Correspondent May 2018

CORRESPONDENT May 2018

Rohingya situation report pg 4

Who is our neighbour?

Story and photos by Helen Manson

Ethical Fashion pgs 6-7

I don’t know about you, but for me, the words “Rohingya, Muslim, Myanmar, persecution and Rakhine State” make my eyes glaze over with confusion.

Those terms and places are so far from my everyday reality as a Kiwi mum. But last week, things became personal when I arrived in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh—the largest refugee camp in the world.

I spent four days taking photos and listening to people’s stories.

The Rohingya live in the Rakhine state of Myanmar as a persecuted religious minority (read more on page 4). They have been denied all citizenship rights and are therefore stateless, even though they have lived there for centuries. Sick of the restrictions and oppression, a group of Rohingya people attacked police points to show their frustrations. Days later, the Myanmar Government retaliated.

Many of the Rohingya people were killed, tortured, sexually assaulted, burned alive, and humiliated. Those lucky enough to escape, made the week-long walk or the life-threatening boat ride to Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar.

Fighting global poverty pg 9

The refugee camp is a tiny 10kms square. Many New Zealand farms are bigger than that, and yet a million people live there. Most of the trees have been cut down for firewood, leaving nothing but a dust bowl. Makeshift tents sit tightly packed on precarious edges of hill after rolling hill, making them vulnerable to slipping off during the impending monsoon season. Children in the camps are at risk of child marriage, violence and abuse.

There are documented cases of Rohingya girls being sought as child prostitutes and teenage girls being sourced for human trafficking. Everyone I interviewed knew someone that had died in the violence. Many had been sexually assaulted. Each carried the extreme trauma of having fled their home, lost everything they owned, and seen horrible things as they made the journey. Holding the hands of those who are crying uncontrollably as they recount the horror of what they experienced is a humbling and sobering experience.

groups and trauma counselling.

Best of all, the New Zealand Government has promised to match dollar-for-dollar all donations Tearfund receives up to $150k. But we have to act quickly to raise the money before June 30 to get the matched funding.

"Many of the Rohingya people were killed, tortured, sexually assaulted, burned alive, and humiliated."

I’ve been a Christian for most of my life. But honestly, when I see the level of suffering, the abhorrent conditions people live in, and the injustice of it all, I don’t understand it.

I know that one day God will restore everything that’s broken and justice will be served. I also know that the Bible teaches me that it’s my job to love my neighbour, to give generously and to engage in situations like this.

One day, God’s going to right every wrong, but right now he’s using organisations like Tearfund and people like you to do it.

Tearfund’s partner is in Cox’s Bazar delivering multiple programmes including skills training, English lessons, sewing classes, sports activities, women’s

ethical

Fashion Guide How the Guide works pg 6-7

2 | CORRESPONDENT – May 2018

Check out pages 6 and 7 to find how ethical your favourite clothing brands are.

PICTURE: Unsplash

What's in this Correspondent Editorial: By Keith Ramsay

get the matched funding from

Welcome to the first edition of Tearfund’s Correspondent for the year. In this issue, we have taken the unusual step of featuring the heart-breaking situation for the marginalised Rohingya people as an appeal wrapped into the Correspondent. The Rohingya have been violently forced from their centuries-old home in Myanmar, and we have an opportunity to help.

our government. You can read

Helen Manson’s moving account on page 1 describes some of the horrors endured by the Rohingya people, and as an organisation, we are committed to helping all who are suffering, without prejudice.

But we need your help to raise the funds by the end of June to

Inside Out "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Never has Christ’s words in Matthew 25 been truer for me as I recently sat in a dingy plastic shelter, perched on a clay hillside in Southern Bangladesh. I was among the Rohingya refugees, as a mother of four fought back the tears, determined to tell me her story of betrayal and violence at the hands of the Myanmar authorities.

more about the background of the Rohingya people on page 4.

“If you have wondered if your donations to aid organisations like Tearfund are making a difference, see the article on page 9.”

This time last year, we launched our inaugural Ethical Fashion Guide for Aotearoa in collaboration with Baptist World Aid Australia.

We were blown away by the number of people who wanted to help hold

In professional humanitarian work, we are careful to find and portray the inherent dignity in everybody, no matter how dire and dependent their situation. No one is ever only a victim, only a beneficiary, and only a statistic. This was true of this young mum as well. She already knew her way around the

“I was deeply moved by her tenacity, her focus and just by the fact that she had not yet given up hope.” maze of service providers in a million-person refugee camp—the largest on earth—as she took care of her children’s needs. She was also unafraid to share her story and told me she wanted to retell it to

fashion companies accountable on issues of worker exploitation in the fashion industry. Now it is time for this year’s version, which includes some new Kiwi clothing companies. On pages 6 and 7, you can see how these popular new companies fared on the ethical scale and catch-up on the companies that have lifted their game thanks to pressure from shoppers who have asked their favourite companies to change.

