Farewell Ethiopia

July 15, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
Add Comment

image

It’s been just over a week and our time in Ethiopia is almost over. Tomorrow we fly to Kigali, Rwanda.

During our time here I’ve seen the most devastating poverty I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve sat in homes feeling broken inside as I’ve heard heart breaking stories of extreme poverty and how it effects people. It robs them of their worth, of their hope and their dignity. What do you say to a man who breaks down and sobs as he tries to tell you how he has been bed ridden for two years because he can’t afford medical help? He told us he, his wife and children face eviction because he can’t afford $25 a month for rent.

How do you begin to comprehend life in a town where water is incredibly scarce? A place where even the local hospital, as basic as it is, can’t wash the blankets on the beds between patients because they have no water. The basins are dry and dusty. The taps haven’t had water running through them for a very long time.

It’s been tough to see how others are forced to live but right there in those circumstances hope breaks through. Compassion is there.

While there is still so much to be done, Compassion is working with local churches to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. That has a flow on effect to the families of those children and ultimately to the community around them.

Hope is sitting in a small room that serves as a house for a mother and her child and hearing her say that if it wasn’t for Compassion they’d both be dead by now. It’s seeing the joy in children’s faces as they experience the love of those at the local Compassion centre. Hope is hearing about mothers who have been able to start small businesses with the help of Compassion so that they can earn desperately needed money for their families.

Compassion is working through local churches to shine a bright light into some very dark corners, bringing hope and a future for many people.

I leave Ethiopia with mixed emotions but I look forward to seeing the same hope growing in Rwanda.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Farewell Ethiopia? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Walk to Water 2013

September 2, 2013
by Rodney Olsen
Add Comment

walktowater2013

Last year over $72,000 was raised in Australia through a project named Walk to Water. It helped supply many people in Nigeria with clean running water without having to walk many kilometres for low quality or diseased water.

For many women and children, this means an eight kilometre walk to the nearest water pump is their only option, a regular struggle that can take more than half a day. It’s not unusual for women to return from the borehole carrying two full jerry cans of water, weighing between 20 to 25 kilograms each. On many occasions, their children are carried as well, or come along to help.

The United Nations has estimated that the population of Sub-Saharan Africa spends 40 billion hours per year collecting water – that’s the same as more than two years’ worth of labour by Australia’s entire workforce.

Walk to Water is an initiative of Open Doors where churches and community groups participate in sponsored walks to raise funds.

The funds from the walks this year will once again be used in Northern Nigeria to build more deep boreholes in remote villages.

With a population of 158 million, Nigeria is one of Africa’s largest countries. Its people make up one seventh of the population of the entire continent. However, the area of Northern Nigeria is also an incredibly dangerous place to live as a Christian. Believers are regularly targeted by extremists, with their families, churches and businesses put in jeopardy because of their faith.

This morning during my radio program I spoke to Jeanette from Open Doors to find out what they’ve been able to achieve and what they’re hoping to do next. You can hear our conversation by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Walk to Water 2013? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

World Water Day

March 22, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
1 Comment

Did you know that today is World Water Day?

Water is the most important ingredient to life — we’re dependent on it for everything — so it makes sense to take one day a year to focus on the importance of fresh water and advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

While there are still more than 780 million people around the world who lack access to improved water sources, there’s some good news. It seems that the clean drinking water target of Millennium Development Goal seven has been recently achieved.

Adopted by world leaders in 2000 with a 15-year timeline, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions. MDG 7 is to halve by 2015 (from 1990 levels) the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. And we’ve done it.
In 1990, only 76 per cent of the world’s population had access to clean drinking water facilities. By 2010, this had increased to 89 per cent. This means that over two billion people gained access to improved water sources from 1990 to 2010. At this rate, there will be universal access to clean drinking water by 2027.

So with a major Millennium Development Goal now being met is the job of providing safe, clean water for everyone on the planet in reach? This morning on my radio program, the Morning Cafe, I spoke to DJ Konz – Executive Director – Advocacy with Compassion Australia.

Compassion’s child development programs place access to clean, safe water at a priority. Through a program called Critical Interventions, Compassion tackles issues like clean water (wells and water purification systems), toilets and hygiene to provide solutions that enhance and improve living conditions for children in Compassion programs.

If you want to hear our conversation and find out what you can do to help provide clean water for more people on our planet, just click the play button of the audio player below.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR220312_0953.mp3]

Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading World Water Day? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.