Christian Aid Ireland magazine
Mission statement
Christian Aid Ireland works to help end poverty, injustice, inequality and violence in some of the poorest countries across the world. We support people of all faiths and none, and our work is based on our Christian belief that everyone deserves to a live a full life. We tackle both the symptoms and root causes of poverty and injustice, challenging the systems and structures that keep people poor, powerless, marginalised and vulnerable.
Christian Aid Ireland is the official relief and development agency of the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Moravian Church, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the Salvation Army, and the Irish Council of Churches.
£10/€12
Could
You
Christian Aid is a member of the ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together), the worldwide ecumenical network for emergency relief.
Christian Aid is a signatory to the Dóchas Code of Conduct on Images and Messages. More details can be found on dochas.ie.
Belfast
96 Beechill Road, Belfast, BT8 7QN Tel: 028 9064 8133
Email: belfast@christian-aid.org
Dublin
19-21 Denzille Lane, Dublin 2, D02 WT72 Tel: 01 496 7040
Email: dublin@christian-aid.org
Cork
Hill View, Bandon, County Cork
Email: cork@christian-aid.org
NI Company no: NI059154
NI Charity Commission no: NIC101631
ROI Company no: 426928
ROI Charities Regulatory no: 20014162
Editor: Lisa Fagan
Writers: Katie Cox, Dee Huddleston and Suzanne Simpson
Cover: Loveness Chapano’s grandsons were made homeless by Cyclone Idai. Full story on page 7.
Credit: Christian Aid/Gillian Porter Pair of Chickens
Could
£60/€71
Could
Keep
touch
Aswe head towards winter, it’s easy to feel demoralised by all the darkness in the world. I think in particular of this summer’s shameful racist attacks in Northern Ireland and England; the worrying rise in knife killings in Great Britain and the spiralling rates of violence against women and girls around the world.
The news from Gaza, sparked by the horrific attacks of 7th October, is a seemingly endless toll of death, destruction and unimaginable suffering. Meanwhile the situation for those who have fled war in Sudan now qualifies as the world’s largest humanitarian emergency. But in Gaza and South Sudan, as well as in lesser-known conflict zones like DR Congo and Myanmar, your donations enable our partners to bring light into the darkness.
One of those partners is Smile Again Africa Development Organization. I had the privilege of seeing their work for myself in June when I visited the displacement camps in South Sudan where they help people who have fled war in Sudan. You can read the story on pages 8-9.
Another of these light-bearers
is our partner, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights whose Director Raji Sourani paid an emotional visit to Dublin in July. It was a year since I’d last seen Raji and the terrible situation in Gaza has clearly taken a heavy toll. Despite this, he is more passionate and committed than ever. You can read the story on page 11.
This magazine tells our story - the story of Christian Aid - the partners who bring aid to people living in poverty and crisis, and the supporters whose generous giving makes their work possible. On page 15, we tell the story of one such supporter, an 89-yearold beekeeper who donates the proceeds of his honey sales. And on pages 12-13, we showcase some of the fundraisers whose efforts this Christian Aid Week brought in more than £360,000/€427,000.
better world is possible, a world without poverty and violence and division. John’s gospel tells us in 1:5 that ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’
We had another cause for celebration in June when our Church and Community Officer Andrew Coleman was ordained into the Church of Ireland’s ordained local ministry. We’re enormously proud of Andrew, and pray for God’s blessing on his ministry.
So let us not lose hope. Let us believe that a
Truly, your donations and your prayers are saving lives, changing lives and bringing light into the darkness. Thank you for being the light.
God bless,
Give us Lord God, a vision of your kingdom as your love desires it.
A world where the weak are protected and none go hungry; A world where life is shared and enjoyed by all;
A world where all races, nations and cultures live in tolerance and mutual respect;
A world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love. Give us the inspiration and courage to build your kingdom here and now.
