christian aid news 52

You go that extra mile for Christian Aid Week

Your support helps secure campaign win

CHRISTIANAID NEWS

HUNGRY FOR JUSTICEWe can feed the world, so why are nearly one billion people still starving?

Issue 52 Summer 2011 christianaid.org.uk

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IFC – righthand loading

Lidia lives in a remote farming area in the highlands of Peru. The glaciers there are melting, and Lidia knows that the region faces increasing poverty as this supply of fresh water disappears. She is determined to protect her community’s future. Christian Aid partner CEDAP has taught Lidia how to store water and use it efficiently, to irrigate crops and sustain pastureland for livestock. Lidia now teaches the techniques to others – in her own community and beyond. You can also help to change the outcome for some of the poorest people of the world. A gift in your Will can help Christian Aid provide vital training so that communities can help themselves. Please look to the future. Leave a legacy.

LOOK TO THE FUTURE

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LONDON TO LUXEMBOURG BIKE RIDE31 August - 4!September 2011

Join Team Poverty NOW! christianaid.org.uk/cycling or call 020 7523 2248

Say ‘on your bike!’ to poverty

by riding 360 miles through four countries in!four days

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REGULARS

4 THE BIG PICTUREOne striking image...

6 NEWSIncluding: news of reconstruction work in Pakistan, a happy ending for a community forced off its land in Colombia, and actress Hayley Atwell’s Christian Aid Week visit to Nicaragua.

12 CAMPAIGNSNews of our drive to persuade the World Bank to abandon fossil fuels, plus a thought-provoking view on tax havens.

21 INPUTYour feedback.

23 COMMENTChristian Aid’s Eric Gutierrez on why it is so hard to tackle corruption.

020 7620 4444

UK registered charity number 1105851 Company number 5171525 Scotland charity number SC039150 Northern Ireland charity number XR94639 Company number NI059154 Republic of Ireland charity number CHY 6998 Company number 426928. The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid; Poverty Over is a trademark of Christian Aid. © Christian Aid June 2011. The acceptance of external advertising does not indicate endorsement. If you wish to receive this magazine digitally, go to digitalcan.christianaid.org.uk

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.

Christian Aid News is printed on 100 per cent recycled paper

Front cover Helping women’s groups in Andhra Pradesh, India, to cultivate land now feeds thousands. Photo: Christian Aid/Chiara Goia Pictures Matthew Gonzalez-Noda Sub-editors Caroline Atkinson, Sophy Kershaw, Louise Parfi tt Circulation Ben Hayward Design and production Becca Higgins/Syon Publishing, 020 8332 8400 Christian Aid head offi ce 35 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RL Tel 020 7620 4444 Fax 020 7620 0719 Email [email protected] Online at christianaid.org.uk

24 LIFE AND SOULHow legacy giving through Will Aid helps our work.

26 EVENTSMeet two of our Team Poverty bike riders and make some dates for your challenge diary.

28 YOUR CHRISTIAN AIDEvents and stories from your part of the UK.

30 LAST WORDThe joys – and gloom – of living on £1 a day. SPECIAL FEATURE

15 HUNGRY FOR JUSTICEFrom commodity trading driving up food prices, to the population issue: a new report highlights the problems of food security.

CONTENTS

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Distributors prepare to hand out malaria nets as part of the Nets Now! scheme

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EDITOR’S LETTERTHE PHRASE ‘I gave at the offi ce’ is one of the all-time great charity clichés – and usually trotted out as a mumbled excuse for not giving. But this is one time of the year when, for those involved with Christian Aid, the phrase takes on a highly positive ring.

And I’m not just talking about money – though if, like me, you were out when your local house-to-house collector called, you may have felt honour-bound to top up your donations at work or wherever you encountered a collection tin. But I’m thinking more about the giving of time, for Christian Aid Week is when our supporters really do stand up to be counted. More than 200,000 of you volunteered to go house-to-house or took part in a sponsored event, whether at work, at your church, school or elsewhere in your community.

Your efforts have been magnifi cent and don’t go unnoticed or unappreciated here. Christian Aid depends on you, our supporters, to a huge extent, and, once again, you have not let us down.

On behalf of everyone at the Christian Aid ‘offi ce’ – at home and abroad – well done, and thank you. Roger Fulton, Editor

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THE BIG PICTURE

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THE FROTH OF GOD!

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THE BISHOP of Southwark Rt Rev Christopher Chessun worked up a head of steam for Christian Aid Week when he went behind the counter in Southwark Cathedral’s Refectory to try his hand at being a barista.

The unusual role was part of an effort by 22 bishops and ministers in England, Scotland and Wales to raise awareness of how small-scale coffee farmers in Nicaragua have been able to work their way out of poverty with the help of Christian Aid through our support of a cooperative called Soppexcca.

The project, which began working with 65 coffee producers in 2001, now works with 700 farmers and its social fund benefi ts more than 4,000 people. Profi ts from coffee sales are invested back into the community, helping to fund projects such as the building of schools and health centres.

Bishop Christopher commented: ‘This is an inspirational scheme which gives people income and self respect. This Christian Aid Week there has been a great link with coffee, which is the urban drink of choice. I hope it will get people to think through where it comes from and about the people and families who grow it.’

THE FROTH OF GOD!

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NEWS

NEARLY A YEAR after vast tracts of Pakistan were devastated by the worst floods in the country’s history, Christian Aid has been back to the region to see how recovery work is progressing.

In July and August last year, intense monsoon rains resulted in floodwater covering an area the size of England. Almost 20 million people were affected – more than the combined number affected by the 2004 tsunami and the Kashmir and Haiti earthquakes.

A staggering 120,000 food parcels were delivered to flood-affected areas, and 120,000 families received household items to replace what they had lost. In the worst-affected province, Sindh, Christian Aid provided 3,000 households with tents and plastic sheets.

Now, however, longer-term recovery work has taken over from the emergency response. The money from Christian Aid’s appeal, which totalled £5m, will be spent carefully over a period of three years, ensuring that families are firmly back on their feet.

Christian Aid is working through ACT Alliance partners Church World Service-Pakistan/Afghanistan, Norwegian Church Aid and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, plus partner Muslim Hands, to deliver long-term support to the most vulnerable flood-affected communities.

Following a visit in May, communications officer Susan Barry said: ‘Some 90,000 people have benefited from our livelihoods recovery programme, after the floods devastated

APPEAL FUNDS TARGET LONG-TERM RECOVERY

PAKISTAN

A cyclone of supportTHREE YEARS AGO, Burma’s worst cyclone in living memory crashed into the Irrawaddy delta, destroying hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, homes and livelihoods. Since Cyclone Nargis struck, Christian Aid partners have been working hard to ensure that the £2.6m generously donated by our supporters has helped about 200,000 of the most vulnerable people affected not only to recover but also rebuild their lives in ways that are stronger and more resilient to future disasters.

HERE’S HOW YOU’VE HELPED:

fishing and farming families were able to recover their tools, livestock and equipment

disaster resilient homes have been built, all equipped with sanitation and water-conservation facilities

vulnerable people have established stronger, more resilient livelihoods

households have been trained in disaster management and preparedness

coastal villages have replanted their mangrove trees to protect them against future storms

people living with disabilities resulting from the cyclone have received care, treatment and equipment.

In addition to all this, Christian Aid’s support has helped partners grow in confidence and expertise. As a result, government authorities now ask our partner organisations to work with them to coordinate the response when other disasters occur.

BURMA


180,000

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CHRISTIAN AID IS BACKING partners in Cambodia who are fighting to stop the introduction of a repressive new law that would stop them – and others – from speaking out and holding their government to account.

The Cambodian government has published a new draft Law on Associations and NGOs, which local and international organisations believe undermines fundamental rights and freedoms of Cambodian civil society. The new law would allow the government to control and restrict all civil society action in the country. Christian Aid is urging the European Union to use its influence to persuade the Cambodian government to redraft the law, making it easier for local organisations to register and operate.

In a letter to the EU, signed by Christian Aid and its sister agencies in Europe, Rob van Drimmelen, General

Secretary of APRODEV (a European network made up of 17 development organisations associated with the World Council of Churches), warns: ‘The law puts at risk the progress made in Cambodia. Savings and self-help groups, village committees and rice banks will no longer be able to exist without registration if the draft is approved. Small NGOs and community-based organisations, now providing basic services to the poorest populations in remote areas, will not be able to meet the requirements entailed in registering.’

Amanda Farrant, Christian Aid communications officer for Asia, said: ‘While the shoots of democracy are pushing through around the Middle East and north Africa, worryingly there are many people elsewhere in the world experiencing increasing restrictions on their ability to speak out.’

