Hope and encouragement

It is a known fact that many people are suffering all over the world, and that there will always be a need to spread hope and joy into the lives of these people. Over the years, Rise Above has found many ways to do just that. Kids love action so some of the ways to cheer them up is through acting as clowns, performing with a puppet show, sharing food, goods and cash Christmas gifts to poor families as well as bringing medicine to children with life threatening diseases in hospitals.

Clown shows

Children all over the world who suffer, need encouragement! Having seen clowns performing and hearing the laughter of the children gave us the idea that we could also become clowns. We sewed colorful costumes, bought face paint, went for training to make balloon animals and jumped into the role of being happy clowns. Since 1998, this has been a wonderful way of bringing out the smiles on kids faces even in the most difficult and trying situations, and has brought us countless good memories! To be happy yourself, you first do your part to spread happiness to others, and in turn it comes back to you and fills you with joy unspeakable.

Puppet Shows

The “Puppet Parade” is the name of our puppet show. We use it on many occasions for the encouragement of the poor in hospitals and institutions, as well as for entertainment during Dental Missions and the Tooth Brushing Program.

Christmas gifts

At Christmas time in 2007, a team from Rise Above went to a slum area in Cebu City, which had burned down two years earlier. The people had had a hard time recovering from the loss, and many were malnourished and were fighting a daily battle to get their basic needs met. We wrote our friends in Cebu and Denmark asking if they would help ”make a difference to a poor family at Christmas” and if they could give the equivalent of US$100 each so we could give this amount as a Christmas gifts to needy families. 12 families responded the first year, and we have repeated the success every year since then with more and more families deciding to help the poorest of the poor at Christmas time.

“The greatest happiness comes from making someone else happy!”

The gifts brought great joy and gave the needy families a break from their eternal struggle. Christmas had become a Season to be celebrated for them and they had money for food and gifts for their children. How significant it became for them as Christmas truly is a celebration of love, giving and sharing –just like God gave Jesus as a love gift to all of us.

We would like to thank everyone who supported us on this project and we hope that you and your family this Christmas Season would also want to give of your abundance and spread a little joy to the poor in Cebu.

Bundles of Joy

Two Danish interns, Ditte and Bettina, received a donation from Bettina’s parents, to be used toward buying food for the poor. They had collected money from their friends and family, making it possible for Ditte and Bettina to help poor families. A team from Rise Above brought them into the slum, where we had previously aided many with Christmas presents. The families were obviously very happy to see us again and appreciated the shopping bag filled with much needed groceries.

Medicines for life threatening deceases

Via the Food Program at the public hospital, we often received requests for medicine. The poor people are hospitalized at this hospital because the stay is free, but they must pay for the medicine. Even simple medicines such as antibiotics, are expensive for families with a low income. It is impossible for the very poor families to pay, so if they are not able to borrow money from other family members, it often means that children die due to lack of simple antibiotics.

Unfortunately, we frequently have to say no to people who request help for medicines because we do not have the budget for it. The antibiotics against pneumonia cost about 5,000 Pesos, or approx. US$ 110. If you want to help a child with medication, please feel free to contact us. You can help save a life.