When Should You Stop Helping?

Six years ago I lay awake at night vexed by the question : “When should you stop helping?”. The young orphan Ruo Ruo, pictured above, suffered from a life threatening condition that needed immediate attention. She was operated on in Xining. When that failed we flew her to Shanghai. And when that surgery failed we flew her to Hong Kong. My colleagues in other organizations ‘tut-tutted’ the extravagance: all up, by the end of 2003, we had spent HK$ 500,000 to save her life. When should you stop helping?

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Through A Photographer's Lens

If you enjoy photography then this weekʼs blog post is for you!  Fourteen years ago I sent my former Senior Manager Adam Voysey to investigate the possibility of Christian Action assisting the government of Qinghai Province with its orphanage and poverty alleviation work.  The trip was so successful that this year marks our 11th anniversary of co-managing the Xining Childrenʼs Home. Today I have asked Adam, who is now a US based photographer, to share a few pictures he has taken for us over the years. Enjoy!

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Hong Kong's Refugees

A survivor of the brutal Sri Lankan conflict holds an atlas showing her former island home. She is now in Hong Kong, being helped by Christian Action.Having successfully fled the brutalities of wars in African and South Asian countries, refugees who make it to Hong Kong find themselves stranded, often for years,  while they await refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees.  They  are men, women and unaccompanied minors -  but seldom do they arrive with their family intact.   The conflict and chaos they have escaped often leave them traumatized, and because Hong Kong’s immigration laws prevent them from seeking employment here, they also suffer from economic hardships and consequently depression.  Christian Action is the only non profit organization providing Hong Kong’s refugees with a holistic range of services. We are helped by a committed group of volunteers.

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Preventing Child Abandonment

You may recall that the week before last I wrote that “Saving abandoned children and seeing them start living life to the fullest is one of the greatest thrills in my life”. There is another thing that excites me no end however, and that is seeing child abandonment being prevented in the first place. Our China staff have been doing a fantastic job at changing a longtime practice of abandoning disabled children - as the following story of Jun Jun and the sacrifices her mother made bear out.

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An Anniversary To Remember

Last week was the 60th Anniversary of the Chinese National Day.  It was such a big deal for every citizen in China and Hong Kong to watch the flag raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square featuring our present and past leaders who made China into the “Nation of the Millennium”.  There were spectacular parades and superb entertainment throughout the day.  Every patriotic Chinese was glued to a TV set. 

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