On International Labour Day on 1 May, our partners in Cambodia marched through Phnom Penh with other organisations and individuals to voice concern about the erosion of human rights in the country. Human rights groups have set up a Facebook campaign to oppose the current draft of the law. See on.fb.me/dWjrDl

their means of making an income. Families are now in a positive position to restart or establish a small business enterprise, such as a small shop.

‘We are also providing vouchers to farmers to buy seeds, tools and fertiliser. Each farmer was given the dignity of making their own decisions about what they required. They planted their seeds earlier this year, and are now able to harvest their wheat, sugar cane and cotton crops, making a huge difference to them and their families.

‘A further 6,000 young men are learning a trade – becoming plumbers, electricians, welders, masons or carpenters. Each student receives a toolkit at the end of the three-month course, and their new skills will be vitally important as the country begins to rebuild, with the construction trade providing long-term work opportunities.’

She added: ‘In a country that more frequently hits the headlines because of terrorist activity and political unrest, it can be easy to misunderstand the real needs of the people of Pakistan. But the fact is that the majority of flood-affected communities live in desperate, grinding poverty, and it is these people our work is reaching.’

ZIMBABWE

CAMBODIA

Call for rethink on ‘restrictive’ law

CHRISTIAN AID partners in Zimbabwe have tentatively welcomed rumours that general elections scheduled to take place this summer may be postponed until late 2012 or early 2013.

Christian Aid’s Harare office reported that the mood of the people prior to anticipated elections has been ‘depressed, fearful and uncertain’. Programme officer Tapiwanashe Hoto explained: ‘They want to see a situation where the constitution is in place and the media is independent and

non-partisan.’ With widespread belief that existing conditions are not conducive to free and fair elections, Christian Aid’s partners have been working with communities to help reduce the likelihood of a recurrence of the politically motivated intimidation and violence on the scale that followed the 2008 elections.

Partners working on governance issues have been reporting increasing limitations to their work and a heavy increase in security forces in rural areas.

Election delay welcomed

Building new homes in flood-affected Pakistan

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NEWS

EVERY YEAR, there are nearly 250 million cases of malaria and one million deaths. In Africa, it accounts for one-fi fth of all childhood fatalities, killing a child every 45 seconds, according to World Health Organization fi gures.

We know that chemically treated mosquito nets are one of the most effective ways to tackle malaria and yet so many people in Africa still don’t have one. Christian Aid believes it is outrageous that so many people are dying from an easily preventable disease. And that’s why, this month, we are launching Nets Now! The aim of this 12-month project is to send as many mosquito nets as possible to the families who need them most, as well as raising global awareness of malaria.

It will cost just £3 to provide a life-saving mosquito net through the NetsNow.org website. During the 12

months we guarantee that every penny given through the site will be spent on community health projects, which include mosquito net distribution in Africa.

What you can doNets Now! is aimed at people who have not previously supported Christian Aid. But we’d love you to spread the word about the scheme among your family and friends. The Nets Now! website is packed with updated photos, videos and articles, so there’s always plenty of interesting stuff to share through Twitter and Facebook. And the more people who sign up, the more nets we’ll send and the more lives we’ll save.

more visit NetsNow.org

THOUSANDS RESPOND TO POVERTY OVER MESSAGE

CHRISTIAN AID’S Poverty Over message has had a great reaction from the thousands of people who have watched the fi lms, joined in the webchats and read the information published in The Guardian and online. More than 40,000 visits to Christian Aid’s website christianaid.org.uk/povertyover have been logged, and Poverty Over content has been shared more than 17,000 times on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Analysis of the responses is ongoing, but people were clearly angered at the injustices they saw. In the webchat after the food and agriculture fi lm, one wrote that: ‘the need to develop a new economic system that restores a living balance, a living economy we could call it, is urgent.’ Many expressed the belief that ending poverty is such an overwhelming task that there is little that we, as individuals, can do to help.

So how can we convince people that an end to poverty is possible? According to Christian Aid’s campaign manager Helen Collinson, the answer lies partly in campaigning for change. She said: ‘In just two years, Christian Aid’s tax campaign has made huge leaps in raising public awareness of this issue and changing politicians’ views on this. The previous Labour government came out in favour of a new accounting standard that would require multinational companies to declare their profi ts made and taxes paid in every country where they operate. We have also seen a big change in attitude from the private sector.’

So change can and does happen. As Christian Aid’s chief policy adviser, Alex Cobham, said: ‘There has been criticism of international development charities – including Christian Aid – that they have, over the years, over-emphasised the doom and gloom of the situation, and so contributed to a public feeling that we can’t actually end poverty.

‘The Poverty Over work is an effort to communicate more widely our belief that poverty eradication is possible through political change.’


Nets Now!

Sending nets and saving lives Net distributors

in Nigeria

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Partner wins fight to end manual scavengingA CHRISTIAN AID-backed campaign to end manual scavenging in India has achieved its ultimate aim – a pledge by the Indian government to end the degrading practice once and for all.

The outcome follows years of intense campaigning by our partner organisation Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) – highlighted in previous issues of Christian Aid News – culminating in last year’s mass rallies throughout India.

And the government pledge has been backed with hard cash: it has increased its 2011-2012 budget to support manual scavengers in finding alternative livelihoods, from just over £600,000 to £13.3m. It has also set up various task force groups to work with SKA, to identify existing manual scavengers, destroy all existing dry latrines and to review the 1993 law, which banned the practice yet was never really enforced, to make it more effective.

Since SKA began, just over 10 years ago, more than a million women have thrown down their brooms, and vowed never to engage in manual scavenging again.

The campaign trained young people to lead in each state and inspire their communities to stop the practice. They worked at many levels, filing a case in the Supreme Court, carrying out surveys to monitor the numbers of manual scavengers, and campaigning to raise awareness about the issue nationally and internationally.

INDIA

Ousted families win right to go home

COLOMBIA

IN A MAJOR victory for a Christian Aid- spearheaded campaign, the 123 families in Las Pavas, Colombia, forced off their land at gunpoint two years ago, have won the legal right to return to the land.

The Colombian Constitutional Court has ruled that the Ministry of Agriculture must re-open their case for legal title to this land, the ownership of which was under dispute when it was sold to a company that wanted to exploit it for palm oil plantations.

Christian Aid partner the Development and Peace Programme of Magdelena Medio (PDPMM), has been advising the community from the outset. Following the court ruling, Banessa Estrada, a PDPMM lawyer, said: ‘It is a good ruling and the direction we were hoping for.’

This is an emblematic case for displaced people that Christian Aid hopes will lead to an extensive process of land restitution in Colombia. It began in July 2009, when Colombian riot police forced the community of Las Pavas off the land they had been living on, leaving them no time to harvest their crops, and

telling them that the land had been sold to a palm oil company.

Christian Aid discovered that Daabon – the Colombian company in the consortium that obtained the court order to throw the farmers off their land – was also a significant supplier of palm oil to The Body Shop. We raised the issue with The Body Shop and it co-financed an independent review into the case, which ruled that Daabon had no excuse for being ignorant of the legal dispute surrounding ownership of the land.

The Body Shop gave Daabon two months to contact the farmers and begin to negotiate a settlement. When the deadline passed with no contact, The Body Shop ended ties with the company.

Land victory for Afro-Colombian communities In a separate case, Afro-Colombian communities in Chocó – one of the poorest regions of Colombia – will this month finally receive collective titles for their ancestral land after an 11-year wait.

Despite the Colombian constitution formally recognising their land rights, it’s taken a long legal battle to win the titles, with Christian Aid partner Diócesis de Quibdó pushing the process forward and lobbying on the communities’ behalf.

About 3,200 families – 12,000 people – of African descent live in 172,000 hectares of land. They have occupied this area for 500 years, making a living mostly through rudimentary gold mining. Economic interests by multinationals, especially mining companies, have got in the way, putting communities’ livelihoods at risk.

AFGHANISTANCampaign urges push for peace

Christian Aid has pledged its support to Together Afghanistan, a joint interagency campaign, launched earlier this year.

The campaign is calling for:

process

political objectives.

To find out more and to get involved, visit togetherafghanistan.org

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Glad to be home: the Las Pavas families enjoy their land

Demolishing a dry latrine

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NEWS

CHRISTIAN AID is working with partners in the Middle East, Asia and the UK to increase support for a new International Labour Organisation convention to protect domestic workers.

Many domestic workers are migrants, often sending money home to families from their meagre wages. Too often, these workers are exploited and abused, and because their work takes place in private households it is hard to regulate. They can also face tough choices between slave-like employment or imprisonment as they can be reliant on their employer for their visa, particularly in regions such as the Middle East. Christian Aid has

worked closely with domestic worker groups, trade unions, and other non-governmental organisations, to increase support for the proposed convention.

