PHILIPPINES HOUSING PROJECT
Many shanty homes on Tondo Dump (Manila) are unsafe, collapse, and are constructed from plastic bags and recycled rubbish. Recent flooding has increased the need for building repair and, in some cases, reconstruction.
The January Links team got their hands dirty building and our partner charity, Philippine Christian Foundation (PCF), employed local carpenters to work alongside them. Thanks to the team and generous Links donors, thirteen families now live in a clean, safe environment.
Erlinda and Edgar Garganera have seven children. Two of their children are are married, three study at the PCF School in Tondo, and two help run their mum's Sari-Sari store.
Elinda's store generates a daily income of 200 pesos (£2.80) and Edgar sells fish and earns an average daily income of 300 pesos (£4.20). Sadly, both Erlinda and Edgar have tuberculosis so cannot always work. They are undergoing treatment but this, in addition to limited income, has made saving for materials to fix their home, virtually impossible.
The family home was originally created out of diilapidated materials and was incredibly small. Reconstruction and an extension means they can now sleep comfortably without fear of rain and flooding. The Garganera family are grateful and see this as a start to a new and better life.
Interested in practically helping others? Register today to join a Links Trip.
LIFEWATER FILTER KITS
One of the projects that we are very excited about at the moment are the LifeWater Filter Kits. A £30/$50 investment provides a community, school, church or extended family with clean water for more than a year. In a world where daily the equivalent of 25 Jumbo Jets full of children die for lack of clean water, this is an affordable, low-tech answer to one of the biggest challenges of modern day healthcare.
The beauty of this highly effective weapon against waterborne disease, sickness and diarrhoea is that it is ideal even in the most demanding circumstances. Recently we were able to have a study of the ceramic filters carried out at government level in Uganda; all of the test results came back positive, showing reduction in dysentery and diarrhoea of more than 80%. The tests concluded that these filters are ‘an effective point-of-use intervention for reducing E-Coli and diarrhoea in African households.'
Based on these highly positive studies we then tested the filters in a number of various situations and diverse geographic locations from rural African villages to urban Indian towns to villages in the Amazon Rainforest. Added to the tremendous health benefits that come from drinking clean water, the social benefits can also be profound, leading to children spending more time in school and adults spending more time at work. Absenteeism, due to sickness in one African school in which clean water kits were installed, immediately dropped from more than 45% to less than 5%.
The clean water kits have been developed as a simple to use, low cost way of providing clean and safe drinking water to those who currently have no such supply. It can be used to convert almost any locally available plastic containers into a highly effective water filter unit.
The kits filter out >99.99% of all harmful bacteria and microns.
They are simple to use with no specialist knowledge required to set up or maintain. They are compatible with most locally available plastic containers. You simply pour untreated water in the top and receive clean drinking water from the tap.
Another great benefit of these particular filters is that no electricity is needed, making them effective anytime and anywhere. There is no need to boil water for drinking, which can help to prevent deforestation where fuel is scarce.
Unlike most other attempts to tackle this issue these filters do not need chemicals. No one likes to drink a chemical cocktail. When safe water tastes good people are more likely to drink in greater quantities, preventing sickness and dehydration.
The filters also have a long life and when the time comes for them to be replaced we can do so for approximately £10/$16 a time. The filter surface can be scrubbed clean to prolong life (12 - 18 months depending on water quality), making the kit cost effective.
All the components fit into one small box, making it cheap and easy to transport and distribute.
Links has distributed LifeWater Filter Kits to communities in 20 countries and are about to send 100 to India and Peru.
Click here to download our Project Policy
Worship CD - Encounter Worship 3
Encounter Worship is a compilation of contemporary worship. Across the CD are eighteen tracks that soundtrack the story of thousands of believers - songs of faith and devotion that are helping to define a generation..
Book - ‘Revolutionizing Faith’ by John Arnott
For the past 10 years John and Carol Arnott have embarked upon a journey of faith far exceeding their wildest expectations. During that time there have been many challenges - personal, relational, financial - that have stretched them and led them to believe God for more than ever before.
In this challenging book, John Arnott reveals the lessons God has taught him about faith over the last decade and shares insights that, put into practice, will revolutionize your faith!
Teaching - Stuart Bell: Your Race in Life - Keep on Keeping on.
In this inspiring teaching Stuart Bell who leads the growing network of churches called Ground Level, teaches about the importance of longevity and finishing well.
Thanks...
Many thanks for the parcel that arrived yesterday. We are always encouraged to receive the parcels and to make good use of them - how many times we have said that one or other ( or more than one at a time) have been so appropriate to our situation at that precise moment. So thank you for the continued inspiration.France
Your package arrived yesterday, so I haven’t examined all of it just yet. We will be doing so in the spare moments we have in the next week. Once again, we are glad of the titles in English to provide a library facility at Berea Bible college for the Training For Life students next spring.
Tanzania
Thanks so much for all the books and teaching. The CD teaching was a great blessing, the Stuart Bell-Your Race in LIfe Keep On Keeping On was great blessing and the DVD Worship encounter, I love it very much. Thanks also for the book Revolutionizing Faith by John Arnott. Thanks so much, I will share some of the books with my co-pastors.
Philippines