us all that there is good in all of us, and that we can act on that goodness in small
or large ways, every day. Please check this page regularly for new updates that are designed to uplift your spirit and inspire us all to action to make this a better world.
A licensed non-profit humanitarian and adoption agency
Focus on Children has developed our unique system of adoptions and humanitarian aid to benefit as many people as possible. This system is multi-dimensional, as through our services and activities we offer a wide range of value and benefit to all participants:
1. The orphanages, hospitals, schools etc - obtain much needed support in goods, food, education for their children, medical supplies and services.
2. The orphans - the obvious benefit here being the empowerment of a new family, a loving and nurturing environment, the opportunity for a superb education, in fact, all told....a new life.
3. Adoptive families - many of whom have been unable to have biological, but have so much love to share....many of whom already have biological children or children who have grown, but still have so much love to go around. Our families are not wealthy, they are not poor, there is not one specific ethnic background or nationality. All have a common desire and see the need these children have and want to help them, by giving of their homes, finances, families, and mostly their love.
4. Focus on Children - yes...we benefit as well! Most of us involved in FOC are adoptive parents and consequently bring empathy to the adoption process. The ability to help others realize the joy that we have come to experience through the numerous adoptions we have been involved in is too priceless to put a value on. We at FOC also find peace in helping children in need. There is most definitely significance in this work for all of us.
There is no sadder sight in the world than walking into an orphanage and smelling the pungent smells, hearing the pitiful cries and looking into the eyes of these sad children...having them maul you and beg you to take them home with you. Once experienced these are "memories" one can NEVER forget...and memories we are resolved to do something about...by serving these children to the best of our abilities.
Danalee, Karen's sister and an elementary school teacher, accompanied Karen on the trip to Romania, and after seeing the appalling conditions the children were forced to live in, became just as tenacious and determined to support and assist needy children throughout the world...resolving to work with Karen on their shared concerns and new-born purpose!
Since that time, Karen's family has added 3 Russian children to their family and Danalee and her husband adopted 2 Russian brothers, which, when combined with their 6 biological children, has enabled them to offer their love and guidance to 8 very blessed children! As a result, Focus on children was born in 1994, and has been going strong ever since!
While in Vladivostok adopting the latest 2 children to join the Bank's family, Scott Banks was faced with the startling reality of orphanage life. This experience profoundly changed his priorities. He returned home with a deep desire to aid the suffering children. After giving his spare time to help make the organization grow, Scott Banks joined Focus on Children on a full time basis in 1998. Focus on Children continues to grow and expand it's adoption and humanitarian programs!
For more information, please contact:
Coleen Bartlett
cbart@allwest.net
307-789-5871
For more information on this program, please contact:
Dellory Matthews
focusonchildren@juno.com
801-982-1420
Oxford Committee for Famine Relief
The group then decided to work to support people all over the world, who were suffering because of wars or for other reasons. Oxfam is now one of the main aid agencies in Great Britain. We have programmes in more than 70 countries where we work with local people to change their lives for good. We are part of Oxfam International, which has branches in 11 countries in the world, including the USA, the Netherlands, Germany and Canada.
Oxfam's aim is to get rid of poverty - everywhere. Mission Impossible? We don't think so.
For more than fifty years, we have been helping poor communities to make lasting improvements to their lives. Oxfam provides advice, training, and resources. The communities we work with provide solutions and hard work. Oxfam's aim is a simple one: to work with others to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering.
We believe that there is no excuse for poverty in the 21st century. Our world has enough food and other resources for everyone. If these were shared out more fairly, there would be no need for much of the suffering we see or hear about today.
Facts about poverty
Every year around 17 million people die from diseases which could be treated.
80% of all illness in the world is caused by dirty drinking water.
Nearly one in three people in the world cannot read or write.
190 million 10 to 14-year-olds in the developing world have to work.
How do we tackle these issues?
In many different ways, and with help from many different people. We have programmes in more than 70 countries. We work with local people to improve their lives. Together we might, for example, train health workers, set up schools or safeguard water supplies. We respond to emergencies, providing food and shelter for people driven from their homes by floods, hurricanes and conflict. We speak up on behalf of poor people to governments and powerful organizations. We encourage people to speak up for themselves and change their lives for the better.
Oxfam believes that everyone can make a difference – and that includes you. With Oxfam, you can play an important part in making the world a fairer place.
Become a global citizen
Learn about other countries, especially countries you don't know much about. Think about how how we can all learn from each other to make the world a better and a fairer place.
You could also read books and newspapers or talk to people from different parts of the world. You could contact organizations which help to achieve the kind of things you would like to see happen. Everyone has a contribution to make.
Raise money or volunteer for a good cause
Select something you personally care about deeply and contact an organization that provides help in that area and ask what you can do to help.
Fair Trade
Fair Trade makes sure that people who produce foods and crafts are paid a fair price for their work. Support Fair Trade: buy fair trade goods and crafts wherever you see them on sale. Look out for the Fairtrade Mark to guide you to fairly traded foods, and ask local supermarkets to stock more of these products.
To find out more about Oxfam and what projects they are currently involved in,
check their website at:
This man truly cares, his heart burns for the needy, and he comes from a place of deep relation with those that are suffering. His own history is that of a child whose mother attempted a self-abortion, but he survived and had a very difficult childhood, and eventually "found" God, or was found by Him. He has passed on his compassion, feeding literally tens of millions of meals to the starving in his lifetime, with his own hand.
Some of James Robison's programs are:
Many humanitarian relief operations display one glaring flaw. They provide temporary help and alleviate some of the immediate suffering, but then pull out, leaving afflicted people with the same problems that created their crisis situation.
LIFE Outreach avoids that shortcoming with its strategy of establishing "LIFE Centers" in troubled regions. These facilities ensure that assistance will continue long enough to make a lasting difference for the people and the area.
Over the past 12 years, LIFE Outreach International has been credited with saving the lives of more than 5 million children in southern Africa.
Yet tragically, the enormous need continues. Each day, thousands of children and their families pour into our relief stations looking for a meal . . . hoping to receive sustenance for one more day.
Water sustains the precious gift of LIFE. That's why our MISSION: WATER FOR LIFE outreach is drilling wells in some of the harshest and most desolate areas of Africa. One such well can become a fountain of life for a lifetime for a desperate African village.
When the volcano erupted in Congo, spewing molten lava on the city of Goma, LIFE's disaster relief team, led by mission partner Peter Pretorius, rushed in critical supplies to help. Nearly half a million Congolese were impacted by the volcanic eruption. Safe, clean drinking water was a primary concern. LIFE also sent in tents, blankets, sweaters, baby diapers, water-purifying tablets and antibacterial detergents.
Reaching Out to Suffering Sudanese
LIFE, with mission partner Peter Pretorius, has provided emergency food and medicine to Christians in southern Sudan. These precious believers have been attacked literally because of their faith. More people have died because of human rights violations in Sudan than in Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo and Somalia combined. The food and supplies to Sudan are, at this very moment, making a difference. But there is still much more to be done.
including 200 million children.
Every day, 30,500 children under 5 years old die of preventable diseases resulting from
hunger.
Malnourished children are more likely to die from common childhood disease than those
who are adequately nourished.
