In the early hours of October 4 2016, Hurricane Matthew made landfall on Haiti.

Imagine living through that terror. Howling 230kmph winds screaming through your neighbourhood, destroying everything in their path.

“Thank you very much… you came to help us in Tiburon and saw our needs.”
Thanks to the generosity of Australians… mums like Laurita can keep her children safe from disasters like Hurricane Matthew! Source: Medair, 2016

This is Laurita’s story.

“We had never had a storm that big before. The whole house started to shake…

“I was very afraid as all the debris was flying around…

“As a mother, I was very much afraid for my children… they were screaming and crying.

“I held them as tight as I could, covered them with my own body while lying flat on the ground.

“I thought that I am not strong enough… the fear of losing them kept me going on.”

Laurita and her seven children live in the remote, coastal town of Tiburon, where Hurricane Matthew first made landfall… in one of the poorest areas.

“Our life has always been hard even before Matthew. Earning enough to live…”

But since Hurricane Matthew decimated her town, the fight to survive has become even harder.

Thankfully, Laurita and her children made it through Hurricane Matthew.

“I fled with my children to a nearby neighbour, whose house was more protected.”

But the roof of their own home was claimed by the hurricane. And with no roof to protect their belongings… they lost everything.

“All my kitchen stuff, all my clothes and the little money I had… were all gone…

“We all knew that without any help from outside we will be lost… we thought ‘we will die’.”

When Hurricane Matthew hit Tiburon, Baptist World Aid Australia responded immediately… thanks to the support of Australians, who faithfully give to the Disaster Action Fund.

Because of their generosity, the community of Tiburon received urgently needed emergency relief – like food for hungry families and water and hygiene kits to keep them safe from the spread of deadly diseases like Cholera.

Laurita even received a shelter kit and basic tools like saws, pliers and a crowbar. Now she can give her family a safe home again!

“We are really, really happy with this assistance… It has been a relief.”

If you would like to give the gift of safety to mums like Laurita AND her children, or find out how your support can save lives before, during and after disaster, go to: baptistworldaid.org.au/disaster-action.

by Samara Linehan

Source: BUV News

Cynthia Maung, a medical doctor who has devoted nearly 30 years to providing healthcare to refugees from Myanmar living on the Thai-Myanmar border, will be the 2017 recipient of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award.

The award is given for significant and effective activities to secure, protect, restore or preserve human rights as stated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other declarations on human rights.

The award presentation will be made by the General Council, which convenes during the BWA Annual Gathering in Bangkok, Thailand, from July 2-7.

Maung was among the displaced Karen who fled to and settled in Mae Sot on the border between Thailand and Myanmar.

Since 1949, the Karen people, an ethnic minority group in Myanmar, have been fighting for an independent Karen State. Hundreds of thousands of Karen and others from various ethnic groups have been killed in the conflict and many Karen have fled across the border into Thailand.

In February 1989, five months after escaping Myanmar, Maung established the Mae Tao Medical Clinic with a staff of six in a dilapidated building in Mae Sot. In the early days, she sterilised her medical instruments in a rice cooker. At its original location, the clinic was frequently affected by natural disasters such as floods. It has since relocated to a safer building.

The clinic was opened in response to the prevalence of infectious and other diseases such as malaria and pneumonia in Mae Sot and other refugee camps. It received support from Baptists in Thailand and elsewhere, the Karen and residents of Mae Sot.

Using donated medical supplies, the malaria epidemic was brought under control. Trauma victims with gunshot wounds and injuries from land mines received treatment, as well as those who needed maternity care and HIV counselling.

By 2003, the clinic was treating more than 42,000 patients per year and had a staff that included six doctors, 86 health workers, 150 other medical and administrative staff members and 20-40 international volunteers per year. 

The clinic, which now has a staff of more than 600, delivers up to 15 babies per day and fits 250 new and replacement prosthetic limbs each year. It treats between 300 and 400 patients daily, or up to 150,000 annually, including refugees, migrant workers and locals.

In addition to medical treatments, the Mae Tao Medical Clinic trains medical interns, nurses and hygienists. Its social programs include feeding more than 500 people twice each day.

Maung's clinical interests in obstetrics and women's reproductive health have broadened to include issues of domestic violence and human rights.

More than 50 nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), international organisations, educational institutions and individual donors have supported the clinic and its programs.

Maung, the fourth of eight children, was born into a Baptist Karen family near the city of Moulmein, Myanmar, in 1959. "Dr. Cynthia Maung is a woman of faith who has committed her life selflessly for the welfare of the poor and oppressed," the BWA Executive Committee was told." She is a member of the the Kawthloolei Karen Baptist Churches and involved with the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation women's work."

She entered the Institute of Medicine II in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), the medical school in which Karen, Mons, Arakanese and other minority students in Myanmar are concentrated.

After graduating medical school in 1985, she worked in a private maternity clinic in Bassein, operated by her great-aunt, a nurse, in the beginning of her specialization in obstetrics and gynaecology. She left that facility and worked at a clinic in the village of Eaim Du to be near her ill mother. Political crisis and unrest in the country in 1988 led to her and others fleeing.

Maung had previously received the Jonathan Mann Award, sponsored by Swiss and US health organizations, in 1999; Southeast Asia's Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2002; the Sydney Peace Prize in 2013; and the South Korean POSCO TJ Park Prize in 2015. She was named one of Time magazine's Asian Heroes in 2003.

Source: BUV News

Baptcare’s Sanctuary community recently opened a stunning exhibition at the Darebin Arts & Entertainment Centre, featuring artwork completed by some of the residents in art therapy sessions over the past 12 months.  

The exhibition, titled “Journeys of Hope”, showcases the stories of immense survival, resilience and determination of the residents at our Preston and Brunswick Sanctuary care. 

Art therapy has been an important part of the approach to caring for residents who are currently seeking asylum in Australia and coping with the hardships of being in a new country. The weekly sessions held on site allowed residents to express and explore their emotions through the universal language of art and visualise their experiences in a safe a nurturing environment

Source: BUV News