Gleniti Baptist Church Timaru | A Celebration of Humanity

Celebration of Humanity

10:15am - Doors open for dessert and refreshments
10:30am – Event begins

Tearfund is excited to present A Celebration of Humanity - a speaking and photography event. 

From the bustle of the biggest refugee camps to the intimacy of a newborn’s first kiss. From hospitals in remotest Africa to the gift of clean water. From disaster zones to the joy of childhood, these photos depict the moments, heartbreak, and kinship that touch us all. Let photographer and storyteller, Helen Manson, take you on a journey behind the lens and onto the front lines of some of our planet’s most challenging places.  

Be inspired and encouraged as Helen shares stories and images about some of the amazing work being done all over the globe, including child sponsorship. These powerful images celebrate our deepest emotional connections through A Celebration of Humanity. 

Gather your friends and whānau for a fun and inspiring evening! There’ll be delicious dessert and refreshments as well as a Q&A with Helen during her presentation.

*R16 recommendation: Some of the content shared on the evening will contain reference to sensitive and emotionally challenging topics such as sexual violence, which some individuals may find distressing.

About Helen Manson  

Helen Manson is a multi-award-winning Kiwi humanitarian photographer and storyteller. Her work has taken her around the world to some of the most challenging environments documenting famine, refugee settlements, post-war environments, child sponsorship, micro-enterprise, trauma counselling and disaster zones. She’s travelled to more than 35 countries including Iraq, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and India, documenting global humanitarian issues for charities and not-for-profit organisations. Helen lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with her husband and four young children.

About Tearfund’s Child Sponsorship Programme

Tearfund partners with Compassion International to help lift children out of poverty through child sponsorship. Sponsoring a child is a powerful and effective way to help change their lives and give them a future a child can usually only dream about. Sponsorship offers children good health, nutritional support, education, and the emotional, mental and spiritual support they need to create a better future for themselves.   

“Before sponsorship, I experienced hunger, as my family's small piece of land was our only source for food. But sponsorship changed my life. I received a scholarship to go to university and finished my MA in Plant Science. Now, I’m studying for my PhD in the United States so I can focus on food security and how we can create policies to help more farmers, like my mum, have enough to eat.” 

- Collins Bugingo, PhD student from Uganda 

For event enquiries, connect with us at events@tearfund.org.nz