Minutes for Mission June | Ravenswood United

985 Leaders Trained in Anti-Human Trafficking

“We are working with these people…so they don’t become victims.”

Participants gather for an anti-human trafficking education program.

Credit: Diocese of Durgapur

Published On: May 13, 2022 June 26, 2022

In December 2020, we shared Lakshmi’s story. Lakshmi, a teenager from West Bengal, India, was trafficked by her aunt, who promised that Lakshmi could earn money “dancing.” Thankfully, the story had a happy ending. Lakshmi’s parents contacted the Diocese of Durgapur, which runs an anti-human trafficking program supported by your Mission & Service gifts. The Diocese intervened, and on the threat of legal action, Lakshmi’s aunt returned her to her parents.

Over the year since we published Lakshmi’s story, the Diocese of Durgapur has been busy initiating life-saving anti-trafficking programming, advocacy, education, and relief efforts.

Here’s an update. In 2021, your support through Mission & Service meant that

985 key leaders became aware of anti-human trafficking methods, including youth, church, and community leaders
20 young people received computer training
9 families learned bamboo crafting to augment their income
500 families received relief during COVID lockdowns, including food hampers and personal protective equipment
CCTV cameras were installed in the Malda Safe Home, which houses 21 children

Now that people are returning to work after COVID lockdowns, the efforts of the Diocese and ongoing Mission & Service support are especially critical.

Most of the people the Diocese of Durgapur reaches out to live below the poverty line and earn their livelihood through agriculture and labour. “They go to other states looking for work and sometimes fall victim to human trafficking. Now as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, people are again getting ready to go outside for work. We are working with these people, especially in the areas where people were trafficked earlier, so they don’t become victims,” says Raja Moses, a Project Coordinator for the Diocese.

Your generous gifts through Mission & Service support anti-human trafficking programs run through the Diocese of Durgapur, directly impacting thousands of lives. Thank you!

Habtamu’s Story

“Now I can satisfy the needs of my family and supply the market.”

https://youtu.be/ERJR8dacn58

Published On: December 17, 2021 June 19, 2022

Habtamu and his family live in Ethiopia, where Habtamu farms the land he inherited from his father. Unfortunately, when the land was passed on to him, it wasn’t fertile. Teams of oxen used for agriculture had eroded the soil, and the harsh sunlight meant that anything planted in it died.

Thanks to a conservation agriculture program supported by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank,* a Mission & Service partner, Habtamu and his family learned farming techniques that reduce soil erosion, improve soil fertility, and increase productivity. For example, they are using crop by-products as a cover for their soil, preventing it from being exposed to sunlight and rainwater. The impact is incredible.

“Earlier, we were hungry and the land was infertile, but now for the last eight years we have been harvesting a good crop. I am happy we are trying to alleviate our problem, change our lives, and feed our children, “explains Yitayish, Habtamu’s wife, while he proudly shows a barn full of grain.

“Before, we only had one or two grain stocks. I used to feed my children with maize I bought at the market, but now I can satisfy the needs of my family and supply the market,” Habtamu says.

Your generosity through Mission & Service supports the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. This is one of the many ways your gifts help end hunger.

“I would really like to express my deepest gratitude…for giving us knowledge and insights. I am really grateful to you for all the kindness you have shown me,” Habtamu says.

*The United Church of Canada provided funding to the Scaling-Up Conservation Agriculture program of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, funded by the Government of Canada. This story is one example of a project from that program. Program partners include the Mennonite Central Committee and the Migbare Senay Children and Family Support Organization (MSCFSO).

Transportation Is Key to Improving Lives

Lack of transportation can prevent people from accessing the support they need.

Credit: 99mimimi from Pixabay

Published On: May 13, 2022 June 12, 2022

Gill visited Mission & Service partner Our Place Society for her meals every day. At one community meal, she met an outreach worker and inquired about making a meaningful change in her life. But making the changes she needed meant accessing programs in parts of the city she couldn’t easily get to without a bus pass.

Too often, lack of transportation is a significant barrier that prevents people from accessing the support they need. It’s hard to keep appointments, go to school, or visit family and friends with no way to travel. High gas prices, the cost of a vehicle, availability of public transit, as well as a system that reaches job-rich areas are barriers to creating a better life.

In a recent study, Jeff Allen and Steven Farber, geographers at the University of Toronto, report that in Canada's eight largest cities, 5 percent of the total population are living in low-income households that are also situated in areas with low transit accessibility. “This totals nearly one million people who are at risk of transport poverty nation-wide,” they write.

What does it mean to not have adequate transportation? Farber told University of Toronto News it’s a mix of disadvantages: socioeconomic status (low income, ill health, being a recent immigrant or elderly) and a lack of access to transportation (being unable to afford a car or to reach destinations easily by transit, for example).

“The time is right for a national accounting of those living in transport poverty and the development of a national transport and land use strategy.”

Mission & Service partners working on the ground to alleviate poverty regularly help people access transportation so they can improve their lives. The bus pass project that provided Gill with passes she needed to keep life-changing appointments was supported through the United Church’s Gifts with Vision catalogue. Thank you for your generosity.

Your Gifts Support Displaced People in Ukraine

Thank you so very much for your compassion.

Irina in a refugee shelter

Credit: Fekete Dániel/Hungarian Interchurch Aid

Published On: May 13, 2022 June 5, 2022

The latest stats released by the United Nations are mind-boggling: More than 12 million people are believed to have fled their homes in Ukraine since the invasion began. Over 5.7 million have left for neighbouring countries, and another 6.5 million people are thought to be displaced inside the war-torn country itself.

Irina, a trained nurse, is one of these millions of people whose family has been torn apart by war. Her husband, a history teacher, joined the territorial defence in the first days of the occupation. In the beginning, Irina and her five- and eight-year-old children moved in with her parents; because the home didn’t have a basement, they rearranged sofas and furniture to create safe shelter. When a bomb exploded in the neighbourhood, Irina had a tough decision to make. Her parents did not want to leave their beloved home, but as a mother she felt she needed to get her children to safety.

After a lot of agonizing soul-searching, Irina parted with her parents and started walking with her children toward the evacuation point. They were forced to take cover as shelling grew near. Eventually, the family was able to catch a train to western Lviv―a 20-hour journey―and then endured another exhausting 5-hour train ride to Batiovo, Transcarpathia.

In Batiovo they were welcomed into one of 120 refugee centres and shelters. Through bilateral partnership with Hungarian Interchurch Aid held in relationship by ACT Alliance, your generous gifts are helping to provide these centres and shelters with food, water, hygiene products, and household appliances.

There, thousands of people like Irina and her children have found shelter and warm meals, and volunteers are doing what they can to offer support and help keep spirits up. For now the family isn’t crossing the border; Irina’s husband, sister, and parents are in Ukraine and Irina doesn’t want to leave them farther behind. She recognizes this might not be an option in the future.

In an unimaginably difficult time, your gifts are not only helping to provide necessities, they are also showing the people of Ukraine you care. Thank you so very much for your compassion. Please continue to hold Irina and the people of Ukraine in your prayers.