Christian Aid News 45 - Autumn 2009

CHRISTIAN AID NEWS Issue 45

Autumn 2009

www.christianaid.org.uk

KENYA DROUGHT CRISIS •Failing rains drive

millions to the brink

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•Climate change: last push to Copenhagen

30/9/09 13:15:40

PUT BETHLEHEM AT THE HEART OF YOUR CHRISTMAS SERVICES Could your church hold a collection for Christian Aid’s work this Christmas?

For free resources focusing on Noor’s story, including Christmas stars, giving envelopes, an all-age talk and a reflective film, go to

www.christianaid.org.uk/christmas Christian Aid/Abbie Trayler-Smith

Noor Rabia (pictured) lost his hand in a terrible accident when he was just 14. His family are very poor and he needed a lot of support to help him cope. Christian Aid partner the YMCA, which works in Bethlehem, dramatically helps to change the lives of young people such as Noor.

Save a minimum 10 per cent off Ecclesiastical home insurance – even more if you apply online

PLUS Ecclesiastical will donate an average of £20 to Christian Aid for every policy taken out.*

Call Ecclesiastical now

CHRISTIAN AID INTRODUCES ECCLESIASTICAL

SWITCH YOUR HOME INSURANCE AND HELP CHRISTIAN AID

for a free no-obligation quote, on

0800 917 4134

quoting CAN

from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays)

Or apply online at www.ecclesiastical.com/christianaid *For every contents and/or buildings policy sold, Ecclesiastical will donate 10 per cent of the first annual premium, (on average this is £20 based on a combined building and contents policy) plus a further 5 per cent of your first renewal premium.

Remember, as with all home insurance policies, terms and conditions apply. Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc (EIO) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority registered in England at Beaufort House, Brunswick Road, Gloucester GL1 1JZ (Company no. 24869). Christian Aid, (UK registered charity no. 1105851 Company no. 5171525 Scotland charity no. SC039150 NI charity no. XR94639 Company no. NI059154) is an introducer appointed representative of EIO.

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020 7620 4444

CONTENTS

F1882

IF YOU’RE reading this copy of Christian Aid News with a cup of tea or coffee, the chances are you turned on the tap and filled a kettle without giving a second thought to the stream of clean water that flowed so easily. Our cover and feature on Kenya’s deepening drought crisis might make you think again about this precious commodity that we so take for granted.

Drought has driven Kenya’s nomadic pastoralists to the brink of starvation. Fights over water have claimed lives and are predicted to claim more. Christian Aid partner Northern Aid is providing a lifeline to a people whose way of life has never been more under threat.

Here, and elsewhere, the impact of climate change is gathering pace. Our campaigners are building up a head of steam before the UN summit in Copenhagen in December; while around the world our partners are demonstrating that local solutions have a part to play.

As do each and every one of us. So thank you for your daily support.

Roger Fulton, Editor

Christian Aid News is printed on 100 per cent recycled paper

Picture: Christian Aid/Mohammadur

EDITOR’S LETTER

20

Eroding coastlines in Bangladesh have increased the need to build resilient communities

REGULARS ■ 28 INPUT ■ 4 NEWS How Christian Aid is responding around the world… plus other news from the world of Christian Aid

■ 10 THE BIG PICTURE

Your letters and emails

■ 30 LAST WORD

6

Reflections of a Christian Aid cyclist on the road from London to Paris

FEATURES

One startling image…

■ 12 COVER STORY ■ 16 CAMPAIGNS Coming to a high-visibility site near you: the Mass Visual Trespass, the latest move in Christian Aid’s climate change campaign

■ 24 EVENTS

How Kenya’s drought has driven its nomads to the brink of starvation

16

Looking ahead to The Big Christmas Sing; looking back at a summer of walking and cycling

Development minister Douglas Alexander on the government’s strategy to end poverty

■ 20 FRONTLINE

■ 26 LIFE AND SOUL News of a European partnership that’s multiplying your giving

■ 19 COMMENT

26

Christian Aid’s senior climate adviser, Dr Alison Doig, on a local solution to a global problem – and where we’re helping to make a difference

Christian Aid is a Christian organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality.

We are part of a wider movement for social justice.

We provide urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty as well as its root causes.

UK registered charity number 1105851 Company number 5171525 Northern Ireland charity number XR94639 Company number NI059154 Republic of Ireland charity number CHY 6998 Company number 426928 Scotland charity number SC039150. The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid; Poverty Over is a trademark of Christian Aid. © Christian Aid October 2009

■ Cover Elwak, Kenya: a mother gives her young child a precious drink of water. Photo: Christian Aid/Mike Goldwater ■ Pictures Joseph Cabon, Matthew Gonzalez-Noda ■ Sub-editors Carolyn Crawley, Catriona Lorie and Sophy Kershaw ■ Circulation Ben Hayward ■ Design and production Bonnie Coupland/Circle Publishing, 020 8332 2709 ■ Christian Aid head office 35 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RL ■ Tel 020 7620 4444 ■ Fax 020 7620 0719 ■ Email info@christian-aid.org ■ Stay in touch online at www.christianaid.org.uk

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NEWS A protest march against forced evictions in South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA

FAMILIES FORCED FROM HOMES AT GUNPOINT ACROSS SOUTH Africa poor families are being evicted from their shacks, sometimes at gunpoint, in a move seen by Abahlali baseMjondolo, a representative body of shack dwellers, as trying to make the country appear to be ‘poor-free’ ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup. Abahlali baseMjondolo is the largest social movement of the poor in post-apartheid South Africa and with Christian Aid funding is supported by our partner Church Land Programme.

S’bu Zikode, leader of Abahlali baseMjondolo, which is based in Durban, warns that the illegal evictions appear to be increasing, in an effort to ‘impress the world and international dignitaries’, so that South Africa appears ‘poor-free’ to enhance its status as World Cup host.

S’bu also says that improved delivery of essential services such as water and electricity, to some of South Africa’s poorest and marginalised communities, have been promised but not kept. ‘It’s been one of the strategies to keep us quiet, to keep us away from the streets

so that we do not embarrass the country, or become chaotic and unruly.’

He continues: ‘We do not see any fruits and improvements [due to] the upcoming World Cup. We expect that we will see ourselves being further marginalised from the city centres.’

Abahlali fights for the right of poor people to live in informal settlements in the cities, closer to job opportunities, good schools and hospitals. ‘A place in the city in South Africa has become the limited right for “better” people, who are part of the system that encourages black segregation,’ he adds.

Rob Cunningham, Christian Aid’s South Africa country manager, says: ‘We are proud to be a partner of the Church Land Programme, which is helping South Africa’s poorest and most marginalised people to lay legal claim to land and housing. CLP listens and never imposes; it ensures people lead in their own struggle for the fundamental right to a life with dignity.’

See www.abahlali.org and www.churchland.co.za

GO FISHING TO HELP CHRISTIAN AID SUREFISH.CO.UK, Christian Aid’s community website, has a number of exciting new ways to raise money for Christian Aid. If you like gigs, music, concerts, plays, musicals or festivals, you can buy tickets with See Tickets. Every time you use the See Tickets website via the links on Surefish, Christian Aid receives a generous slice of the booking fee.

And if you buy anything from Amazon.co.uk via the Surefish site, part of the purchase price goes directly to Christian Aid. You can also ‘buy’ part of an iconic Christian Aid photograph through the Mosaic Appeal. Each part costs £5, and when all have been bought, more than £17,000 will have been raised.

You can get broadband internet access though Christian Aid partner So Internet, parent company of Christian Technology, green electricity from Ecotricity, and eco-products from Nigel’s Eco Store. Every time you buy through Surefish, you give part of what you pay to Christian Aid. If you use Surefish to purchase cards and gifts from Traidcraft, then Christian Aid receives even more money.

The Surefish website also offers a wide range of news and features, discussion forums, daily Bible readings and reflections, comment pieces, partner updates and resources for you to use.

Visit and bookmark www.surefish.co.uk for the latest ways to help raise funds for Christian Aid.

FAST WORK WHEN THE legacy team place ads in Christian Aid News they want to inspire people to give. But they usually expect to wait quite a while for the money to materialise. Sometimes things happen more quickly. A supporter from Hythe in Kent saw the ad in our last issue, featuring a sub-surface dam in Zimbabwe funded by our partner the Dabane Trust and spelling out the costs and benefits. His response was to send us a cheque for £3,800 with a simple instruction written on the ad. ‘Build the dam,’ he said! ‘Thank you,’ we say.

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PHILIPPINES

FINAL RECKONING FOR CLIMATE PROJECT A PROJECT to secure the livelihoods of fishing communities through disasterresilient aquaculture and mangrove reforestation in the Philippines has beaten more than 1,600 project submissions from around the world into the final of the World Bank’s 2009 global competition on climate adaptation.

The project has been implemented

by Trowel Development Foundation, a member of the Christian Aid-funded network PhilNet. Christian Aid provided training to PhilNet members, including Trowel, in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Meanwhile, Christian Aid and another Philippines partner, Manila Observatory, are celebrating an advocacy victory as the southeast Asian nation’s government

last month passed its new Climate Change Act. The bill recognises the need for ‘synergistic action to deal with the climate crisis and to reduce the risk of disasters associated with global climate change’. The bill still has to be passed by the House of Representatives but, if successful, will pave the way for a national Climate Change Commission.

This body will be responsible for ensuring that climate change and disaster risk reduction are mainstreamed into development plans at all levels and lead to better coordination of climate change programmes between government agencies. Manila Observatory was involved in the drafting of the bill.