If you have wondered if your donations to aid organisations like Tearfund are making a difference, see the article on page 9, which explores the progress made in the fight against global poverty. Visiting your sponsor

the Myanmar Government and to the world. I was deeply moved by her tenacity, her focus, and just by the fact that she had not yet given up hope.

But Christ’s words are pertinent.

When I serve her, by telling her story and by joining the ranks of service providers helping her take care of her children—I serve Christ.

For she certainly bears his image.

I could see it in her; her quest for justice, her search for human engagement, her longing to be believed, her glimmer of faith that God was still good despite being rejected and despised as Christ was.

Will you join me in serving Christ, through serving her and thousands like her by giving to our Rohingya appeal?

child is an amazing and rewarding experience, and on page 11, you can read about New Zealand Whitefern’s batter, Katie Perkins and her sister Jo, who both journeyed to visit their sponsor children in Africa.

Finally, on the Tearfund events front, we have the exciting Mwangaza Children’s Choir from Uganda visiting New Zealand for the first time, and for keen cyclists, there are some changes afoot for our popular Poverty Cycle event. You can read these stories on page 11.

We hope you are both challenged and encouraged by the content in this issue of the Correspondent.

3

Tearfund looks back on 30 years with Asha

By Keith Ramsay It was 1988, in the midst a cholera outbreak, that a young Dr Kiran Martin borrowed a table and set it up under a tree in a New Delhi slum to care for those affected by the disease. This was the humble beginning of Asha, a partner that Tearfund has walked alongside for 30 years, as it grew from this event to meet the needs of thousands of slum dwellers in more than 70 slums across India’s capital city.

In February, Tearfund celebrated the end of the partnership with an evening to thank donors who have supported Asha’s work through Tearfund. Over the 30 years, Asha has had much success and has grown to a point where it no longer needs the support of Tearfund. We believe that is certainly something to celebrate.

initiative in the slums which included telemedicine clinics to triage cases for referral to hospital services.

These blackboard illustrations trace the history of Asha and Tearfund's involvement with the organisation.

PICTURES Tearfund

As an organisation, we have been proud of what has been achieved through Asha as a result of the generosity of our donors.

Tearfund CEO, Ian McInnes, says “the aim of supporting our overseas partners is always to see them grow to a point where they are sustainable and no longer need the sort of funding we can provide.”

Asha's pillars of development.

Tearfund CEO, Ian McInnes, says the aim of supporting our overseas partners is always to see them grow to a point where they are sustainable and no longer need the sort of funding we can provide.

We have had many appeals over the years to fund Asha’s work, mostly in the field of healthcare.

More recently, we have obtained support from our donors and New Zealand Aid for a health

Biblical Snapshot

By Frank Ritchie Proverbs 29:7 is one short verse carrying significant weight in what it says about how we should live in a world that favours some, while disadvantaging others.

“The righteous know the rights of the poor; the wicked have no such understanding.” (NRSV).

When we delve into the Hebrew language behind the English translation of this verse, in the first half, we see implications around the legal standing of the poor. In the second half, we encounter not just a lack of understanding from the wicked, but a wilful ignorance—no desire to know.

So, a righteous person knows what the rights of the poor are, understands the cause, and cares about justice whenever the poor are being mistreated. In contrast, a wicked person has no desire to help

Tearfund's Beth Harper addresses Asha donors at a celebration of the organisation's work.

and carries no concern for such things.

The concept we call ‘human rights’ is strikingly plain if we believe that humanity is created in the image of God. Without that, human rights are founded only in what people and groups mutually agree on.

Believing that human beings are created in the image of God should lead us to believe in the right all people have to dignity, freedom, and whatever is required for their survival. Where dignity, freedom and basic needs are denied for people, and wherever injustice is occurring, there is a challenge for the righteous to act, even if others wilfully ignore the issue.

Tearfund’s well-known Ethical Fashion Guide is about providing accountability to uphold the rights of those who grow and sow what we wear, but elsewhere, through our partners, Tearfund is also taking a stand where the rights of people such as the Rohingya in Myanmar are being denied and have had to flee.

"The righteous know the rights of the poor; the wicked have no such understanding."

– Proverbs 29:7

PICTURE Unsplash

There were over 1 million Rohingya in Myanmar. They have resided in the country for centuries but have been denied citizenship since 1982. That denial of citizenship effectively makes them stateless and they lack access to basic services. The United Nations has described them as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. Being pushed aside has led to rising poverty, loss of life, and a mounting refugee situation as they flee their own country to Bangladesh.

These refugees need help, as do those who remain in Myanmar and those who may re-enter

Myanmar being repatriated.

Tearfund is working to meet the basic needs of the Rohingya – providing supplies for refugees, setting up youth clubs, and providing psychosocial first-aid training. They have also been speaking up for the rights of the Rohingya in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, by urging the authorities in both countries to work for their wellbeing.

