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"This Community Partnership is a brilliant way of getting churches to work together and positively engage with our Manly community through a partnership of compassionate service."
Bruce Clarke, Senior Minister, St Matthews Manly
Monday
8 March 2010 is the United Nation’s International Women’s Day. ”The
fight for women’s rights is central to the UN’s global mission.” said
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Click here to check out the video on the UN website.
During
our visit to Manado, Indonesia we witnessed the efforts of many women
as they worked long tiring days to find extra money to help support
their families. They ran kiosks, cooked and sold satay in the market,
chopped fruit salad to sell on the street corner and collected rubbish
at the local tip. Women were often the entrepreneurs of the family, not
just making ends meet, but finding ingenious ways of saving money in
the event of a child requiring a visit to the doctor or some other
unplanned expenditure.
For some women the story is not always as
positive. There are numerous stories we’ve been told of forced labor,
rape, abuse, inequality and sexual violence in war.
We stand by and support the UN in it’s efforts to insure the safety and equality of women all around the world.
The Manly Council have given us the opportunity to promote and sellLove in Actionat
their event to promote International Women’s Day which will be held at
the Manly Library on Monday 8 March 2010. All proceeds from the sale of
Love in Action will be donated to Manly-Manado. Money raised will be
given to the Compassion Child Survival Program. The program assists
pregnant women, at-risk babies and infants and their mothers and
caregivers by providing critical interventions, such as medical
assistance, pre-natal and post-natal care, and nutritious food. For
further information visit theCompassion website.
Marjan, a Muslim man from Kembes Village near Manado, lives with his two daughters in a hut adjoining his workshop,.
A blacksmith by trade, Marjan would make knives and grass cutting tools to support his family. He was able to make one to two knives a day with most of the work done by hand, buying scrap metal, firing it, hammering it and then hand filing it into shape. These would then be sold at a local market on Bunaken Island for 2500Rp (or AU$3.50) each.
Marjan then joined the Kembes Village Trust Bank, run by Bridge of Hope. Through involvement in this Microenterprise Development Program, Marjan was provided with a small loan to expand his business, and used the money to purchase an angle grinder. This equipment increased his output to three or four knives per day. He plans to use the next loan to purchase a fan; this will enable him to increase the heat of the fire and further increase productivity.
In addition to finance, Marjan receives training on business planning. The Trust Bank meets every week, and the partners assist each other in their businesses, sometimes to the point of taking shared ownership if someone is unable to make a repayment due to illness or slow business. Savings are encouraged and facilitated, creating a buffer for hard times or medical emergencies.
These days Marjan has great hope, because he has seen a way out of his previous constrictive circumstances.
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Marjan then joined the Kembes Village Trust Bank, run by Bridge of Hope. Through involvement in this Microenterprise Development Program, Marjan was provided with a small loan to expand his business, and used the money to purchase an angle grinder. This equipment increased his output to three or four knives per day. He plans to use the next loan to purchase a fan; this will enable him to increase the heat of the fire and further increase productivity.