Picture: Christian Aid/Amanda Farrant

The livelihoods of fishermen in the Philippines are being secured by a new climate change project

PARTNER CHANGES NATIONAL HIV POLICY DEDICATED WORK by Christian Aid partner VORSI Congo has achieved a significant milestone in the fight against HIV in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In August, the body which decides national policy on HIV programmes amended its national plans in favour of promoting the SAVE approach championed by Christian Aid and our partners across the world.

WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR STORY EVERY YEAR Christian Aid staff organise an afternoon of fun for Black History Month and Christian Aid’s Diversity Celebration. This year it will take place on 29 October from 4.30 to 7.30pm in the Forum at Inter-Church House, Lower Marsh, London.

This is a day when we enjoy each other’s company with good food, drinks, great stories and fine entertainment, to which all are welcome!

The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘In Your Shoes’. We want to celebrate the experience of living and breathing Christian Aid, as staff members, beneficiaries and supporters.

We want you to share, in your own words (a maximum of 300), the experiences, journeys and moments that have made your ‘Christian Aid experience’.

Please share: ● what inspires you to support Christian Aid’s work ● where you have seen Christian Aid making a significant difference ● a great story you have heard about Christian Aid’s work ● an exciting project you visited that had the ‘X factor’.

If you feel pictures best illustrate your story, please send them too.

We have a giant replica shoe that we will use to display the ‘In Your Shoes’ stories for people to read on 29 October.

All stories should be sent to Makena Guantai Day, Christian Aid, 35-41 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RL or emailed to mguantai-day@christian-aid.org

What is the SAVE approach? Basically it stresses that HIV is a virus, not a moral issue. SAVE stands for Safer practices, Available medications, Voluntary counselling and testing, and Empowerment. Talking about what is right, wrong or sinful won’t save your life, but what can save your life – and the lives of those you love – are everyday practical steps.

Having this approach recognised at the heart of a national policy is a positive step forward and goes some way to towards tackling the stigma that paralyses the lives of those infected with and affected by HIV. To find out more, visit www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/F1276PDF.pdf

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NEWS

POLLS AND POVERTY: AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Picture: Christian Aid/Tabitha Ross

A young girl drinks goat’s milk, from livestock provided by Christian Aid partners

AFGHANISTAN WITHOUT THE emergence of a leader in Afghanistan committed to real change and justice for all, crucial development work will be at risk, warns Christian Aid. Christian Aid has worked in Afghanistan for nearly three decades, supporting people in one of the world’s most challenging environments.

Since 2001, we have provided about £20 million of assistance to partners working in the western, northern and central regions of Afghanistan. We are supporting the poorest of the poor to find sustainable ways of making a living through farming, raising livestock and running small businesses. Our partners provide opportunities for women to earn an income by training them to weave wool into traditional carpets. We support women’s literacy and education projects, and help blind and disabled people claim their rights, while nationally partners lobby for human rights protection.

Afghanistan is still the poorest country in the world outside Africa; less than a third of the population has access

to clean water, and 40 per cent do not meet their daily food needs. One in four children die before their fifth birthday.

Such appalling statistics, coupled with a conflict in which insufficient care has been taken to protect civilian lives, and the fact that the Karzai administration is widely seen as corrupt and inefficient, have led to a resurgence of support for the Taliban and other extra-governmental groups.

‘As an organisation committed to poverty eradication, we believe that the 2009 elections are as important a moment in Afghan history as any other that we’ve seen,’ comments Serena Di Matteo, Christian Aid’s country manager for Afghanistan.

However, if the elections – which have been plagued by allegations of fraud – are not seen as legitimate, and if the next president is not seen as the legitimate winner, it will be even more difficult for him to enforce the rule of law across the country and bring the conflict to an end.

This, in turn, will have a hugely negative impact on development.

Christian Aid does not work under military protection, which can blur the boundaries between aid and the military. Instead, we keep a low profile, working closely with local partners.

But the conflict means that there are parts of Afghanistan where we are unable to work as it is too unsafe. The UN estimates that half of the country is currently inaccessible. Aid agencies face the dilemma of withdrawing from insecure areas or tolerating serious risks to staff and activities.

Di Matteo adds: ‘It’s a vicious circle, as poverty itself is a contributing factor in the conflict. Poverty can leave Afghans with few alternatives but corruption, opium cultivation and trade, or supporting anti-government elements such as the Taliban (who often give some financial support to their followers).

‘If we and other agencies are unable to implement programmes to improve lives, people are more likely to turn to alternatives that fuel the conflict. In short, peace in Afghanistan is directly linked to eradicating poverty.’

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OUR SURVEY SAYS A YOUGOV SURVEY, released for the launch of Christian Aid’s new campaigning action, the Mass Visual Trespass (see page 16), recorded the following results:

93%

think everyone in the UK should have the right to peaceful protest.

50%

think the police are too heavy-handed or deploy too many officers when dealing with protests.

33% 18%

think the police filming protesters is an invasion of privacy. are put off protesting in the future due to heavy-handed policing.

MOBILE PHONES AT THE READY AS FLOODS HIT MALAWI AS MALAWI’S population braces itself for the annual floods at the start of the country’s October rains, communities involved in a new project funded by Christian Aid will have their mobile phones ready!

A new partner, the Evangelical Association of Malawi, has set up a new project in the Shire Valley, a floods hotspot. Community volunteers – using an alert system of red, orange and green and a loudspeaker – will travel through their communities announcing

HELP A CHILD SUCH AS NOOR

AGENDA

hated this life,’ he admitted.

With the help of our Christian Aid partner the YMCA, we helped to buy Noor a new prosthetic hand and introduced him to a trained counsellor who has worked tirelessly over the past three years to help rebuild his shattered life. Noor now wants to develop his interest in fixing electronic gadgets into a career in computing and, as the eldest child, take responsibility for helping his family out of poverty.

The Christmas cash appeal will go out during November.

What’s on our mind over the next couple of months 16-18 OCTOBER Stand Up and Take Action: The Great Persuasion. Christian Aid is asking supporters to lobby MPs in their constituencies, as part of a global initiative. See www.christianaid.org. uk/actnow 11 NOVEMBER Launch of our Christmas Appeal.

See this page. Free resources can be downloaded at www.christianaid.org. uk/christmas 5 DECEMBER The Wave. Climate change protest marches in London and Glasgow. See page 17 and www.christianaid.org. uk/the-wave

Picture: Christian Aid/Abbie Trayler-Smith

WHAT COMES to mind when you think of Bethlehem at Christmas? A time and a place for celebration, for peace and goodwill? Sadly, the reality is a place of conflict, where children of all backgrounds can suffer daily violence, debilitating pain and incredible trauma.

For this year’s Christmas Appeal, Christian Aid is asking our supporters for a donation to help children such as Noor, who is trying to rebuild his life after losing his right hand to an explosive device. Noor (below right), now 17, is living in a refugee camp in the West Bank area of Palestine.

Like many families here, his is extremely poor, with seven people living in just three cramped rooms. There is nowhere to play and little opportunity for a child’s life to be normal and carefree.

When Noor was just 14, he picked up what looked like a metal pipe. It was actually an explosive device, which shattered the bones in one hand. There was no option but to amputate.

Noor thought he’d lost everything, and became very depressed and lonely.

He became ashamed of his broken body and was reluctant to leave the house, suffering panic attacks and night terrors. ‘I had lost all hope in life. I

alert codes received from other volunteers reading rainfall patterns at rain gauges upstream. Outside the rainy seasons, dykes, dams and embankments are being built to control and channel the expected water overflow.

This project aims to reach more than 5,000 families affected by floods with year-round preparation work, including tree planting, natural resource protection and education in schools. Christian Aid hopes to replicate this project across the country in the coming years with further EU support.

9 DECEMBER Christian Aid cyclists set off to ride to Copenhagen for the climate change summit.

7-18 DECEMBER UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen. The moment we’ve all been waiting for. See page 21.

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NEWS

FARMERS LOSE OUT IN BATTLE FOR PALM OIL

COLOMBIA

Picture: Cesar Moreno Pinzon

saw his house torn down and is currently living in a tent with no land to cultivate. ‘We want Europeans who are using products made from palm oil to collaborate with us,’ he said. ‘The products which companies say are produced fairly and securely are being produced by throwing people off our land where we were born. It belongs to us. We have our families here.’

Sadly, what happened to the 123 families of Las Pavas is far from unique. The Colombian government IT IS harvest time in Sur de Bolivar, an is eagerly pursuing the widespread extremely fertile region of northern cultivation of African palm as a key Colombia. But for the 123 peasant plank of its development strategy. families who have been cultivating food As well as being used in soap crops on a 2,700-acre ranch for more products and as an emulsifier in than a decade, there is nothing to reap. processed food, the oil from African In July, they were thrown off this land palm can also be converted into a by riot police after Daabon Organic, a biofuel. This is a highly lucrative major Colombian supplier for the Body market and one which the Colombian Shop, obtained a court order to remove them, an incident highlighted by Christian government is keen to exploit to generate foreign exchange earnings.

Aid and reported by the Observer.

Colombia’s president, Alvaro Uribe, Daabon Organic bought the land in has stated publicly that he would like order to grow African palm. The oil to see the area under African palm from this controversial crop is the key cultivation in his country increase by ingredient in many soap products sold a factor of 20, from 300,000 hectares by the Body Shop in the UK. (741,316 acres) to 6 million (14.8 million But solicitors for the peasants living acres). But much of the land earmarked in Las Pavas are disputing the court has peasant farmers living on it. order obtained by Daabon, arguing that Christian Aid believes that the the families had already applied for the president’s development right to own the land under a Above: police move to strategy is fundamentally provision of Colombian law, evict farmers. Below: misguided. Colombia is before the consortium run by how the Observer reported the story already experiencing one Daabon bought it from the of the worst displacement previous owner. crises in the world.

