Changing Lives Cards . org

New projects

2008-11-03T20:44:00.003Z

Our immediate plans are as follows:

To raise funds for a power take off attachment for the tractor which will produce some electricity. This could then be used for some power tools. We would also like to buy a trailer for the tractor so that it can be used to transport crops more easily.

We had talked of sending another container to Fizi, this time loaded with practical items such as bicycles, more sewing machines, garden tools, solar panels etc etc. Georges was able to buy a 30' truck which was much better value than buying a container, and we are now collecting suitable items to send out.

Please contact us if you have anything suitable. Hand/treadle sewing machines would be especially valuable. Things do not need to be new but must be in good condition and good working order.

Who have we helped?

2008-11-03T20:37:00.003Z

All the people who benefit from Changing Lives are known to us, either personally or through a contact we trust.

The work in Fizi, DR Congo remains very much in our hearts and we anticipate supporting and encouraging this work in the long term.

We remain in touch with two Burmese refugees and one of these has been resettled to Norway. She comes to stay most holiday times, and we are able to visit her from time to time. Her teenage sister needed heart surgery, and Changing Lives was able to give a portion of the fees necessary for her operation. She has received treatment and is making good progress.

We continue to support a Burmese man who was paralysed as the result of a broken neck. He has been in a rehabilitation centre in the north of Thailand and is likely to remain there for the foreseeable future.

Fizi: The children

2008-11-03T20:31:00.003Z

The poverty in Fizi is overwhelming. It is like stepping back in time for hundreds of years. Life is basic and very hard. Everywhere we went people were asking for help. But our objective was to help communities rather than individuals. We had taken £200 worth of sports equipment in our luggage and this was handed over to the Headmaster of the local school. We held a fun morning - a rather crazy affair with what seemed like hundreds of children! But our prayer is that the sports equipment will provide a good outlet for their energy and that it will, in its own way, bring a measure of healing to children who have suffered so much in their young lives.

Fizi: Sewing Project

2008-11-03T20:19:00.004Z

In February 2008 Georges, Lydia and Margaret travelled together, firstly to Bujumbura in Burundi where they visited some of the places which had been mentioned in Valley of the Shadow - the true story of Georges and Lydia's own traumatic experiences. Whilst in Bujumbura they went shopping for sewing machines, with money which had been given through Changing Lives. They were able to buy 5 machines.

Their luggage allowance with the airline had been a generous 45kg each, and now that they had sewing machines, rolls of cloth and water filters, they were extremely well laden. The journey into DR Congo proved to be very expensive, as 'white woman' plus luggage gave the impression of wealth, and this was exploited at every check point.

However, they finally made it into Fizi and a sewing workshop has now been established. Changing Lives paid the rent for 6 months in advance and also paid for a work table to be made. It is virtually impossible to buy anything, and for the ladies to set up a business when they had no particular skills was a huge challenge.

Changing Lives has continued to support them through this year while they 'find their feet'. They now have a tailor working on the project and he is training some ladies in the sewing skills. We have also been able to allocate some money for an over-locking machine which they will buy in Burundi.

The range now

2008-10-28T14:51:00.004Z

With a current stock of 3000+ there is plenty to choose from! Birthday cards for ladies and men: an exciting range for children of all ages with novelty features such as unusual rubbers, puzzles and much more. There are cards for special birthdays.... 'get well', 'thank you', sympathy, engagement, wedding, anniversary, birth congratulations including those for new grandparents. Other cards are left blank for your own message.

Each card is made by hand and is an act of love. Nothing is taken for administration or labour. All profit goes to the various humanitarian and development projects that we are involved in around the world.

There are just 5 people making cards and each one of the team has their own other responsibilities and pressures. In the 3 years since we began we have been able to take the lead in funding a second-hand tractor for DR Congo and in addition another £11,000 has been given to other projects.

A small range of crafts are now also emerging. A particularly popular item is that of hand painted tea light holders made by Anne.

The beginning

2008-10-28T14:38:00.005Z

It was one of those defining moments in life. Somewhere in the air on a flight back from Thailand, a desperate cry went up as a prayer to God. How can I make a difference? Peter and Margaret Gee had been visiting their daughter who was working as a doctor on the Thai/Burma border, and the degree of suffering faced by so many people was overwhelming. As the long flight continued I began to think of the photos in my camera, and wondered about using some of them to make some cards.