Together we’ve campaigned for all domestic workers to be covered by any new convention, and for important rights on pay, conditions and access to social security to be included in the draft law.

As Christian Aid News went to press, governments, employers and employees at the International Labour Conference were due to vote on adopting the new convention. To fi nd out how they voted, visit: christianaid.org.uk/protectdomesticworkers

It’s all about the coffee for Hayley

COMIC RELIEF CASH BOOSTS HIV WORKCOMIC RELIEF has pledged £830,000 of support to help Christian Aid partners reach people living with and affected by, HIV and its related illnesses in Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Christian Aid will also contribute £92,000 towards the People Living Positively initiative, which aims to benefi t more than 23,000 people living with HIV and their families, mostly in Sierra Leone’s western area and the Plateau State in Nigeria.

We will help a network of partners to ensure that HIV-related stigma and denial is challenged and that people living with HIV have sustainable access to quality care and support.

Drive to protect domestic workers


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CHRISTIAN AID and our partners in Egypt are leading an emergency response programme to support more than 1,700 families of Egyptian migrant workers returning from Libya.

Since the confl ict in Libya started, more than 100,000 Egyptians working there have returned home to Egypt, where unemployment has risen due to the decline in tourism and other industries, since the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in February.

In coordination with the ACT Alliance, our partners will be organising improvements to public spaces, including tree-planting, and repairs to street lighting, enabling returning

workers to earn money for their labour. Our partners in Egypt are also helping

marginalised communities promote their needs in the new uncertain Egypt. For example, our partner the Christian Evangelical Organisation for Social Services (CEOSS) is expanding the work of its Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.

This forum brings together Muslim and Christian leaders and opinion makers, to address incidents such as the recent violence between communities, and call for legal accountability. Their activities have included a candlelit vigil and peaceful march, and they plan to hold workshops on how to rebuild community trust.

EGYPTSupport for returning migrant workers

MOMENT OF JOY FOR HAITIINSPIRED BY the activities of other overseas offi ces, Christian Aid’s Haiti team organised a football match to mark Christian Aid Week. The game was played between Christian Aid and Haiti’s ACT Alliance team, and given everything that the Haiti staff have been through in recent times, this event was truly inspirational. Country manager Prospery Raymond commented: ‘It was a good moment of solidarity, sharing and joy. At the end of the game, all the participants were crying: “Mesi, mesi, mesi….” [thanks, thanks, thanks] in gratitude to all Christian Aid supporters who gave to Christian Aid’s earthquake appeal.’

Main picture: Hayley looks at the coffee crop with Soppexcca farmer Beatriz

Alvarez. Inset: Hayley puts her back into a shift at Soppexcca’s coffee mill


AS A COFFEE DRINKER for pretty much every day of her adult life, actress Hayley Atwell thought she knew what coffee meant to her. A job at 18 for a coffee chain in west London helped fi nance a RADA Shakespeare course and a trip to fi nd an agent in Los Angeles.

That investment has paid off as Hayley – who will appear on the big screen in the forthcoming summer blockbuster Captain America – has since worked with Woody Allen, Ralph Fiennes, Keira Knightley, Colin Farrell and Emma Thompson in movies such as Brideshead Revisited and The Duchess, and been nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in TV drama The Pillars of the Earth. She also starred in the BAFTA award-winning Any Human Heart.

Now a visit to Christian Aid partner Soppexcca in the northern Nicaraguan region of Jinotega has changed her perspective on coffee again. Soppexcca

is a collective of coffee-farming cooperatives that previously struggled to access a fair price for their beans. Christian Aid has supported them since 2001. Some villages, for example in Los Alpes, have benefi ted hugely with a school, which was built by parents on the back of proceeds from coffee. Other children, such as those in La Paz del Tuma, are currently educated in a storage unit once used to house chemicals. The community in La Paz have just started to work with Soppexcca four years ago, and plan to build a school of their own with proceeds from what they grow. Soppexcca also bought a coffee mill, which provides employment for thousands, including many women whose status has improved because of their employment.

Hayley did an afternoon’s work at the mill and returned to write an article for the BBC news website, discussed her trip on Radio 5 Live and was featured in Hello! during Christian Aid Week.

She said: ‘I never thought when I was working in a coffee shop in my late teens that I would see for myself how important coffee could be to poor communities in Nicaragua. I’ve seen how Christian Aid’s approach to helping people work their way out of poverty can make a dramatic difference to their lives. The people I met did not want handouts, just help to get their own business off the ground, the profi ts from which they have used to benefi t the whole community.’

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CLIMATE

TAX

TAX

CAMPAIGNS

BAPTIST UNION ENDORSES TAX CAMPAIGNby Alasdair Roxburgh

Campaigners call on G20 leaders to unlock tax haven secrecy

WORLD BANK CAMPAIGN SCORES SUCCESSby Clare Groves

TELL CHANCELLOR TO END TAX HAVEN SECRECYby Laura Trevelyan

Our End Tax Haven Secrecy campaign is gathering pace, with thousands of postcards and emails being sent to David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France, who is chairing the G20 this year.

To support the actions, our campaigns team recently paid the French embassies in London and Dublin, a visit to remind France of the crucial role it can play in lifting people out of poverty at this year’s G20 meeting.

Although our campaign is aimed at the G20 heads of state, who are meeting in November, there are other important

meetings in the run-up that we need to influence. The G20 finance ministers’ meeting in September is crucial to getting effective action on financial secrecy onto the agenda for the November meeting, so in this issue of Christian Aid News we are targeting the Chancellor, George Osborne.

Please sign and send the postcard in this issue today. To request more G20 postcards, email [email protected] or call 020 7523 2264.

Opposite: read the views of tax justice writer Nick Shaxson on the link between tax havens and poverty

WE’VE HAD SOME GREAT SUCCESS in our campaign to stop the World Bank investing in fossil fuels since the last issue of Christian Aid News.

Christian Aid supporters have sent more than 26,000 messages to Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, and the UK’s representative on the board of the World Bank. This has raised a lot of attention within government, and our message is getting through.

Thanks to your campaigning, the World Bank indicated in April that it plans to stop investment in coal-fired power stations in medium-income countries such as Brazil, South Africa and the Philippines. This means that in the future a coal-fired power plant such as the one built by Eskom in South Africa would not get funding from the World Bank.

While this is a step in the right direction, the campaign doesn’t end here. We want the World Bank to confirm this ban on coal and extend it to all developing countries. There are also no plans to limit funding for gas and oil,

meaning that fossil-fuel investment could continue to rise, worsening climate change and driving the poor even deeper into poverty. We’re calling on the Bank to end fossil-fuel investment and instead provide the clean, reliable and affordable energy so urgently needed by the world’s poor.

The coming weeks are crucial. The World Bank will review its energy strategy at its international board meeting in July, so we’re running out of time to make our demands heard. The UK is a key member of the World Bank and will be contributing its recommendations to the strategy.

Help us to keep up the pressure by writing to your MP this month, and ask them to raise this issue with the secretaries of state for international development and energy and climate change. Check out our new video and take action on our website at christianaid.org.uk/clean-energy

Together we can ensure that this issue stays at the top of the government’s green agenda.

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At the start of May the Baptist Union of Great Britain voted in favour of a resolution endorsing Christian Aid’s Trace the Tax campaign. It follows a similar move by the Church of Scotland and is a major boost to the campaign.

The resolution commits the Baptist Church to raising concerns over

corporate tax dodging with the coalition government – a fantastic move in itself. But more importantly, it’s a significant boost to our efforts to build a movement to end tax dodging, which costs the poor so much.

‘Until we understand tax havens, we will never understand why so many countries remain poor’

Nicholas Shaxson is a leading authority on tax justice issues. His latest book, the highly acclaimed

Treasure Islands, exposes the central role of tax havens in the global financial system. Here he shares his views on the link between tax havens and global poverty

SIX YEARS AGO I flew to Moscow to interview Arkady Gaydamak, a wealthy financier who had set up a deal to restructure and repay Angola’s US$5bn Cold War debts to Russia. A Swiss magistrate had frozen some payments under the deal after hundreds of millions disappeared into mysterious company accounts in an array of tax havens. Gaydamak told me that these companies were simply trading entities – and that Russia still got paid properly.

Was he telling the truth? I could not check. My investigations hit a wall of offshore secrecy. All I can say for sure is that the impenetrability of the scheme created massive incentives for embezzlement.