Rosamond Bennett Chief Executive, Christian Aid
Ireland
It was lovely to get chatting to so many of you over the summer when we made some calls. Thanks for your feedback and your kinds words around all we’re achieving together and the lives we’re changing. If you donated or increased your existing donation, thank you. If you wanted to hear more or got involved in new and different ways, thank you. Please feel free to call us any time or add your phone number to our appeal donation form and we’ll hopefully get chatting to you soon.
Churches making a difference in eastern Congo
Conflict in eastern Congo has forced more than 1.7 million to flee their homes, with many now living in displacement camps.
In late 2022, fighting between government forces and the militant group M23 left Habinshuti, his wife and their 10-year-old grandson with no option but to escape their village
in North Kivu. It was on the outskirts of Goma that Habinshuti’s family found refuge in a makeshift displacement camp where they have lived ever since.
With funding from the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, our local partner Ecumenical Development Support Office (BOAD) provided over
Responding to devastating floods in Kenya
Heavy rains from March until June caused severe flooding across many parts of Kenya, killing more than 300 people and displacing nearly 300,000. The flooding destroyed roads, health facilities and schools as well as devastating farmland and drowning livestock.
One of the worst hit areas was Nakuru county to the north of Nairobi. Our local partner Anglican Development Services Kenya provided emergency support to three villages in the county so badly flooded that local people were forced to abandon their homes and seek shelter in a newly set up displacement camp, while others moved to higher ground in
search of safety.
With emergency funding from Christian Aid, our partner provided over 240 families with the equivalent of €70 a month for two months to buy food and other essentials. Our partner also provided hygiene kits to more than 500 women and girls. These kits contain sanitary towels, underwear, soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste as well as a bucket for collecting water.
200 displaced families with the equivalent of $90 in the local currency to pay for essentials. Speaking of the support he received, Habinshuti said: ‘I bought food and clothes and used the rest for other family needs. The aid enabled us to live like people. We had joy in the family. Without the cash, I wouldn’t have any clothes for my family, and I would have starved to death.’
the chickens she kept to make her living selling eggs. The family spent several days removing mud from their home, one bucket at a time. She used her cash to buy food for her family and pay school fees to keep her 17-year-old in school. Mercy hopes to use some of the cash to start a business after the loss of her chickens.
Mercy Njeri’s home was inundated with floodwater. She and her family escaped to higher ground but returned to find most of their belongings washed away. Also gone were
Help us be prepared for an emergency. With a monthly gift from you, we can be there before, during and after a disaster to save lives and support people long term. Please visit caid.ie/preparedness
Habinshuti found refuge at a makeshift displacement camp near Goma
Paluku Mudogo Angelus/BOAD
Credit: Christian Aid/Joanna Milis
The ‘tide mark’ of mud halfway up the wall of Mercy’s home is still visible.
A year of war in Gaza
Since the conflict erupted in Gaza in October 2023, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10,000 remain missing underneath the rubble. Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were also killed, while around 100 hostages taken from Israel remain in Gaza.
The conflict has also forced 1.9 million people across Gaza to flee their homes with 1.2 million facing extreme hunger, including nearly half a million in famine-like conditions.
Despite many of their staff being displaced themselves, our local partners have gone above and beyond to reach people with much-needed support.
For many months, our partner Agricultural Development Association (PARC) has provided displaced people with food packages including fresh vegetables and dried goods. They also provided hot meals to people living in makeshift camps right across the Gaza strip.
Earlier in the conflict, PARC proved to be a lifeline for many in northern Gaza where food shortages were most severe, feeding 2,000 people a day in Gaza city alone.
With the majority of Gaza’s
hospitals out of service and with aid being blocked or disrupted, it’s been almost impossible for people to get enough urgent medical care.
With support from Christian Aid, our partner Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) has provided mobile psychological care and medical support, including treating people discharged from overcrowded hospitals through home visits to dress their injuries.
Due to a lack of fuel in Gaza, staff working as part of these teams have reached their patients by any means necessary, including by bicycle and on foot.