We had walked along the bank of the River Kwai and wept silently at the memories it evoked. Orchids grew in profusion and their beauty was in stark contrast to the poverty all around.

Any venture needs to start somewhere, but we cringe at some of our early attempts! However, we have learnt so much by trial and error, and with each member of the team bringing new ideas and skills, the ideas began to develop.

Our catchphrase 'buy a card, change a life!' remains true. One pound here may not buy much, but in the developing world it is a lot of money.

Fizi: The Tractor

2008-10-24T19:26:00.007+01:00

Fizi is an area in the eastern DR Congo, where we have contacts through our friends Georges and Lydia. Their personal story of love, separation, survival and faith amid the tragedy of war-torn Africa is told in the book Valley of the Shadow by Margaret Gee with Georges and Lydia (www.valleyoftheshadow.co.uk)

Three years ago some local chiefs in the area donated a large area of land for development, and an agricultural project was started there, affectionately known as 'The Farm'. There has been significant progress, especially considering that the work has all been done by hand. Fizi is an area of great poverty. There is no electricity, no piped water, no sanitation, no postal system and no phone system. A few villages along the main road have a single water tap, but in other places the people walk perhaps a kilometer or more to collect water of dubious quality. Many people wash in Lake Tanganyika and drink the same water.

It was felt that a second hand tractor would be a tremendous asset, but it seemed a huge challenge for a small team like us. However, we reckoned without God! During 2007 we watched in awe as God touched the hearts of people to give to this project. Day after day the post brought cheques; people knocked on the door saying that God had told them to come, and some of these we had not seen for many years! It was a remarkable and humbling experience! The tractor was shipped from the UK at the end of 2007 with an estimated arrival in Fizi in early February. It finally arrived in August!

We have contacts in Fizi who we trust, and one of these, Mutunzi, was taking the lead on our behalf to get the tractor project working efficiently. It was with great sadness, therefore, that we heard of Mtunzi's sudden death in September as a result of complications from diabetes. When his colleagues have completed their time of official mourning they will consider who might be the best person to take over from him, but for the moment we continue to pray for them as they grieve.

Beneficiaries

2007-01-29T14:19:00.000Z

Since Changing Lives began, we have been able to give away over £2000. A number of Burmese people have benefited:

Kyaw Maung (pronounced ‘Cho Mong’) who is paralysed as the result of a broken neck. Carolyn was the first doctor to treat him and subsequently arranged for him to be transferred to a Christian rehabilitation centre in the north of Thailand. Formerly a Buddhist, he has now found a faith in God. We continue to support Kyaw Maung through letters, personal gifts, prayers and on-going financial support. A particular need is for regular sponsorship as he will need care for the foreseeable future. He has no family of his own.
A Burmese teenager who needs urgent heart surgery has also received our help. Her surgery is due to take place within the next few weeks.
Other Burmese refugees who were in particular need have also received help from us. They are known personally to us and their situation was genuine.

We have also been able to give a donation towards the hospital ship ‘Africa Mercy,’ and to the specialist fistula hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

How we began

2007-01-29T14:12:00.000Z

It is exactly two years since Pete and I went to Thailand to visit our daughter Carolyn, who was working there as a doctor with one of the medical agencies. Based on the Thai/Burma border, her work took her deep into the Burmese jungle to visit some of the remote clinics. From Carolyn’s work, we began to learn a little of the oppression under which these people live, and their desperate struggle simply to survive.

On the plane coming home I knew that I had been changed forever. I had been overwhelmed by the poverty I had both seen and heard about, and was embarrassed by how much we had ourselves. Things that I had previously taken for granted now seemed such luxuries - clean water in the tap, sanitation, a roof over our heads, a change of clothes (and a wardrobe full of more), food in the fridge, education for our children, health care if we need it, and so much more. I remember feeling so helpless to make a difference, but nevertheless asking God to show me a way. On that same flight home, the idea came to start making greetings cards to sell. And so Changing Lives was born!