This episode was just a footnote to a far bigger story. In January this year Léonce Ndikumana, research director at the African Development Bank, estimated in a study of 33 African countries that their stock of capital flight accumulated between 1970 and 2008 stood at US$944bn: more than four times their combined public debts.

So Africa is a net creditor to the world. The problem, of course, is that while the assets are in private hands, typically in tax havens such as Britain

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ON SATURDAY 1 OCTOBER, the eve of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Christian Aid, Cafod and Tearfund will be in the city to lead a day of learning, campaigning and worship on the issues of climate change and global poverty – and you can join us.

Hear from inspirational speakers and discuss global issues during an afternoon of workshops and talks, before an ecumenical service in the Anglican Cathedral. We will then form a procession to the conference venue and hold a vigil asking the government not to forget the world’s poor. A guest preacher is Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, a leading African theologian, and the Director of Research at the University of

South Africa. He is also an ex-President of the South African Council of Churches. He will preach on how the global church and Christians can lead action on climate change. As the United Nations climate talks will be held in South Africa later this year, it’s especially exciting that a South African activist will be joining us.

Be a climate witnessThe world’s poorest and most vulnerable people are already suffering the worst impacts of climate change – despite doing the least to cause the problem. We are witnesses of this injustice. Be part of the church’s response by acting and praying for strong and fair action to tackle climate change and global poverty.

Speak out to our leaders.We welcomed David Cameron’s promise that this would be the ‘greenest government ever’. It’s now time to remind the government of this pledge. We will call on it to go further by showing ambitious leadership leading up to and at the upcoming UN climate talks in South Africa.

Register now to save your place Places for this day are limited. You can register your interest on our website at christianaid.org.uk/bearingwitness or call us on 020 7523 2158 and we’ll get back to you. You can email [email protected] for further information.

BEARING WITNESS TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL POVERTY

or Singapore, the debts are borne by the African public in the form of degraded public services, more reliance on foreign aid, and financial impunity for élites. All this shatters the social contract and undermines efforts to improve governance.

My book Treasure Islands explores how huge the offshore system has grown. Today it is at the heart of the global economy. Half of world trade, on some measures, passes through them. The biggest havens today are not all small, palm-fringed islands such as the Caymans, as many people suppose, but include the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Ireland: all big Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries or their dependencies.

Consider how many wealthy Nigerians stash their wealth in London, hidden from their home tax and criminal authorities. Now ask how many British people stash their wealth in Lagos? The answer is clear. The big beneficiaries of secrecy in the global financial secrecy infrastructure are rich-world financial centres – typically tax havens in their own right – while the losers are developing countries. It also helps explain why OECD countries have claimed to be cracking down on offshore secrecy – while doing almost nothing in practice.

Global Financial Integrity in Washington estimated that more than US$1.2 trillion in illicit financial flows left developing countries for wealthy nations and tax havens in 2008 alone: for every dollar in aid, more than US$10 flowed out under the table. Jeffrey Owens, tax director at the OECD, puts it plainly: ‘Tax havens have a bigger impact on developing countries than on developed countries.’ He estimates the drainage at 7-8 per cent of GDP – a colossal hit.

Tax havens must now be placed at the forefront of debates about development. Offshore helped cause every debt crisis since the 1970s.

Loans flooded in – then money sluiced out offshore, leaving behind public debts.

Until we understand tax havens, we will never understand why so many countries remain poor.

CAMPAIGNS

STOP PRESS GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES CONSULTATION ON CARBON REPORTING

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, Food and Rural Affairs has just launched a consultation asking if companies should be required to report their carbon emissions to an agreed standard. This legislation is important because transparency is the first step to reducing the 12-15 per cent of global carbon emissions for which UK-listed companies are responsible. More than 60,000 Christian Aid supporters have already called for mandatory carbon reporting and we need to make sure our voices are heard at this crucial consultation. To take our urgent action go to christianaid.org.uk/greenest If you want to respond in more depth contact the campaigns team at [email protected] or call 020 7523 2264.

Prof Tinyiko Maluleke (inset) will preach in Manchester Cathedral

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Market day in Jocotan, Guatemala. Many indigenous

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COVER STORY

In a powerful new report, Hungry for Justice: Fighting Starvation in an Age of Plenty, Christian Aid examines the major causes of hunger, including climate change, land grabs, changing consumption patterns and confl ict.

In particular, it highlights growing suspicions that international commodity trading is a major factor pushing the price of food beyond the

pockets of the poor. The report, which has had extensive media coverage, also identifi es what needs to change so communities can feed themselves.

You can read or download the full 104-page report at christianaid.org.uk/hungry-for-justice but over the next six pages we look at three of the highlighted issues – commodity trading, sustainable agriculture and population.

Hunger, a scourge as old as humankind, has many causes – some the work of nature, others entirely our own fault. Today, with enough food in the world for everyone, hunger should be history. So why are nearly one billion people still starving?

WHY DO NEARLY A BILLION PEOPLE GO HUNGRY EVERY DAY?

FoodSecurity.indd 1 27/05/2011 15:17


Are pension funds helping to cause global hunger? Christian Aid news and campaigns editor Andrew Hogg examines the role the financial markets play in pushing up the price of food

IT WAS NO MORE than a 262-page rider to a much larger document. But since its enactment in the dying days of the Clinton administration, the US Commodity Futures Modernization Act 2000 has gained a notoriety that belies the lack of fanfare surrounding its launch.

The legislation allowed US banks,

broker-dealers and other financial institutions to develop, market and trade a variety of unregulated financial products. Its impact was huge.

The Sunlight Foundation, which campaigns in the US for greater transparency in government, commented recently: ‘Tucked into a



COVER STORY

bloated 11,000-page conference report as a rider with no consideration and no time for review, this bill would be viewed only eight years later as part of the failure of our political system abetting a financial storm that brought the world to its knees.’

Today, as well as precipitating the global financial meltdown of 2008, the Act also stands accused of helping to drive millions of poor people in developing countries into extreme poverty. For the deregulation it offered allowed pension funds – with all their massive wealth – access to commodities markets. The sheer volume of money

that then poured into the market is now thought by many to be responsible for pushing the price of food beyond the pockets of the poor.

This year, record prices were recorded in February when an index of the real prices, taking inflation into account, of 55 food commodities compiled by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) stood 23 points above the previous record levels reached in June 2008.

Although prices fell back slightly in April, cereal prices, of crucial importance to the world’s poor, remained at an all-time high, with the FAO recently saying that one billion people now live in ‘chronic hunger.’

While the causes of hunger are myriad, some of them natural, such as cyclones and tsunamis, and some unnatural, such as war and errant economic policies, suspicions are hardening that commodities trading also plays an important role.

In the new report, Hungry for Justice: Fighting Starvation in an Age of Plenty, Christian Aid says it is not the hedge funds that are leading this investment – something that will come as a surprise to many.

There have been some well-publicised cases in which hedge funds have tried to corner the market in a commodity but that is not the issue here. More pertinent are the activities of institutional investors such as pension funds looking for a safe place in which to let their money grow following the bursting of the dotcom bubble, and, more latterly, the collapse of the property boom.

The scene was set for institutional investors to enter into the commodities market in 1991 when Goldman Sachs created an index of 18 commodities, including various foods, in which people were invited to invest. As well as providing diversity in the form of different types of commodities – from oil to metals to foodstuffs – that would perform differently, the index would also offer diversity at a broader level to those with investments in traditional assets such as shares and bonds.

Business built up quickly, only to turn into an avalanche once the Commodity Futures Modernization Act was passed. Crucially, it allowed more heavily regulated investors to enter the commodities market.

Pension funds, for instance, are forbidden in the US from speculating on commodities futures themselves because that involves leverage, or the use of borrowed money. However, the Act gave them access to the index funds.

And they have money – lots of it. An illustration of the kind of funds at their disposal is the fact that the combined value of the world’s 13 largest pension markets is around US$26.5trn, higher than the combined GDP of China and the US.

Every index-linked investment they make tends to produce a related investment in the ‘futures’ of the individual commodities on the index by whichever bank or finance house is managing their business.

The index-fund managers make such bets to cover themselves in terms of prices moving up and down. And they too, particularly with extra money flooding into the system through quantitative easing, have a lot of money to invest.

It is these underlying trades in the commodities futures that are now thought to be distorting prices. This is because the money is invested with relatively little heed to factors such as consumer demand and whether harvests have been good or bad.

‘Price discovery’, as the process is known by which the market sets the price of a commodity through assessing such factors, has been eclipsed, so the argument goes, by the huge amounts of money sloshing around in the system.