Let’s "know the rights of the poor" as the righteous do, and stand with them.

4 | CORRESPONDENT – May 2018

Situation report on the Rohingya people

By Murray Sheard

What is the humanitarian crisis among the Rohingya people and what must be done to allow them to return safely to Myanmar?

The Rohingya people are from Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma).

The majority are Muslim, with a minority Hindu. Myanmar law does not recognise them as one of the national indigenous races.

The Rohingya people have been displaced periodically since 1977 and were denied citizenship by the Burmese military from 1982.

Restrictions on their movement increased in 2012.

Since 2016, Myanmar has had a democratically elected government, however the military still wields tremendous power. The Rohingya do not have citizenship or free movement.

There were an estimated one million Rohingya living in Myanmar, but for the past eight months, inter-communal violence and military attacks in the northern part of Rakhine State has seen more than 670,000 people flee into Cox’s Bazar, in neighbouring Bangladesh. The Rohingya people who remain in Myanmar have had their freedom and civil rights restricted.

Many witnessed the deaths of family and friends, and their homes and villages have been destroyed. In December, the UN Human Rights Council expressed concern about the deteriorating living conditions of the Rohingya refugees, especially children, who make up 55% of the Rohingya

refugee population in Bangladesh.

In this environment, refugees face multiple protection risks and need access to clean water, safe sanitation, shelter, nutrition assistance, and measures to protect children from exploitation.

More than 400,000 refugees are at risk of worsening malnutrition and potentially fatal medical complications.

Not only has the pace of new arrivals made this the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world, the settlement of refugees in Cox’s Bazar is now the largest in the world.

Repatriation to Myanmar In November, the Bangladesh and Myanmar Governments signed a deal to repatriate the more than 700,000 refugees. While this could be a positive step, this must be a voluntary and safe process. Forcible return of refugees violates the principle on ‘non-refoulement’, a prohibition in international treaties and law on returning people to a territory where they could face serious human rights violations.

In fact, according to Amnesty International, in recent developments, Rakhine State is being militarized. Authorities are building security force bases and bulldozing land where Rohingya villages stood just months ago.

A voluntary, safe and dignified return of Rohingya refugees is further threatened by this.

• End the conditions that have trapped Rohingya in a cycle of deprivation.

The UN Refugee Agency believes conditions are not in place to enable a safe return. Refugees are still fleeing and many have suffered serious harm.

• Repatriate and resettle Rohingya people who have fled to Bangladesh, and chart a path toward citizenship.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Government has kept its borders open to new arrivals and has made additional land available in Cox’s Bazar, where makeshift camps have been hastily established.

“In this environment, refugees face multiple protection risks and need access to clean water, safe sanitation, shelter, nutrition assistance, and measures to protect children from exploitation.”

Join us Tearfund is calling on both governments to create the conditions necessary for all refugees who choose to, to return in a safe and dignified manner.

We urge the Myanmar Government to follow through on commitments to implement the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led Rakhine Commission report. This includes: • An unconditional end to violence.

• Review of laws, policies and practices to ensure that all peoples have equal rights.

Based on the recommendations of international organisations, we believe rebuilding communities and infrastructure, and allowing international humanitarian organizations access, will enable relief organisations to resume.

We acknowledge the contribution of the Bangladesh Government by its generous welcome of the Rohingya people and the cost to the local population and environment.

We ask that Bangladesh recognises them as refugees, to speed up the humanitarian response. We also believe that Rohingya refugees should not be forced back to Myanmar as long as they remain at risk.

We call on international donors to increase levels of aid, especially to ease the burden Bangladesh has carried so far. Donors must also make clear that they will not fund any plans leading to forced returns, or which undermines the rights of the Rohingya people.

To date, Tearfund’s partner in Bangladesh has helped distribute emergency shelter and hygiene materials to 4,500 Rohingya families inside refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

You can help!

Donate now at tearfund.org.nz

Sanitation and hygiene are massive concerns. Tearfund’s partners are working hard to reduce the risk of disease outbreaks.

5

Tearfund CEO Ian McInnes and photographer Helen Manson recently returned from Bangladesh.

This is what they encountered among the Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar, the largest refugee camp in the world. *Names have been changed

Children carry water up a dusty hillside. The approaching monsoon could be a catastrophe.

PHOTOS by Helen Manson

“At night I feel the most insecure.

I feel so alone, I am a single older woman.”

Farah (50)

“I want my daughter to live in safety as a citizen of a country that wants her.”

Arun and Eli

“The military came into our house to look for my husband, they beat and killed him in front of my four daughters, aged 8, 5, 4 and 18 months old.”

Malia, (25)

Many children have been orphaned by violence.

In your hands...

6 | CORRESPONDENT – May 2018

New Ze aland Hall of Fame

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is more than a t-shirt, it’s the power to choose and to change the lives of people working in garment factories.

