CBM New Zealand

05/09/2025

Great news! We’ve regained access to our original page. Thanks so much for sticking with us here over the past year - your support means the world.

This page was just a temporary home - from now on, all updates will be shared back on our main page: www.facebook.com/cbmnz

We’d love you to re-join us there!

03/09/2025

13-year-old Patrick was born with congenital bilateral cataracts.

Your generous gift of $35 in support of Giving Day will have an enormous impact, giving adults and children, like Patrick, the miracle of sight and a chance to break the cycle of poverty and disability.

Plus your gift will be multiplied x5 by our Government’s Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Cooperation Programme enabling $175 of impact!

Save the date, or donate now… bit.ly/4oSrA1Z

02/09/2025

The countdown is on…

On 10 September cbm is holding a Giving Day to raise vital funds to give the miracle of sight to more adults and children living in remote communities in Papua New Guinea.

Every gift you give will be multiplied x5 by our Government’s Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Cooperation Programme! Together, we can set our sights high to raise as much as possible in just 24 hours.

Save the date… bit.ly/4oSrA1Z

01/09/2025

This Father’s Day give a meaningful gift to the wonderful father figure in your life, while helping provide vital support to adults and children with disabilities in the world’s poorest places.

Purchase a customised e-card or physical card now… www.giftsoflife.org.nz

30/08/2025

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. - Acts 3:6-7

Thanks to generous people like you, impossible dreams come true.

Learn how children with clubfoot are being helped in the cbm-funded hospitals in Nepal… bit.ly/3ShJWu3

28/08/2025

When Patrick was a baby, his mother saw the dim disks of cataracts in the eyes of her firstborn. Living in Papua New Guinea, she knew what they meant. A childhood of increasing blindness and a lifetime of poverty, even more challenging than her own.

All Patrick’s Mum and Dad could do was hope that his sight would never grow dim. The time came, though, when they could no longer deny it: “He kept moving the paper very close to his eyes,” said Michelle. “Patrick could not see clearly!”

Help give the Miracle of Sight to children, like 13-year-old Patrick, living in Papua New Guinea. Your gift will be multiplied x5 by our Government’s Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Cooperation Programme enabling $175 of impact!

Learn more… bit.ly/44Lgt3b

Help support cataract surgery for adults and children in Papua New Guinea who are needlessly blind.

27/08/2025

13-year-old Patrick was born with congenital bilateral cataracts.

Your generous gift of $35 in support of Giving Day will have an enormous impact, giving adults and children, like Patrick, the miracle of sight and a chance to break the cycle of poverty and disability.

Plus your gift will be multiplied x5 by our Government’s Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Cooperation Programme enabling $175 of impact!

Save the date, or donate now… bit.ly/4oSrA1Z

24/08/2025

Cataracts are clouding more than just Rita’s vision - they’re also dimming her future.

At school, 7-year-old Rita has to sit right at the front of the class just to try to see the blackboard. Even then, it’s often a blur. She squints, strains her eyes, and sometimes relies on her classmates' notes just to keep up.

Rita lives in rural Uganda with her parents, Denis and Sarah, who work as subsistence farmers. Their daily struggles to provide food and make ends meet mean there’s little left for medical expenses. Despite seeking help at a hospital and later an eye health camp, her family simply couldn’t afford further treatment.

Learn how your Child Sponsorship can help children in the world’s poorest places…

Become a cbm Child Sponsor today and help children with disabilities living in the world’s poorest places.

23/08/2025

19/08/2025

1-year-old Mausam in Nepal has been further blessed: before he could walk, he was given braces with long rods to help his feet align with his legs. He has made such good progress with his clubfoot rehabilitation, that now having learned to walk, he has been given special shoes to reshape his feet during the day, while his braces continue to work while he sleeps.

By the age of five, all sign of clubfoot should be gone, as he walks towards his very best future on strong, straight feet.

Please send your gift today, to help set more children free from their disability for life!

Learn more… bit.ly/3ShJWu3

Help children in Nepal receive vital life-changing surgery so they can run and play with their friends, go to school, and plan for a brighter future.

18/08/2025

Last month Murray Sheard, CEO, cbm New Zealand, travelled to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh – home to more than one million Rohingya refugees. Since 2017, families have fled unimaginable violence in Myanmar, crossing the border in search of safety. Many arrived with nothing, carrying injuries, trauma, and disabilities that make survival even harder.

In the main site over 700,000 people are crowded together. Among them are many living with vision loss, hearing loss, and mobility challenges. cbm’s partner, the Centre for Disability in Development (CDD), is a rare and vital presence here: one of only two organisations restoring sight and preventing blindness, and the only group providing hearing aids.

At the cbm-supported field hospital, Murray met Rashma. Her family’s escape was violently interrupted by armed militia. She was beaten, her knee badly damaged, and her ability to walk taken from her. The physical pain was matched by deep emotional wounds. Today, thanks to therapy and counselling from CDD, Rashma can walk again – her pain eased, her spirit renewed.

The next day, in the heart of Camp 8 West, Murray met young Harisa and her parents. You may remember her from our June update – a girl with cerebral palsy whose family fled when she was three. Without early therapy, her muscles stiffened so severely she couldn’t walk or talk. Now, after years of dedicated care, she is taking steps and beginning to speak. Her shy smile said more than words could.

The resilience of the Rohingya people is extraordinary. In conditions most of us can’t imagine, they repair their fragile shelters, care for one another, and find ways to work. cbm also employs and trains people with disabilities, giving them both purpose and a way to serve their own community.

Even small interventions bring huge change. The camp’s steep, muddy terrain is treacherous for older residents. Handrails installed near toilets now mean they can reach them safely – restoring dignity in the most basic daily task.

Yet challenges remain. The Joint Response Plan, which coordinates refugee support, faces a severe funding shortfall after major aid cuts from the UK and USA. Predictions of fuel and food shortages make the road ahead uncertain.

In the midst of this, your ongoing support ensures that the most vulnerable – adults and children with disabilities – are not forgotten. You are helping restore sight, mobility, dignity, and hope in a place where hope is desperately needed. Thank you for your kind and caring heart.

Your gifts continue to be multiplied x4 by the match-funding from our Government’s Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Cooperation Programme! https://www.facebook.com/MFATNZ

Learn more… bit.ly/4dvVq78