As a result, the signals that producers receive about whether to up production, or reduce it, are unclear. In the short term (most of the past 10 years) the prices of major foodstuffs have been driven unnecessarily high, with knock-on effects for world hunger. In the longer term, we are at risk of locking in inefficiencies that will prevent the planet from providing for its growing population.

RecommendationsResearch into the links between food price rises and commodity investment is at a nascent stage. Policy makers, however, must investigate urgently the way in which the former now mirrors the latter. In addition, policy makers should commit to a detailed assessment of the potential human impact of any further significant regulatory changes before they are implemented.

The frenzy of the trading floor – commodity brokers are now

accused of pushing up food prices, to the detriment of the poor

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IN A HUNGER-PRONE Indian state – where not too long ago a stampede of farmers at a subsidised seed distribution point became so frenzied that police opened fire – a quiet revolution is now taking place.

This not only ensures there is food all year round for the community involved – dalits, a section of society so marginalised they were once known as ‘untouchables’ – but also provides them with power over their lives, particularly the women, who have emerged as the driving force behind the changes.

Several hours’ drive from Hyderabad, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Medak district sits on the Deccan plateau, a geographical feature of southern India characterised by shallow soil, hard, stony ground and low rainfall.

Medak was once so impoverished that the late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chose it as her constituency in a key election to signal her support for the rural poor in return for theirs.

In recent years, however, it has become home to the Deccan Development Society (DDS), a collective that Christian Aid helps support, which now covers some 70 villages over a 20-mile radius with a population of 200,000.

DDS has helped to transform farming methods; it has established a ‘green school’ to provide youngsters with both an education and livelihood skills; it has

trained health workers in traditional medicines and midwifery; and launched a community radio station.

There is also a DDS-subsidised food distribution system to help the very poor. And where once dalit farmers were forced to depend on rich landowners for handouts of seeds in return for work, it is they who now own the seed banks.

In the nearest town, the presence of a restaurant claiming to be the only one in India specialising in millet dishes hints at what lies behind the transformation.

Largely eschewing water-intensive cash crops such as rice and sugar cane, DDS farmers have instead reverted to traditional, more drought-resistant varieties of grain – millets and sorghum.

These crops – supplemented by a biodiverse mix that includes pigeon peas, chick peas, lentils and amaranth, sun hemp, green gram and black gram – are key to the way the area is now able to feed itself.

The collective began life in the mid-1980s when the term ‘climate change’ had barely been coined. It was the brainchild of a group of urban professionals from Hyderabad – led by television journalist PV Satheesh – who were interested in development, and wanted to help the poor in the area help themselves.

‘This is an extremely harsh land, not much rainfall, with the kind of

Sustainable solutions: a farming revolutionThe Hungry for Justice report identifies sustainable farming practices as a means of improving food security in poorer countries. One of the projects it looked at was the Deccan Development Society in India. By Andrew Hogg

temperatures and soil quality that make it difficult for people to survive,‘ says Satheesh today. ‘The rains used to be regular, but now they are erratic. Drought is always just around the corner.’

Satheesh explains that the initiative really took off when the group saw the contribution that women wanted to make. ‘That was the defining moment,’ he says.

Under Indira Gandhi, says Satheesh, a ceiling had been put on the amount of land the rich could own, and the rest had to be given to those in need. The land handed over, however, tended to



COVER STORY

be the poorest and least fertile. DDS women began transforming the landscape, using soil from a reservoir bed, and planting a variety of crops. Within a short time yields increased from 50kg to up to as much as 400-600kg.

The women then mapped land in their villages that had been left uncultivated and negotiated with the owners, offering to make it productive again for a share of the produce.

India’s Public Distribution System, which provides subsidised rice and grain to the poor, had long before helped speed the demise of millets and

sorghum, which are coarser grains that need more preparation. However, they are not only drought-resistant, but also don’t need the fertiliser required by the hybrid seeds that the government subsidises.

DDS has encouraged biodiversity, suggesting that every farmer plants diverse crops to be harvested at different times, ensuring new supplies of food throughout the year. Seeds can then be exchanged to help other farmers diversify.

‘Today,’ says Satheesh, ‘no one is hungry, and we have food security, health security and nutritional security.

Compared to rice, millets are storehouses of nutrition, [with] more calcium and more protein.’

RecommendationsSupport for such an agroecological approach that allows small farmers to increase and secure food production is essential, says the Christian Aid report. It calls on national governments (and donors) to support sustainable development, and says the underlying power imbalances that affect the predominantly female smallholder farmers must be addressed.

Bidekanne village, Andhra Pradesh, India. Samamma is the leader of a sangham or women’s group. The Deccan Development Society has helped such women

obtain and cultivate land that now feeds thousands

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COVER STORY

EARLIER THIS YEAR, a UK government-backed report The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and Choices for Global Sustainability issued a stark warning. Compiled by Professor Sir John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and head of the Government Office for Science, it was distilled from the work of some 400 scientists in 35 countries, who had looked at the future and been alarmed at what they saw.

‘There is urgency in taking what may be very difficult policy decisions today relating to the diverse challenges facing the global food system…’ said the report. ‘It is imperative that the need for rapid action is realised by all concerned.’

Concentrating Professor Beddington’s mind, and those of the scientists who worked on the report with him, is the fact that there will be an extra 2 billion mouths to feed by 2050.

Until now, when anyone has asked how many people the planet can sustain, and how best we can do it, the reply has often been – stop breeding. With hunger most manifest in poor and marginalised communities, where families also tend to be larger, the message has been implicit – people living in poverty should stop having so many babies.

Hungry for Justice, however, points out that it is the current consumption patterns of those with money to spare that are unsustainable, a situation worsening as more and more people in emerging economies join the middle classes and live the sort of lifestyles that we in the rich world take for granted.

Based on projections published, but not necessarily endorsed by, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), meat consumption per person per year is expected to rise from 37kg at present to 52kg in 2050 as the world’s population reaches 9 billion.

To meet this demand, annual meat production will need to rise more than 200 million tonnes to 470 million tonnes, and there would also have to be substantial increases in the production of ‘animal concentrate feeds’.

For example, some 80 per cent of the additional 480 million tonnes of maize produced annually by 2050 would be for animal feed, and soybean production would need to increase by 140 per cent to 515 million tonnes in 2050 for the same reason. The global cattle population may have to increase from 1.5 billion to 2.6 billion between 2000 and 2050, and the global goat and sheep population from 1.7 billion to 2.7 billion.

As a result, grazing intensity is projected to increase, resulting in considerable intensification of livestock production in the humid and sub-humid grazing systems of the world, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The challenges facing us, therefore, are threefold. How do we ensure that everyone – including people in poverty – gets the food they need, now and in the future? How do we produce sufficient food to feed 9 billion without destroying the natural environment?

And are the well-off, whose numbers are increasing, capable of adopting diets – never mind entire lifestyles – that are environmentally sustainable?

Experts who met recently under the auspices of the FAO agreed that feeding 9 billion would be possible, but certain conditions had to be met, and policy decisions taken.

Increased research and development for sustained productivity growth, and a focus on environmental services and sustainable resource management are essential. It is also important that policies do not simply focus on supply growth, but also on the access of the world’s poor and hungry to the food they need. Ensuring food security will be closely tied to improved stewardship of the earth’s natural resources.

The Future of Food and Farming report states: ‘Although the challenges are enormous, there are real grounds for optimism. It is now possible to anticipate a time when global population numbers cease to rise; the natural and social sciences continue to provide new knowledge and understanding; and there is growing consensus that global poverty is unacceptable and has to be ended.

Where does Christian Aid stand?Christian Aid is often asked where it stands in the population debate. In brief, we reject any approach to population that involves coercing couples to have fewer children than they want.

We believe that women and men should have an effective choice over the number and timing of their children, which millions currently do not. Pre-requisites for such choice include access to contraception and wider reproductive healthcare, including healthcare for women during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as women’s access to secondary education and protection of their right to control their own bodies.

How over-consumption is destroying the planetWill the world be able to produce enough food to feed a growing population? Andrew Hogg looks at the issues surrounding this highly emotive question

The population is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050, but it is ‘rich country’ consumption patterns that really threaten the planet

Chris Stow

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INPUT

Inspired? Enraged?

Some of your letters and emails responding to the Poverty Over manifesto, our CO2 emissions campaign and criticism of Gordon Brown

EMITTING SCEPTICISMA layman in both science and economics, I am inclined to share your correspondents’ scepticism over Christian Aid’s CO! campaign (Input, Issue 51). Emissions and global warming are multi-faceted issues where factors must be considered on a cost/benefi t basis and there are no simple answers or clear moral and ethical codes that can be applied across the board.

