Issue 6 Spring 2015
BABY MIRACLE
Hope in the time of Ebola
APPEAL
Ebola
Give hope to children affected Spring 2015
FEATURE
Hugh Dennis
The difference we are making in Myanmar
NEW
Super supporters
Going the extra mile
actionaid.org.uk @ActionAidUK ActionAidUK
@ActionAidUK
Change lives. For good.
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Change lives. For good.
Tommy Trenchard/ActionAid actionaid.org.uk
Rebuilding children's lives
Richard Miller ActionAid UK Executive Director
Seven-year-old Iye lives in Bo District, Sierra Leone. She knows how to protect herself from Ebola, thanks to a demonstration run by an ActionAid volunteer in her village. We know from experience that one of the best ways to help people rebuild their lives after a devastating crisis such as Ebola is through child sponsorship. Right now there are 566 children in Liberia and 228 in Sierra Leone hoping to be sponsored. Turn to page eight for an eyewitness account of life on the ‘Ebola frontline’ and how your support could help children like Iye to start again.
OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S FAREWELL
Seven-year-old Iye attends an Ebola awareness session run by ActionAid volunteers with her mother Mamie in Mbundorbu village, Bo District, Sierra Leone
appeal give hope to children a fe af cted by ebol
SEE PAGE 12
Spring 2015
Follow me on Twitter @richardmilleruk
This will be my last article as Executive Director of ActionAid UK as I’m stepping down after 11 years It has been an incredible privilege to lead the organisation. I’d like to thank you for the huge part you’ve played in helping achieve positive change for some of the world’s poorest people. I am very proud of the deep roots ActionAid has maintained – listening to local communities and responding to their needs in over 45 countries. We have also tackled some of the big causes of poverty – just trade, more and better aid and fair tax – so poor countries can stand on their own feet. 2015 is a big year with two critical UN summits to agree new sustainable development goals and a legally binding deal on climate change. We will bring the voices of the people we work with to these debates – communities living on the margins of survival, where climate change is not about the future but about now. Finally I’m delighted to announce my new role with ActionAid International, leading our global response to emergencies. Thank you for your tremendous support – I know I can count on this in the future. Richard 33–39 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0BJ. 01460 238 000 supportercontact@actionaid.org. Registered charity (number 274467). Cover Miracle was born in an ambulance outside a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia on the day her father died from Ebola. Her mother, Princess Paye, tells us; ‘The nurse who helped me give birth said, “It’s a girl, you should name her Miracle”. So I did – she is my miracle.’ Photo: ActionAid
Change lives. For good.
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AROUND THE WORLD W The latest news on our global work
Education campaigner wins Nobel Peace Prize Oliver Dixon/Imagewise
2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi with Send My Friend to School youth ambassadors Rebecca (left) and Maisie
e were delighted that Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai were announced joint winners of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for their struggle for the right of all children to go to school. As a founding member of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) with Kailash Satyarthi, ActionAid has played a key role in getting 50 million children into school over the past 15 years. Kailash, said: ‘There is no greater violence than to deny the dreams of our children.’
Ghana: Witch camps closed
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ctionAid has helped 254 women being held in ‘witch camps’ in Ghana to return home and become part of their community again, after getting the Bonyasi Camp in the north of the country closed down. Belief in witchcraft is common in Ghana, and hundreds of women, often elderly and living in poverty, have been accused and banished from their homes. There are five camps left in northern Ghana, where nearly 700 women live with little access to food and water. ActionAid’s campaign to improve conditions in the camps and reintegrate the women into their communities continues. 4
Change lives. For good.
Jane Hahn/ActionAid
Through Ghana’s ‘Go Home’ project, women like Ayishetu (centre) can return to their villages and lead normal lives
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Gaza appeal: thank you!
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ast August, we appealed to you to help children and families suffering during the Gaza crisis. Thanks to your generosity, we raised £1.2 million to help those in urgent need. Vouchers were given to 500 families to buy essentials like blankets, warm clothing, heaters, and plastic sheets to make damaged homes waterproof. So far, 3,000 people including elderly and disabled people have benefited.
Marion Lise Normand/ActionAid
Ten-year-old Mahmoud Al Nassar plays his broken guitar in rubble that was once his home in Gaza, Palestine
Bank with Triodos
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e are working with the ethical bank Triodos to help change lives, for good. When you open a savings account and deposit £100, Triodos Bank will donate £40 to ActionAid (terms apply). Triodos only lends its savers’ money to organisations who are Spring 2015
working to make the world a better place. It publishes details of every single organisation it lends to, which means you can see exactly how your savings are being used to change the world for the better. Find out more at www.triodos.co.uk/actionaid Change lives. For good.
