Vive la revolution?
This month: spiritual hunger in secular France, the Bishop of Egypt on the future after revolution, behind the scenes with church workers in war-torn DR Congo and Sri Lanka and insights into reconcilation in Israel-Palestine. Produced and presented by Mike Stranks.
Audiomission podcast: May 2011
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The young people at the (future) Maison Kimbilio in Lubumbashi, DRC marked the International Day of Street Children yesterday by taking mattresses out to sleep at the site of their new centre, reports mission partner Ian Harvey, working with Project Kimbilio.
"At Kimbilio today our children have moved out to sleep for the first time at the site of the new centre. We have been busy taking out bunk beds, mattresses etc over the last week. They will be staying there on a temporary basis over the Easter holidays! They have been really excited about this prospect and wanted to start sleeping there as soon as they finished their exams last Friday! It is great that this corresponds with the International Day of the Street children which is a campaign to give a louder voice to the millions of children all around the world who live and work on the streets.
"Our toilet and shower block is now complete and usable! It is currently being tiled and the next step is to get running water into the taps! There is a Congolese team who will be digging a well on site over the next few days! I don't envy them that task!"
Maison Kimbilio is a proposed children’s village situated on the eastern outskirts of Lubumbashi, the 2nd city of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A four-hectare site which is currently mostly scrub land has been purchased by the Anglican Church of Congo and made available to Kimbilio for its development. It has a small stream running on one of its boundaries providing a ready source of water.
The site will comprise of accommodation for children in three houses; a primary school and other educational and training facilities; a football field and other sports grounds; offices and meeting rooms; agricultural fields; health care facilities; staff accommodation.
Twenty-eight countries in Africa still practice female genital mutilation. CMS mission partner in training Ann-Marie Wilson thinks this is "28 too many" and has set up a network under that name to take a stand against FGM.
You can listen to her on a recent edition of Premier Radio's Woman to Woman programme here:
http://www.premierradio.org.uk/listen/ondemand.aspx?mediaid={90AEB80A-687E-41CB-A3A5-0789CEC633FE}
Why not take a look at the 28 too many website at 28toomany.org?
This month we re-launch our Audiomission podcast as a monthly 20-minute programme, produced and presented by Mike Stranks.
This month: rescued Chilean miner Jose Henriquez, environmental activist James Pender, community development worker Christine Salaman, Bible translation in South America and take up a sponsored challenge with CMS.
[ Format: mp3 | File size: 16MB | Length: 20 mins ]
People coming to the end of their lives are getting the physical and spiritual care they need, thanks to a new initiative from CMS mission partner Dr Francesca Elloway, health advisor to the Aru diocese.
Thanks to generous support, building work has begun on a palliative counselling block at the Aru Health Centre and a small team are starting to do home visits, caring for people in terminal situations.
“We visited two patients on Christmas Eve, bringing them food parcels and comfort. In January a team went to help at Uganda Hospice in Kampala. The concept of a hospice is still new here,” said Dr Francesca.
As far as she knows, end of life care is something previously unknown in the region.
But with many patients suffering from terminal cancer, AIDS, advanced cardiac disease, etc, quality palliative care is much needed.
“I have been pleased at the positive response from medical and church leaders as I’ve brought up the subject. People were visiting the sick and dying, but they realised they lacked training to deal with patients’ specific issues.”
In addition to the home visits, the new palliative centre will house four rooms for counselling and two rooms for in-patients.
Dr Francesca has begun teaching courses at local nursing schools and churches and more people are asking for training.
Spirituality plays a key role. “When someone is facing death it is often a time when they…are really searching for answers to spiritual questions and are open to talking about such things.
"As Christians that gives us a wonderful opportunity to sensitively share the good news and pray with a patient if appropriate. Many expect it as they know we are a Christian health centre. Sometimes I feel I am thanked more for praying with a patient that for any medical care.”
Dr Francesca oversees one hospital and eight health centres in Aru. She has been working with the Anglican Church of Congo since 1994.
