In its efforts to serve God’s children all over the world, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints engages in a variety of humanitarian projects, from educational initiatives to medical training.
Here are nine ways the Church has served people throughout Asia and Micronesia this year.
Building homes
Plans necessitating the resettlement of the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap, Cambodia, have displaced thousands of people since November 2022, the Church’s Cambodia Newsroom reported.
As of the end of May, 40 families from the two Siem Reap branches have moved to Run Ta Aek, a new village 20 to 30 kilometers away in the Banteay Srei district.
The government provided each displaced family with a plot of land, some building materials and assistance, and help transporting their current housing structures and belongings.
But the move left many Church members with little shelter from the elements.
So in February 2023, humanitarian service missionaries and local Church leaders organized a council to identify displaced Church members and fulfill their needs for permanent shelter.
The Run Ta Aek project is the first area-funded, member-focused humanitarian project in Asia, Cambodia Newsroom reported. It provides local Church members displaced from their homes with cement, brick, rebar, PVC roofing, windows doors and electrical wiring.
Serving lunches
On May 8, the Seoul Korea East Stake held a lunch box sharing service with the Guri Social Welfare Center and the Guri Love Mothers’ Volunteer Group in honor of Parents’ Day, the Church’s Korea Newsroom reported.
Eighty-five elderly people living alone and about 50 people with difficulties moving received food and lunch boxes. Volunteers also placed carnations over the hearts of elderly guests who attended the food sharing event.
Providing educational equipment
On May 2, Church leaders presented learning support and office equipment to the Bicol University Accounting Department during a ceremony at the Legazpi Philippines Stake Center, the Church’s Philippines Newsroom reported.
The donation, which is part of the Church’s ongoing initiative to support education programs worldwide, included multimedia projectors, laptops, photocopy machines, calculators and a smart TV.
Donating respiratory humidifiers
In April, the Church donated four NF5 high-flow heated respiratory humidifiers to two medical facilities in Iloilo City, Philippines, the Church’s Philippines Newsroom reported.
The Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital in Santa Barbara and the West Visayas State University Medical Center in Jaro will use the machines for treating severe respiratory cases such as COVID-19 and asthma.
The lack of medical equipment and supplies has posed significant challenges for the facilities, but the Church’s donation is a significant step to improving the quality of care, Philippines Newsroom reported.
Training doctors and midwives
From April 17 to 22, medical experts from the Church and humanitarian missionaries trained Cambodian midwives and doctors in neonatal resuscitation, the Church’s Cambodia Newsroom reported.
Humanitarian missionaries also contributed to the Essential Newborn Care training project, organized in collaboration with the Takeo and Kampong Cham Provincial Departments of Health and hosted by their provinces.
The Essential Newborn Care course was created by the World Health Organization and trains medical professionals to perform lifesaving procedures on babies.
When taught along with the Church’s neonatal resuscitation training program, doctors and midwives also learn how to instruct other medical personnel in these same skills.
Giving medical tools
On April 14, the Church presented needed tools to the Belau National Hospital in the island nation of Palau, located in the Pacific Ocean.
The Church’s Guam/Micronesia Newsroom reported that the hospital has received many donations of needed equipment, but if any of the devices broke down, technicians didn’t have the tools to repair them.
So hospital administrator Darnelle Worswick contacted the Church’s humanitarian service center in Guam.
Working with humanitarian missionaries, the needed tools were purchased, along with a rolling toolbox so technicians can move them from place to place as needed.
Delivering backpacks
On April 12, the Church delivered 68 backpacks to Peleliu Elementary/Middle School, the Church’s Guam/Micronesia newsroom reported. Peleliu is a small island of Palau.
Each backpack was filled with needed school supplies and a personal note written by Church members.
Around 160 backpacks were also delivered to Meyuns Elementary School on Palau.
The project began in 2022, when 700 backpacks were delivered to an elementary school in Koror, Palau.
John and Angie Ngiraked, members of the Church in Palau, wondered why more needy schools didn’t receive them. After submitting a request to the Church’s humanitarian service center in Guam, arrangements were made to acquire more backpacks.
Delivering hospital beds
On March 31, the Church donated 28 nursing beds to the Red Cross Society in Hua Hin, Thailand, the Church’s Thailand Newsroom reported.
Local Church and Red Cross leaders participated in the handover ceremony. Red Cross representatives then delivered each bed to a terminally ill patient free of charge. When those patients are finished using the beds, volunteers will clean and disinfect them for the next patients.
Donating construction materials, educational resources
On March 23, the Church donated construction materials and instructional resources to the Amelia Heights Elementary School in Olongapo City, Philippines, the Church’s Philippines Newsroom reported.
The materials will be used for building three comfort rooms and a wash area, and for addressing learning gaps and losses among students.
