How the 500 Club is helping people overseas

Helen and Ramiro

Helen is a singer from Eritrea who spent two and a half years in a military detention camp, apparently because she recorded a collection of songs with a Christian theme. Helen belonged to the evangelical Rhema Church, which was outlawed in 2002 when the Eritrean government recognised four 'official' faiths - Islam and Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran Christianity. All other religions and denominations were told they must register with the authorities before engaging in any forms of worship or other religious activities. In practice applications for registration have been discouraged and ignored.

When Helen was arrested in May 2004 she was told to sign a pledge which stated she would give up all Christian activities. She refused and was taken to Mai Serwa camp, near Asmara, where she was locked up in a metal shipping container. The container became intensely hot during the day and freezing cold at night and there were no toilet facilities. Helen was allowed no visitors and was repeatedly told that she would be 'left to rot' unless she promised to stop singing, recording and worshipping.

In February 2006 Helen was beaten by her jailers and so badly injured she was still walking with a stick when she was released to house arrest in October 2006. She has now left Eritrea and is living in exile in Sudan. Helen was referred to us by Christian Solidarity Worldwide who, together with Amnesty International, had been trying to publicise her sufferings. Her health is now very poor so we gave her a grant of £250 to pay for medical treatment for the injuries she sustained whilst in custody.

Ramiro*, together with his wife, founded a newspaper in Colombia. His paper was one of very few independent news sources in the region where he lived and he built up sales to the point where he was employing eighteen staff. In 2004 Ramiro published a series of articles about corruption in local and regional government. Almost immediately he began to receive a stream of death threats which targeted him and his wife and children.

Ramiro and his family went into hiding, first locally, then in Bogota with the help of the Interior Ministry's Protection Programme. They are now in exile in Argentina. Reporters without Borders contacted us on Ramiro's behalf and we made a grant of £650 to help him pay for his two sons' education and for some medical treatment for his wife who has been ill.

The generosity of 500 Club members meant that Helen and Ramiro had practical support at their moment of exile, a very uncertain point in their lives. They knew too that others were thinking of them and their struggles had not gone unnoticed.

*Name changed to protect identity