Thanks to your generous donations, PARC was also able to set up a medical clinic in the Al-Mawasi area of Gaza, where many people have fled to following evacuation orders and to escape bombardment, to provide emergency
care and other essential treatment and tests.
In Al-Mawasi, Christian Aid’s long-standing Irish Aid funded partner Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA) also ran art classes for displaced children. With 625,000 children in Gaza unable to go to school, this was the first time that many had picked up a pencil or crayon in months.
Please pray for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the release of all remaining hostages.
Please donate what you can to our Gaza Appeal at caid.ie/Gaza
11-year-old Amal (not her real name) shows off her artwork during an art class run by our local partner CFTA.
A family looks at an apartment block destroyed by a missile strike in Gaza city.
daughter Tasha. Tasha often accompanies Belinda to the demonstration plot and says that she likes the vegetables that her mum grows.
Learning new farming techniques in Nairobi
Christian Aid’s local partner Beacon of Hope has trained women urban farmers living in a crowded suburb of Kenya’s capital Nairobi in new techniques so that they can increase the number of crops they can grow.
Our partner used demonstration plots to train the women in hydroponics, which allows vegetables to be grown on pumice stones instead of soil. This method requires less land and water than if they were to be grown conventionally in a farmer’s field and is more suitable for farmers living in densely populated areas.
By providing these farmers with a plot of their own, the project is also tackling discriminatory attitudes that mean women don’t typically own their own land. The women also use the demonstration plots to grow extra vegetables to sell as a collective.
Belinda Kasudi, a member of the Kilimo Bora self-help women’s group who received the training, said: ‘The space that we had at home was very small for farming so the project has given us an extra space where we can farm.’
She added: ‘The project is helping a lot because we are able to harvest, provide more
food for our families and sell as a group to make more income.’
Beacon of Hope also provided the groups with training on how to market, brand and package their produce so they can sell it directly to the public and maximise their earnings.
‘We no longer use middle-men, we sell direct to the market. In our first harvest we got 7kgs and each kilo earned us 100 Kenyan shillings. So we got 700 for the first sale,’ Belinda said.
Belinda pictured with her four-year-old
Credit: Christian Aid/Katie Cox
Credit: Christian Aid/Katie Cox
Kale and spinach seedlings grown by the Kilimo Bora self-help group using the hydroponics technique taught by Christian Aid’s local partner Beacon of Hope.
Witnessing the impact of your donations in Zimbabwe
FourChristian Aid Ireland
supporters saw first-hand the impact of projects in Zimbabwe supporting communities living in extreme poverty and on the frontline of the climate crisis.
Led by our Chair, Rev Dr Liz Hughes, the team travelled in July to the semi-arid Mwenezi region to meet farmers like Vhaina Mahweta, who has been struggling to cope with the impact of the El Nino-induced drought affecting much of southern Africa.
Last year, Vhaina was among almost 4,000 farmers who took part in a new project run by Christian Aid’s local partner, Sustainable Agriculture Technology. All the farmers received sesame seeds, which is naturally drought-tolerant because it puts down a 3-metre root, reaching damp soil far below the surface.
Vhaina said: ‘The rains have been poor. All the other crops perished but the sesame
produced seed for us to sell. The sesame is helping us survive the drought.’
The project also established a cooperative which links the farmers with new markets to fetch a better price for their harvest. A sesame processing plant allows the farmers to have their sesame cleaned (the chaff is removed) while 10% is processed to create ‘added value’ products such as sesame oil, snacks and animal feed.
After leaving Mwenezi, the supporters travelled to Chipinge region to meet families who had their homes destroyed by Cyclone Idai in 2019.
Loveness Chapano, the sole carer for six of her grandchildren since their mother died, is among more than 150 families
whose homes were repaired or rebuilt by our local partner, the Methodist Development and Relief Agency. Cyclone Idai was one of the worst tropical cyclones ever to make landfall in the Southern Hemisphere.
Loveness said: ‘I thank God for my new house. It’s made from concrete and steel so it will survive any more cyclones. We feel safe now. We are happy here.’
