John and Jesma O’Hara started the first Neighbours Aid op shop 20 years ago in Nambour committed to making a difference to the lives of some of the world’s needy children.

“We got a group together in 2002 and started our first Op Shop in Currie Street and the funds went to supporting children and their communities,” said John. “So now, we’re looking after over 5000 kids and their communities.”

 These days Neighbours Aid has eight shops and has donated more than $7 million for children’s homes, education, farms, medical clinics and other services for children in poor rural and urban slum communities in third-world countries. 

They have 21 people on wages in Australia and about 130 people on wages in third world countries. “We change lives now,”  said John. “That’s the bottom line.

“We’ve been going to Africa for 17 years from basically very, very small beginnings. We were over in Malawi and we saw people starving.  So we bought four acres and gave them a few dollars just to try and keep them going. And then we built a school there and provided work that would support that community. So it’s just gone from very small beginnings to actually quite a reasonable sort of impact.”

John and Jesma recently arrived back in Australia after visiting their African projects. In Malawi Neighbours Aid funds two primary schools, a high school, a medical clinic and farming initiatives. Leaders there have completed university degrees and the wellbeing of the community has improved.

“When we first went there, particularly to Africa, there were people who were struggling to look after the orphaned and sick kids. So we built a home for them. This was a few years ago. AIDS was pretty prevalent and these kids were left without family.  

“In Kenya 500,000 people were displaced because of tribal wars following elections. There were heaps of kids just left behind. So we established good systems, looking at accommodation, social workers, family connections and schooling.”

Despite the many positive outcomes, John said some of the situations were tragic and entrenched.

“So, in Kenya in particular, we’ve got a number of kids there, young girls with babies as a result of incest, rape, and other bad situations. And so we look after them and keep them safe.

“Our guys work with the Child Welfare Department who send the children for us to care for. And we don’t just take on the children, we try to support the extended family so they can help themselves. For instance, we just visited a grandmother who’d lost six of her own children but has got 10 grandchildren. She’s trying to look after all these kids in a mud hut with very little. So we pay for the kids to go to school, we help feed them. We also fund a Vocational Training College”

Neighbours Aid has also set up schools in the slums in India and a nurses training college there with  about 200 young girls from very poor backgrounds.

“We give them a four-year course and they come out being nurses. So it’s pretty phenomenal what we can achieve from here just from our op shops.”

They are also trying to help communities produce food for themselves and their children. 

“It all helps to give their young people work,” John said. “We try to buy everything locally, building products etcetera. It helps to put more dollars into their system and encourage self-sustainability.

“A lot of these children were destitute little boys and girls when we first saw them.  And now we see them ... healthy men and women with children, with jobs, doing well. It’s just amazing to see. 

“One guy, he hadn’t been to school. He was at least 12, 13 years old when we first met him. And he was destitute. He was starving. And so our people were feeding him. And I had a nurse with me when we were visiting. And this little bloke had broken his leg,  and it was infected. So we took him straight away to the hospital, got him fixed up.  

“That little guy is a school teacher now. We put him through our school. He’s very good with sport and very good with kids, so we put him through teacher’s training college. But then, he’s also running for the local parliament!”

The organisation also funds two projects in Israel supporting children with mental health issues and providing scholarships for the children of Ethiopian immigrants.

Still much to do

“We’re no spring chickens, Jesma and I, now. We’re coming up to 20 years and so it’s very, very important to get the next generation continuing our work. And that’s my job here as well ... to try and keep things on the boil. Also, my job is looking for other locations to open another shop and get another group of supporters there. Because the op shops bring in about 75 percent of our finances. We’ve got about 420 volunteers now.

“So it’s just amazing. It’s so exciting to see this happen. I mean, obviously, they’re not all success stories, but in saying that, our people,  our leaders there, they’re the champions. They’re the guys that are boots on the ground. They’re the ones that are looking after the kids and have done for years and now we see the fruits of that coming through. It’s very exciting. I love it.”

• Neighbours Aid op shops include Howard Street Nambour, Mooloolaba, Maroochydore, Caloundra, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Lawnton and Morayfield.  Nambour is the biggest. Neighbours Aid’s 20th Birthday sale is coming up November 7-11. Head Office is 36 Howard Street, Nambour. Phone:  5476 2383. Email: admin@neighboursaid.org. To volunteer or donate go to www.neighboursaid.org.