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We'd like to see greater transparency from New Zealand companies about where their clothes are made. You can help by asking your favourite brands to publish their supplier lists.

Supply chains in the fashion industry are massive and complicated. A t-shirt purchased in New Zealand may be made from Indian cotton, processed in Bangladesh, sewn in China and distributed from Australia.

Demand from consumers for stores to always be offering new styles places immense pressure on supply chains to produce large volumes of clothing over short periods. To cope with the pressure, factories often subcontract out all (or parts) of orders to other smaller factories

or home workers. These suppliers may not be subject to audits and often have poor working conditions and low pay rates.

The result? Brands cannot say with confidence where clothing items are being produced and that the workers making their clothing have not been exploited.

The solution? Transparency.

The Ethical Fashion Report asks brands firstly to trace their supply chains—find out where their garments are being made and be

Our Top Three Tough Questions Q1. D oes Tearfund force companies to participate?

Nope! Companies can choose not to engage in the survey if they want and we assess them on publicly available information. If we only included companies in the guide who fill out the survey, consumers would only be informed about some brands and not others, and it wouldn’t be a true reflection of the issues in the industry. We want Kiwis to be able to walk through a mall and be able to know which brands score high in their ethical practices and which ones don’t.

Q2. H ow can companies get an 'F' if they don’t participate?

In short, if they have little or no publicly available information about where their clothes are made. We give companies lots of chances to engage with the survey.

If they don’t, we assess them on publicly available information.

Some companies who don’t

engage still score quite high in this way. But a company will get an 'F' if they have no information available.

The industry standard is to have publicly available information and we believe consumers deserve to know where their clothes are made.

Q3. I s the timeframe reasonable?

Yes! We give companies just over four months to complete the survey.

Around 80% of the 114 companies submitted on time and we receive very few complaints about the timeframe.

transparent with the public about this information.

Publishing supplier lists allows brands to be held accountable for the working conditions and shows that the brands have nothing to hide.

What are you made of?

We need your help to encourage companies to publish supplier lists.

Step two: Like what you see, or looking for more? Go to our website to choose an image from our gallery to share with your brand on Facebook.

Step three: Use your voice.

Share the image to your Facebook page and tag the brand. If you want to do even more, send a letter with the template!

Are you up for it?

Step one: Find out what they’re made of. Search your favourite brand’s website for a supplier list.

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Fashion Guide Aotearoa New Zealand 2018 The guide is a practical tool you can use to reduce worker exploitation and alleviate poverty in developing countries where clothes are manufactured.

Get the Guide

Use your voice

Chip in for change

Download or order the Ethical Fashion Guide from our website.

Join our campaign asking Kiwi companies to publish their supplier lists.

Chip in a few dollars to help us continue to grow the research.

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A-F grades are awarded to brands as a measure of their efforts to address worker exploitation in their supply chain.

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The overall grade is based on how a brand performs in four areas (you can see these represented in the circle device). These areas are assessed at three different stages of the brand’s supply chain:

• Farm level, which we call raw materials • Inputs production, which is where fabric, leather and other products are created • Factories that sew clothes, which we call final stage production.

8 | CORRESPONDENT – May 2018

Have you claimed your tax credit for charitable donations to Tearfund yet?

Over 100 million dollars of tax credits are never claimed back from the IRD. Think of the impact these funds could have on the communities we work with worldwide. Would you consider generously donating your credit or even part of it back to Tearfund?

Visit tearfund.org.nz/regift to find out how. If you haven’t received your tax receipt yet, please let us know.

Nvader rebrand to LIFT International Tearfund’s ‘Protect’ (antitrafficking and exploitation) partner, Nvader, is rebranding to LIFT International. Nvader has traditionally helped to rescue victims of human trafficking and exploitation and prosecute offenders. In recent years, their strategies and operating methods have developed, and their new name reflects their desire to: • Elevate and LIFT standards and practices when it comes to government, NGO and civil society responses to exploitation and trafficking.

• LIFT and raise the lives and hopes of survivors of exploitation and trafficking.

While fundamentally they haven't changed, their updated mission is: Prosecute and prevent human trafficking by strengthening justice systems.

Funds donated to Nvader-comeLIFT International via Tearfund will continue to fund this work.

✝ Prayer Points • Pray for the success of LIFT's work • Pray for the protection of those working for LIFT

Rachael and Tim Phillips visit a farm to see Tearfund's work in Sri Lanka.

PICTURES Supplied

Live Below The Line Campaign

By Sophie Rice Our nationwide Live Below the Line campaign (LBL) saw more than 370 Kiwis tackle the five-day challenge last month and raise over $80,000 for our Empower cause.

By eating and drinking on $2.85 a day (the NZ dollar equivalent of the international poverty line), they had a small taste of the experience many people face daily to feed themselves and their families.

This year, LBL focused on the idea that by tackling life together, so much more can be achieved.