During her visit to Zimbabwe, Liz was invited to pray for the farmers struggling with drought and for the community who suffered so much as a result of Cyclone Idai.
Other supporters who travelled to Zimbabwe were Roy Kingston of Bandon Methodist Church in County Cork, Ian Mullen of Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church in Belfast and Gillian Porter of St Fiaac’s Church of Ireland in Clonegal, County Carlow. Each is a long-time supporter of Christian Aid Ireland and covered the cost of their trip. They will be giving talks about the visit within their local community.
If you’d like to hear Liz, Roy, Ian or Gillian speak about their Zimbabwe trip to your church or community group, email: belfast@christian-aid.org or dublin@christian-aid.org
Front row: Communications Officer Lisa Fagan; Rev Dr Liz Hughes; Gillian Porter; Church and Community Officer Dee Huddleston. Back row: Roy Kingston; Ian Mullen; Church and Community Officer Kaye Steele.
Loveness Chapano and her grandsons outside the house built by our local partner after Cyclone Idai destroyed their previous home.
Credit: Christian Aid/Lisa Fagan
Credit: Christian Aid/Lisa Fagan
Rebuilding lives in South Sudan
Amani and her husband Rashid remember their old life, a time before they became refugees.
The couple lived in the Darfur region of Sudan. Their five children, aged between 3 and 17 were thriving.
In Nyala city, Rashid worked as an architectural engineer following his retirement from the army, and Amani worked in a restaurant. But everything changed in April 2023 when war broke out in Sudan.
‘The bombing and the shooting was all around us. Two of my neighbours’ houses were bombed, killing four children. A bomb
fell on our house but it didn’t explode,’ Amani added.
It wasn’t long before they had militants knocking on their door.
‘They came looking for my husband as he‘d been in the army. They wanted to take him away. It was very frightening,’ Amani explained.
‘My husband was out. I called to tell him that these people are waiting to take you away so don’t come home,’ she added.
That was the day Amani decided it was too dangerous to remain in Sudan. She packed a few belongings and fled for South Sudan with her husband and two
of their children. The journey took seven days and they faced danger throughout.
‘We travelled in a convoy of four trucks. There were robbers demanding money from each truck in order to proceed. Most of the money I brought from home was taken and I only had a little bit left when we got here,’ she said.
Arriving at Wedweil refugee camp in South Sudan, close to the border with Sudan, Amani and Rashid were among thousands of Sudanese to receive cash support from Smile Again Africa Development Organization
Credit: Christian Aid/David Macharia
Amani feeds watermelon to her 3-yearold son Badu. She grew the watermelon on the farm plot she rented with profits from her restaurant.
(SAADO), a local partner of Christian Aid. This cash support, funded by Irish Aid and the Scottish government, helped refugees buy food and other essentials.
Although Amani and Rashid were relieved to reach safety, they’d had to leave three of their children in Sudan with their grandmother.
‘There was heavy shooting as we were leaving, so the children couldn’t return home. When I came here, I couldn’t eat anything because I was sick with worry and I had no phone to speak to them,’ Amani explained.
Some weeks later, with Rashid still under threat, Amani made the brave decision to return to Sudan alone, to fetch the children. Despite the danger, all four made it back to the refugee camp where the family was reunited.
Besides receiving cash to buy essentials, SAADO also provided the family with a business startup grant which allowed Amani to open a food stall that has grown into a popular restaurant in Wedweil market.
Please pray for those who fled war in Sudan, that God will comfort and provide for them in their time of need.
Please pray for peace in Sudan so that those who fled can return home in safety.
Please also pray for our partners working to support refugees in South Sudan.
Please give what you can to our Christmas appeal: caid.ie/Christmas
Better still, the success of her restaurant enabled her to rent a plot of land where she and Rashid are growing vegetables. The farm feeds the family, supplies the restaurant and they sell the surplus produce for an income.
