Mission Travel

The Travel Studio offers a very specialised service to our missionary friends and clients. We are privileged to be involved in some of the amazing work they do in Australia and overseas.

For specific details on our missionary travel services, support, online access and reward packages please contact Stacey at The Travel Studio. Email Stacey or phone 03 6224 7444.

Some of the work being done by our mission clients......

Watoto Children's Villages

Watoto children’s homes are constructed in the form of small vibrant communities referred to as villages. At present, Watoto has three children’s villages; two in Kampala called Bbira and Suubi and a third one in Gulu, Northern Uganda - an answer to the child soldier crisis in this region.

Watoto is not an orphanage in the traditional sense. Homes cater for children who have lost their family or are vulnerable for many reasons. Watoto children live in a family so that they will learn how to love and respect their mother and siblings. This allows them to grow up knowing the value of a healthy functional family.

Watoto villages include clusters of homes, a nursery school, a kindergarten, primary school, high school, vocational training centre, water project, medical clinic and a multi-purpose hall for use as a church and as a community centre. Villages are a familiar traditional dwelling for many ethnic groups in Africa.

Each Watoto family consists of a house mother with eight children - a number based on cultural considerations. In one house, there are three bedrooms, one for the mother and two for the children. The house incorporates a communal area with a dining and lounge space. The dining area is an important tool in the creation of a real family environment. Watoto homes are also designed to have running water and a bathroom which are rare in rural Africa.

In conjunction with the ministry's home church Watoto Church, Watoto runs a programme called Father’s Heart. Respectable men from the Watoto Church regularly visit the children in their villages and provide the father figure needed to complete the family structure.

Home of the Open Heart

There is an estimate 580,000 people living with HIV in Thailand. Of those, an estimated 16,000 are children between the ages of 0 and 14 (source: UNAIDS.org).

Chiang Rai, one of the provinces worst hit by the AIDS pandemic, had no home for HIV positive babies. Project L.I.F.E. stepped in to meet that need with the Home of the Open Heart.

Opened in December 2000, its heart purpose is THREEFOLD:

To give HIV positive babies a loving home. Small group homes are provided for babies who cannot be cared for by relatives.
Self-contained cottages are offered for HIV+ mums to live independently with their baby, then hospice care when they are no longer able to live independently.
Community visits which provide support for people with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Home of the Open Heart is also committed to caring for HIV positive babies for the remainder of their lives. However if a baby is able to be adopted, Home of the Open Heart will release the child to have a family of their own!

Home of the Open Heart's mission is to assist families affected by HIV/AIDS, through education, orphan care within the home and within the community, community visits leading to income-generation projects, and mother/child respite care.

If you would like to support Home of the Open Heart, click here