Following the President Uribe’s revelations, the Body aspirations fail to take Shop requested a into account the needs meeting with Christian of Colombia’s poorest Aid. The company said peasant communities. it took problems in Many indigenous peoples the supply chain very and small farmers had seriously and pledged subsisted in tropical to investigate the Las forests for generations.

Pavas case further.

That way of life is This is scant comfort increasingly under threat. for Edwin Torres who

EastEnders star Joe Swash and The Apprentice winner Tim Campbell recover from their run

THEY KEPT ON RUNNING THE BIGGEST ever Christian Aid running team took to the streets of Newcastle for the 2009 BUPA Great North Run last month, with 132 runners crossing the finish line in glorious sunshine at South Shields.

Our celebrity runners were in fine form: actor Jerome Flynn gave out good luck kisses at the start, while EastEnders’ Kara Tointon and Joe Swash and Apprentice winner Tim Campbell enjoyed a chat with other runners in the Christian Aid post-run reception tent.

The atmosphere on the day was buzzing – and the words on most runners’ lips were: ‘I want to do it again next year!’ ● To join our running team, visit www.christianaid.org.uk/events

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CHRISTIAN AID IN THE NEWS A snapshot of some of the coverage our work has had in the media at large As well as the full-page report on the Colombia story (see opposite) the same September edition of the Observer devoted a doublepage spread to our response to the devastating drought in northern Kenya (see pages 10 to 15).

Christian Aid’s Mass Visual Trespass campaign, designed to focus attention on the climate change summit in Copenhagen, received huge online coverage last month and was also reported in the Baptist Times and Methodist Recorder.

Picture: Christian Aid/Kevin Leighton

Last month the Sunday Times ran an interview with PriceWaterhouseCooper head Ian Powell, in which he spoke about his ‘popularity’ with Christian Aid supporters – hundreds of you have been sending him postcards and emails in support of our tax campaign.

CRISIS ‘SEEDS’ APPEAL TOPS £600,000 ZIMBABWE CHRISTIAN AID’S urgent appeal for Zimbabwe, launched in June this year, has so far raised more than £600,000 to help families break free of the cycle of food-aid dependency.

‘Thanks to the concern shown by our supporters, our partners are now ensuring farmers are trained and ready to go when the cropping season begins,’ reports William Anderson, Christian Aid’s Zimbabwe country manager.

After providing training and seeds before the October rains, Christian Aid

expects more than 20,000 people to need no food assistance in just a few years’ time. With our partners’ support, including helping people to protect themselves from health risks that compromise their ability to work, such as cholera and HIV, we can ensure farming becomes a way out of poverty.

The UN estimates that 2.5 million people will still be dependent on food aid in 2010, which some are seeing as a positive development in light of the 7 million who needed food aid to survive this year. But William predicts that the 2010 figure will exceed 2.5 million, adding: ‘This is the eighth year in a row

Christian Aid was one of 15 organisations, including Unicef and Médecins Sans Frontières to write to the Guardian calling on drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline to pool its patents on HIV medicines to help save the lives of millions in developing counties.

that the UN will have to provide food aid. From the perspective of promoting good governance, the state should be providing social welfare and so this is unacceptable,’ he warns.

Christian Aid hopes that supporters will continue to give to our Zimbabwe appeal so we can scale up our work and reach more people. Dates for the next elections are uncertain; as is how long the inclusive government can last or whether the nation can cease its increasing reliance on aid.

‘Despite these uncertainties,’ reports William, ‘we are providing more than hope, because the simple, effective techniques of conservation farming being pioneered by our partners will change lives for the better and for good.’ www.christianaid.org/zimbabwe Christian Aid News 9

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THE BIG PICTURE

DEATH OF A WAY OF LIFE STARKLY SYMBOLIC of the plight currently afflicting Kenya’s nomadic pastoralists, Kadija Omar stands by the lifeless body of the last remaining goat from her herd, all 50 of which have died during the current drought. This last goat died just 90 minutes before this picture was taken.

For Kadija, 45, it means the end of her pastoral way of life, and she has now set up her makeshift camp on the edge of Elwak town, along with her eight children, one of whom has malaria, another pneumonia.

‘The life of the pastoralist is over. I’ve lost my livelihood, I have nothing to go back to. The loss of my last goat is just another death. I’ve lost so much already, I can’t think about it.’ ● ‘On the brink of starvation’: see next page

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Picture: Christian Aid/Mike Goldwater

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COVER STORY

ON THE BRINK OF STARVATION Failed rains, leading to appalling drought, have created a desperate scenario for people living in the northeast of Kenya. Christian Aid writer Emma Pomfret travelled to the region and reports on a nightmare that has grown ever more deadly by the day

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Pictures: Christian Aid/Mike Goldwater

Nomads fight to the front of the queue for water, filling whatever containers they can lay their hands on (right). Below, right: Habiba Malim’s month-old baby was snatched by hyenas

ON THE parched, dusty road out of Elwak, a remote town straddling the border of northeast Kenya and western Somalia, rotting animal carcasses and ever-growing clusters of destitute families begging for water are a dismal indication that time is rapidly running out for people here.

Following a devastating 18 months of no rainfall, one of the worst droughts in living memory is now taking its deadly toll on the local population, bringing in its wake a myriad of social, economic and health problems.

Hard on the heels of Kenya’s last severe drought in 2005, the devastating impact of the past three seasons of failed rains has resulted not only in imminent

starvation and misery for millions, but also an end to the final chapter in the region’s traditional nomadic way of life.

Condemned to eke out an existence on the very edges of Kenyan society, patently unwelcome in surrounding towns and villages, and forced to settle in one place after generations of nomadic farming, for those in Elwak’s makeshift camps life isn’t easy. One recent violent clash over land and precious water supplies killed 32 people, demonstrating the utter desperation of this population forced to settle by isolated roadsides in a final bid for emergency assistance.

One frightened former nomad, Harida Mohamed, 15, injured her eye so badly in a physical scramble during a water

delivery that it’s unlikely she’ll ever be able to see properly again.

‘We completely depend on the water tankers but they only come every four or five days, so when they arrive everybody tries to get there first,’ she says. ‘People’s families are dying so they don’t care what happens in the struggle for their share of the water, they just need it now.’

As the drought deepens, community elders predict that further bloodshed at water delivery points is inevitable. And the struggle for survival between people and animals has resulted in at least two babies being snatched by starving hyenas, which prowl the perimeter of Elwak’s makeshift camps at dusk.

‘My month-old baby boy was taken by hyenas two weeks ago,’ says motherof-eight Habiba Malim, 49, who set up home by the roadside when the ‘long’ or spring rains failed for the second season.

‘The hyenas are emaciated and attracted by the water in the tarpaulins, so even though we light fires to keep them away after dark, we can’t stop them altogether.’

Despite a small amount of basic food supplies starting to trickle in from the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) and other non-governmental organisations, Habiba, like many others in this part of Kenya, is now only managing to eat one tiny, uncooked meal each day.

‘We have very little food or clean water to drink or to cook with and I genuinely fear for my life and that of my children.

‘If the rains don’t come soon I don’t

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COVER STORY

know what will happen to us,’ she adds.

Indeed, the population here is teetering on the very brink of starvation.

UN reports estimate that 19 million people in Kenya and the surrounding region – including Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti – need water and food assistance, with some four million Kenyans requiring food aid until March.

‘If the October rains don’t materialise, we are expecting things to become catastrophic,’ says Burke Oberle, WFP’s Kenya country director.

HOW YOU CAN HELP CHRISTIAN AID has sent £75,000 to Northern Aid for water trucking, fuel subsidies and rapid response to borehole breakdown. However, the situation in Kenya remains critical and every penny helps. To make a donation please visit www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals/ climate-change-costs-lives/index.aspx

A GLIMMER OF HOPE At 5.30am every morning on the desolate outskirts of Elwak, three huge water trucks are filled to the brim with fresh, clean water from the region’s only working borehole. This increasingly rare commodity is then delivered to 27 recently established settlements in Dawder, Iresuki and Chachabole every four to eight days. Two of these trucks are fully funded by Christian Aid’s Kenyan partner Northern Aid, and are a lifeline for the growing communities of nomadic drop-outs.

‘People here have seen weather patterns change dramatically over the past decade; the droughts are getting more severe and frequent and their traditional nomadic lifestyle is becoming impossible,’ says 32-year-old Suleiman Mohammed, field assistant for Northern Aid. ‘Northern Aid is a source of life out here. The water deliveries are vital and people are grateful for our help, but this drought is worse than we’ve ever seen before and we’re desperate for more water tankers, borehole lubricants, and spare engine parts. New engine parts take three months to arrive from Nairobi; so just one broken engine – which is very likely as these vehicles are working flat out every day – means that people will die.

‘Another problem is that communities are sharing dirty tarpaulins of water with their dying livestock; so it becomes contaminated and more people are getting sick. So we also need permanent sealed water containers, cooking materials and mosquito nets. Life here is hanging by a very thin thread, and just one tiny problem with a tanker or a borehole could be catastrophic. We need to act now.’

Picture: Christian Aid/Mike Goldwater

With the arrival of precious water supplies, the pastoralists stake out makeshift water holes for their livestock, using tarpaulins

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COMMENT

SHALL I FEED THE COWS OR THE CHILDREN? Abdullahi Abdi, executive officer for a Christian Aid partner in Kenya, Northern Aid, offers his own on-the-ground perspective of the stark choices facing his country’s nomadic pastoralists HASSAN ALI has seen much in 47 years of life but cannot accept his fate as determined by the drought this year.