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Extraordinary supp Dedicated to you – our super supporters – and the incredible things you do to help us change lives for good. Thank you Glyn with ActionAid UK Fundraising Manager, Liz Grant
Peter Frankland/Guernsey Press
Glyn, awarded an OBE for being a super supporter Research scientist Glyn Allen is a leading member of the Guernsey Supporter Group which has raised an astonishing £650,000 for our work. He was awarded an OBE in 2014 for his services to ActionAid. ‘When my son was seven, he saw a small ActionAid advert in the Guardian about child sponsorship. He waved it in our faces and said, “This is what you should be doing!”’ Glyn has supported us ever since – first by sponsoring children in 6
Change lives. For good.
Burundi and then by joining the local Guernsey Supporter group in 1992, which he chaired for 12 years. Run by committed volunteers, the group raises between £30,000 and £40,000 a year through regular quiz nights, plant and food sales, coffee mornings, and an annual ‘World Aid Walk’ around the island. Glyn is a strong supporter of international aid and was on the board of the Overseas Aid Committee for eight years.
But he feels ActionAid stands out from other aid agencies. ‘We know where our donations are going. It helps when we’re out on the street to tell people exactly where their money will be spent, for example on tackling Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia.’ Today, Glyn co-runs a bric-a-brac shop raising funds for ActionAid and two other charities. He was delighted to be awarded an OBE. ‘My wife, my son and I went to the palace to receive it from Prince Charles…a patron of ActionAid!’ ■ actionaid.org.uk
pporter stories Pupils at Linlithgow Primary raise over £2,500 for Ebola response All 400 pupils at Linlithgow Primary School in central Scotland sang their hearts out for ActionAid in December in a sponsored Christmas sing-along. Head Teacher Charlette Robertson said: ‘Our children were very concerned about the Ebola outbreak. They researched the good work ActionAid was doing to support
people and communities affected by this terrible disease.’ With a donation of £350 from an enterprise event run by Primary 7, the children raised more than £2,500. ‘Our chosen Christmas charity is ActionAid. We hope this money makes a difference to people in need.’ ■
Feeling inspired? To find out more about joining a supporter group, we would love to hear from you! Contact us on supporter contact@actionaid.org
Do you know a Super Supporter? From donating pocket money, to volunteering or running your first ever marathon, we’d be delighted to hear your stories or nominations. Get in touch at supportercontact @actionaid.org or 01460 238 000 For more ideas on how you can fundraise, turn to page 18!
Margaret, 79, raised £6,000 on gym rowing machine Former Kent teacher Margaret Doak raised over £6,000 doing a halfmarathon on a rowing machine in her local gym… aged 79. Having only rowed for 10-20 minutes before, this was a momentous challenge for Margaret. Undaunted by the task, she trained for eight months and completed the full 13 miles in just two hours. ‘I had a few qualms on the way – can I do it? But I have to admit I never felt so fit!’ Spring 2015
Kent Messenger Group
Margaret was impressed by the way ActionAid helps communities to improve their own lives. ‘I particularly liked that you empower women and get girls into education.’
Margaret completes her sponsored row at Maidstone Leisure Centre in Kent
Since then, her work hasn’t stopped. She now sponsors a child and raised £1,200 on her 80th birthday by throwing two parties and asking for donations rather than presents. ■ Change lives. For good.
