Rice Bowl 2023: Little Eden Society
EACH YEAR the ecumenical group of English speaking churches in Rome (Churches Together in Rome) join together in raising funds for a joint project during the season of Lent. This year’s chosen project is the Little Eden Society based in South Africa.
The Little Eden Society was established in 1967 in South Africa by the late Servants of God Domitilla and Danny Hyams and is licensed to operate under the Department of Health Gauteng Provincial Government and is a registered Non-profit Organisation (001-827 NPO). The founding couple have received numerous awards in recognition of their pioneering work.
The Little Eden Society was established in 1967 in South Africa by the late Servants of God Domitilla and Danny Hyams and is licensed to operate under the Department of Health Gauteng Provincial Government and is a registered Non-profit Organisation (001-827 NPO). The founding couple have received numerous awards in recognition of their pioneering work.
The Society cares for 300 children and adults with profound intellectual disabilities, ranging from three to over 70 years of age. Statistically, the average chronological age of their residents is 26 years, but the level of mental functioning is that of a one year old or younger. Of 300 residents, 71 % are previously abandoned or come from indigent families who are unable to support them financially or otherwise. Currently, it costs the Society R13 460.00 to care for one resident per month (approx. 700 euro).
The nature of the work carried out at Little Eden Society is underpinned by the three core Values of Respect, Sanctity of Life and Love & Care®. The vision and mission of the society remains, to cme for, develop and enhance the quality of life, with love and understanding from a dedicated staff, persons with intellectual disability of all races and creeds entrusted to us, by providing with trust in Divine Providence and in co-operation with the parents, the community and the State the necessary spiritual, nursing, therapy and stimulation services in as efficient and economical manner as possible.
The Society provides care to the residents at two separate locations – Domitilla and Danny Hyams Home (DDHH) in Edenvale (150 residents) and Elvira Rota Village (ERV) in Bapsfontein (150 residents). The two Homes are quite different in design and layout where DDHH caters more at the level of frail care and has a therapy programme, our ERV Home has a daily stimulation programme; and places a greater emphasis on participation in activities of daily living (ADLs).
Little Eden aims to develop persons with intellectual disabilities to their full potential and to encourage the community to recognise that each such person is whole and complete created by God with a mind, a body, a spirit, a soul.
For more information on the Society you can visit their website (https://www.littleeden.org.za/). Donations can be made directly through their website, or through St. Paul’s – by putting your donation (in a clearly marked envelope) in the Offering plate on Sundays, or by using the Tithe.ly link.
Churches Together in Rome:
All Saints’ (Church of England)
Anglican Centre in Rome (Anglican Communion)
Caravita Community (RC)
Chiesa Evangelica Metodista Via Firenze
Church of Sweden
Evangelical Lutheran Church
International Church (International Baptist Convention)
Methodist Ecumenical Office (MEOR)
Ponte Sant’Angelo Methodist Church (PSA)
Rome Baptist Church (International Baptist Convention)
Salvation Army, Rome
San Silvestro (RC)
St. Andrew’s (Church of Scotland)
St. Patrick’s (RC)
St. Paul’s (Episcopal Church)
Women at the Well
Rice Bowl Project: Lenten Season, 2022
Churches Together in Rome
Each year the Churches and organizations that form the Churches Together in Rome join forces in supporting a charitable project during the season of Lent. This year the project focuses on Women at the Well, a UK based charity offering a variety of services to vulnerable women who are caught in multiple cycles of abuse and social exclusion. The organization envisions a society in which all women are empowered to achieve their full potential free from discrimination, abuse and neglect.
Women at the Well runs a drop-in center with nutritious lunch options, alongside other basic needs such as shower and laundry facilities, weather appropriate clothes and toiletries. Support workers offer their assistance and advocate for the women on a range of issues including; housing and benefits, legal issues, immigration, problematic issues with drugs and alcohol. The organisation also offers a range of holistic therapies.
One of the women, Cindy, tells us
Where I was 4 years ago to where I am now: I was sticking needles in my arm 4 years ago, I was lying on a bus and waking up on the floor with people just stepping over me. Now it’s like looking over at a different person. I’m this side of the table now, I make my own decisions. A few years ago I couldn’t say no, but now I can. And my confidence is coming back. I didn’t have any confidence a few years ago. It was kicked out of me, knocked out of me through the domestic violence and everything.
