Guest Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 Hi! I am a regular forum member, but posting this anonymously. This year has seen huge publicity and some progress (but not nearly enough!) to Making Poverty History. We had the concert in the summer, the campaign, and of course the G8 meeting. But it is still a huge issue and there is, of course, still poverty. (I'm sounding like an advert already!) Christmas is approaching. It is the season of goodwill to all men, women and children - although why the season of goodwill isn't a year long thing is beyond me. For the past 7 years I have sponsored a child in a particularly poor area of Malawi. The cost to me has been £15 per month. It has given the young girl an education, clothing, food, health care, and also assisted the general well-being of her family and local community. I get progress reports and letters from her by Airmail from Malawi. £15 seems so little to me, but it means and can do so much for them. I know directly where my money goes. What could I otherwise spend £15 on - a 3 litre box of Australian wine from Tesco, or a bottle of cheap scotch, or maybe one and a half CDs, or even a DVD? We live in a wealthy western society and think nothing of spending money on those things. I appeal to you, please think this Christmas about how you are spending your money. By setting aside £15 per month you could change a child's life forever. Please visit http://www.everychild.org.uk and sponsor a child. Thank you for reading. (I do not work for Everychild. My only connection is as a child sponsor.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 Well said! PLAN international also do sponsorship of children. Farm Africa sends goats to needy families. There are many other organisations you can support people through. We had a speaker at church today from a lady from South India. The stories she had to tell about the treatment of girls (if they are allowed to survive) were horrific. Our support can really help. She came through Christians Aware! There is another G8 meeting coming up in December about Make Poverty History. This one is predominantly about Trade Justice. We should all think carefully about where our money is going. When we're busy buying our bargains at this time of year, are we supporting sweat shops, child labour etc etc? It is so difficult to know. I'm not preaching, but the message that Jesus, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas, came to give was love for all people. He sought out injustices and unfairnesses that were inherent in society in his time and taught that we are all equal and deserve to be treated equally. I'm really not trying to preach, but if you are celebrating Christmas, surely you should consider what Jesus did on this earth while he was here? I hope everyone has a wonderful and loving Christmas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 (edited) Some good ideas here. I just went to www.farmfriends.org.uk and paid £10 for a brood of chickens to be sent to a poor African family. It's a Christmas 'gift' for my mother - she'll get all the info. Edited November 20, 2005 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 My younger 2 children attend a local primary school where for the last couple of years have asked the children not to send each other cards but to sign one large one to the rest of the school from each class, and to then donate the money to 'Send a Cow' or 'Send a Goat'. They have also raised enough to send a large ammount of chickens to families who rear them and eat the eggs and or them and any chicks produced, the children find out which village their cow or goat goes to and can keep in touch It's a fab idea and last year I managed to talk a friend who teaches at a local senior school to take up the idea, so hopefully there will be more cows goats and chickens being sent over Karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 20, 2005 Share Posted November 20, 2005 Some really good ideas here. We sponsor through World Vision. www.worldvision.org.uk How about Buy a Bog!? View it here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 What an excellent site Lesley, I'm very tempted by several of those ideas. I've not done this sort of thing at Christmas before and I'm not too sure about the 'I've given your present to someone else' policy. But I might buy a present for someone I don't know anyway, to represent all those who I also care about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 I sponsor a little girl in Haiti through Plan. I give £20 a month. I decided to do it after realising that I spend the same a month on my mobile phone contract and that is really a frivolous thing I figured if I could find the money for that then I could find some to help someone I don't have children and I don't want any but there are some dreadful areas of poverty around the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 I do worldvision presents for everyone too..., for our Harvest festival at school this year we used the retiring collection to buy 13 goats to send to Angola! Its a great feeling to give something really needed. I wish people would do it for me, rather than traipsing round the shops for hours, trying to find some present that I'd like, and which, invariably, I don't!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Annie - you have to ask them - people are too worried that they might offend Try making an announcement at a family 'do' in the summer - tell tham that it's something you'd really like them to do. Hand out any literature in September to reinforce the idea and then hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 I've just finished my Christmas "shopping" all from Oxfam Unwrapped and Send a Cow. Unsurprisingly most people got chickens (shame that Send a Cow wont send a Mother in Law to Africa ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 COuld be arranged tho Birdie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Tee Hee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Oi, you're chasing me round the posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 I think you'll find its the other way round! I'll have to go soon. The cricket has finished and Paul is beginning to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Blue Sky Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 I did this last year - gave the Christmas card money to Oxfam for a goat and a seed pack - and also decided to give "token" presents to adult family members, and my mother in law actually fell out with me because she felt her present didn't cost enough! After three days hospitality too! Blimey! She compared me to the other daughters in law, one of whom gave a massive hamper. I'm b******* if I'm celebrating the birth of the Christ child with a hundred pounds worth of luxury food from M&S when there's children dying because they can't get a clean drink of water. It gets obscene.. I was cheered up to see in the Guardian that the retail industry is bricking itself because no-one is spending enough on Christmas this year. So hurrah for this thread. No Christmas cards again for me this year, they mostly end up in the landfill anyway. On that subject, shelling out for wrapping paper and gift tags/ribbons etc makes me cross. Such a waste... Phew I feel better now after all that ranting. Time for a little something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Both my brothers have wrapped all their presents in old newspapers for the past few years. They find the property pages of the freebies look very nice! It makes so much sense. Why spend money on something which will be immediately thrown away? Now when I was a child . . . we saved wrapping paper to use again. My mother used to iron it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 We made a rule that none of our presents were wrapped. We had a big Santa Sack each and we dipped into it and pulled out one present at a time. You don't need wrapping paper for it to be exciting. We've got the same rule at Easter as all that packaging makes me so angry. We ask relatives who insist on giving the boys Easter eggs to buy them a simple bar of chocolate instead - far less wrapping and packaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherhen Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 This year for the adult members of my extended family I'm going to give them the equivalent of what I would have spent on things that none of them really need in Oxfam or similar chickens, goats, school packs and a toilet of course. They are also all getting tin cans filled with home made compost and planted with a mixture of cut and come lettuce seeds - they'll get one ready to cut and a couple that are growing on for their window sills. I hope they'll all appreciate the gifts and the demo on how easy it is to do away with little plastic bags of lettuce with nasty chemicals on it - but if not, well I don't care. The recipients in Africa and India etc will be appreciative enough for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Good Ideas Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Blue Sky Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 The lettuce is a brilliant idea! I might do that next year. And I wish I was organised enough to do hyacinths in September too, they're gorgeous at Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 I like the lettuce idea too. At work this year, instead of sending each other christmas cards, we are putting up a poster from Childline for everyone to sign their felicitations on - in exchange for a donation to Childline in the envelope provided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 I work with Jehovah's Witnesses - you have no idea how calming that is at this time of year No need to worry about cards or presents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