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appeal: give hope to children a affected by ebol
SEE PAGE 12
Life on the Ebola frontline
Londoner Christal Da Thong, 31, flew to her home country of Liberia in August to join the fight against Ebola. As ActionAid’s Communications Officer, she is the eyes and ears of our work on the ground Interview by our resident journalist, Natalie Curtis
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Morgana Wingard/ActionAid actionaid.org.uk
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Residents of ELWA junction learning how to prepare Clorox water to clean their hands
Christal Da Thong delivers sanitation supplies to survivors at the JFK Ebola Treatment Unit
Spring 2015
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hen I made the decision to return, many, including me, questioned my sanity. Liberia was descending into chaos as Ebola spread like a spider’s web, destroying lives across the country. I wanted to help in any way I could. On my first trip with ActionAid’s Emergency Response Team, we delivered much-needed supplies like chlorine, bleach and soap to an overstretched health centre in the then quarantined Dolo Town, Monrovia. It was a holding centre for suspected Ebola patients, but what I found there shocked and saddened me. I watched as a father brought his 20-year-old son in a wheelbarrow, desperate to find help for him, only to be turned back. There were no spaces for his son in the treatment centre. The father, wearing no protective clothing but a thin pair of gloves, was in tears. With no specialist protective gear to tend to Ebola cases and no medicine to treat the symptoms, there was nothing the holding centre could do except wait for a space to open up. This was a heart-breaking moment that I will never forget. There is no doubt in my mind that this experience has changed me. I’ve worked for some amazing causes in the past but right now this is really personal. Seeing
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the impact of ActionAid’s work and being able to communicate that to other people, so we can help as many as we can, has made a huge difference to me. It makes me proud when I think of how my team has helped over 200,000 people affected by Ebola in Liberia. We have been providing emergency food to quarantined communities, giving education packs to kids unable to go to school and running public health campaigns to help people protect themselves from Ebola. I don’t know how long I will stay in Liberia. It depends on how long the country needs my help. There are days when I would give anything to have a cold drink beside the River Thames with my friends. And then there is of course my husband. I miss him so much. But we talk every day and he is the one person who fully supports my decision to be here. The international community is finally responding to the Ebola crisis. One thing is clear though. This needs to be a global effort. I hope it will be enough to both protect my country of birth and enable me to go home to the UK.’ ■ In numbers: Ebola in West Africa
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More than 8,000 people 17,000 have lost their cases across lives the region
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I NEVER IN MY WORST NIGHTMARES THOUGHT A KILLER VIRUS LIKE EBOLA WOULD TAKE ME BACK TO THE COUNTRY OF MY BIRTH
ActionAid community volunteer Dora George puts up posters raising awareness of Ebola in Fengehun village, near Bo, Sierra Leone
Residents of Mbundorbu village attend a hand-washing and Ebola awareness session provided by ActionAid
Your support ActionAid raised £700,000
The DEC Ebola Crisis Appeal raised over £30 million
412,930 people supported by ActionAid
348 volunteers trained in raising awareness
224,090 people directly educated in Ebola prevention
actionaid.org.uk
Tommy Trenchard/ActionAid
Ebola virus Q&A
Thanks to your generous support, ActionAid has played a major role in slowing the spread of Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone Our Head of Humanitarian Response, Mike Noyes, explains
Moinya. whose mother Aminatta is an ActionAid volunteer raising Ebola awareness
500 quarantined families in Liberia given food packages Spring 2015
58 isolation and medical centres given detergents and disinfectants
How has ActionAid helped stop the spread Ebola? Volunteers started seven months ago to go from door to door, helping people understand what actions they can take to stop the spread of the disease, to protect themselves and their children. We’ve also supplied health centres with equipment such as gloves, aprons, protective masks, soap and bleach so that they can control the spread. What support have we given to those affected? We’ve provided people in quarantine or care units with food and essential items. We’ve given food and clothing to families whose belongings have been destroyed for fear of contamination, so they can start rebuilding their lives. Virtually all schools have been closed, so we’ve provided children with education packs to help
them stay in touch with school work. Why has ActionAid been able to make such a difference? We work in communities that know us well. Especially at the beginning when people were anxious about the disease, the trust we had built up from having worked in communities for a long period of time made a big difference in getting the message across. What will ActionAid do now to help communities recover? Even if the outbreak was over now, it wouldn’t be as simple as ‘life is back to normal’. Ebola has slowed down life considerably – traders are not getting to market, kids are not getting to school. Our next steps are very much helping people rebuild their lives, supporting them to get over the devastation this disease has caused. Change lives. For good. 11
Fatmata attends an Ebola awareness session run by ActionAid volunteers in Mbundorbu village, Bo District, Sierra Leone
appeal give hope to children affected by ebol a Tommy Trenchard/ActionAid
URGENT APPEAL: Give hope to children affected by Ebola One of the best ways to help people rebuild their lives after the devastating Ebola outbreak is through child sponsorship Help us reach 566 children in Liberia and 228 in Sierra Leone who are now urgently waiting for sponsors. At first, your support will go directly to our Ebola response: > giving emergency food and sanitation supplies to your child’s community > providing education packs to stop children falling behind in school > supporting public health campaigns, teaching children and their families how to protect themselves from Ebola. 12 Change lives. For good.
