identified. We would also like to be able to assist the evangelists to meet need where identified and to continue our work in Ponda Mali with Pastor William (who we worked with in Jan 2011) to help him set up his school and feeding program for the children of the slums and their families.
After discussions with Ivan Budulica (one of the directors of MIA), he feels an immediate need is for a new playground for the children of the mission and the community kids who also use the playground.
The COP grant would enable us to build this playground.

During 2010 seven volunteer mentors from GWUC began mentoring seven “at risk” children identified by the Principal at Highvale Primary School. Each mentor met with their child for one hour a week during school terms where they cooked, played computer games, board games, shared a jigsaw together etc, but most importantly built trust and a special friendship together.
In 2011 we have seven mentors commencing, 5 with the same children, one mentor will be matched with a new child as his child from 2010 graduated to High School and the 7th mentor is new to the program. The Highvale Primary Principal has seen great value in the program and the positive changes in the children involved, so much so that he has identified 4 more children that he believes will benefit from the program. Hence the importance of the continuation of this outreach ministry.
A COP grant would pay the annual Kids Hope affiliation fee to World Vision who provide support, newsletters, monthly resources and training updates for mentors. In addition new games, art materials and activities to do during the mentoring hour would be purchased. These will replenish the “resource box” that we were able to set up last year as a direct result of our COP funding.

NewHope targets people with physical and mental disabilities as well as parents and carers with specific support structures designed to make a difference.
Grant money would be used to run workshops in Anger Management, Grief and Loss Management as well as provide other resources for disability clients. The grant would also be used to subsidise counselling sessions to meet the shortfall experienced in the fee structure to the most needy and disadvantaged seeking help.

Rubaga Youth Development Association has more than 15 years experience working with orphaned and vulnerable street children in and around Kampala to provide them with life skills and vocational training to government standards. This consistently successful record was sufficient evidence for the United Nations International Labour Organisation to provide significant funding towards a pilot project to remove child labour from three districts near Kampala.
However the grant came with the condition that the local organisation (RYDA) had to source a matching $US9000 over the life of the project. Co-ordinated by St. Margaret's Uniting Church, Mooroolbark, approximately $US6000 of this has been raised in the first 12 months. Following a presentation from St. Margaret's RYDA Support Co-ordinator, Glen Waverley UCAF is inspired to contribute towards the balance. Hence the COP Application.
The local organisation contribution described would be used for child labour project activities which include:
- vocational skill training
- psycho-social support
- community sensitisation on child labour prevention
- stationery provision
- materials for income-generating activities for sample households to demonstrate that their children do not need to be placed in child labour.