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Humanitarian visits St John’s

Humanitarian visits St John’s
Sean Car

Southbank’s local Lutheran church St John’s Southgate was paid a special visit by the Australian Lutheran World Service’s (ALWS) community action manager Jonathon Krause on Sunday, June 3.

Having recently returned from working in refugee camps in Djibouti and Kenya in Africa, Mr Krause shared stories from his travels and insights into working with the overseas aid agency.

Working in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya bordering the conflict-affected region of South Sudan, Mr Krause told of his experience assisting some of the camp’s 183,000 refugees, 70 per cent of who were children.

He said that while ALWS dealt with a range of areas in crisis management, one of its biggest areas of focus was educating chilldren affected by trauma.

“What we find is that education is the best way to help kids recover from trauma because they get into a routine,” he said. “Every morning they get a cup of hot porridge which is their best meal for the day.”

“They make friends, have fun and think that life can be normal again. On average people are at the camp for about 17 years. Only one per cent get resettled every year so it’s a lifetime for some.”

The ALWS help communities in developing countries in Africa and around the world and depend on public support to continue its important work. For more information or to donate visit alws.org.au

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