MARCH NEWSLETTER

In this Issue: Just over a week till we fly, Dave in HK, Handicrafts In Yunnan, Aids for Aids, A Zambian Elephant, Laying down tracks for Poverty, How you can help us.

Just over a week till we fly…..

Yep that’s right we will be back in Australia and we are filled with anticipation as we look forward to seeing loved ones and friends again.

This year we are combining our Annual holiday with some speaking commitments which has lengthened the trip home somewhat. This time also marks five years here at Crossroads, so we are taking the opportunity to take some time out for reflection as we seek the MD on the future. The picture seems to be becoming clearer and it is looking like Hong Kong will continue to be our home for a while yet, but we want to be sure of the MD’s direction.

So here is the plan for the next 2 months … We fly home on the 17th to enjoy Easter with family. Then on the 27th we head to Auckland where we have a number of speaking engagements for Crossroads as well having a chance to catch
up with brother Tim, sister-in-law Lia and nephew Liam.

We continue on to Palmerst
on North, Christchurch and Melbourne for more speaking before arriving back in Sydney on April 22. It’s a month in around our home base then we head back to HK via a few days in Perth for more speaking.

We have a number of dates free if you are interested in having a speaker at your Sunday club, home group or want to organise a special Crossroads function. We will be having an Open Day in May (details to follow). We would love to catch up with as many of you as possible.

Things are quite hectic here as you can imagine with Sue trying to get as many shipments ready as she can before she leaves. Some exciting shipments coming up to Cambodia, Uganda, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as Kazakhstan and Israel.

Phil is tying up all the loose ends for his trip as well as organising speaking trips for later in the year.

We had a wonderful time earlier this month when our son Dave came through Hong Kong for three weeks, including the Chinese New Year Holiday on his way to the UK where he will be teaching PE for the next 2 years. We managed to squeeze in all the New Year highlights including the parade and fireworks, as well seeing most of Hong Kong’s tourist attractions. Dave has become a bit of a museum hound and spent a bit time visiting some Hong Kong’s finest.

Wang Pin Fen

Wang Pin Fen is in her mid-forties. She is married and has three children. She and her husband work very hard to pay for their children’s education. Besides working in the fields they have a little shop where villagers can buy soap and other small items for daily use. The shop was started as a result of the Threads of Yunnan handicraft project. This project is designed to raise the standard of living of countryside women in Yunnan Province, China, while raising their self-esteem and helping to preserve their traditional handicrafts. One of the training sessions is about how people in the village could earn money doing different things, and how they could use the money they earned from selling their embroideries to fund money–making projects.

Wang Pin Fen has become the leader in the handicraft project in her village and also organizes the pick up of handicrafts from the other villages. Besides her own work she puts a lot of time into helping the project and the women in her village.

One of Wang Pin Fen’s biggest desires was to get a sofa so she could have something nice to sit on when she got back from the fields in the evenings. She has saved money from her handicraft sales and now has her sofa.

Threads of Yunnan also run an adult literacy training program. When Wang Pin Fen joined this program she did not know how to read, write or do arithmetic. When she wrote her name the first time she had tears in her eyes. Now she is able to read all the names of the women in the project.

When asked to describe a typical day Wang Pin Fen said, “I am very busy everyday. I cook and work in the field every day. Every morning I work on my handicraft things. After dinner I go to night school. I like to write and to sing very much.”

In our Global Handicrafts marketplace, we have several unique embroidered handicrafts from Threads of Yunnan. The purchases of these items will keep women like Wang Pin Fen in the business of life, and what a busy life that is! To have a closer look at these handicrafts and find out more about their project, you can visit their website www.threadsofyunnan.com.

AID FOR AIDS


An AIDS orphan speaks:
"I grew up with AIDS. Both my parents died of AIDS. It's my turn to die of AIDS. Until then at least I want to eat every day, to play if I can. My legs ache and my stomach feels upside down. So I cannot play. But even if I want to play they think I am too weak, or too sick, and no one plays with me. Sometimes I think I should die because there is no one to care for me. Then I get scared... so scared". (Orphan in Lusaka, Zambia)

Zambia is a land full of natural riches and potential, and a country at peace. However, HIV/AIDS, malaria and poverty have had a devastating effect on communities. 30% of the population has HIV, among the highest percentages in the world. This has led to a growing number of impoverished households with families' main breadwinners often unable to work due to illness or the need to care for other relatives. Sadly, many children become orphans and rely on other families to take them into their homes. Otherwise, they grow up living on the streets.

It seems we speak of HIV/AIDS frequently in these newsletters. That is because we frequently hear from groups undertaking AIDS-related work. That, in turn, is because of the sheer magnitude of the crisis that Africa currently faces. Its utter enormity of scale leaves one asking what can possibly be done in response? How can we serve these people in any meaningful way? How can we share the message of love with them? Thankfully, there are ways. Although we are beyond their reach, geographically speaking, we can support others who are able to embrace those we long to help.