I came here when I was low, I was in a horrible place, I’d lost my kids and I’d lost myself. I think if I hadn’t found here I wouldn’t have got them back. If it wasn’t for here I don’t know where I would have been today.
For more information on the programs offered and the stories of some of the women who have been helped, please visit their website.
Donations can be made online through St. Paul’s by using our Tithe.ly account (choose ‘Rice Bowl Project 2022’) or by using one of the gift envelopes in the church and placing it in the Offerings plate. Alternatively you can donate directly through their website (in this case please tell them your donation is part of the Rice Bowl project).
This project is supported by the Churches Together in Rome
JNRC: A Safe and Clean Space for Refugees
GoFundMe Fundraiser for JNRC CoronaVirus Response
The Joel Nafuma Refugee Center (JNRC) is a day center that welcomes 200 refugees or asylum seekers per day, around 15.000 per year, and offers vital support in their journey for protection in Italy and Europe. Almost all of our guests are fleeing armed conflict or political and religious persecution, the majority have been victims of smugglers or have been exploited by traffickers, around 70% are homeless, destitute and struggling to survive.
WE ASK FOR YOUR HELP
THROUGH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
TO SUPPORT OUR REOPENING IN SEPTEMBER 2021
To avoid the spread out of COVID-19 and to ensure individual safety to the whole local community, JNRC will offer usual assistance in total compliance with the health standards established by the Italian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Such strict health regulations will increase JNRC’s expenses by 7.500 Euros per month which means we have to raise 45.000 Euros to provide for the pressing needs of our guests. This will include a weekly professional sanification, the provision of 5.400 masks and gloves per month, disinfectant liquid and cleaning equipment to ensure six-month of humanitarian assistance.
Your generous gift will contribute to the weekly sanitization of the spaces, the distribution of individual safety equipment (masks, gloves, disinfectant) and the payment of extra personnel for cleaning. Most of all, your contribution will enable us to continue carrying out our mission. The devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic worsened the already extremely precarious living conditions of many refugees and has underscored their reliance on our service.
JNRC MISSION STATEMENT
“To accompany and assist asylum seekers from all over the world regardless of ethnicity, faith tradition, or phase of their journey for protection, integration and resettlement. By recognizing our common humanity and providing hospitality in the heart of Rome, we aim to provide a support program that encourages and empowers refugees to build new productive lives.”
JNRC PROGRAMS
Breakfast and Basic Supplies Provision, Emergency Fund Distribution, Legal Assistance and Therapeutic Support, Language and Digital Literacy Classes, Work Resettlement and Long-term Integration.
WE COUNT ON YOU
AND WE ARE EXTREMELY GRATEFUL
FOR ANY AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE YOU CAN PROVIDE
THANK YOU!
For further information contact : https://jnrc.it/who-we-are/
Out of Africa… into Malta
Rice Bowl Project: Lenten Season, 2020
Churches Together in Rome
Different national and local crises have led to many Africans leaving their homes and searching for a new place to live. In the last 18 months, well over 2,500 more have arrived on this small island country. They arrive exhausted, grieving the loss of husbands, wives or children on their journey through the Sahara, then Libya’s conflicts and across the Mediterranean to Malta.
The island which welcomed St. Paul then puts them into detention; into open centres where the tents and “cabins” (old shipping containers) breed disease in the baking heat of summer, and misery in the damp cold of winter.
In the 2000’s as the need grew the St. Andrew’s Scots Church, Malta began to respond to this need. Later the Church of Scotland and the Methodist Church, and the two parent churches of St. Andrew’s Scots Church begun to help in a small way. It has now become an organized charity run by the Church of Scotland and coordinates with the Red Cross of Malta. But as the mission project has grown, so has the vision. Out of Africa … into Malta is now looking at longer-term initiatives which will help take people out of the camps and refugee centers permanently. At the core of this vision is an effective way of multiplying the benefits of your giving.
What the project does
• Provide for their daily needs of food, clothing, and housing.
• Micro-financing for the refugees and it also hopes to offer assistance to the poorest Maltese families to create a real chance of achieving better integration among people from widely differing background and experience, but whose problems are shared.
• Provides a Community drop-in center to help people meet others and developing supportive relationships.
• Work with the Jesuit Refugee Service, providing maternity support to the many young women who arrive pregnant.
• Teaches English to improve their opportunities for employment.
• Provide a place for children to play and have fun.
This project is supported by the Churches Together in Rome