His two wives and six children have migrated to Wargadud, a small village in Mandera Central District, Kenya, where they can get water from the borehole there. Hassan remains behind at his nomadic camp to look after what is left of his herd, which once stood at 105 cows. He cannot join his two wives and children as the seven cows and five calves, his only assets left, cannot trek to the water point due to emaciation. The animals have to be fed and watered at the camp. He fetches water on a donkey, from a borehole 15 kilometres away.

The survival line for his family and his cows is relief food rations from the World Food Programme, which is handed out by local non-governmental organisations. Two of his sons have

moved to Elwak in search of work as casual labourers, paid less than US$2 per day if work is available.

The family jointly receives 100 kilograms of maize and 50 kilograms of lentils a month. The lentils are exchanged for maize and feed for the animals. Hassan says that the family is as good as dead if all his animals perish. He says his only hope is for the rainy season to begin, for him to rebuild his herd. Most of the time, he says, he is confronted by the difficult choice between feeding his children or his cows. As Ali cannot choose, the struggle for his family’s survival continues.

Since the last drought of 2006, two rainy seasons have passed without any rainfall. The lack of rain has exacerbated

an already difficult family life. The situation is not expected to improve until March or April 2010 and has forced the Kenyan Government to declare a state of emergency. In particular the pastoralist region has the highest poverty rates and is the most affected.

Hassan’s story is repeated very many times by other pastoralists in the region.

Some have been pushed to the edge and are barely surviving on a meal of maize and water; some are migrating to urban centres and taking on massive debts. The sale of one goat could buy a 90kg bag of maize in the past but now it may require more than four goats for a bag.

The pastoralist way of life, which has been in existence for centuries, is under serious threat. Climate change has turned their lives into a nightmare.

The drought cycle that recurred every 11 years now visits them every second year.

Hassan is still in a state of denial, incessantly asking himself: ‘Shall I feed the cows or the children with the little maize I receive?’

Meanwhile, the struggle for life here continues.

Below: Abdullahi Abdi surveys the carcasses of livestock on an assessment tour of the drought situation in Elwak – a grim indicator of the worsening plight

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CAMPAIGNS Challenging the policies and structures that keep poverty entrenched is a vital part of Christian Aid’s work – including lobbying over climate change, and for tax justice

CLIMATE CHANGE: FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES This December, in Copenhagen, the United Nations will negotiate a climate change deal. It’s the best chance we have of stopping runaway climate change, but it must put the poorest people at its heart. Campaigns officer Clare Lyons reports on the latest action in our Countdown to Copenhagen campaign: the Mass Visual Trespass FRIDAY 28 August 2009, 7pm.

As people across the UK headed off to enjoy the bank holiday weekend, myself and a group of Christian Aid campaigners were making a trip of a different kind.

Our destination? Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, birthplace

of the Industrial Revolution, 300 years ago in 1709. But we were there to mark a different date: 28 August left just 100 days until the crucial UN climate change summit in Copenhagen. With the clock ticking, it was time for Christian Aid’s climate change

campaigning to get bigger and bolder. It was time for the first Mass Visual Trespass. Our target: the pink cooling towers of E.ON’s Ironbridge coal-fired power station. And the stars of the show: a mass of Christian Aid supporters with climate messages, ready to ‘trespass’ at the flick of a switch.

In the fading light, we made our way to within a few hundred metres of the power station.

The projection equipment was unloaded and set up. A click, and suddenly a cooling tower was illuminated with the words ‘Mass Visual Trespass’, followed by ‘Forgive us our trespasses’ and ‘Coal kills’. Hundreds of video, photo and text messages followed – image after image of you, our supporters, calling on Gordon Brown to deliver a fair deal for

Face of a trespasser: Ernest Crutchley, 79, was up in lights at Ironbridge.

Ernest, a minister in the United Reformed Church, is now planning to go to Copenhagen with his grandsons. In his projection to Gordon Brown, he says: ‘I am from the same tradition as your father and find the prophetic message in the scriptures about justice impossible to ignore. I have tried to live my adult life with that purpose in mind’

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campaign, the Mass Visual Trespass gives people a new way to urge the UK government to show international leadership on climate change.

Projection protest: images of messages to Gordon Brown were beamed on to the cooling towers at Ironbridge

Pictures: Christian Aid

Getting involved

those living in poverty. Bishops stood shoulder to shoulder with teenagers, poets, grandfathers – people of all faiths and none, united in an urgent call for climate action. None of them had to be there in person to deliver their message, yet it was delivered loud and clear. It was a truly impressive sight – and all completely legal.

As part of Christian Aid’s Countdown to Copenhagen

Campaigners have been quick to take up the challenge. Some 2,000 people recorded messages at the Greenbelt Festival, where crowds of festival-goers chanted, ‘Make Copenhagen Count’.

Ironbridge was the first in a series of ‘trespasses’ that will take place in the run-up to Copenhagen – in places where the prime minister won’t miss them. Bringing the campaign to the attention of No.10 is important. Gordon Brown has committed to attend the talks and Christian Aid is urging him to press rich countries to commit to at least 40 per cent carbon emission reductions by 2020.

Moreover, if we are to ask other countries to cut emissions, Christian Aid believes that the UK must get its own house in order.

That’s why all new coal power plants must be required to operate full carbon capture and storage from the outset. Under current proposals, new power plants – such as the one proposed by E.ON at Kingsnorth – will only capture 25 per cent of their carbon.

For Paul Brannen, Christian Aid’s head of campaigns, it’s an issue of justice. ‘It is the rich nations like the UK who have developed through emitting carbon, yet the poorest who have to live with the worst impacts of a changing climate. In the face of this injustice we cannot remain silent. The industrialised countries must now demonstrate a new kind of leadership in dealing with the consequences.‘

How you can join the trespass!

• Visit www.christianaid.org.uk/trespass • Add your text, video or photo message.

• Enter your email address and we’ll let you know when the next trespass has taken place.

• Alternatively, contact your local Christian Aid office to find out when they are recording messages in your area.

• Queries? Email campaigns@christian-aid.org or call 020 7523 2264.

JOIN THE WAVE AND DEMAND CLIMATE JUSTICE ON SATURDAY 5 December, in London and Glasgow, Christian Aid is joining with other organisations to form the UK’s biggest-ever climate change demonstration – and we want you with us!

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, of which Christian Aid is a member, is organising The Wave, a carnival-style march through the streets of London and Glasgow in a human wave of support for action on climate change.

Paul Brannen, head of campaigns, says, ‘Time is running out for people living in poverty. On the eve of the crucial climate talks in Copenhagen, the Wave is our chance to take the message of climate justice to the prime minister. Copenhagen is our best chance yet to secure a deal that takes action on climate change while allowing poor countries to develop. We have had a campaign victory with Gordon Brown committing to lead the UK delegation, now we must ensure that, once there, he pushes for a fair deal. Join us on 5 December to remind him that we need to make Copenhagen count for the world’s poorest.’

LONDON: WEAR BLUE The day will begin with the Archbishop of Canterbury addressing an ecumenical service at 11am at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. The march will assemble at 12 noon in Grosvenor Square, W1. Please wear blue so the march looks like it is water flooding the streets of London and bring a blue banner or blue material (as well as blue gloves if you have them!)

There are coaches and trains coming from across the country. To find out more go to www. christianaid.org.uk/the-wave GLASGOW To join the Glasgow march contact Diane Green at dgreen@christian-aid.org or visit www. stopclimatechaos.org/scotland Bring your friends and family to The Wave as we join together to demand that world leaders take decisive action to create a world free from poverty.

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CAMPAIGNS

PINSTRIPED PIRATES WALK THE PLANKS

Picture: Christian Aid

Alongside the actions over climate change, Christian Aid is stepping up its campaign for tax justice

PINSTRIPED PIRATES strutted their stuff aboard the Golden Hinde in Southwark, London, last month to raise awareness of Christian Aid’s tax justice campaign.

The action, aboard the replica of Sir Francis Drake’s famous ship, came as G20 finance ministers

met in the capital. Christian Aid is calling on the G20 to prioritise reforms that would help developing countries counter the tax-dodging activities of international companies.

Helen Collinson, Christian Aid campaign manager, says: ‘We’re

FROM TRADE TO TAX Some readers may be wondering what happened to Christian Aid’s trade justice campaign and whether we ever managed to stop the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). Below we answer your questions on our EPAs campaign WHY DID CHRISTIAN AID CAMPAIGN ON EPAS? Our trade justice campaign called for poor countries to be free to choose their own trade policies in order to lift their people out of poverty. As part of this campaign, we challenged the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) the European Union was negotiating with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries because we believed EPAs would constitute an unfair

Our Johnny Depp-alike pirate in action against the backdrop of London’s financial centre

urging the G20 to back our call for a new accounting standard, requiring multinational companies to report their profits in every country in which they operate. We welcome the UK government’s support for this, but our challenge now is to get other G20 countries on board and keep international tax reform high up the G20 agenda when finance ministers meet in Scotland in early November.

‘Such a standard would make it harder for companies to dodge the tax they owe to poor countries, and create more money for health, education, and other services.’

Please send an email to Chancellor Alistair Darling, urging him to obtain backing for our tax demands at the G20 at: www.christianaid.org.uk/tax Meanwhile, the UK’s big four accountancy firms – KPMG, PwC, Deloitte’s and Ernst and Young – have found it hard to ignore our campaign. Each has received 5,000 postcards and nearly 1,000 emails from Christian Aid supporters.

