Author: Nigel Ring

This blog is primarily for those with young children and for church leaders in some of the poorer nations A good friend of mine, Susie Howe (wife of Jem, an elder in the Community Church, Putney, part of the Newfrontiers family of churches), has extensive experience of working in Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe and several other sub-Saharan countries. She is trained to a high level in medical practice (she was a nursing sister in one of the London teaching hospitals). Her experience showed her that the advice being given in European countries and North America is unable to be followed in many of the poorer environments in which many of you work. So she has prepared 4 documents for you to consider (in 3 languages and 2 formats) that may be…

[caption id="attachment_7529" align="alignright" width="325"] Credit: Priscilla Du Preez[/caption] I drafted this a few days ago but much has happened in the meantime. However, the sentiments expressed apply even more as we face the present crisis so let's reflect on the needs of those who are poor and vulnerable at this time and reach out to help in any way we can. Those who are poor For many years I have sought to refer to people living in poverty not as ‘the poor’ but as ‘people who are poor or in need’. First and foremost they are people - not a problem! I personally would not like to be identified to as ‘the short-sighted’; my identity should not be defined by my limitations but by my name, personality, attributes etc. Similarly,…

Thank you so much to all those who so quickly responded to this emergency appeal. It has been very heart-warming. Recovery and rehousing will be a long haul but we hope that out of this disaster there will be long-term benefits as Donna and her team seek to find more sustainable solutions. Here is an update from Donna. Crisis Appeal - Update No.1 Thank you so much for the outpouring of generosity towards our farming trainees and their families whose homes flooded and collapsed this week. Your donations have already enabled us to rent safer homes for all the families left homeless. Tonight none of them will need to sleep out in the open. Scores of other families still need to relocate to safer houses as theirs have been badly damaged…

Bad news Let me start with the bad news and end on a high! Stories of severe flooding have been filling the media in recent days in the UK. To have your house inundated with water must be devastating but in the UK there are ways through and support is available. Now imagine living in a mud block house when the torrential rains come - and they are a lot heavier in Africa than in the UK. This is what happened to our brothers and sisters in Burundi two nights ago. And many of them are not just poor - they are destitute, not knowing where the next meal is coming from. Donna Bloomfield is there at present and is doing all she can to help the people start to…

I have just watched this inspiring TED talk about how people living in slums need to be involved in finding solutions to their accommodation problems. This is a wonderful example of community participation in decision-making. There are deep underlying lessons here that are applicable in standing alongside those who are poor in encouraging their empowerment. It is so important that the 'professionals' are not arrogant in thinking they know best, a basic principle of Participatory Learning and Action, and other development techniques to involve people in decision making. As I watched I was reminded of the amazing breakthrough my friend Angela Kemm made in 1993/4 in helping people living in the Khayelitsha slum outside Cape Town to be empowered to lobby government and receive the first post-apartheid government grant which…