ADV Reliant and School for Children with Disabilities
Now that the holidays are over, the work keeps progressing. We were invited to tour the ADV Reliant. It is a ship that has been commissioned by Australia for Humanitarian work in the South Pacific Area. It started with an hour of zumba on the helicopter pad. It was really fun! Then we had a tour of the ship. Wow, it was amazing. It has technology that allows it to stay in one place without using an anchor. It can go almost everywhere, but it moves slowly. So if a natural disaster occurs, it might take it too long to offer relief. However, it was currently transporting two donated fire engines to two different countries. The captain said he wants to be more than a cargo ship, so when they reach port he tries to host activities that get the different humanitarian groups together. After the tour 3 organizations gave presentations about disaster relief.
(1) New Zealand Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade - MFAT,
(2) Kiribati Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change-DDRMCC
(3) Australia High Commission in Kiribati DFAT
Australia is building a warehouse to put supplies to be used for disaster relief. We were able to talk to them afterwards about helping them supply this warehouse. We will meet with them next week. The Kiribati Red Cross and were also invited. They each made a point to talk to us about funding as well. We were very positive in our response and gave them our card with our contact information. So far, they have not contacted us. Unfortunately, this is fairly typical.
Cool story: We were at the dental clinic waiting for the solar company to come. I look up and I see Keith walking across the soccer field. I/m thinking, "Where's he going?" Then shrug my shoulders. Keith gets all the way to the parking lot where he meets a senior service missionary couple. They tell Keith that they have been working with the school for disabled children helping them set up volunteers from the church to go in and help them. The school is seeking funding.. They knew there were humanitarian missionaries in country, but didn't know how to find them. Was it a coincidence that we just happen to be at the same place at the same time? I don't think so.
Anyway, the four of us met with the school leadership. I love them!! They are such good people who love these special needs children. They are working so hard, And you can just feel the passion they have for these children of God. They are wanting a school bus with a wheelchair lift. Currently, the children are lifted out of their wheelchair (if they have one) and are placed in the back of a pick up truck where another special needs child holds on to them. Obviously, this is not very safe. But it is the best they have right now. As per our style, we left them with a charge to find the vehicle they want and get us a quote. This is not an easy task. I sure hope they find what they want.
Comments
Post a Comment