Locally and globally, when communities rally together with a shared vision for transformation, we have incredible power to make a collective difference against poverty.

A farming family from Otorohanga took up the LBL challenge because Rachael and Tim Phillips want their kids to grow up aware of their privilege.

“Through our skin colour, race, socioeconomic status, and for half of our family through gender, we have privilege,” says Rachael.

"For this whānau, LBL was a great

way to seek to live ethically and responsibly when born into a wealth of opportunity."

In 2015, Rachael and Tim travelled to Sri Lanka to visit one of Tearfund’s Empower partners that LBL supports. Farming cooperatives bring vulnerable communities together to add value to what they produce by improving their techniques in agricultural production.

“Through our skin colour, race, socioeconomic status, and for half of our family through gender, we have privilege.”

“We saw that they are just like us – farmers working with the same challenges of feeding and caring for their animals 24 hours a day, the unpredictability of the weather, compliance with local and national policies, supply and demand, and of course making enough money to support your family.

It’s a never-ending juggle we can relate to,” says Rachael.

“Tearfund inspired us in the way they were supporting a locally led project to pull the community together and work together for a better future. It’s a bit of a jump, but if we view the world as a community, then we are all neighbours. They don't need us to fix the problems, but we can be supportive and pitch-in and help where needed. Just as if they were 'over the back fence' or 'up the road'.”

The Phillips clan at their home in Otorohanga.

9

Are we winning the fight against global poverty?

By Keith Ramsay We could be forgiven for thinking that alleviating poverty in the world just seems to be endless, given the doom and gloom that appears on our screens every night via the media. And to be fair, there are many things to be discouraged about in this broken world we live in. But the silver lining is that there has been significant progress when it comes to winning the war against extreme poverty.

In 1981, a staggering 42% of the global population lived in abject poverty. The World Bank estimates that the figure dropped to just 9.1% in 2016 based on the global poverty measurement of the poor—those living on less than US $1.90 a day. That leaves about 767 million currently living below the poverty line. Of course, there is a whole other debate on whether $1.90 a day is an adequate measure of poverty and many would agree it is not. But putting that aside, there has been unprecedented progress towards ending extreme poverty.

For a comparison, most economic historians believe it took Britain a century to cut extreme poverty (1820-1920) from more than 40% of its population to below 10%.

Japan, beginning a little later in the 1870s, cut extreme poverty from 80% of its population to virtually zero living in poverty in a century. China and Indonesia are at the forefront of this rapid decline and are on track to achieve Japanese levels of poverty reduction more than twice as fast as Japan did. However, there are still many regions of the world that have a more upward battle

such as South Asia, the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa.

So are we on track to beating extreme poverty based on current measurements? The Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 easily met the target of halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.

These have been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals which aim to “eradicate extreme poverty in all its forms” by 2030.

Most predictions are that reaching the target by 2030 is going to be much harder going.

The World Bank predicts that only about 4% of the world’s population will still be poor in 2030 if economies continue to grow as quickly as they have in the past 10 years and poor people’s incomes grow at the same rate as everyone else’s. The number of poor people might even rise a little.

As the numbers of impoverished people decline, there will be the temptation to take the proverbial foot off the throat of poverty. But it will take an even more concerted effort to meet the target by 2030.

It is not just about the economic improvement of low-income countries. It will also need a raft of social and political remedies to be implemented. UN Development Programme Associate Administrator, Tegegnework Gettu, says as important as the rate of economic growth, is the way in which the benefits of that growth are shared across society.

He believes active policies of inclusion are needed for segments of the population that have been systematically excluded, with a special focus on reducing gender

Resources for schools and small groups On our website you can order our study resources. Here are couple of recent additions.

Feeding the World This brand new booklet designed for schools asks how we can feed the 10 billion people who may be sharing this planet in 2050. It introduces our major empowerment programmes:

smallholder farmers and the revolutionary Self-help Groups, bringing so many people dignity and power over their own lives.

Remember you can still order FREE copies of: The Good Lives Project, No Longer Slaves, Empower, Restoring Hope, and Living Simply.

Tearfund is helping people like Malou in the Philippines to create a sustainable income. gaps. In addition, some form of effective social protection and job creation measures will be needed to help lift people out of poverty and make sure they do not slip back into poverty. Another thing to be mindful of is that the development path to poverty eradication is uneven and volatile to shocks and setbacks. We can see this quite clearly in the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

Conflict, failed states, corruption, and natural disasters play a big part in this.

Your donations working to help drive poverty down So what role does the work of Tearfund and its partners play in all this? Through your donations, Tearfund works at the grassroots level, building up the local economy by helping those struggling against poverty to create sustainable livelihoods.