Our frontline staff will send you news and photos of the communities you’re supporting, showing the impact of your action. Once the crisis is over there will still be a desperate need for your support to help rebuild communities who have lost everything. As soon as your child goes back to school you’ll get messages and pictures directly from your sponsored child. Sponsor a child today. Visit: www.actionaid.org.uk/ childsponsor actionaid.org.uk
Greg Funnell/ActionAid
Hugh with Lae Yi Soe, the fiveyear-old child he sponsors in Myanmar through ActionAid
Transforming lives in Myanmar British comedian Hugh Dennis travelled to Myanmar last year to visit the five-year-old girl he sponsors
Spring 2015
own development. ‘I recently realised I’ve sponsored an ActionAid child for nearly 30 years – first in Kenya and now in Myanmar. So landing at Yangon Airport, I was very excited.
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lthough visiting the remote villages where ActionAid works felt like stepping back in time, Hugh found a community very much leading its
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THANKS TO ACTIONAID, THE WORLD IN WHICH LAE YI SOE IS GROWING UP SHOULD BE A VERY POSITIVE ONE Hugh with Lae Yi Soe, the fiveyear-old child he sponsors in Myanmar through ActionAid
Hugh talks to five-year-old Lae Yi Soe and her brothers
Five-year-old Lae Yi Soe, the child I sponsor, lives with her parents and two brothers in a small village in the dry zone in central Myanmar. In these agricultural communities the heavy moving is still done by bullock cart. The water is collected from a pond, a resource entirely dependent on rainfall. Healthcare facilities are poor – a clinic can be up to two hours’ drive away. Children are 14 Change lives. For good.
Greg Funnell/ActionAid
under pressure to leave education because they are needed for work. Now, a blue, plastic water pipe from the rainwater pond to each household has freed up those who had to collect it numerous times a day (mostly women), giving them more time to earn money. The village has a school which is part-funded by ActionAid, making it easier for Lae Yi Soe and her friends to learn. It’s also clear that this is actionaid.org.uk
Hugh visits Lae Yi Soe during class time in her village school
Lae Yi Soe at school
Hugh with Lae Yi Soe at school
development at the request of the people it benefits. The village itself has worked out which changes would be most helpful and what the priorities should be. It is a highly effective system. What is striking when you visit them though, is how, thanks to their own efforts and ActionAid child sponsorship, these communities are being transformed. And how simple the changes have been. Spring 2015
Thanks to ActionAid, the world in which Lae Yi Soe is growing up should be a very positive one.’ ■Myanmar is one of the least developed countries in the world. One in four live below the poverty line, and only 50% of children finish primary school. To find out how you could sponsor a child and transform lives today, visit www.actionaid.org.uk/child Change lives. For good. 15
The
school desks with no
Why tackling tax is a priority for a Zambian head teacher
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lmost two thirds of Zambia’s people live below the poverty line. At the same time, mining companies are making huge profits while not paying their fair share in tax. This is leaving the country short of funds to spend on vital services and – as this story shows – children are losing out. Ivor Mwena stands in an empty classroom. As head teacher of Isoko Primary School in Zambia, he is frustrated that the government does not provide basic equipment for the children in his school. ‘Although we have new classrooms, they do not have any desks yet,’ he explains, ‘meaning the students have to sit on the concrete floor during classes.’ In recent years, the number of 16 Change lives. For good.
children attending the school has grown. They applied for a grant from the government to extend the school, but heard nothing back. So with ActionAid’s help, they started to source their own building materials and collect funds for construction, but money for equipment soon ran out. In Zambia, the average class size is 49 children and only £15 is available to educate each child per year. Ivor believes that tackling tax dodging could make a huge improvement to the situation in his school. ‘If the government had more tax revenue they could fund the construction of more blocks to house more pupils in more schools. They could pay for the desks in the new building.’ ■ actionaid.org.uk
Jason Larkin / ActionAid
Ivor Mwena, head teacher of Isoka Primary School
Kryticous Nshindano Q&A
Our Zambia Economic Justice Project Officer
How big an issue is tax dodging in Zambia? We’ve lost massive amounts to tax dodging – our finance minister estimates US $2 billion per year. The tax that the country gets from big companies – like Associated British Foods and Zambia Sugar – is nearly zero. As a country we should be able to raise more revenue given our huge natural resource base. It is as a result of tax dodging that we remain poor.