Take agriculture as an example: in the developed world this is fundamental to our material advantage allowing us a much greater chance of enjoying ‘life before death’ than our brothers and sisters born elsewhere. It frees the average Westerner from the life of constant toil described in Genesis chapter 3 and underpins the fact that the world produces suffi cient to feed all, regardless of population expansion and equitable distribution issues (Issue 51, page 16). Yet, laying aside sophisticated biochemical techniques, as an observer I can see that our new Eden is universally and necessarily powered by diesel engines and thus reliant on industrial manufacturing processes.

A raft of ethical issues fl oats on the biofuel debate and nuclear is the only serious alternative energy source for large-scale engineering production, so both facets will remain fossil-fuel dependent for the foreseeable future. Ewan Rutherford’s letter highlights the core problem with renewables in serious industry and again I can imagine the environmental issues associated with the construction of energy storage systems on the scale he alludes to.

How then, in all conscience, can we condemn China for exploiting her coal reserves or mercilessly badger the World Bank in relation to fossil fuels? I do not doubt that CO! emissions are a contributory factor in global warming but does this wholly outweigh the mass benefi ts accruing from sectors

such as modern agriculture? Global warming may have grasped

the modern popular conscience, and governments and others are perhaps justifi ed in exploiting this strategically and politically to encourage both technological progress and conservation. No Christian would argue against good stewardship of the earth’s resources but for Christian Aid to adopt such a dogmatic stance on this complex question risks compromising key values of honesty and integrity and leaves it open to allegations of hypocrisy. Sandy BoydLongniddry, East Lothian

PIOUS WISH?Much as I support the general aims of Christian Aid, I feel that the central concept of the Poverty Over campaign is both naïve and misleading. While we can do many things to secure a more level playing fi eld through fairtrade and Trace the Tax campaigns, sadly, ending – or even seriously alleviating – poverty is not going to be one of them. Your articleThe Root Causes of Poverty signifi cantly fails to mention one of the real reasons for African poverty, and that is corruption and the wholesale theft of aid by kleptocratic governments. Indeed an argument has been advanced that all that Western aid has done for Africa is to entrench these kleptocratic elites.

By the same token, your interesting History of Poverty fails to address the point illustrated by a recent TV documentary which showed that after the Second World War Singapore and Gambia had the same GDP. Since then Singapore’s has risen by more than 3,000 per cent while Gambia’s has remained unchanged. Nor do you appear to factor in the infl ux of huge Chinese trading ‘investment’.

None of these are reasons not to make intelligent and compassionate interventions where it lies within our power, but raising living standards involves a whole range of cultural issues as well as learning to integrate technology. To express the pious wish that the actions of Christian Aid

supporters could effect what has eluded the best intentions of those who have held the levers of power since the end of the imperialist era is simply delusional, and I cannot see what honest purpose is served by it. No less an authority than Jesus said ‘the poor are always with you…’ and there is no proposal in your magazine that gives me any confi dence that you have understood how to remedy a situation where the ‘man-made’ element is represented by intractable vested interests.Michael Maxwell SteerTisbury, Wiltshire

CORRUPTION IS KEY...Your summary of what Christian Aid is doing through its partners overseas, (The Root Causes of Poverty), indicates that of all the problems, corruption is possibly the biggest, yet the least is being done to help eradicate it. I guess this is because it is just so diffi cult to tackle. I wonder if you might run a longer article some day, or suggest ways we can write to people in the UK and overseas, that might help others to overcome corruption.Russ Naylor, via emailEditor’s reply: ‘See Comment, page 23’

...AND ECONOMICSA few years ago I decided to become a Christian Aid supporter because I appreciated the way you work on the ground with grassroots organisations while also lobbying for change. It appeared as if you dealt not only with the symptoms of poverty – you were serious about the causes.

However, having seen your new Poverty Over campaign, which promises to make a ‘fundamental and lasting difference’ to the lives of the most vulnerable people, I am deeply disappointed and also angry. Here was an opportunity to raise awareness about the key drivers of poverty – but nowhere among the eight key issues do you mention free-market economic policy.

I don’t disagree with the emphasis you place on health, climate change and so on. These are all important. But if your campaign is really about tackling the root

Send your views to: The Editor, Christian Aid News, 35 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RL or email [email protected]

INPUT

Input/Comment.indd 2 27/05/2011 15:24

INPUT


causes, then how can you ignore the elephant in the room? The free-market economic policies of the past few years have created environmental destruction, exacerbated climate change, increased tax evasion, emasculated governments, displaced thousands of people from their land, created resource wars and increased corruption. An economic system which constantly needs to grow and increase its profits means a world where there will always be winners and losers, and where the true costs of production will always be offset onto the environment and the poor. The neo-liberal laissez-faire economic policies of the past 30 years have widened, not narrowed, the gulf between those at the top and those at the bottom of society. The principles of shareholder value maximisation, and those around it (the bonus culture, legitimacy of tax havens, the importance of light-touch regulation), are at the heart of the economic and environmental crisis.

Perhaps Christian Aid feels it can’t comment on the economic system as doing so would be too ‘political’. Fine, but don’t then insult our intelligence by telling us that you’re focusing on the key causes of poverty and miss out the most obvious one! It could even be argued that you’re facilitating the continuance of an unsustainable system, by kidding people that it’s possible to end poverty without changing that system. Isn’t that rather misleading and dishonest?

If it’s too hot a potato to deal with the role of economics in creating and maintaining poverty, perhaps you should call your campaign something honest like ‘Poverty Ameliorated’. Kirsten Downervia email

...AND POPULATIONI was very disappointed to see that you failed to include population growth in your list of the eight causes of poverty.

Population growth places pressure on a country’s ability to feed itself, so that an ever-increasing proportion of its food requirements must be imported; on land use, leading to deforestation, land degradation and sometimes flooding; on energy requirements, which can no longer be met from local resources; on water supply, where local fresh water becomes insufficient; on housing, leading to slum development on the

edges of cities. The list goes on…Critics argue that as poverty reduces,

population will stabilise: perhaps so, but this is a long-term process and, meanwhile, much further growth is to be expected! They also argue that making this point in some way takes away from the responsibilities of us in the West to reduce consumption. Not so – you have, after all, listed eight other causes, all of which still stand; but population growth deserves to stand alongside them.Andrew BurnettLee Common, Buckinghamshire

I read the article on the causes of poverty with interest and agreement. I think one more factor should be considered – the high birth rate in many underdeveloped countries. I know this is a difficult and delicate subject, but it should be considered rather than just waiting in the hope that, with rising living standards, the trend to smaller family units sorts things out in two to three generations. Elizabeth Moorevia emailEditor’s reply: ‘See our special report on food security on pages 15-20’

APOCALYPSE NILEIt seems Patrick Hanley (Input, issue 51) wants to decry Malthusian mythmakers who spread apocalyptic nightmares with relish! This is misguided. Consider but one scenario: the population projection for countries dependent on the Nile for water is an increase of 200 million by 2050. A figure made even more startling given that the president of one of these countries aspires to a national population the size of Russia! Yet the Nile is already over-stressed with its tributaries dwindling. The possibility that such an iconic river that has born the aspirations of humanity since the dawn of history could become, as a result of those aspirations, no more than a fetid ditch is a situation almost too shocking to contemplate: it would be a fitting symbol of what we have done to the planet. Dominic KirkhamManchester

BROWNED OFFKen Allison was shocked to read the interview with Gordon Brown and I was shocked to read his unnecessary and biased outburst (Input, issue 51).

Christian Aid is working to end poverty and stand up for the oppressed and I always understood Gordon Brown supported our work and certainly spoke out on many issues on development and was receptive to our campaigns. Deborah DarnesSandbach, Cheshire

While I am no defender of Gordon Brown; calling him ‘leader of the worst UK government in living memory’ is stretching things too far. Mr Allison may be much younger than me but my ‘living memory’ is more haunted by the government of Mrs Thatcher with its fostering of mass unemployment, the destruction of so many of our working class communities and the encouragement of a culture of greed. Perhaps Mr Allison is listening too much to the propaganda of the Conservative-led government, with its ideological programme of cuts aimed at the poorest and most vulnerable, but in terms of who is responsible for the financial crisis, I blame the banks not Mr Brown. Rev Dr Noel Irwin via email

I was amazed at Ken Allison’s attack on Gordon Brown. The debt crisis is global, not one only affecting this country. Gordon Brown was not representing ‘a government which did more than any other to marginalise Christianity’. I hope you receive many more letters challenging Mr Allison’s views.Joy HicksMelksham, Wiltshire

Editor’s reply: ‘We did, Joy, we did. Christian Aid News is impartial on this matter. We were happy to publish Ken Allison’s letter and we are just as happy to publish this selection of the many replies from readers leaping to Gordon Brown’s defence.’

