Asia and Pacific
Asia and Pacific
Sports Gift has distributed sports equipment to over 10 countries in Asia and Pacific. Some countries in this region of the world have faced devastating natural disasters in the last several years including earthquakes and tsunamis. Below are some of the stories from the Asia and Pacific region during 2010 and 2009:
2010
Fiji
Partner Organization: Mission at Natuvu Creek
Items Donated: 160
Children Impacted:
150+
This gift of sports equipment
included footballs, uniforms, basketballs, volleyballs and coaching supplies.
Rugby is the national sport in Fiji, so the children love that sport. The
program will be setting up different sport teams among the various villages.
Approximately 15 villages will compete and create better interactions and
relations.
Indonesia
Partner Organization: Sumba Foundation
Items Donated: 285
Children Impacted:
500+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, uniforms, volleyballs, footballs and playground
equipment. Sports Gift has been supporting this community on the island of
Sumba, Indonesia for over five years and our continuing donations in 2010
provided sports equipment to equip additional schools for the children in this
very poor community. Sumba is one of the poorest islands in Indonesia. The
people of Sumba live in poverty with no running water or electricity and none
of the conveniences we experience in the United States. A lack of clean water
contributes to serious health risks and disease on the island. Sumba has one
of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, where 40% of the children
die before the age of eight. 65% of the children are malnourished and half of
the children drop out of school by the fourth grade. Malaria is a major
disease on the island and in the most severe cases can leave the victim with
permanent brain damage. There are a number of schools on the island, but they
are in a state of disrepair with leaking roofs and holes in the floors.
Nepal
Partner Organization: Promise Child
Items Donated: 442
Children Impacted: 520+
This gift of soccer equipment
included uniforms, balls, goalie jerseys and related soccer equipment was given
to the Terai region of West Nepal. The children are from families that were
former slave groups, so the children have nothing. This program provides the
basic need of each child. The children live in mud huts with none of the games
or toys that American children have. Therefore, it was such a blessing to give
them the gift of soccer equipment.
Philippines
Partner Organization: International Grace Ministry
Items Donated: 1,030
Children Impacted: 750+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer uniforms, soccer cleats, t-shirts, running shoes, softballs,
bats, and other sports equipment was given to churches and orphanages in the
Philippines. Most of the areas are very poor and corrupted. The land of
Philippines has many places that are needed of support, but this program's main
goal is to teach people how to support on their own and follow God's direction.
Samoa
Partner Organization: Courts for Kids
Items Donated: 261
Children Impacted: 250+
This gift of sports equipment
included basketballs, basketball jerseys, basketball shorts, volleyballs,
warm-ups and other sports equipment was given to a very rural village in the
island nation of Samoa in the South Pacific. The program members traveled there
to build a sports court that will allow kids to play basketball and volleyball.
The community currently has a small, beat-up rugby field. Other than that, the
children have nowhere to play sports. The community is very rural and has a
strong cultural identity. However, it is also very impoverished, and there is
little opportunity for the children. Sports have been a primary avenue for
Samoan children to gain opportunity to colleges and advanced education.
Sri Lanka and India
Partner Organization: Visions Global Empowerment
Items Donated: 330
Children Impacted: 850+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, soccer uniforms, basketballs, running shoes and other
sports equipment. This program works in various communities in Sri Lanka and
India at the moment, working mostly with orphaned, internally-displaced,
war-affected, lower caste, and impoverished youth. Its operations in Sri Lanka
are in Colombo and Batticaloa mostly, and in Tamil Nadu state in India. Mostly
these are urban youth who live in basic conditions with few resources. This
program serves to educate, uplift and empower disadvantaged youth and
communities.
2009
Bangladesh
Items Donated: 315
Children
Impacted: 100+
This gift
included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats and other sports equipment.
This gift was made to an orphanage in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The program
builds playgrounds for the children and the sports equipment is being
used to provide organized sports for the children.
Fiji
Items Donated: 693
Children
Impacted: 600+
This gift of
sports equipment included footballs, uniforms, basketballs,
volleyballs and coaching supplies. Rugby is the national sport in
Fiji, so the children love that sport. The program will be setting
up different sport teams among the various villages. Approximately 15
villages will compete and create better interactions and relations.
India
Items Donated: 209
Children
Impacted: 200+
This gift of
soccer equipments, volleyballs, basketballs and playground equipment
were used to benefit the community of children and adults that is
created when they come to the hospitals in Mumbai to get treatment
for serious diseases. The hospitals in India are often able to help
treat children with chronic diseases, but the parents and family
members who accompany their children are left to live on the
surrounding streets. Due to this problem, “child centres”
have been created as a recovery area for the children and their
families. During this emotionally and physically draining time, a fun
game of soccer can mean so much. Their families can use this
equipment to distress from the heavy burden of an ill family member.
Indonesia
Items Donated: 2,022
Children
Impacted: 1,000+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, running
shoes and other sports equipment. This region experienced an
earthquake in September destroying many communities on top of the
devastating destruction of the 2004 tsunami. This program uses the
sports equipment as a way to build up the children of the community.
Indonesia
Items Donated: 181
Children
Impacted: 1,000+
This
gift of sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms,
volleyballs, footballs and playground equipment. Sports Gift has
been supporting this community on the island of Sumba, Indonesia for
over five years and our continuing donations in 2009 provided sports
equipment to equip additional schools for the children in this very
poor community. Sumba is one of the poorest islands in Indonesia.
The people of Sumba live in poverty with no running water or
electricity and none of the conveniences we experience in the United
States. A lack of clean water contributes to serious health risks
and disease on the island. Sumba has one of the highest infant
mortality rates in the world, where 40% of the children die before
the age of eight. 65% of the children are malnourished and half of
the children drop out of school by the fourth grade. Malaria is a
major disease on the island and in the most severe cases can leave
the victim with permanent brain damage. There are a number of
schools on the island, but they are in a state of disrepair with
leaking roofs and holes in the floors.
Myanmar
Items Donated: 151
Children
Impacted: 50+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms and playground
equipment. This equipment was given to the Wa orphanage in Lashio,
Myanmar. The population is 100,000 and the per capita annual income
is less than $1,900. The average working wage is just $1.00 per day.
Myanmar
Items Donated: 28
Children
Impacted: 100+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls and playground equipment. The
communities in the delta region of Myanmar (formerly Burma) were torn
apart by cyclones and now don’t have much. This program will
use the sports equipment as an outreach tool to children and their
families.
Philippines
Items Donated: 745
Children
Impacted: 300+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats,
volleyballs, basketballs, tennis equipment, running shoes and other
equipment. The villages of Carcer, Cebu are located in central
Philippines. The islands of Tawi-Tawi are located in the southern
Philippines and consist of about 300 small islands. The goal of this
program is to provide humanitarian aid such as educational, medical
and athletic, assistance to impoverished and disadvantaged people. This sports
equipment will be donated to schools and sports teams in the local
villages. 90% of the people in this area live in poverty. Fishing
and farming are the source of income for most. Most sports teams in
the area have little to no equipment.
Samoa
Items Donated: 1,357
Children
Impacted: 1,000+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer equipment, basketball and volleyball
equipment, running shoes, t-shirts and warm ups. After the tsunami
hit Samoa, many homes were destroyed, lives lost and belongings went
missing. This is being used to rebuild the morale of the children
through sports and provide them with toys they lost in the tsunami.
The living conditions were bad before the tsunami but now they are at
an all time low. Many schools, fields etc were destroyed. The gift of
equipment went to the villages where the children have nothing or
very little left after the tsunami.