The family don’t know when or if they’ll be able to return to Sudan. But they have two big ambitions which they hope their business will support. Amani wants to travel back to Sudan to collect her mother, who’s in poor health, and bring her to the relative safety of South Sudan. Amani’s other goal is to fund her children’s return to school. She explained:
‘The most critical thing right now is education for my children.
It’s my dream for my children to get a good education.’
With just a little start-up support from a Christian Aid funded programme, Amani and Rashid have built a successful business. The income they’re generating isn’t just protecting them and their five children from hunger and malnutrition; it’s also creating a brighter future in the face of conflict and crisis.
Sudanese refugees like Amani and Rashid have been able to start rebuilding their lives thanks to support from our local partner SAADO but further support is needed to reach families in the camp still struggling to survive.
Amani and Rashid with three of their children at Wedweil refugee camp in South Sudan. The family fled from Darfur in Sudan following the outbreak of war.
COP29
Christian Aid Ireland will attend the UN climate negotiations, COP29, in Azerbaijan this November.
Along with our colleagues from around the world, we’ll be pushing in particular for Ireland and the UK to increase their climate finance funding and also campaigning for contributions to the new Loss and Damage fund to be based on the historical responsibility of the wealthiest,
most polluting countries.
Colombian coal mine in the spotlight Climate negotiations -
InMay, RTÉ’s Prime Time aired a special report on the impacts of the notorious Cerrejón coal mine in northern Colombia and its relationship with ESB, Ireland’s state-owned electricity company.
Christian Aid Ireland has long campaigned on this issue.
The report featured interviews with local Afro-Colombian and indigenous activists whose
Crucially, COP29 will seek agreement on a new climate finance target. This will replace the $100 billion per year target agreed to in 2009, but never delivered on, to help poorer countries deal with the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
At COP29, we will also be seeking an ambitious new climate finance goal adequate to the scale of the crisis and demanding that any funding provided comes in the form of grants rather than debt-generating loans.
interviewed by Prime Time and highlighted the impact of the mine’s activities on local communities.
communities have been badly impacted by the mine, which has been linked by United Nations experts to serious human rights abuses, as well as devastating environmental damage including pollution of the air, soil and water.
Over two decades, ESB has purchased millions of tonnes of coal from Cerrejón. It halted purchases in 2018 but resumed imports from the mine four years later after announcing that it would no longer be taking coal deliveries from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Conor O’Neill, Christian Aid Ireland’s Head of Policy and Advocacy, was
Conor outlined the aim of a legal complaint against the mine made by Christian Aid, Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) and a coalition of Colombian and international NGOs. The complaint has been lodged with the corporate accountability watchdog of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and a mediation process between the ESB and impacted communities is underway.
Conor told Prime Time: ‘The point of this complaint is to spur action. We want the ESB to permanently terminate its relationship with Cerrejón. We want them to state publicly that this is not just for commercial reasons but human rights concerns. We want them to contribute to the restitution of that land and help those communities rebuild.’
Some of the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai in the Chimanimani region of Zimbabwe in March 2019.
Conor O’Neill speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time about the Irish link to the Cerrejón coal mine in northern Colombia.
Palestinian human rights activists visit Dublin
Occupied Territories Bill
Raji Sourani, a prominent Palestinian human rights lawyer and Director of our Irish Aid funded partner in Gaza, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), visited Dublin in July. Like everyone in Gaza, Raji’s family has been impacted by the war and he barely survived an airstrike on his home in October, leaving him with little choice but to flee.
Despite the scale of the war in Gaza, PCHR continues to monitor, document and report human rights abuses and possible war crimes, pushing for accountability and the rights of victims. Earlier this year, Raji played a prominent part in South Africa’s delegation to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which ruled there was
a plausible risk of genocide being committed by Israel.
In Dublin, our Policy and Advocacy team supported Raji to brief Irish politicians on the latest situation in Gaza and outline what Ireland and the EU need to do to hold Israel accountable.