WONDERFUL WEEK A PS from Deborah Darnes, above:I enjoyed reading John Lane’s tales of being a Christian Aid Week collector in Sevenoaks (Last Word, Issue 51). I agree with him that Christian Aid Week is a powerful act of witness and I have found it a positive experience meeting many wonderful people wanting to contribute to the work of Christian Aid, with very few not willing to donate.



COMMENT

WHEN NEGOTIATIONS for a global convention against corruption began in 2002, the United Nations considered not adopting a definition of ‘corruption’ at all. This is because acts considered corrupt in one country may not be in another.

For example, in more mature democracies, corruption can bring down a government. But in fragile states where armed challenges exist, corruption may actually be necessary to consolidate a government’s hold on power. Rebel groups and criminal gangs are often enticed to ‘behave’ if they are given a piece of the pie. Hence, if government ‘allows’ them to engage in their illicit trade (smuggling, drugs, and so on), they become more preoccupied with making their money than in causing disruption.

It may also seem strange that there are actually corrupt politicians who enjoy more public support than ‘clean’ politicians. In the Philippines, for example, a president who was deposed by an uprising and convicted for corruption went on to obtain the second highest number of votes, after he was pardoned, when he ran anew for office in 2010.

Needless to say, corruption is a complex phenomenon. Dealing with it requires greater understanding of the context, more innovative tools and a determination to change power relations. Christian Aid and its partners’ basic approach is to confront corruption from the grassroots. When citizens themselves mobilise for change, they will be better placed to shape decisions, and influence the structures that make those decisions.

However, the ability of citizens to confront corruption is often seriously limited by the lack of information. In

fact, making relevant information easily accessible is often the defining moment in any anti-corruption campaign. In this regard, the internet is proving to be an increasingly important space.

In Kenya, for example, Mwalimu Mati set up the non-profit Media Analysis and Research Service Group (marsgroupkenya.org) way back in 2005 to publish online pieces of evidence – budget documents, bidding rules, project profiles, etc. These not only allowed the media to report more substantively on cases, they also provided the impetus for prosecutors to pursue cases against powerful politicians. In Angola, journalist Rafael Marques turned to the internet, after newspapers he wrote for were bought off by companies bent on keeping his critical anti-corruption reports from the public domain. His website (makaangola.com) has led to the multinational Daimler AG withdrawing from a joint venture with an Angolan general, and has put the oil company Cobalt under the scrutiny of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, among others.

The value of Mati and Marques’ initiatives increase when linked and eventually put in the service of citizens’ movements. MARS Group went on to

spearhead the Partnership for Change, a non-violent campaign to ‘end the impunity of corrupt politicians’. In Angola, more internet-based anti-corruption campaigns have emerged in the work of Christian Aid’s partners, such as Omunga (quintasdedebate.blogspot.com/); SOS Habitat (angolaresistente.net/); Radio Radio Ecclesia and News-site O Apostolado (radioecclesia.org/ and apostolado-angola.org/); and Action for Southern Africa’s Angola Monitor (actsa.org/page-1499-Angola_Monitor.html).

The risks and challenges faced in these countries are serious. Mati and Marques have both been imprisoned and are used to being harrassed. MARS Group has temporarily closed its site, after hackers broke in. Marques is unable to maintain a server and web manager outside the country – a necessity for security reasons. Nevertheless, they move on, happy that more like them are breaking new ground.

While the trade-offs and dilemmas around fighting corruption remain, the United Nations’ Convention Against Corruption is now in force in some 150 countries. Along with the growing number of citizens’ campaigns, aided by the emergence of tools such as the internet, this gives cause for optimism.

Eric Gutierrez, Christian Aid’s senior adviser on accountable governance,

highlights the challenges facing organisations – and individuals – in confronting corruption

HOW DO YOU FIGHT CORRUPTION?

A protest rally in India targets corruption

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Christian Aid’s head of legacies Colin Kemp reports on the continuing success of the Will Aid schemeAT A TIME when money is tight and many charities are finding fundraising difficult, Will Aid 2010 well and truly bucked the trend. Thanks to the selfless efforts of more than 1,139 solicitors throughout Britain, 19,000 Wills were written and the magnificent sum of £1,509,428 was raised to be shared by the nine charities involved. Christian Aid will receive more than £200,000.

It’s not only the donations that people generously gave that will benefit Christian Aid and the other charities, many people also took the opportunity to include Christian Aid in their Will.

Christian Aid international director Paul Valentin explains how important legacy income is to us: ‘Legacies make a substantial difference to the work we can undertake. The legacies we receive could fund all our work in Latin America and the Caribbean, where we support 152 partner organisations in 11 countries.

‘Legacies support the full range of our work. Without the generosity of people who leave a gift to Christian Aid in their Will, thousands of people would lose essential support. Legacies help us to transform lives.’

Naomi Pinder is the Christian Aid Week organiser for Woolton, Gateacre and Netherley and works for Quality Solicitors Jackson & Canter in Liverpool city centre. Naomi is passionate about the work of Christian Aid and has been

involved with Christian Aid for as long as she can remember. It was her support for Christian Aid that led her to become involved in her professional capacity as a solicitor with Will Aid.

‘I am passionate about the need

for people to have a Will and Will Aid enables me to reach more people and encourage them to write a Will,’ she says. ‘It is important to me that Christian Aid is part of Will Aid because I know the money I raise will be used by Christian Aid to help people living in desperate poverty.

‘It is a blessing to be involved with Christian Aid and to use my God-given skills to help raise even more money for Christian Aid through my work with Will Aid. The more the better.’

Here at Christian Aid, we are now planning for the November 2011 Will Aid. Please help us make it another great year. If you are a solicitor, please consider being a Will Aid solicitor this year. It can help you gain local publicity, find new clients and makes a real difference to the work of Christian Aid. Another way anyone can help is to publish an article in your church or parish magazine this autumn to promote Will Aid in your area.

WILL AID BREAKS FUNDRAISING RECORDS

Legacies make a substantial difference to the work we can undertake. The legacies we receive could fund all our work in Latin America and the Caribbean


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

LIFE AND SOUL

Paul Andre is the coordinator of a network of grassroots community organisations made up of peasant farmers in rural Haiti. After the quake, our partner Gramir provided funding for seeds and fertiliser in time for the planting season. Legacy funding helps Christian Aid to fulfil long-term commitments in the region

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FREE RESOURCES TO ORDER

Collection boxes for loose change. Can be used in churches, schools or at home. Multiple boxes can be

ordered for congregations and groups.

Church action pack with DVD and information on getting your church involved in prayer and action.

Free harvest resources Focusing on our work in Bangladesh: everything you need

to get your church or school involved. More resources for services and assemblies available at christianaid.org/harvest

To order: call 0870 078 7788 quoting A012065, email [email protected] or fill out the form below and return it to Christian Aid, PO Box 390, Grays RM17 9DG

YES! PLEASE SEND ME:

Please fill in the quantity required in the box:

Collection box F1937

Church action pack F1938 (Please tick. Only one pack will be sent)

Harvest poster F1960

Harvest leaflet F1959

Giving envelopes F1951

Children’s activity sheet F1961

Please fill in your details:

Title

Initial

Surname

Address

Postcode

Email*

*Please only include if you are happy to receive emails from Christian AidChristian Aid will not pass your details on to any other organisation. If you already receive information from Christian Aid we will continue to send it unless you tell us otherwise by writing to us at Supporter Relations, PO Box 100, London SE1 7RT. If you are new to Christian Aid, please tick here if you do not want to receive information from us

A012065

APRIL FOOLS’ DAY may not be the most appropriate day to set off on the country’s most

famous long-distance journey – or is it?Nicknamed the ‘End to End Fools’,

13 people in seven different groups did exactly that, leaving Land’s End on 1 April, bound for John O’Groats.

John and Nancy Eckersley, Christian Aid supporters from Yorkshire, led the way and are walking the famous route to celebrate their retirement. For them,

1 April was the perfect day to begin.‘Some people will think we’re nuts

and some may think it’s a joke,‘ said Nancy, ‘so we thought it appropriate to start on April Fools’ Day.’

John and Nancy will complete their 1,280-mile journey by the end of August and are aiming to raise £10,000 for Christian Aid’s Partnership Scheme, supporting projects in Sierra Leone. Through the scheme, this money will be matched by funds from the European Union, making it worth an amazing £45,000.

‘So are we fools?’ asked John, as they set off. ‘Ask me in five months’ time!’