Our campaign was also taken direct to their regional offices in Bristol, Reading, Nottingham, Leeds, Southampton, Manchester, and Cardiff. Staff arriving for work were greeted by Christian Aid teams in evening wear telling them that their firm had won an Alternative Tax Award for having the greatest potential for tax reform.

deal for these countries. We campaigned hard against poor countries being bullied into signing EPAs. WHAT IMPACT DID THE CAMPAIGN HAVE? Thousands of you protested to the UK government and the EU. Christian Aid helped build a movement against EPAs, spanning more than 30 countries. Many ACP countries have yet to sign or ratify their EPAs, refusing to be bullied into unfair deals.

SO WHAT NEXT? It is poor countries’ need for money that makes them vulnerable to unfair trade deals. But they could raise their own cash to pay for their own development. They have natural resources and the skills of their people, and in many countries multinational companies are making huge profits from these. The problem is that many multinationals are not paying a fair rate of tax on their profits in those countries. Join our Big Tax Return campaign against the tax dodging that is costing poor countries US$160bn every year. Find out more at www.christianaid.org/tax

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COMMENT

ALL THAT LOBBYING CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE We talk, we argue, we march, we protest, we are consulted – and we respond. Christian Aid puts in a lot of effort to persuade those with the power to change the world to do just that. And sometimes, those in power do listen…

IN MARCH this year, the Department for International Development (DFID) launched a consultation ahead of their next policy paper – known in Westminster jargon as a white paper.

Christian Aid contributed a weighty response document, using this as a key opportunity to influence the government’s agenda on our priority issues of climate change and tax, as well as on other important areas such as gender, HIV, secure livelihoods, trade, reform of the World Bank and the IMF, accountable governance, and arguing for a focus on poverty elimination.

Daleep Mukarji, Christian Aid’s director, spoke alongside a DFID minister at a white paper event, and supporters and staff from across the UK and overseas all made their voices heard at consultation events with ministers and DFID officials. Behind the scenes, we were lobbying government departments across Whitehall.

Thanks to everyone who took part, our hard work paid off and the white paper was published in July – and addressed much of what we had raised.

crisis, ongoing conflict and state fragility in many countries threaten to turn back this progress.

I know Christian Aid supporters have been at the forefront of campaigns in the run-up to the vital summit at Copenhagen, and on the issue of tax and poor countries.

You can be sure that your concerns are being heard at the highest levels and we are endeavouring to take strong action in both these areas.

Earlier this year, I launched a review of DFID’s policies on fighting poverty. I’d like to thank all of you who either wrote to us – we had 2,500 submissions altogether – or attended one of our 12 consultation events across the country.

Those letters and events helped to shape the white paper that emerged and was published in July: Eliminating World Poverty: Building our Common Future.

The white paper shows how we will keep the promises we have made to increase aid to the poorest countries in the world.

We will dedicate 0.7 per cent of national income to development assistance by 2013. By next year, we will have nearly trebled our aid to Africa since 2004. We will help 8 million children to go to school across Africa, and we’ll provide 50 million bed nets to protect people from malaria.

We will help to protect 50 million poor people in more than 20 countries from the worst effects of the downturn. So that developing countries can raise their own tax revenues and reduce their dependence on aid, we are discussing measures with our international partners to improve tax transparency, such as

‘You can be sure that your concerns are being heard at the highest levels’

Douglas Alexander (centre) at the launch of our Poverty Over vision at London’s Waterloo Station

Here, Douglas Alexander, secretary of state for international development, writing exclusively for Christian Aid News, outlines the thinking behind the government’s new strategy – what he describes as a fundamental shift in the way the UK delivers development aid.

‘

This is a critical time in the fight against poverty. Millions of people have been lifted out of poverty over the past decade, thanks in part to the debt relief and increases in aid that have been campaigned for by Christian Aid supporters.

Many lives have been changed forever.

But the global recession, the climate

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COMMENT country-by-country reporting of tax payments. We will also do more to give people economic opportunities – for instance by quadrupling our support to fair and ethical trade.

If the scale of the economic crisis is clear, climate change presents an even greater long-term threat. We will help the world’s poorest people to prevent the worst effects of climate change – and adapt to the changes that are now inevitable, whether that means more flooding or drought.

We are funding new climate science research to help predict the impact of climate change on developing countries, and altogether we will invest £100m in wider climate change research over the next five years.

A third of the world’s poorest people live in conflict-affected or fragile countries – so half of all our new direct aid will go to those countries. We will make security and justice priorities alongside basic services – and we will do more to protect women, in particular, from violence.

We will work more with international institutions such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank in all of these areas – but we will demand more of them as well.

We will work harder than ever to ensure that every pound of UK aid

contributes directly to tangible results.

Our new UKaid logo will help to show how the people of the UK are making a difference.

We will work more closely with civil society organisations – from the large, such as Christian Aid, to the small – and we will double our funding to faith-based organisations, supporting their efforts to fight poverty around the world.

This government remains committed to the fight against global poverty because it is morally right. A world where too many continue to lack not only the very basics of life, but also the opportunity to fulfil their aspirations, diminishes us all.

But at the start of the 21st century, it is increasingly clear that development is not only a moral cause, but a common cause. Our future prosperity and security are more than ever linked with the futures of people across the world, as evidenced by the financial crisis and climate change.

It is in all our interests that we grasp the opportunity to bring about real and lasting change. It will not be easy, but I believe that together we can build a safer, more secure and more sustainable world for all. ● For full details of the white paper, go to www.dfid.gov.uk

’

IN OUR VIEW ‘This white paper marked a major milestone for our tax campaign – it was the first time that the government formally announced support for country-by-country reporting. We know that Christian Aid’s campaigning and lobbying was a crucial factor in achieving this. But if all this effort is to make any difference to poor people and poor countries, the government must now use the upcoming G20 summits to get a new global agreement on tax. Please write to the chancellor to demand that this is at the top of his G20 agenda – see page 18 for more details. On climate change, we welcome DFID’s investment in civil society and in climate science. But they must be more ambitious and work harder to deliver a fair global deal at Copenhagen in December. Please write to the prime minister to demand that he does this.’

Melanie Ward, senior UK political adviser, Christian Aid

Dr Alison Doig, Christian Aid’s senior adviser on climate change, argues that developing countries are not just the victims of climate change – they also have a significant part to play in the solutions. Overpage: examples of how Christian Aid and its partners are helping some of those solutions to emerge AS THE UN climate talks in Copenhagen loom ever closer, Christian Aid is calling on the 192 countries involved to create a multi-billion-pound fund to support local communities’ efforts to cope with global warming.

We’re doing it because local communities in developing countries must become a central part of the international action agreed at Copenhagen, not an afterthought.

Some communities are already successfully adapting to the increasingly harsh climate – but many more need support to adapt and develop in ways that will not exacerbate global warming.

So Christian Aid is calling for the

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FRONTLINE

WHY A CLIMATE DEAL MUST PUT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES FIRST Copenhagen conference to create a new sustainable development innovation facility (SDIF), which would receive ten per cent of the climate money that each developing country receives.

The facility would be funded by rich countries, as part of their overall contribution to helping poor countries cope with climate change and develop in ways that are relatively climate friendly. Christian Aid believes that rich countries’ total annual contribution should amount to more than €110bn.

Money from the facility would be channelled through community organisations, civil society groups, local private companies and local governments. They would use it to test out innovative ways of coping with climate change and improving people’s lives in ways that don’t make the problem worse. They could also use it to help extend existing, successful projects, some of which are outlined in a new

Picture: Christian Aid/Mohammadur Rahman

The eroding coastline in Bagarhat district Bangladesh

Christian Aid report called Community Answers to Climate Chaos.

The examples are incredibly inspiring.

And many more people could benefit from the sort of solutions they have discovered, if the financial and political support were available.

For instance, in drought-prone eastern Kenya, non-governmental organisations are building dams in the beds of seasonal streams, which catch rainfall and help to improve community water supplies. Each dam benefits around 630 people and helps communities to grow trees, to replace those cut down for charcoal burning by people in need of income for food.

In India, half of all families in rural areas lack electricity, but in the state of Orissa, a Christian Aid partner organisation called Gram Vikas is providing homes in remote villages with piped water supplies, using standalone pumping systems powered

‘It is necessary that climate change funds are seen as belonging to citizens and not just countries’

Stories from around the world, where Christian Aid and its partners are working to empower people to shape a better future for themselves and their communities

by solar, gravity flow or biodiesel.

Where solar power is used, people can also have electric lighting.

In Nicaragua, which is likely to face more intense hurricanes in future, our partner organisation Movimiento Comunal Nicaraguense has helped 35 communities to become disaster-resilient. Local people have been trained and flood-risks mapped to enable communities to plan for disasters. In addition, cyclone shelters have been built, river banks sandbagged, flood-prone houses relocated and trees planted in flood-prone areas.

In Zimbabwe, Christian Aid partners have been working with communities in several districts to introduce them to conservation farming methods that improve soil structure and dramatically increase crop yields. At least 5,000 farmers have been trained so far, mostly by other farmers.

Community Answers to Climate Change also argues that the SDIF should also be used to help civil society – including the most marginalised and vulnerable groups – to participate more effectively in local and national decision-making on climate change.

It’s important that the world moves away from an approach that has been seen too often in recent years, in which expensive international consultants appointed by rich countries produce climate change plans that are then shelved and never delivered.

The report also stresses the importance of the SDIF being transparent, so that the citizens of developing countries can easily find out how much money has been given to whom, and for what purpose. ‘It is necessary that climate change funds are seen as belonging to citizens and not just countries,’ it urges.