Raji’s visit follows that of Shawan Jabarin, Director of Christian Aid’s long-standing partner Al-Haq, as well as Lubnah Shomali, Advocacy Manager with BADIL, both Palestinian human rights organisations. Shawan, Lubnah and Raji all emphasised that Ireland and other EU states must take firmer action, including assessing trade relations with Israel and applying economic measures like sanctions.
Christian Aid Ireland is part of a coalition calling on the Irish government to pass a law that would ban trade with the illegal Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.
Despite having widespread political support, successive governments have refused to pass the Occupied Territories Bill based on advice from previous Attorneys General that a national ban would breach EU law.
However, a new legal opinion from two EU trade law experts, obtained by the campaign, finds that Ireland is fully entitled to pass the Bill.
Support the campaign at www.passtheotb.eu
(L-R) Conor O’Neill, our Head of Policy and Advocacy; Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR; and Ross Fitzpatrick, our Policy and Advocacy Officer, pictured at our Dublin office in July 2024.
Supporter stories
Anne Ford, Pamela Gray and several other ‘model’ citizens in south Antrim held a fashion show at Templepatrick Presbyterian Church, raising £2,700 for our work.
Ron Crangle organised a model railway exhibition at City Church Bangor, County Down. We’re grateful to him for choo-choo-choosing to donate a share of the proceeds to Christian Aid.
Our supporters at Newtownbreda (St John’s) Presbyterian Church in Belfast organised a sale of pre-loved occasion wear. Thanks to Jennifer Cairnduff and everyone who gave so ‘jenn-erously’.
L-R, Cheryl Murray, Carol Kennedy and Rosemary Maxwell are so sweet for organising a desserts event at Holywood Parish Church in County Down to raise funds for Christian Aid Week.
These ‘good eggs’ at St Gall’s Carnalea near Bangor, County Down held a cooked breakfast fundraiser during Christian Aid Week.
Lynda Francis (1st left) and our supporters at First Holywood Presbyterian in County Down have nothing to feel ‘kilty’ about after organising a ceilidh that raised £1,300 for our work.
Join us in saying well ‘done-gals’ to the members of Carnone Presbyterian Church in County Donegal whose soup lunch brought in almost €1,300 to fund our work.
Our supporters at Sandford and St Philip’s Parishes, Dublin held a coffee morning and cake sale to stand in ‘solidari-tea’ with people living in poverty and crisis. Our thanks go to Gloria Smythe (1st), Rev Sonia Gyles (2nd) and Linda Evans (not pictured).
Members of Cooke Centenary Presbyterian Church in Belfast are going the distance to beat poverty. They offered refreshments to Belfast marathon spectators in exchange for a donation to our charity.
Rev Gareth McFadden of Kilbride Presbyterian Church in Doagh, County Antrim ‘took the money and ran’, completing his 70k in May challenge just three months after first lacing up his running shoes.
Dean of Lismore, The
Very Rev Paul Draper wasn’t ‘two-tyred’ to cycle 70k along the Waterford Greenway to raise funds for our work.
Four supporters in Ballycastle, County Antrim have been using their feet to stamp out poverty. L-R, Moyna McCullough, Olive McMullan, Dibbie McCaughan and Helen McKeown (not pictured) each walked 70k in May to raise funds for our work.
You can read more supporter stories like these
Christmas with ‘The Chosen’
Christian Aid Ireland has partnered with the promoters of The Chosen, a new television drama series about the life and ministry of Jesus, to offer exclusive screenings of The Shepherd, a short film that forms part of the series.
We are offering to come along to your church to show the 22-minute-long film which tells the story of the first Christmas through the eyes of a disabled and outcast shepherd. The shepherd sees the angels appear in the heavens and arrives at the stable to witness the birth of the baby Jesus.
The shepherd’s experience of living with poverty and disability on the margins of society are
similar to those of the people Christian Aid works with, so we will share the story of our Christmas appeal at these events. Visit caid.ie/thechosen to find
A Just Word
Attimes, the state of our world can cause us to lose hope, but I have seen for myself how people overcome adversity.
