Chipping in to Help Vanuatu Eye Care Crisis

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19 August, 2018

For 18 years, Living Faith Church has supported Don and Meg MacRaild develop the Vanuatu Prevention of Blindness Program (VPBP). Vanuatu is the poorest nation in the pacific, and the people just don't have access to the level of medical care and diagnosis that we do in Australia. VPBP helps in identifying and treating preventable and treatable blindness, and has been doing so since it's inception. Through our support of this project, among other trips and connections, our relationship with the Church in Vanuatu has grown deeper and deeper.

This year, we learned that the aid money that provided the wages for the eight trained workers employed by VPBP was cut completely by the Australian Government. Aussie Aid is now at its lowest since World War 2!

Because of this, a number of Australian churches, including ours, have been invited to provide a month’s income for all eight specialists. This is only $5,000 Australian dollars! LFC Church Council was delighted to provide one months’s support on behalf of it’s members. It is hoped that new glasses making machinery will make this health service self-sufficient within 6-8 months.

To date, another church has provided another month. We will keep you informed about developments.

You can find out more about the Vanuatu Prevention of Blindness Program here!

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- The monthly Tucker Club, supplied meals and conversation to people in hardship. But Covid stopped this and it is not known if it will resume.

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- LFC has provided Working with Children training to help ensure a safe environment.

- The church takes part in the annual Safe Water September campaign to fund new wells in developing countries.

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