You can see a copy of the new report at www.christianaid.org.uk/ images/community-answers-to-climatechaos.pdf

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FRONTLINE

LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO A GLOBAL PROBLEM Christian Aid and its partners around the world are working to show that diverse, community-based solutions can help poor communities to achieve sustainable development and provide long-term resilience to the impact of climate change.

Melanie Marks compiles a few examples…

CENTRAL AMERICA In El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua, Christian Aid works through a number of local NGOs, training village committees to deal with emergencies, introducing flood-resistant crops, helping communities to build drainage pipes and bridges and to develop long-term protection such as recycling and reforestation.

HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Christian Aid is working with partners on both sides of the Haitian/Dominican border helping small farmers and forest associations to deal with the effects of climate change. For example, they help farmers adapt their crops in response to changing weather patterns and provide environmental education on sustainable management of natural resources and reforestation for people most vulnerable to natural disasters.

PERU Our partner the Centre for Agricultural Development works with communities in Ayacucho, one of the poorest areas in Peru, helping them mitigate the impact of climate change by improving their agricultural practices, through tree planting, restoring natural pasturelands, building terraces and collecting and retaining water more efficiently.

BRAZIL The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is contributing massively to carbon emissions and global warming. Christian Aid’s partner CPI works with traditional peoples of the Amazon on land rights, recognising that these groups have a strategic role in protecting the forests and therefore the reduction of global warming.

BOLIVIA Christian Aid works with Fundación Solón, a national advocacy and campaigning organisation that helps indigenous people to speak out on the effects that climate change has on their communities. It is part of the Bolivian Climate Change Platform, which will be sending a delegation to Copenhagen to make its voice heard.

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TAJIKISTAN The Youth Ecological Centre works with young people to lobby and campaign on environmental issues concerning renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change. They have also installed solar panels in schools and other public buildings, promoted cow dung–powered stoves and given households plastic sheeting to cover their (glassless) windows.

BANGLADESH The Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) is helping communities adapt to climate change in rural Bangladesh.

With Christian Aid’s support, BCAS is helping to build resilient communities that are better prepared to deal with rising water levels, the erosion of river banks and the salination of water sources.

INDIA Christian Aid partner the Development Research Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC) works in 12 districts of West Bengal to promote food and livelihood security among the rural poor. These methods are helping farmers to adjust to the effects of climate change. Some of the methods promoted by DRCSC are seed banks, vegetable ‘nutrition’ gardens, diversification of crops and the reforestation of river banks.

PHILIPPINES As typhoons increase in severity and temperatures warm up, communities are finding it difficult to protect their crops from devastation. Thanks to loans and support from Christian Aid’s partner Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns on the island of Marinduque, people are now profitably farming butterflies.

KENYA In drought-prone eastern Kenya, Christian Aid partner UCCS has been working to address problems around water availability. As well as changing farmers’ cropping patterns, a further response has been building dams to improve water supplies in the worst-affected areas.

ZIMBABWE Since 2005 Christian Aid partners have been working with communities to introduce them to conservation-agriculture techniques.

By 2009 at least 5,000 farmers had been trained, and they are reporting an increase in yields of sorghum, millet and maize.

BURKINA FASO Christian Aid’s partner the Albert Schweitzer Ecological Centre has helped build a solar-recharging station at Tigandalgiie. Before this existed, the only lighting here came from oil lamps.

Villagers bring car batteries for charging, and use the batteries to power lighting at their homes, the local school and in the market. Now, even when it gets dark, children can still study and market traders and basket weavers can see to work.

MALI The Mali Folkecenter is actively promoting sustainable energy as a local solution for rural communities. Jatropha is being grown by families alongside other crops, to be turned into a biofuel that will supply these communities with their own electricity. The plants take up to three years to reach maturity but the communities understand the importance of sustainable energy and the long-term benefits it will bring to their lives.

● For more information on our work go to www.christianaid.org.uk/whatwedo Christian Aid News 23

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EVENTS

JOIN CHRISTIAN AID’S RUNNING TEAM HAVE YOU ever fancied the challenge of running a marathon?

Do you want a goal to train towards over the winter? How about taking your jogging to the next level? If you want to help Christian Aid in our fight to end poverty why not apply to run for us and raise funds to help the world’s poorest people? Christian Aid has places in two marathons for next year.

VIRGIN LONDON MARATHON 2010 Christian Aid has 11 sought-after Golden Bond places available for the 2010 London Marathon, which will be taking place on Sunday 25 April. Running 26 miles past iconic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and Tower Bridge, through streets lined with crowds of people and along the Royal Mile towards Buckingham Palace to the finish, the London Marathon is a must-do challenge for any runner.

BRIGHTON MARATHON 2010 Alternatively, why not apply for one of Christian Aid’s 10 places in this brand new running event being held for the first time on Sunday 18 April 2010? The flat, fast course around the city of Brighton and Hove finishes on the seafront – a great day out for runners and their families.

Fill in an application form online and let us know why you want to run for us. If you secure your own ballot place you can still join our team.

Email events@christian-aid.org and we’ll provide you with a running pack and fundraising support.

ADD YOUR SINGING VOICE TO THE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY JOIN VOICES to fight poverty this winter by holding a Big Christmas Sing.

Across the UK from 11 to 13 December, people will be singing to raise money for Christian Aid. Whether it’s a karaoke night with work colleagues in a pub, a Christmas carol concert in your local church or a not-so-quiet night in with a few friends around a sing-a-long console game, you can join in with our Big Christmas Sing.

Taking part is easy – you can register now at www.christianaid.org.uk/bigsing Once you’ve registered your interest you’ll be sent a Big Christmas Sing fundraising pack with hints and tips, a poster, invitations and donation forms.

WHATEVER YOU RAISE WILL HELP… ● Just £2 raised by you would pay for over a kilo of raw olive wood to be used by a disabled person in the West Bank to make a living through carving nativity scenes.

● £20 would be enough to fund an hour’s business training for women in the occupied Palestinian territory to start their own business. Women such as Hend Ahmed, who was abandoned by her violent husband, have benefited from such training. Through support and training from Christian Aid partner the Women’s Affairs Centre in Gaza, Hend has been able to stock her shop and run it profitably so that she can continue to support her four children. ● £200 would be enough to pay for a youth worker at the Builders of the Future youth centre in southern Gaza for a month. This would enable children from one of the poorest refugee camps in Gaza to have a safe space to learn, play and develop their personalities.

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Register online today and start practising for your Big Christmas Sing! Go to www. christianaid.org.uk/bigsing or you can call 020 7523 2248.

Picture: Christian Aid/Matthew Gonzalez-Noda

We work with some of the world’s poorest communities.

They face huge challenges every day, so why don’t you challenge yourself? Have fun while fighting poverty: join one of our events or do your own fundraising

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INSPIRED?

Christian Aid cyclists ride past the Arc de Triomphe at the end of their London to Paris marathon. Below: Angela Lewis is overcome by emotion at the finish

£260,000: THE POWER OF THE PEDALLERS

ESS • PRESS • STOP PReth P O ST • S ES PR P O Wh er STOP PRESS • ST ation on our scrumptious new event for 2010! ria nder, inform and co Watch out…for more strone or classy carrot ato, magnificent mine tom . ch lun r nte wi ing you like traditional warm -lovers together for a bring your fellow soup

Holy Island Midnight Marathon 2009 We also want to congratulate our 28 brilliant trekkers who walked 26 miles, through the night, along St Cuthbert’s Way in September. Starting at Melrose Abbey at 7am on Saturday 12 September, the team walked across the stunning Northumberland National Park to reach Holy Island for a 5pm service at St Mary’s Church the next day. Between them they’ll have raised more than £18,000.

Pictures: Christian Aid/Kevin Leighton

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS must go to our fantastic London to Paris 2009 team who rode 300 miles in four days between the two capitals in July this year. Not only did our 131 cyclists rise to the physical and mental challenge of the ride, but they also responded magnificently to the challenge of raising more than £260,000. The dates for next year’s bike ride are 21 to 25 July.

Register online today! ● For video footage of this year’s ride, go to www.christianaid.org.uk/events

Pictures: Christian Aid/Kevin Leighton

Sign up to be a part of our cycling, running or walking teams in 2010 by going online at www.christianaid. org.uk/events or email our Events team on events@christian-aid.org

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SPREAD HOPE WITH CHRISTIAN AID CHRISTMAS CARDS

Picture: Christian Aid/Karen Hedges

ONCE AGAIN Christian Aid and our sister charities CAFOD and SCIAF have teamed up with Traidcraft to produce a new range of ethically sourced and produced Christmas cards. We have worked hard this year with a new supplier to produce a range of artistic styles and prices. As always, Christian Aid will receive a percentage of all sales of cards and Christmas products in the range to put towards our fight to end poverty. To order a catalogue please call our order line on 08700 787 788 quoting item number F1853, or you can view the full range online by going to www.christianaid.org.uk/ christmascards

HOW EUROPE CAN MULTIPLY YOUR GIVING A new partnership with the European Commission can make an extraordinary difference to fundraising for Christian Aid CHRISTIAN AID supporters have been grabbing an opportunity to multiply their giving thanks to a partnership between Christian Aid and the European Commission (EC).

For specific projects, Christian Aid receives £3 in grants from the EC for every £1 raised by supporters. Thus, a donation of £10,000 multiplies to £40,000.

The extra money was an incentive for two committees in Cambridgeshire that got together for the first time to raise funds for Christian Aid’s Church Partnership Scheme. The groups, in March and Wisbech, have already raised

more than £5,000 for water projects in Ethiopia and are well on their way to raising another £5,000 for agricultural work in Burkina Faso.

