A Hawkes Bay church wants to build a mega solar farm to help to reduce energy poverty in the region. To alleviate the energy situation for about 400 Flaxmere households, Reverend Jill McDonald and Chris Lambourne of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Hastings hope to construct a large solar farm to provide Flaxmere with cheap Read more
Faith leaders say the thousands of people in migrant caravans travelling through central America from Honduras are leaving their homes under duress. Many caravan members say they cannot make ends meet in their home countries due to low wages, extortion or unemployment, says Nathanael Bacon, a Catholic deacon who lives in Guatemala. The faith leaders Read more
The Archdiocese of Wellington has been invited, among 12 other dioceses from around the world, to take the lead for this year’s celebration of the World Day of the Poor on November 18. Other dioceses include Manila in the Philippines and Bangui, the Central African Republic, to United States’ Boston and Europe’s Madrid and Paris. Read more
An Auckland church providing housing for the homeless for more than a decade has had an influx of people dealing with poor mental health. Faith Family Baptist Church in Panmure offers a 13-week programme to rehouse people in need. Numeracy and literacy classes and assistance with addiction and health were also included. Church kaumātua Tom Read more
The archbishop of Fiji has admitted he had made some mistakes in the statistics he used in his recent statement. The figures were quoted in the church’s newsletter, The Proclaimer, in the main article titled “Pre-election homily reflection on economic justice.” “My sincere apologies, my statistics on poverty and VAT was based on Warden Narsey’s study Read more
Solomon Islands has launched its first poverty map. It has found nearly 13% of the population is poor. Most of the poor live rurally. It’s the first time officials have been able to measure poverty in the Islands at a village level. As a result, the survey found that the poor number 78,500. That compares Read more
Manuella Andersen was waiting in line at the Huntly Countdown when she noticed the woman in front of her was tentatively putting items through the checkout. “She was picking her groceries out of her trolley one by one at the same time as having them scanned to see what the total was and if she could afford Read more
Poverty in the land of milk and honey is reaching critical levels as 336 new desperate families ask the Salvation Army for help each week. That is the highest level of need the Salvation Army has recorded since the recession in 2011. Continue reading
A refugee-themed mufti day for students to “experience a little of what it feels like to be poor” has disappointed some, who called the idea “insensitive” and in “bad taste”. Christchurch’s Middleton Grange School, in Upper Riccarton, asked children to wear “old ragged clothes” to a mufti day on Thursday to raise money for World Vision. Read more