On a recent visit to Zimbabwe with a team of supporters and staff from
out more about these exciting Christmas events and reserve your tickets to this introduction to the greatest story ever told.
Ireland, I had the privilege of meeting Loveness Chapano, a widowed grandmother who has experienced more heartache than most. Cyclone Idai devastated her region in 2019, making her homeless and she has also lost two adult children, a son and a daughter, leaving her as the sole carer for six grandchildren.
She invited us into her new two-roomed house, rebuilt with Christian Aid funding. Stuck to the walls of her kitchen were pages taken from a children’s Bible.
Despite all the heartache she’s endured, Loveness exudes joy and trust and faith.
Loveness told us how thankful she is to God for her new home and I was reminded of the verse from Psalm 46:1 which says ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’
Dee Huddleston, Church and Community Officer
The walls of Loveness’ house decorated with pages taken from an illustrated children’s Bible.
Honey sales helping world’s poorest
For almost 40 years, an award-winning beekeeper has given the proceeds of his honey sales to charities including Christian Aid. Lisa Fagan spoke to Mervyn Rothwell.
Mervyn Rothwell’s love of bees began when he was just a boy, playing near his family home at Dungarvan in County Kilkenny.
‘Living in the country, you would hear the bees and I started collecting them in a container. That’s how I got into beekeeping,’ he said.
As a young man, Mervyn moved to Dublin where he worked for a chocolate company but when his wife Hazel was diagnosed with MS in 1986, Mervyn took early retirement and the couple returned to The Rower in his native Kilkenny. It was then, alongside his caring responsibilities, that Mervyn’s honey hobby took off and he began selling his golden produce, first to a large honey company and later from home.
‘I was selling a fair bit of honey and I thought ‘what’s it all for?’ and that’s when I started to give the proceeds to charities including Christian Aid.’
An active member of the South Kilkenny Beekeepers’ Association, the 89-year-old takes his demonstration hive to the Iverk agricultural show each year, inspiring others to care for bees and take up beekeeping. His honey has won multiple awards at competitions all over Ireland and in 2022, he scooped top prize at the prestigious London Honey Show.
But there’s been sadness in Mervyn’s life, too. Hazel passed away in 2021. ‘It’s a big loss’, he says simply. Her funeral was held at their church, Inistioge Parish where for many years Mervyn served as treasurer of the Christian Aid group.
Let your love live on with a gift in your Will. For support, please contact Sarah by email on sleeman@ christian-aid.org or call 028 9064 8133 (Belfast) or 01 496 7040 (Dublin).
Mervyn’s motivation to support Christian Aid is clear. ‘It’s our duty to help our neighbours, the people with next-to-nothing and people in war-torn countries. I hope if I was in desperation that someone would help me,’ he explained.
Mervyn adds that he’s leaving a gift to Christian Aid in his Will.
‘Hazel and I, we’d no children but we have nieces and nephews and they will be looked after. The rest will go to charities including Christian Aid,’ he said.
This year, when Mervyn received a Christian Aid appeal letter focusing on Honduras, he responded with a generous donation. Farmers in this climatevulnerable Central American country used to make their living growing coffee and maize until rising temperatures, heavy rains, droughts and hurricanes made it almost impossible for their crops to grow. Thanks to donations made by supporters like Mervyn, Christian Aid’s local partner is helping farmers make the switch to beekeeping, and now they’re able to provide for their families once more.
Sarah Leeman is Christian Aid Ireland’s Partnerships and Philanthropy Manager. She said: ‘It’s amazing to think that almost 5,000 miles from Ireland, the proceeds from Mervyn’s beekeeping could be helping beekeepers in Honduras to escape poverty. We’re so grateful to him for his support.’
Woliso Dobi is a farmer and mother-of-six in an area of Ethiopia prone to droughts and floods. Since joining a radio listening group, she and the other farmers listen to weather forecasts in their own language which help them adapt and protect their livelihoods.