A minimum fundraising target of £5,000 is required, but you don’t have to go it alone! As Jenny Webb, chair of the Christian Aid committee in March, says: ‘We decided to get together to raise the money because we thought that £5,000 was too much for one of us! It’s a great incentive to join with other churches.’

The money was raised in a variety of ways, including bread and cheese lunches and a sponsored walk. Sue Beel

from Wisbech comments: ‘The idea of money coming from the EC to support our own giving captured the imagination of local churches and schools and spurred them on to reach our target.’

One partner benefiting from this extra income is Office Développement des Eglises Evangéliques (ODE) in Burkina Faso. Created from a network of local churches, ODE is helping poor communities cope with the challenge of growing crops during a drought. Recent work has included developing market gardens, improving access to markets and preventing soil erosion.

When the family of Jess Poole were planning her funeral they asked Christian Aid if they could make donations from the funeral and their expected inheritance, to celebrate the commitment shown by their parents – Sid and Jess Poole – to Christian Aid. The Burkina Faso project was chosen because of the vital work being undertaken and its capacity to multiply the family’s gifts into something really significant. Kathy Thompson, their daughter, said: ‘At a difficult time this was something really positive that we could focus on.’

For information about Christian Aid’s Church Partnership Scheme visit www. christianaid.org.uk/churchpartnerships or call Kat Birch on 020 7523 2015. For information on how to set up an In Memoriam gift contact Colin Kemp 020 7523 2173 or ckemp@christian-aid.org

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LIFE AND SOUL

Picture: Christian Aid/Sian Curry

The way we lead our own lives can have a tangible impact in the fight to end poverty. By ‘doing the right thing’ we show we have a commitment to a sustainable lifestyle that places a high value on helping others

GUILT-FREE CHOCOLATE THIS CHRISTMAS THIS CHRISTMAS, Present Aid is offering a gift for chocoholics that is not only calorie-free, but also helps poor farmers cope with the impact of climate change.

The chocolate kit, which costs £47 from Christian Aid’s virtual gift range, consists of cocoa seedlings and training for Nicaraguan farmers to help them adapt to global warming by switching from growing coffee to cocoa, which thrives in hot climates.

Coffee farmer Miguel Angel Zelaya said: ‘Coffee used to grow really well here, but with global warming it doesn’t any more, so we are turning to other crops such as cocoa, which could help families here earn a better living.’

Other new Present Aid gifts include a soap-making kit for Burkina Faso for £13 – equipment that helps women make high-quality soap to sell; a flood survival kit for Latin America for £20; and a school kit for £22 consisting of exercise books, pencils, pens and erasers for 30 students for one year. The Present Aid

catalogue – enclosed with this edition of Christian Aid News – and new website contain 40 gift ideas, from £5 to £1,400.

Sainsbury’s has agreed to offer two Present Aid gift cards in 300 of their largest stores across the UK. They will be selling a goat for £15 and bees for £10.

And for the first time this year, we’ve introduced a new ‘big gifts’ section where churches and youth groups can club together to buy some of the larger gifts, such as a well or a bridge.

Any groups buying these presents will receive a special certificate to show how their gift is making a real difference.

Ruth Ruderham, Christian Aid’s head of fundraising, said: ‘Through Present Aid, people can purchase unusual and meaningful gifts that make a lasting difference to some of the poorest communities in the world.’

But don’t leave it too late – in order to receive your Present Aid gift in time for Christmas, we need your order by 15 December. See www.presentaid.org

A GOOD LITTLE EARNER ETHICAL FOOD firm The Good Little Company is working in partnership with Christian Aid to overcome poverty in some of the world’s poorest communities.

The company, based in Northern Ireland, specialises in healthy food. For every package of Good Little Sausages and Great Big Sausages it sells, The Good Little Company donates 5p to Christian Aid’s food security programmes. It has just launched its sausages in 150 Waitrose stores. www.goodlittlecompany.com

GO FOR A ‘HOME’ WIN! LIFE AND SOUL is marking the countdown to the crucial UN climate summit in Copenhagen this December by giving away 10 copies of Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, author of the international bestseller Earth From the Air. This moving and brilliantly photographed new book, complementing the film of the same name, is a stunning visual odyssey. A globe-spanning exploration, complete with Arthus-Bertrand’s unforgettable images, Home is a celebration of Earth’s beauty and an impassioned call to protect it from destruction.

Home voyages through more than 50 countries, considering the environment’s current condition and factors that will play a role in determining its future. Its tone is defiantly optimistic. As Yann Arthus-Bertrand says: ‘It isn’t the 50 per cent of forest that has disappeared that’s important, but the 50 per cent that’s left.’

For a chance to win one of these beautiful books please email your name and address to pressoffice@christian-aid.org, marked HOME GIVEAWAY or alternatively post your details to Emma Pomfret, Christian Aid, 35 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RL. Home: the book of the movie

by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Produced by EuropaCorp and Elzevir Films.

With the support of PPR Group

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INPUT Inspired? Enraged?

Send your views to the editor. Christian Aid News, PO Box 100, London SE1 7RT or email canews@christian-aid.org THANKS FOR A GREAT READ Wow! Issue 44 is one of the most exciting magazines I have ever read! From cover to cover, I couldn’t put it down.

All the letters on Gaza exactly echoed my feelings. It is sad that Israel has never learnt to live in peace with its neighbours. Extending and building on their neighbours’ lands, building a Berlin wall, refusing access to water and to lands belonging to the Palestinians, what on earth do they expect?

Regarding population control: yes, of course, reducing population growth would reduce the strain on natural resources, especially water and land etc. However, it is a chicken-and-egg situation, as elders in poor countries need big families to provide for them in their old age, there being no pension rights or insurance cover for sickness. Change will take time: as their children become better off in steady employment, they will want to limit their families in order to preserve a good standard of life and give their children a good education. They will therefore be more likely to limit the number of children they bring into the world.

I found Miriam Machaya’s article about Zimbabwe highly informative and clear about where the country stands today. At my church we have been supporting young Zimbabwean mothers for many years through Babygrow, but actually being able to access things such as milk powder suitable for babies has been a problem.

We pray that this wonderful country can rebuild and return

to health and prosperity.

I am sad to see Dr Mukarji going at this time of the greater involvement of Christian Aid in such a variety of areas of need.

Margaret Thewarapperuma via email

SOLIDARITY OVER SCAVENGING I was pleased to see your publicity for ‘the world’s worst job’ in the summer edition of Christian Aid News – so-called ‘manual scavenging’ by certain groups of dalits in India (and also other south Asian countries), which involves cleaning the dry toilets of the ‘higher’ castes by hand. However I was very disappointed that no mention was made of the efforts in the UK of the Dalit Solidarity Network (DSN) to draw attention to this issue, particularly by informing people about our postcard campaign, ‘So you think you’ve had a shitty day…’.

This campaign is in support of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, who indeed Christian Aid is supporting in India. Campaigners in the South often say that it is really important to them when they know that activists in western countries are publicising their struggles. It gives them strength and encouragement.

The classic example was the anti-apartheid battle.

It is not enough to support the dalit struggle within India, important though that is.

The caste issue needs to be internationalised, as the India-based National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights and the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) has been doing for

over ten years now (also supported by Christian Aid).

India needs to be shamed in the eyes of the world. It is inappropriate for example that India could be considered as a future member of the UN Security Council while caste discrimination is so prevalent and so violent in India. UK and EU politicians, and UK companies investing in India, could do a lot more to challenge caste. SKA’s target to end scavenging is by the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October 2010.

There isn’t much time! If people want to join us they can view the website at www.dsnuk.org.uk Revd David Haslam (DSN UK Trustee) Evesham

LET’S PUT OUR OWN HOUSE IN ORDER It is difficult to disagree with any of the stated objectives of your ‘Poverty Over’ campaign (Christian Aid News, issue 44).

However, it seems to me that there is one glaring omission.

To be successful, any such campaign needs to start with ourselves as individuals.

Jesus did not say ‘form committees’, ‘put pressure on governments’ or ‘reform your financial systems’. He said, to his followers and enquirers, ‘Go… And do…’.

Although campaigning for radical changes in government policies and financial institutions, and for the restructuring of our economy to adapt to and pre-empt future damaging climate change, must be high on our agenda, we are likely to be more convincing if we are seen to be making major changes in our own lifestyles first. This obviously includes reducing our own ‘carbon footprints’ as far as possible, which will help minimise further environmental damage – damage that is

already affecting the poorest nations on earth. However, it also includes self-examination of our giving to charities such as Christian Aid that work with the homeless and the hungry throughout the world.

In Luke 3:11, John the Baptist admonishes his followers to prepare for their encounter with Christ by sharing their possessions and food with those who have nothing.

Jesus put it even more bluntly, ‘Sell everything you have and give to the poor…

Then come and follow me’ (Luke 18:22).

Most of us, unlike the widow of Mark 12:44, probably give to charity out of our wealth rather than our poverty. It is hard to change this overnight and we need guidance and examples to help us. One way in which many people may easily be encouraged to give more is by adopting a principle of ‘50/50 giving’ at Christmas, whereby we aspire to give to appropriate charities at least as much as we spend on our own Christmas gifts and celebrations. Two years ago, our government voted to donate £300,000 in aid to famine relief in Eritrea. The same year, we spent over £15bn in high street shops during the Christmas season.

What a difference ‘50/50 giving’ could have made in that situation.

We may not have many more opportunities, so let’s start putting Christ’s teaching into practice in the run-up to Christmas 2009.