Picture: A dying man welcomes a Christmas Eve visit
Disabled people in Burundi are closer than ever to being integrated with their able-bodied counterparts, thanks to the efforts of Lucy and Steve McIlhenny, CMS SALT partners, who are setting up The Bethesda Project in Muyinga.
“We have now had activities sessions with eight children with disabilities,” said Lucy.
These sessions have been casual with small games and team challenges to get participants used to doing sports and working together. “It’s great to see them smiling and tentatively beginning to try new things.”
The goal is that, through sport, disabled and non-disabled people will join together.
Currently, disabled people are often excluded and disdained in Burundi. “We are also be beginning to do sessions with a group of eight children without disabilities and our aim is that after a couple of months, we will mix the two groups,” said Lucy.
Lucy and Steve have been in Burundi for a year, starting The Bethesda Project from scratch. The idea was formed after Bishop Eraste Bigirimana of Muyinga Diocese, Burundi, visited The Kepplewray Project, Cumbria in 2007 (where the McIlhennys worked). He saw a project effectively using sport to help people with disabilities and was inspired to create a similar project for the thousands of Burundians with disabilities.
Picture: Two young disabled boys get a sporting chance
Construction has completed on the first of a group of buildings that will house and educate dozens of children from the streets of Lubumbashi, DR Congo.
Called Maison Kimbilio, this residence is the second phase of Project Kimbilio, which was started by CMS mission partner Ian Harvey in 2009 and which has been generously upheld by CMS supporters.
The first phase was Centre Kimbilio, a day centre, which currently provides food, love and education for about a dozen boys from the streets.
Ian reports that all of these children recently decided to be baptised on Christmas day. “The children have all become really involved in church; for many of them this is their only family and it is great to see them become part of the community there.”
Kimbilio means a place to go for safety. The group building Maison Kimbilio has included Congolese, Australians, Belgians, French, Indians and Americans.
“It has also built up the self esteem and confidence of the children to see all of these people helping to build and arrange the space that will eventually be their home.”
A CMS Encounter Mission Community team plans to travel to DR Congo in June/July 2011 to help with the building and connect with the children. Contact stephen.johnson@cms-uk.org if you would like to take part.
Picture: Some of the Kimbilio kids
A new programme for HIV-positive teenagers in Uganda is helping them move from despair to hope.
Started six months ago by mission partner Alison Fletcher, a physiotherapist at Kiwoko Hospital, the monthly combination of clinic and youth club is meeting the physical, spiritual and social needs of over 20 teenagers, most of whom contracted HIV from their mothers during their first few months of life.
“There is no other adolescent HIV clinic locally,” Alison explained. “Many of this group do not have parents and stay with other relatives. They are often left out or are right at the bottom of the pile at home.” They live daily with the side effects of strong medication and the knowledge that there is no cure for HIV, she added.
On a recent two-night residential trip, the teenagers explored themes of rejection and acceptance.
“They drew pictures of themselvesand stuck them on the wall, on a sliding scale from ‘rejected’ to ‘accepted’ and they could move their pictures along the scale whenever they liked.”
Breakthroughs came when they shared their stories and related to each other’s journeys.
“It was exciting to see them move further towards feeling accepted,” Alison said. “On the second evening we had a campfire. Everyone was invited to sign a declaration – a commitment to the Afaayo (family), to their friends and, for us as staff, to them. It was a very emotional moment just thinking of how far they have come.
“I am excited by the potential of the clinic to really bless each one of them, and the special team of nurses, clinicians and counsellors who work to make this happen. Jesus says in John 10:10 that he ‘has come to bring them a rich and satisfying life...’ so let’s help them find it!”
Liz Hosegood is a nurse and midwife, helping to combat maternal and infant deaths in Zambia, where some don't even expect their babies to live. Produced and presented by Jenny Rawden.
[ Format: mp3 | File size: 3.37MB | Length: 3m41s ]
