Compassion Day
Sponsor A Child
Ninefourone FM to give hope to the hungry
When Compassion Day kicks off in the middle of May each year, we are there. This year it’s about giving Australians the opportunity to give hope to the hungry. Compassion Day is an annual event where we and 41 other Christian radio stations join with Compassion Australia to help change the lives of 1500 children living in poverty. From 6 am until 10 pm on Thursday 14 May, the hotline will be open and the airwaves buzzing as we attempt to find sponsors for 1500 children in desperate need.
As this Compassion Day marks our 10th anniversary, we want to bring hope to the hungry by focusing on Ethiopia and Bangladesh – two of the countries hardest by the current global food crisis, an epidemic that is forcing millions more people into extreme poverty.
Join with ninefourone FM and let’s see over 1500 children released from poverty in Jesus name. For more information on Compassion Day, visit www.compassionday.com.au
FEATURE STORY:
BANGLADESH
Ajun Bhuiya is only eight, but knows what it’s like to eat “rat rice” because there is no other food. Ajun is a victim of the current global food crisis.
He lives in the agricultural-rich country of Bangladesh, one of the nations most affected by the crisis. In his country, almost half of the population lives in poverty, with 40 per cent of children under five malnourished (source: World Bank).
Rice is the single most important crop and although Bangladesh exports some rice, it is also the fourth largest rice importer in the world, making the economy particularly sensitive to food price fluctuations.
As the price of rice rose over the last 12 months, a kilogram was eventually valued at more than half a day’s wage. Ajun’s family cut one meal a day from their diets to try to make the food go further. Then they stopped eating meat, fish and eggs. But still, they didn’t have enough to feed everyone.
They went without food for days at a time. In desperation, his mother and father agreed to search the rat holes for “rat rice”, a random assortment of rice that rats steal from the fields as it grows.
But Ajun is blessed because he is registered with Compassion. “Before I was registered at the Compassion project it was very hard for me,” Ajun told one of our national directors Chris Zaarour, when they met in November.
“I was hungry most nights because my parents could not afford food for me. I was too tired to play or to study. I was getting weaker every day,” he said. “Praise God for Compassion!”
~In phase one of Compassion’s global food crisis relief efforts, Ajun’s Compassion child development centre, like all in Bangladesh, increased its weekly meals from five to six to help relieve pressure on families.
But as staff delivered the food, they discovered children hoarding the food instead of eating it and when asked why, they said their families at home were starving.
In response, families like Ajun’s, received five kilograms of rice and one kilogram of lentils every week for 12 weeks to help get them through the first wave of the crisis.
We look forward to a great Compassion Day on Thursday the 14th of May. Lets change the world for a child
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