PICTURE Sophie Rice

For example, in Sri Lanka, smallholder dairy farmers have increased their income from surplus milk supply five-fold in just a few years. This has resulted in injecting NZ$2.9 million per annum into the local economy and helped to lift them out of poverty. In situations where natural disasters have impacted communities, Tearfund is working to help people rebuild their livelihoods. The important thing to take from all of this is that your support of Tearfund is making a difference, but we need to keep going if we want to reach the 2030 goal.

✝

Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Human Trafficking Schools Achievement Standard School students can now access the voice and knowledge of our partners on the coal face via an NCEA achievement standard for geography.

The Fight Against Human Trafficking resource includes assessment, marking criteria, lesson plans, activities, exemplar answers, case studies and tons of other resources. It's a one-stop shop for teachers on trafficking.

Visit our Learn website page or email: advocacy@tearfund.org.nz to order any of these.

10 | CORRESPONDENT – May 2018

Advocate!

It could be a big year for legislation for justice. Moves are afoot in the business community for both a Modern Slavery Act and committing New Zealand to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Zero Carbon Act can protect our partners This year you can have your say on protecting our partners by making a submission on the Zero Carbon Act. We often ask you to act on behalf of our partners by making changes to your consumption, buying ethical and sustainable products, and reducing emissions.

For that, we to transform our infrastructure and to fast-track technology adoption. We need policy and regulatory change and change in business incentives.

But, even if you went vegan, doubled the time on your bike and bought an electric car, given that you live in a developed nation and participate in its infrastructure, housing, food and work practices, it’s almost impossible to reduce your carbon footprint to sustainable, equitable levels! Not even close.

We have an opportunity this year to help make that happen, through the Zero Carbon Act.

“We need policy and regulatory change and change in business incentives.”

Last year we joined with 14 overseas development organisations urging climate change as an election issue to all political parties. Collectively we could message over 200,000 supporters.

The result: all but two of the eight political parties we approached agreed to support a law that would

reduce New Zealand’s carbon emissions - including to aim for ‘net-zero emissions” � by 2050.

Late last year, the government agreed to a process to introduce a Zero Carbon Bill to Parliament in 2018—yes, this year! This Bill would set the framework for action on climate change. Throughout 2018, the Ministry for the Environment will develop the Bill, including options for: • A new 2050 target for greenhouses gas emissions.

• An independent Climate Change Commission.

The time is now The most important lesson from overseas experience is that cross party support is crucial for legislation that will be durable through future changes in government.

PICTURE Unsplash

Get involved in the consultation process. Have your say about what the Act needs to include. Build cross-party support for this Bill.

• W rite letters to key ministers and your MP. • M ake submissions. Get to know what scientists and policy researches believe should be included. If you are a specialist, make a submission from your knowledge area.

Over the last 25 years, we have seen people lift themselves out of poverty at a faster rate than ever before.

But changes in climate threaten to reverse this. In the last 18 months, the number of people who go to bed hungry each night has increased for the first time this century. That increase has been put down to conflict and climate change.

To have your say go to: mfe.govt.nz/have-your-say-zerocarbon

1 Net-zero emissions means that our output of greenhouse gases from (mainly) carbon dioxide and methane is equalled by the amount we take from the atmosphere, through forestry, re-planting and other techniques. This will help keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees – the amount considered safe by a strong consensus of scientists.

A Modern Slavery Act for New Zealand In professional

Tearfund’s anti-trafficking work and our Ethical Fashion Guide have prompted us to join a movement to pass anti-trafficking legislation in New Zealand.

In 2015, the UK passed the Modern Slavery Act. This includes slavery offences, punishments and the appointment of an Anti-slavery Commissioner. All commercial organisations which undertake business in the UK over �36m, must produce a slavery and trafficking statement each financial year.

The Act sets a platform for consumers, investors and NGOs to apply pressure where they believe a business has not taken sufficient steps. The Australian Federal Government is currently investigating a similar act. Recently, moves by NGOs and government departments have suggested this is needed in New Zealand. A business group led by Rob Fyfe, chair of Icebreaker, has formed to promote the idea among businesses.

Where do you come in?

Tearfund believes that with increased awareness of global trafficking and slavery, the popularity of the Ethical Fashion Report, and the revelation that work conditions akin to slavery are occurring illegally in New Zealand, it is time for New Zealand legislators to look into similar legislation.

1. Consider your consumption.

How about posting a copy of the Guide to your MP with a letter saying you support this movement.

Let us know if you do.

What can you do personally?

Sweatshops. Abuse of Power.

Trafficking. These issues can seem far removed from us here in New Zealand. But many of our daily habits are closely tied to exploitation of people around the world.

Craft a life that resists the buy-ological urges that fuel over-consumption. Buy secondhand goods. Think twice before throwing things away—can you repair it or upcycle it?

2. Take it to your church, school or group. Form a group of friends in your church, school or workplace to help each other consume ethically.

We have a platform for this.