A like-hearted organisation based in Lusaka, Zambia, is working in a holistic way, with very limited resources, to support orphans and widows in nearby townships. They run a small community school for children who would otherwise have no access to mainstream education, and they are in the process of constructing a new school building that will allow for further expansion to meet the growing need. They aim to ensure each child's physical security, mental development and overall health by providing a safe place to learn and play, as well as a nutritious lunch for each student. We loaded a container for this group last year, filling it with much needed desks, clothing and toys. They were so pleased with the sheer size of the content that they wrote back to us about the ‘elephant’ we had sent them. Read on!

The Zambian Elephant
Have you ever unpacked an elephant?

Our Zambian consignees have done just that! At least, that’s the way they have been referring to the 40’ container of goods that was recently sent from Hong Kong. In many ways, for our grassroots consignee organisations, a shipment must indeed seem like a giant, lumbering beast, particularly if it is the first time they have received an international container. Communicating using shaky technology, dealing with difficult customs officials, arranging local transport through sometimes harrowing landscapes, raising sponsorship, are all struggles that our consignees face regularly.

Not all shipments are so difficult, of course, but for those that are, there is one shining reason why our consignees persevere: a deep and genuine compassion for those they are serving. As a Zambian aid worker (formerly a university lecturer) said to us, ‘How can I continue to teach academic subjects when my people are dying?’

Joyfully, this particular Zambian container arrived at its destination in January this year. However, the elephant-wrangling is not over, as our consignees are still waiting on some official papers that will release the container before they must start paying expensive storage fees for the held goods. Undeterred, though, the staff went to look at the stuff even though they weren’t able to yet claim it. They wrote to us in great excitement after viewing the contents of their container:

“My WORDS!!!” began the ecstatic email, “we all could not believe our eyes as we watched the unpacking of the Elephant yesterday. It took the whole day from 11 am. We were getting home around 5 pm rejoicing!!

“Two things strike us hard: One - how you managed to pack 700 plus parcels in the belly of one elephant. Two - the quality of the goods. Oh my WORDS…how can you send all the good things to Africa and what are you going to remain with? Oh my WORDS! We all stood amazed mesmerized by what we were seeing.”

What joyful words they are! And what a contrast to the words of the precious orphan we quoted at the earlier. We are chatting to the MD for a quick release of the container so that many, like this little one, can be ministered to.


LAYING DOWN TRACKS INTO POVERTY
As many of you know, we are most privileged to have on our team the very talented Helen Mottee. Helen is an award winning singer/song-writer who loves nothing more than to sing, play and show images of people in need in our dysfunctional world. Helen has been busy this past year giving voice and melody to the otherwise silent cries of those in need around the world.

During this time, Helen has felt the ‘Musical Director’ inspiring her with songs enough to fill an album. In recent weeks, then, we have started to make plans for laying down tracks into poverty in both the physical and musical sense!

But we will let Helen, herself, tell you more about her inspiration…

Victor Hugo said, ‘Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.’ This aptly summarises why we are preparing for the recording of a new album. In the year my family and I have been full-time volunteers here in Hong Kong, we have had the privilege not only of meeting many extraordinary people from around the world, but also slowly of gaining a deeper understanding of what the ‘real’ world is for the majority of the globe’s population. Refugees, child soldiers, AIDS sufferers, those who have experienced the horrors of ethnic and religious cleansing - these are no longer statistics on a page or stories in a book. I have been privileged to meet, talk and share a meal with people who are, or have been, these things. It is from such experiences and relationships that the new songs have been born. The vision for this album is to be a collection of musical 'letters' or 'photographs', and that those who listen to the songs will not only be moved by the message, but inspired, even spurred on, to act in some way themselves. We hope to record most, if not all, of the album in Hong Kong, as many of the songs were inspired and written here. Our dream is to involve musicians and singers who, like the community of Crossroads, come from diverse cultures and backgrounds. We have already made the initial steps in inviting asylum seekers here in Hong Kong, especially from Africa, to be involved in the recording of several of the songs. A very special team of musicians is on standby in Sydney, ready to come to Hong Kong and record if the way is made possible. We are also amazed at the enthusiasm and willingness of a wonderful man here in Hong Kong who will be involved with the arranging of the music for the album. A studio, too, has been made available at reduced price. We are so very excited to see this album coming together and wanted to share it with you! We also welcome your partnership with us. Do you have ideas or funding suggestions? Let us know!
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US
We are constantly encouraged by our many friends at home, here in Hong Kong and from other countries , who faithfully support us and also remember us to the MD and keep in touch through email and mail. Despite this have been steadily falling behind in our support in the last year. Our support covers such things as food, accommodation, electricity etc. One of our friends expressed surprise to hear we need support, so we do need to keep communicating this fact. If you would like to help there are three ways you can provide financial support for us.

Details in the sidebar