Each year the Youth and Children's Board of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland asks its Sunday Schools and youth groups to generously support its specially chosen project. This year the project is called 'Helping Hands' and the money raised will go to assist the Christian Church in Sumba to develop its ministry on the island through capital investment, community empowerment and skills training.
Sumba is an island in the South East of Indonesia with a land area roughly equivalent to the size of Northern Ireland but with a population of only 500,000. It is a country of stark contrasts, one of which is its weather. The east of the island is dry and hot and has a nine month dry season whereas the west by contrast is wet most of the year.
There are further contrasts in the social structure of the society there. Within the various clan groups on the island social relations are significantly stratified with royal, noble, middle and slave classes still existing in many areas. Slaves are bound to their nobles for their work, marriages and livelihoods. While the introduction of Christianity has brought freedom to many slaves, they are often uneducated and without any means to support themselves or their families. As a consequence many choose to stay with their nobles while others, through the support of the Church and other social groups endeavour to live a free life.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland aims to help Sumba in three main areas: health care, provision for Sunday Schools and youth work.
Health equipment that would be taken for granted in this country is often unavailable in Sumba. The Lindimara Christian Hospital urgently needs an x-ray machine and the cost of this, including installation and training is approximately £40,000. The money raised will be put towards this machine and will also support the expansion of the 'hospitals without walls' programme. This aims to provide primary health care, medicines, sanitation advice and malaria prevention techniques - e.g. the distribution of mosquito nets in rural areas via local congregations.
The second strand of the project is to provide materials and equipment for Sunday Schools. The Church in Sumba has begun the process of a substantial review and revamp of its Sunday Schools which will take place over at least three years. It is hoped that the project will assist in the identification of the real needs of Sunday Schools in rural and urban areas. Once needs are known, 'Helping Hands' will support the development, production, purchase and translation of an appropriate curriculum, as well as supplying basic materials and equipment. Training will also be necessary to help teachers use the new curriculum.
The third aspect of 'Helping Hands' is to assist in the area of youth work. Issues involving the youth on the island are far-reaching and complex. Unemployment and disillusionment are prominent. The Church in Sumba hopes that the project can assist them in the development of a fully operational and sustainable youth centre. It is planned that this centre will help promote spiritual development; provide youth leadership training for congregational and Presbytery youth leaders; skills training in small business development and also address other relevant social and environmental issues as they arise e.g. HIV/AIDS awareness, violence to women etc.
Mervyn McCullagh from Adelaide Road congregation in Dublin is currently working in Sumba on behalf of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. He plans to lecture at STIE Kriswina, the College of Economics in Waingapu and hopes to be involved in extending the college's services to rural communities. Mervyn will also be engaged in developing youth involvement in community issues.
Issued by Sarah Harding, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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