Ruth Grayson, Campaign Against the Secularisation of Christmas

by Promoting Charitable Giving

NEED FOR ACCOUNTABILITY I was pleased to read that Christian Aid is launching a new drive to eradicate

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CHRISTIAN AID NEWS Issue 44

Spring 2009

O Revealed: the world’s worst job O Help us lobby leaders on climate

www.christianaid.org.uk

Christian Aid has a vision: an end to poverty.

Help us make this vision a reality Cover.indd 18

poverty throughout the world, and that this commitment to change will include various areas of action including the promotion of responsive, representative and accountable governments to fight corruption in poor countries. This is indeed vital for development, but tackling this malfeasance will be a tall order because the majority of ruling parties governing in most of the developing world are entrenched.

What is needed to cajole inept administrations into action is an inducement to improve performances not just in corruption but also in economic development and human rights. Just1world has devised a league table on sub-Saharan African governance performance which rates governments in four criteria based on respected international surveys. This can be seen at www.just1world.org/ recommendations.html This report then goes on to make constructive suggestions as to how to start to make governments in Africa more accountable.

This website may help to give Christian Aid some ideas for taking its new challenge forward and I commend it to your board of management.

Willie Reid, director, just1world

30/6/09 16:38:37

MAKING THE NUMBERS ADD UP (1) The link between poverty and overpopulation is plain to see. Poor families struggling to exist on a daily basis tend not to control the size of their family as insurance against high infant mortality and to ensure there is someone to take care of the parents in old age. The downward spiral

of an increasing population sharing the same resources can only be broken by better education and healthcare. It is a damning indictment of corrupt governments that while they pursue power, prestige and wealth at the expense of their own people, only organisations such as Christian Aid are able to improve the lives of farmers and peasants in developing countries.

If only we could stabilise the world population to nil growth, it would allow a breathing space to deal with climate control before moving on to a gradual reduction in the number of people on this overcrowded planet.

D Holmes via email

MAKING THE NUMBERS ADD UP (2) I have just read (Christian Aid News, issue 44) your

You ask, we reply...

AMANDA FARRANT, Christian Aid communications officer, replies to the letter (above) from reader Elaine Russell-Mitra ‘Elaine’s letter shows how our sense of what is valuable is often relative. For farmers in Burma’s delta region, buffaloes hold as much if not more value than bricks and mortar – or, in their case, bamboo and thatch.

Since cyclone Nargis, thanks to generous donations from supporters, Christian Aid’s partners in the Burma delta have been responding to what communities feel they need. A year ago, farmers felt they could not return to their fields because of the trauma they were experiencing having seen their crops wiped out and fields flooded by water and strewn with the bodies of the dead.

Trauma counselling has now helped farmers overcome their shock and grief.

This year, they are back in their fields for the planting season and for this they need buffaloes. A good crop will help feed families and assist households to take further steps in rebuilding their lives.

Of course, house rebuilding following

figures for aid given to Burma following the cyclone: 51,479 helped with psychosocial counselling, and 470 new homes. What’s that all about? How would you like it if you lost your home and someone came to talk nicely to you about it? Cut out the psychobabble and get with the bricks and mortar.

Elaine Russell-Mitra London

GAZA: AN ELECTION ISSUE? From the correspondence on the Input page (issue 44), it would seem that many writers are disturbed by the situation in Gaza. Therefore, write to your MP and Euro MP to determine their views.

If you just receive platitudes, write again. Remember that next year your MP will be seeking your vote.

Stuart Kearney, Cheadle, Cheshire

disaster is essential, but it constitutes only one aspect of recovery. It’s expensive too.

Sometimes, helping to rebuild ‘spiritual bricks and mortar’ is just as important and can have even greater impact for less money, especially when resources are limited. Sadly, this is not always recognised.

Christian Aid and our partners are now providing hundreds of families with pairs of buffaloes to plough their fields and seeds to plant crops. A pair of buffaloes costs US$500. They are also providing boats and nets for fishing families as this is what these communities have asked for.’

Picture: Christian Aid/Neil Garvie

Our postbag and inbox included reaction to Christian Aid’s Poverty Over launch and our new-look magazine, along with our story on ‘the world’s worst job’.

Overpopulation is still stirring debate, and we had a sharp query over our relief work in Burma, which is answered below

Christian Aid News 29

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LAST WORD A reflection on playing a part in the fight against poverty, and living life in the wider family of Christian Aid

‘LET’S GO to Paris for the weekend,’ my husband said.

‘Fantastic idea,’ I said. ‘I’ve never been to Paris in the summer.’

‘Excellent, let’s go by bike,’ he said.

‘Now just hold on there…’

And that was how it started last November. Never in a million years had I thought of cycling from London to Paris. I love cycling but I was only a recreational cyclist; how could I cycle 300 miles in just four days? He finally managed to persuade me and it actually seemed like a good idea at the time!

After experiencing and coming through bowel cancer a few years ago I am always ready for any challenge, as it’s just good to be alive, and although this was a different sort of challenge it still required guts (excuse the pun) to do it. I really didn’t have any idea or concept of what riding a bike that far would be like and to be honest I didn’t do half enough training. My words of advice to would-be participants: ‘Do the training that they advise and don’t skip it.’

When the great day arrived back in July I was both excited and terrified.

Starting in Bexley, I suddenly realised how hilly Kent is. I confess that by the second day the word ‘hill’ became the worst swear word I know. Team Extreme was formed on that day – basically comprising the back markers like me and our guardian angels, Simon and Martyn, who quite literally pushed us over some of those hills. I really believe I would not have made it without them, especially on the third day when I was very low, emotionally and physically. How I kept getting back into the saddle with my red, raw, bleeding and bruised backside I shall never know.

The end was finally in sight and riding into Paris on day four with the other 130 Christian Aid cyclists, and then arriving at the Jardins du Trocadero were moments I shall never ever forget.

The hills were forgotten and the blood, sweat and tears were a distant memory.

All I had left was a wonderful sense of achievement, fantastic new friends, and the knowledge that we had all made a

FROM LONDON TO PARIS Heather Blakeburn, a 58-year-old Christian Aid supporter from Epsom in Surrey, was one of the 131 cyclists who pedalled their way to glory in this summer’s London to Paris bike ride. For Heather, the ride was a special, life-affirming experience An emotional Heather hugs a fellow cyclist at the end of the London to Paris ride

difference to so many lives through the work of Christian Aid by raising more than £260,000 from this one bike ride.

Although I was tempted to throw my old, heavy bike into the Seine I am very proud of what I achieved. I managed the entire ride without giving up on any day and I didn’t have to be swept up by the support van for going too slowly.

I will never forget the friendships forged (long live Team Extreme: you know who you are – God bless you). So,

finally, would I do it again? You bet I would! Mind you, I would insist on my husband buying me a new, lightweight bike. After all, he got me into this!

IF YOU feel inspired by Heather, the next Christian Aid London to Paris Bike Ride will take place from 21 to 25 July 2010. For more information about this ride and other Christian Aid challenge events, see pages 24 and 25

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KNOW ANYONE 18-25 WHO WANTS TO CHANGE THE WORLD? WELL HERE IS THEIR OPPORTUNITY. PLATFORM2 IS A FULLY-FUNDED GLOBAL VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMME FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WOULDN'T NORMALLY GET THE CHANCE TO VISIT A DEVELOPING COUNTRY. VOLUNTEERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO USE THEIR CREATIVITY TO EXPRESS THEIR EXPERIENCES WHEN THEY RETURN AND THEN TO ENGAGE WITH GLOBAL POVERTY ISSUES.

APPLY TODAY BY VISITING WWW.MYPLATFORM2.COM WOV[VZ [HRLU I` J\YYLU[ 7SH[MVYT ]VS\U[LLYZ 7SH[MVYT PZ H NSVIHS ]VS\U[LLYPUN L_WLYPLUJL M\UKLK I` <2HPK MYVT [OL +LWHY[TLU[ MVY 0U[LYUH[PVUHS +L]LSVWTLU[ HUK Y\U I` *OYPZ[PHU (PK HUK )<5(* [OL )YP[PZO <UP]LYZP[PLZ 5VY[O (TLYPJH *S\I

CHANGE BEGINS WHEN PEOPLE TALK Sofa Sessions: put your faith into action and join the debate.

www.christianaid.org.uk/sofasessions 031 CAN 45.indd 1

30/9/09 11:52:40

PLANT A TREE THAT BEARS FRUIT FOR GENERATIONS PRODUCE TO SELL A BETTER DIET SOIL THAT RETAINS WATER

MORE FERTILE LAND

FEWER LANDSLIDES In Ethiopia, poverty has devastated the landscape, with people cutting down trees in a desperate search for firewood. Now when the rains come, the water runs off rather than sinking into the soil, and crops don’t grow. Leaving just £3,500 to Christian Aid in your will could plant more than 30,000 seedlings. The result will be not just trees, but also fruit, shade, water, bigger harvests and healthier livelihoods.

Leaving a gift to Christian Aid in your will could change many, many lives for generations, and bring us closer to the day when poverty is over for good. To find out more about how to leave a gift in your will and what it could achieve, please contact Colin Kemp on

020 7523 2173 or email ckemp@christian-aid.org Please contact me to let me know more about leaving a gift to Christian Aid in my will Name

Address Postcode

Tel

Please complete your telephone number if you are happy to receive calls relating to Christian Aid’s work. You will be free to opt out of these calls at any time by writing to us at Supporter Relations, PO Box 100, London SE1 7RT

Please return this form to: Christian Aid, Freepost, London SE1 7YY 032 CAN 45.indd 1

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