A Future of Hope.

ADVENT APPEAL

Wontulp-Bi-Buya College in North Queensland supports the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander church and community leaders through study programs leading to awards in theology, suicide prevention, addictions management and community development. The College provides culturally grounded training, led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Wontulp is a transforming community that empowers people with the faith, vision and skills, and to be effective in building up their people, their church and their community.

Nungalinya College, based in Darwin, serves over 300 remote Indigenous students, most of whom are both church leaders and Elders with responsibilities in their own cultures. Indigenous Elders continually comment that they go there to grow in their faith, to be refreshed and renewed to go back home and continue to serve their people.

CHRISTMAS GIFT APPEAL

Our Kenyan Sustainable Livelihoods Project builds disability inclusion as communities work to improve their livelihoods and address the impacts of climate change.

In the village of Kiangini in Eastern Kenya, Ndeto lives with a deteriorating mental disability. He has always been completely dependent on his mother, Mutuli, for support. But since our Sustainable Livelihoods Project came to his village, he has joined a “Disabled Support Group” and was linked to the National Council of People Living with Disabilities. Mutuli says, “Ndeto qualified for a beneficiary card which enables him to be receive treatments for his condition. And during the lockdown period, we received government support of 2000 shillings (about $25). This boosted our living because I could afford to buy food and other local support for the household.”

Our Gender Equality Project supports women in Eastern Zambia to rebuild their lives, as well as working to end child marriage and empower local communities to prevent and address gender-based violence.

Dinah (not her real name) is a survivor of gender-based violence. After leaving her abusive marriage, she requested a plot of land from the local leaders but lacked the funds to farm it properly. She then joined a Savings with Education group of other women survivors organised as part of our Gender Equality Project. “I was allocated a grant of 200 kwacha (about $16) to develop my land. I felt my prayers had been answered. I managed to buy 30 chickens and later got a loan from the group which enabled me to buy a barber machine, hair dryer and blower. I hope I can now cease to be a burden on my elderly parents”, says Dinah.