ActionAid
Time to make tax fair. Time for a Tax Dodging Bill Tax dodging allows some of the world’s biggest businesses to avoid paying their fair share, depriving governments of funds for vital public services like education. Things don’t have to be this way. Changing the UK’s tax rules could ensure UK companies pay their fair share of tax wherever they operate. ActionAid is part of a coalition calling on all political parties to introduce a Tax Dodging Bill. This could curb tax dodging by UK companies that costs poorer countries an estimated £3 billion every year, enough to put half the children in the world who currently don’t go to primary school into the classroom. We can win this – but we need your help. Take action now: www.actionaid.org.uk/ tax-dodging-bill Spring 2015
What impact would that money have on people in Zambia? Around 45% of children are stunted because they don’t have basic nutritious foods. Ideally, in the first five years of a child’s life government health programmes would provide supplements like vitamins for less well-off families. In Zambia we have identified that we can do better, that we have the potential to raise taxation and that is the only way we’re going to eradicate poverty. Would it help Zambia if the UK had better policies on tax dodging? Many multinational companies are based in the UK, so the tax policies in countries like the UK have an effect in other countries where those companies operate. So ultimately, if the UK implemented better policies on tax dodging it would have a big impact on countries like Zambia. Change lives. For good. 17
Get involved… Four ways to be an Action Hero in 2015
Volunteer in Mozambique
Sophie Westmoreland takes part in the ‘Cambodia First Hand Experience’
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A triumphant Lee Walker after completing the ‘Ride London-Surrey’ bike ride
Starting in London, this 100-mile road-race covers the famous Olympic course through Surrey countryside and finishes on The Mall. Join our team and cycle like an Olympian! 2 August – Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100. Visit www.actionaid. org.uk/ridelondon
Run the Royal Parks One of the UK’s most popular half marathons, this fast and flat course has an amazing atmosphere. It takes a scenic route past London’s famous landmarks and through four of the Royal Parks. 11 October – Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon. Visit www.actionaid. org.uk/royalparks
ActionAid
ActionAid
Visit www.actionaid. org.uk/experiences
ActionAid
Join us and work alongside local people to build a centre for survivors of violence, helping to improve women’s rights and end violence in the community. You don’t need any experience – just enthusiasm, motivation and the desire to muck in! 24 October– 1 November.
On your bike!
Cindy Smith runs the ‘Virgin London Marathon’ in support of ActionAid
actionaid.org.uk
por ters Courtesy of our sup
Contact us to join our team
Do you have what it takes to Live Below the Line? Join ActionAid and create a recipe to change the lives of women and girls around the world, for good From 27 April to 1 May, we challenge you to take on the UK’s largest experiential charity challenge and get sponsored to live on just £1 a day for all of your food and drink. Do it on your own, as a couple, with your colleagues, flatmates or family. We’ll provide you with meal plans, recipe ideas, top tips and a forum to share your highs and lows. Got the appetite to make change happen? Sign up now at www.livebelowtheline.com/ uk/partner/actionaid Spring 2015
For more inspiring ideas visit www. actionaid.org.uk/ fundraise. If you’ve got your own ideas for fundraising then we’d love to hear from you. Email us at supportercontact@ actionaid.org. Go on, be an Action Hero in 2015! Open any savings account with Triodos Bank online at triodos.co.uk/actionaid, deposit £100+ and it will donate £40 to ActionAid (terms apply). The donations we receive from Triodos will help us to continue to change lives, for good. The money you put aside for the future will only be lent to organisations working to make the future a better place. Change lives. For good. 19
Kishor K. Sharma/ActionA id
A gift in a will has enabled 14-year-old Rajmai Rai (left) and 6-year-old Karuna Rai (right) to study at Jyoti Lower Secondary School in Nepal
Change lives for good with a gift in your will A gift in a will meant everything to Rajmani and Karuna who live in one of the poorest areas in a remote part of Nepal It is helping to pay for them and two other children to stay at a hostel attached to their local school. This means the children get three good meals a day, a safe place to sleep, and a chance to get an education which will change their lives for good. The very poorest children living at home in this region often have to look after siblings or 20 Change lives. For good.
work to help support their families. But living in the hostel during the week ensures they have time to focus on their studies. This gift was left by a long-term supporter of ActionAid who gave £5,000. It’s a gift that will support Sanju, Kala, Rajmani and Karuna throughout all of their schooling, and will help ensure their lives are transformed forever.
To find out more about the difference this gift is making, watch the short film: www.actionaid.org. uk/jyoti Please get in touch if you have any questions about leaving a gift in your will, or to let us know if you have already. Contact our Gifts in Wills Manager Peter on 0203 122 0512 or email peter.devenafranks@ actionaid.org 27031_MAG actionaid.org.uk