It’s called Catalyst Groups:

tearfund.org.nz/Get-Involved/Bea-voice 3. Hold an Ethical Fashion Fundraiser. Tearfund could partner with your church to publically launch the Ethical Fashion Guide in your city or town.

Rope in your pastors. Get in touch with us for ideas.

5. Praise companies that make positive change. Pressure those that don’t. Share our ethical fashion social media graphics and write letters using our templates: tearfund.org.nz/ethical-fashionguide 6. Give to our Protect cause. Our partners combat trafficking in Cambodia, Thailand, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Their work includes prevention, prosecution, rescue and rehabilitation:

tearfund.org.nz/protect

11

Closing the 9000-mile gap

By Laura Brookes Katie Perkins has travelled a few places in her lifetime. As a middle order batter for the New Zealand Whiteferns, she’s visited more than 14 nations in the world. However, flying to Africa with her sister Jo, to visit their sponsor children last winter, was a whole new experience. Ethiopia was first up for a visit to see Jo’s sponsor child, five-year-old Abenezer. Three days later, they arrived in northern Uganda for Katie to visit 12-yearold Ekel.

Laura Brookes spoke with Katie and Jo about how their trip has changed the way they see child sponsorship.

Q: When did you make the decision to visit Africa?

K: I’ve always wanted to go to Africa. It’s been in the back of my mind for a long time and I knew visiting our sponsor kids would be so great to do, but it actually eventuated when Jo and I were both heading overseas for work commitments. I was going to England for the Cricket World Cup and Jo had a work trip to Europe.

We could both extend our trips by a few days, so the planning process started from there.

Q: How did it feel to meet your sponsor child face-to-face?

K: After being given a tour of the project, we visited their home and the whole family started to arrive.

We were sitting there [in the mud hut] when they brought out the goat we had helped to provide, and tried to give us a chicken to take back with us. When Ekel brought out all the sponsor letters I’ve ever sent her, I couldn’t believe it. She had them all right there… that was really special.

J: Abenezer was walking out to meet us and I almost felt like hitting Katie and saying, ‘I think that’s him!’ That is literally the child I’ve been writing to. Then when we met Katie’s sponsor child, I really enjoyed being there and seeing that feeling for someone else, because I knew what it felt like.

How did the environment stack up to your expectations?

K: I think I expected the landscape to look the same everywhere, but what surprised me the most was the differences between countries within Africa. You can’t just get one picture of what ‘Africa’ looks like. Every country has their own culture. For example, the look of Uganda is very different to the look of Ethiopia.

J: The craziest thing was seeing pictures of what life is like for them, but then being there yourself, and realising what you have seen in photos is a reality.

They’re actually living in these huts with nothing. They just live so simply.

Q: Has it changed the way you view child sponsorship?

K: Absolutely. It’s a very humbling experience because the family you visit are incredibly grateful for your support and will literally welcome you with open arms. It gives you way more motivation for your sponsorship journey, and your letters have more meaning than they ever did before. Just being there in their environment is something you’d never experience otherwise.

J: There’s always been this disconnect, like you’re in a bubble paying your money from New Zealand, and never really knowing what is happening on the other end. When they said in their letters ‘I pray for you’, it always felt a bit disconnected – but they actually pray for you. That’s them. That’s what they’re actually doing.

I left with such confidence in what we’re doing. We’re not just chucking money at something and it falls into a pit of administration fees, but it’s actually impacting their lives.

It’s really making the difference.

Interested in visiting your sponsor child? Give us a call on 0800 800 777 or email enquiries@tearfund.org.nz for more information.

Give a meaningful gift this Mother’s Day Why not donate a life-changing gift to someone in the developing world on your loved one's behalf this Mother's Day? From newborn care to coffee plants, our catalogue is full of meaningful gifts that give life and hope to those who need it the most.

Visit giftforlife.org.nz today.

PICTURE Helen Manson

Mwangaza Children’s Choir in NZ for the first time Kiwi audiences are in for a treat when the spectacular Mwangaza Children’s Choir hits our shores for the first time this May for their Light Up tour.

Mwangaza (pronounced m-wahnGAH-zah) means shining light in Swahili and that’s exactly what you will see in the faces of the children as they perform. These talented youngsters are sure to light up the stage and your heart, sharing the hope through song, dance and inspiring stories about how their

Mother' s Day

So get out your dancing shoes and experience the incredible sights and sounds of authentic African worship at a free event from April 29 to May 27 throughout the North Island and upper South.

Visit tearfund.org.nz and click on events to find the free concert closest to you.

Poverty Cycle is evolving into a nationwide virtual event

By Kelly Burgess

GIFT FOR LIFE

lives have been changed.

For seven years, we have held the iconic Poverty Cycle road race in Clevedon, Auckland, and with all the amazing support we have received over the years, we are now able to take it virtual.

You will no longer need to be somewhere on a certain day to take part in the Poverty Cycle Challenge. You can set your own challenge or accept one of ours – in your own time, or with a team and in your own hometown. The Poverty Cycle raises funds to combat human trafficking and exploitation.

