Eden’s Tim Bradley is begging community members to support his mission to rebuild the lives of poverty stricken children in war-torn Cambodia. He holds up a picture of five such youngsters he has helped through his work with an orphanage there.Thursday, 2 November 2006
Posted on eden.yourguide.com.au (Eden, Australia)
An old lady with a burst bladder urinates uncontrollably on the ground.
Children wander aimlessly around with broken bones protruding from their bodies at right angles.
A 72-year-old woman can barely balance with a tumour the size of a football invading her forehead.
A man walks unsteadily on crunches with half a leg missing.
Hundreds of orphans cry out for their parents who have died from the AIDS virus ...
This was what Eden resident Tim Bradley was confronted with when he went to Cambodia recently but there's hope, he said, if community members get behind his cause.
The crying of desperate, lonely and often chronically ill children and their families in poverty stricken Cambodia pulled Tim's heart strings - so much so that he vowed to help salvage their lives.
Mr Bradley has just returned from his 10th mission to the country where he is busily trying to set up a series of medical clinics, in addition to running an orphanage for children who have lost their parents to the AIDS virus.
He has also been trying to raise money to rebuild decrepit houses in slum areas, instil basic farming practices into villages - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
For Mr Bradley it's a mission to rebuild lives, not just a life-long mission.
"We really do not know how lucky we are in Australia - we have food, clean water, a roof over our heads - many of these people have nothing .. and I mean nothing," he said.
"When you see it for yourself you can understand why you just have to do something and keep on building on those things - and even then there is so much more to do."
Eden resident Allan Gibson followed in Mr Bradley's footsteps on his most recent mission.
He said his experience in Cambodia welled up a melting pot of emotions - some good, others horrific.
"I visited six years ago when Tim first went over and I was devastated by what I saw," he said.
"This time there was that same sense of devastation but because of the tremendous work of Tim and Rick it has really changed; evolved."
"What they have achieved is incredible but in order to keep it going and improve they need more funding and it would be wonderful if people in Eden could help out."
Mr Bradley and Mr Bristow have managed to - and only just - scrape together enough money to run the orphanage, which looks after 18 children, as well as Sunshine House, which is (in terms) a halfway house for children who have left the orphanage. Not to mention the two medical clinics, housing project, setting up poor families in small business, encouraging agricultural practices and helping children achieve educational goals.
"Enough is never enough," Mr Gibson said.
"I believe that if people here (in Eden) saw first-hand what life was like in Cambodia they would give every spare cent they had to help Tim's mission.
"We need to go that extra step and we can."
To donate funds to support Mr Bradley's projects in Cambodia contact Allan Gibson on 6496 1414 or email gibsons@astis.net.au.
Children wander aimlessly around with broken bones protruding from their bodies at right angles.
A 72-year-old woman can barely balance with a tumour the size of a football invading her forehead.
A man walks unsteadily on crunches with half a leg missing.
Hundreds of orphans cry out for their parents who have died from the AIDS virus ...
This was what Eden resident Tim Bradley was confronted with when he went to Cambodia recently but there's hope, he said, if community members get behind his cause.
The crying of desperate, lonely and often chronically ill children and their families in poverty stricken Cambodia pulled Tim's heart strings - so much so that he vowed to help salvage their lives.
Mr Bradley has just returned from his 10th mission to the country where he is busily trying to set up a series of medical clinics, in addition to running an orphanage for children who have lost their parents to the AIDS virus.
He has also been trying to raise money to rebuild decrepit houses in slum areas, instil basic farming practices into villages - and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
For Mr Bradley it's a mission to rebuild lives, not just a life-long mission.
"We really do not know how lucky we are in Australia - we have food, clean water, a roof over our heads - many of these people have nothing .. and I mean nothing," he said.
"When you see it for yourself you can understand why you just have to do something and keep on building on those things - and even then there is so much more to do."
Eden resident Allan Gibson followed in Mr Bradley's footsteps on his most recent mission.
He said his experience in Cambodia welled up a melting pot of emotions - some good, others horrific.
"I visited six years ago when Tim first went over and I was devastated by what I saw," he said.
"This time there was that same sense of devastation but because of the tremendous work of Tim and Rick it has really changed; evolved."
"What they have achieved is incredible but in order to keep it going and improve they need more funding and it would be wonderful if people in Eden could help out."
Mr Bradley and Mr Bristow have managed to - and only just - scrape together enough money to run the orphanage, which looks after 18 children, as well as Sunshine House, which is (in terms) a halfway house for children who have left the orphanage. Not to mention the two medical clinics, housing project, setting up poor families in small business, encouraging agricultural practices and helping children achieve educational goals.
"Enough is never enough," Mr Gibson said.
"I believe that if people here (in Eden) saw first-hand what life was like in Cambodia they would give every spare cent they had to help Tim's mission.
"We need to go that extra step and we can."
To donate funds to support Mr Bradley's projects in Cambodia contact Allan Gibson on 6496 1414 or email gibsons@astis.net.au.
No comments:
Post a Comment