act for peace works to reduce extreme poverty with our local partners

We focus on:

• Education
• Health of village paramedics
• HIV/AIDS 
• Emergency medical supplies
• Literacy
• Birth assistance
• Teaching
• Training of health workers
• Skills training
• Water and sanitation
• Agricultural sustainability projects
• Food security

These practical initiatives provide our partners with the basic necessities of life. Below is an example of some of our programs:

Health

Focusing on health is vital for reducing poverty .act for peace works with local partners on a range of health programs from basic health care services to targeted HIV/AIDS programs. The basic health care service work includes:

• health care to more than 21,000 families in Gaza as well as in-service training for women
• health care of refugees in 103 camps in the Indian southern state of Tamil Nadu. People attend regular medical camps where they access advice about disease prevention and diagnosis, health awareness education, and supplementary feeding to children under 14 years old
• training 2,628 village doctors in rural China to improve health care and proficiency of other village health workers
• medical supplies for people in the areas surrounding Khartoum, Sudan
• training of traditional birth attendants in Bangladesh and 20 remote villages in Mozambique to increase the rate of hygienic and safe delivery of babies and to increase awareness of reproductive health. Hospitals are distant from these villages.

The Solomon Islands health program aims to bring a holistic approach to development through the church’s extensive network at the grass-roots level and to see communities transformed and individuals experiencing positive changes in living conditions. A training program supports community volunteers who promote good health practices, HIV awareness, and village hygiene projects.

One of the greatest challenges still facing the world is the spread of HIV/AIDS. While the threats posed by HIV/AIDS have been universally acknowledged for a long time, there is now a growing consensus on what needs to be done to halt its spread. For instance the world’s most distinguished economists who form the Copenhagen Consensus believe that the highest priority or "smartest" investment for the international community is in halting the spread of HIV/AIDS.

act for peace works with a number of partners on HIV/AIDS programs such as the Makeni Centre in Lusaka, Zambia which performs HIV/AIDS testing, training of church and community leaders concerning AIDS, and caring for those affected and infected with the pandemic. act for peace also works with regional partners such as the All Africa Conference of Churches and the Pacific Conference of Churches on facilitating church leaders across those regions to attend HIV/AIDS training in specialist places such as the Makeni Centre.

Water and Food Security

act for peace works with partners on a range of water and food security programs. While water is a huge concern in Australia, it is even more of a concern in Africa. The African water programs, in which act for peace was involved, included:

• constructing wells in remote areas, such as in communities in Zambia and Ethiopia. For instance, in Gelegu, north-western Ethiopia, previously only contaminated water was available from a river approximately seven kilometres away. With potable water available health and living conditions have improved. Water is also being made available for domestic use as well as for small-cultivated plots
• increasing water security such as in the Massengena area of Mozambique to provide potable water for household use, to save women much time in having to walk long distances for water, and to improve the health of the community. Water committees are trained to maintain water points
• introducing communities to agricultural techniques for food security and nutritional benefits, such as in the Gode area of the Ogaden (Ethiopia). Being nomadic by nature, the program assists beneficiaries in the move towards a settled agricultural culture.

act for peace also assists the people of Zimbabwe have been victims of conflict and poverty for decades. The average life expectancy of a Zimbabwean is the lowest in the world with an estimation that women and men will only live to 37 years of age. 25% of the country’s 13 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS and due to ongoing political instability, food shortages and constant human rights abuses, the citizens require dedicated support.

act for peace has a long-standing partnership with the Zimbabwean Council of Churches (ZCC) based on dignity, knowledge sharing and mutual respect and we strive to assist with rainwater harvesting programs to combat the extreme poverty felt by the people in arid regions of Zimbabwe. Over the past twelve years more than 2000 household rainwater tanks have been constructed which have provided improved water resources to more than 10,000 people.

Education

Education is another essential part of reducing extreme poverty and will be a major focus for act for peace in 2008/2009. act for peace works with overseas partners on a range of education programs, including:

• community-based literacy work in the Solomon Islands targeting communities that do not have access to any literacy programs. The people of the Solomons Islands have the lowest literacy rate in the Pacific and these programs are the most effective way for women to gain literacy skills. The program develops local resources and aims to enrol 1,000 new students
• providing in Namibia early childhood teacher training, curriculum preparation, and English studies for teachers, students and workers (English is now the trade language). The program also teaches adults to read and write in their native language
• education and literacy teacher-training in the Philippines, as well as health and nutrition education for children and the elderly
• technical and leadership training seminars to workers in regions outside Rangoon, Burma

skills training in 30 villages in all regions of Egypt. The program works from the ground up as villagers recognise and state their own needs. Trained field workers then work with the village on what they have identified, usually income generating projects, training of health workers, pre and post natal care, literacy, planting trees and clean up campaigns.

Rainwater Harvesting in Zimbabwe