All will be revealed in the next Correspondent, so in the meantime, get fit and get ready to make a difference from wherever you are in early 2019.

PICTURE Alex Carter

12 | CORRESPONDENT – May 2018

Donate

Sponsor a child today!

I’d like to support:

You can change a child’s life for just $52 per month.

Rohingya Crisis Disasters

The children featured on this page have been waiting a long time to be sponsored.

Will you make their day by sponsoring one of them?

Where most needed Donation amount: $35

$50

$100

Other $ Tearfund is a registered charity. Charities Act 2005 registration CC21725. Donations $5 and over are tax deductible.

or

Sponsor a child $52 per month

To sponsor a child in this edition, call us on 0800 800 777.

My preference is: Girl Boy

Either

Location: South America Central America

Africa

Asia

Rafael

Age 6, from Indonesia

Antony

Age 2, from El Salvador

Fraidel

Age 6, from Dominican Republic

DOB 10/11/2011

DOB 15/06/2015

DOB 9/07/2011

Rafa lives in Indonesia with his mother and father. Rafa speaks Indonesian.

When you decide to sponsor Rafa, you decide to start a life-changing journey with him.

Antony lives in El Salvador with his mother and father. Antony speaks Spanish. When you decide to sponsor Antony, you decide to start a lifechanging journey with him.

Fraidel lives in Dominican Republic with his mother. Fraidel speaks Spanish.

When you decide to sponsor Fraidel, you decide to start a life-changing journey with him.

No preference

Please add Sponsorship Plus:

$10 extra per month covers additional needs like unexpected medical treatment and helps to support other children still waiting for sponsors.

Your details Fill in this section if you are making a donation or if you’d like to sponsor a child. We’d love to start journeying with you!

Have you donated to Tearfund before?

Yes Name:

No

Title

Supporter Number First

Last

Address:

Lisbeth

Age 7, from Dominican Republic

Eyram

Age 5, from Togo

Damaris

Age 7, from Peru

DOB 13/10/2010

DOB 31/12/2012

DOB 15/04/2010

Lisbeth lives in Dominican Republic with her mother and father.

Lisbeth speaks Spanish. When you decide to sponsor Lisbeth, you decide to start a life-changing journey with her.

Eyram lives in Togo with her mother.

Eyram speaks French. When you decide to sponsor Eyram, you decide to start a life-changing journey with her.

Damaris lives in Peru with her mother and father. Damaris speaks Spanish.

When you decide to sponsor Damaris, you decide to start a life-changing journey with her.

Marina

Widelande

Home phone: Work phone: Mobile: Email: Tick here to receive our monthly e-news

Please send me information about: Remembering Tearfund in my will Volunteering for Tearfund Please take me off your mailing list

Payment details www

Age 7, from Burkina Faso

Age 8, from Haiti

Amina

Age 11, from Tanzania

DOB 5/06/2010

DOB 25/10/2009

DOB 29/01/2007

Marina lives in Burkina Faso with her mother and father. Marina speaks French. When you decide to sponsor Marina, you decide to start a lifechanging journey with her.

Widelande lives in Haiti with her guardian. Widelande speaks Creole.

When you decide to sponsor Widelande, you decide to start a life-changing journey with her.

Amina lives in Tanzania with her mother and father. Amina speaks Swahili. When you decide to sponsor Amina, you decide to start a life-changing journey with her.

Give securely online at tearfund.org.nz Donating online significantly reduces our processing costs.

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Visa / Mastercard (please complete below) Cardholder name:

Signature: Card Number:

Expiry date:

Amaton

Age 11, from Kenya

Rolph

Age 9, from Haiti

DOB 8/06/2006

DOB 29/11/2008

DOB 8/03/2006

Amaton lives in Kenya with his mother.

Amaton speaks English. When you decide to sponsor Amaton, you decide to start a life-changing journey with him.

Rolph lives in Haiti with his mother and father. Rolph speaks Creole. When you decide to sponsor Rolph, you decide to start a life-changing journey with him.

Roslet lives in Haiti with his mother and father. Roslet speaks Creole. When you decide to sponsor Roslet, you decide to start a life-changing journey with him.

Cheque (make payable to Tearfund)

OUR PURPOSE

PUBLICATION DETAILS

Motivated by Jesus, we encourage Kiwis to act for justice and relieve poverty among the world’s most vulnerable people.

Editor: Keith Ramsay.

Contributors: Ian McInnes, Helen Manson, Frank Ritchie,

0800 800 777 | tearfund.org.nz enquiries@tearfund.org.nz

Roslet

Age 12, from Haiti

Murray Sheard, Claire Hart, Laura Brookes and Sophie Rice.

Art Direction and Design: Evo Leota/Laura-Rose Wiechern.

Printing: PMP Print.