You can follow the couple’s progress at johneckersley.wordpress.com/blog/ and you can find out more about the Partnership Scheme at christianaid.org.uk/partnerships

Fools’ errand!

OVER THE PAST YEAR, our new corporate fundraising team has been focusing on the different ways you can help us to fight poverty through your lifestyle choices and through the company that you work for. Below are details of five things you can do to help make a huge difference to the lives of the world’s poorest people.

1. CHOOSE CHRISTIAN AID LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS With this edition of Christian Aid News is a short booklet that will enable you to raise money simply by choosing to purchase the products described in it. Every purchase will generate a donation to Christian Aid. So, if you’ve been looking for a greener electricity supplier, a more ethical credit card or a new place to buy your Fairtrade produce, use this booklet and take advantage of all the great discounts!

Visit christianaid.org.uk/affinity to find out more.

2. DONATE VIA PAY AS YOU EARN Payroll giving supplies Christian Aid with a vital source of regular income, enabling us to plan with confidence. It’s a tax-effective way to give to charity and more than 10,000 UK employers currently take part. To learn more, contact [email protected]

3. DONATE OLD INK CARTRIDGES AND MOBILE PHONES As well as worsening landfill problems when they are dumped, mobile phones and ink cartridges

contain chemicals that are harmful to the environment. Recycling your old ones is a great way to combat this and to raise money for Christian Aid’s work around the world. Why not organise a collection among fellow staff and customers? If you’d like us to arrange a free collection, visit recyclingappeal.com/christianaid

4. HOLD A STAFF FUNDRAISING EVENT By organising an event at work, no matter how small, you can help us get a step closer to ending poverty. How about a quiz, a dress-down day, or a Souper Soup Lunch? Or how about joining us for a marathon, a bike ride or a weekend trek?

Our Events Fundraising team will help with ideas, advice and resources so you are well prepared and organised. For more information, visit christianaid.org.uk/events

5. GET YOUR COMPANY TO FUND A PROJECT At any one time we work on more than 600 development projects, as well as providing humanitarian aid. Why not convince your employer to help fund our work? We can provide your company with regular updates, which can help to motivate employees, build relationships with customers and improve brand reputation.

here or would like help getting started, contact Brendan Brosnan on 020 7523 2474 or email [email protected]

FIVE WAYS TO FUNDRAISE

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EVENTSWe 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 fi ghting poverty: join one of our events or do your own fundraising


PARIS HERE WE COME

On 20 July, 100 adventurous Team Poverty cyclists will be setting out on the fi ve-day 2011 Christian Aid London to Paris Bike Ride, which, it is hoped, will raise a staggering £150,000 to help us fi ght poverty. About 90 of the team are embarking on their fi rst ride with Team Poverty, including Gill and Simon Perks, for whom the ride represents their biggest personal challenge. Christian Aid News asked them how they came to be involved

Why have you decided to cycle 300 miles from London to Paris for Christian Aid?Simon: Well, to celebrate my 50th birthday we thought we could do something a bit adventurous and raise some money for Christian Aid. Gill: I saw the ad in Christian Aid News and thought it would appeal to Simon. It’s going to be a great experience and we are doing it to help somebody else, so it just ticked all the boxes.

How are you raising money?Gill: A combination of things, through the workplace and also through Simon’s birthday party – instead of bringing presents people are going to be asked to bring their cheque books.Simon: The invitations I sent out included links to Christian Aid videos because I am keen that people understand what it is we are asking them to give money to.

Have either of you done anything as challenging as this before?Gill: In a word, no! I have done a sponsored swim before but nothing as

challenging as this.Simon: I did a few 10K runs when I was 40 and last had a crisis about my age!

What are you most looking forward to?Both: Getting to the end!Gill: The route passes through the village we live in and we hope that the local pubs, friends and neighbours will come out and cheer us on as we pass through.

After 25 years together you must know each other’s strengths and weaknesses pretty well, so how will you be supporting each other on the ride?Simon: Gill needs to manage my biggest weakness, which won’t be on the road, it will be socialising in the evenings!

We wish Gill, Simon and all the Team Poverty riders the best of luck on their ride. To sponsor Gill

and Simon (left), visit justgiving.com/Gill-Perks or justgiving.com/Simon-Perks You can follow all the riders’ progress on Twitter: @ca_events

BISHOP TAKES LEAP OF FAITH

A BISHOP AND A VICAR were among supporters who went over the edge in March during one of Christian Aid’s sponsored abseils.

Relying on just a length of rope and a harness, the Bishop of Repton Humphrey Southern (above) abseiled from the roof of the Leicester Tigers Stadium. After descending the 80ft drop he refl ected: ‘It felt pretty scary at fi rst but once I got going it was wonderful.’

The Rev Peter Lillicrap, vicar of Acton, described his experience of abseiling from the top of the Velodrome in Manchester, as nerve-wracking: ‘I hadn’t done a free abseil [without a wall] before so I was quite nervous. You’re teetering on a six-inch ledge and then you’re told to take a sitting position as you go over the edge. That moment was the worst!’

Chgeck out other sponsored abseils at christianaid.org.uk/abseil

SOUPER BOWLSMONEY HAS BEEN pouring in from Super Soup lunches held across the UK in March – the event has been a huge success in getting people together, raising money and fi ghting poverty.

If you held a Super Soup Lunch among friends, family or colleagues, please remember to send us the money you raised. Find out how to do this at christianaid.org.uk/super-soup-lunch

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OFFA’S DYKE NIGHT HIKE 18-19 June 2011

HADRIAN’S WALL WEEKEND TREK 1-3 July 2011

LONDON TO PARIS BIKE RIDE20-24 July 2011

LONDON TO LUXEMBOURG BIKE RIDE 31 August-4 September 2011

JURASSIC COAST WEEKEND TREK 9-11 September 2011

QUIZAID 12-18 September 2011

HOLY ISLAND NIGHT HIKE 17-18 September 2011

BUPA GREAT NORTH RUN 18 September 2011

ROYAL PARKS HALF MARATHON 9 October 2011

SANTA DASH 5K FUN RUNS December 2011

THE BIG CHRISTMAS SING 9-11 December 2011

BURNS SUPPER 21-28 January 2012

SOUPER SOUP LUNCH 30 March 2012

BRIGHTON MARATHON Sunday 15 April 2012

VIRGIN LONDON MARATHON Sunday 22 April 2012

For more details go to: christianaid.org.uk/events

EVENTS FUNDRAISING CALENDAR 2011/2012

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE are striding, strolling or even stumbling across Great Britain in one of Christian Aid’s sponsored walks to raise money, which will support communities across the world to lift themselves out of poverty.

About 80 walkers literally got together to raise more than £1,500 in Lose a Leg for Lent, a three-legged sponsored walk on 26 March through the beautiful grounds of Hatfi eld House in Hertfordshire.

And there was spectacular scenery for the many supporters who repeatedly walked back and forth across the Humber Bridge on 7 May.

There are various walks like these happening nationwide – to fi nd out how to join one please visit christianaid.org.uk/walks

Looking ahead, October sees the fi rst in a series of marches and rallies in 25 states across India in preparation for the 2012 March for Justice, calling for land rights reform.

Campaigners from our partner organisation Ekta Parishad will travel from region to region, covering 60,000km in 12 months. Here in Britain, we will be standing in solidarity with the marchers, so Christian Aid is organising a series of March for Justice sponsored walks around the country.

Ekta Parishad is aiming to raise more than £100,000 to support the Indian people in their protest. You can fi nd out more about walks in your area at marchforjustice2012.org and in our Around the Regions section overleaf.

BRAVE TEAM POVERTY runners faced the early scorching temperatures of April during the Virgin London Marathon this year. Despite the heat, all 14 of Christian Aid’s runners crossed the fi nish line, raising a combined total of about £25,000.

They included Lynn Chambers who, at the Team Poverty celebratory reception later, described her day: ‘I took a taxi from my hotel to catch a train to the start line in Greenwich. I got into a conversation with the taxi driver about the marathon and running as part of Team Poverty. When I explained about the work of Christian Aid, the taxi driver refused to take

a fare and insisted on donating it to Christian Aid. Running the marathon was such a challenge: I hit the wall early at mile 10 and so the only thing that kept me going was the sponsorship I knew people had given. The amount I had raised equated to £50 per mile and so each mile meant £50 going towards the amazing work that Christian Aid does and I kept this thought with me throughout the race.’

Are you inspired to give poverty the run-around? You don’t have to run a marathon for us – to fi nd out more about other runs you can take part in for Christian Aid visit christianaid.org.uk/running

STEP OUT FOR POVERTY AND MARCH FOR JUSTICE

Running towards your fundraising goals

A Team Poverty runner crosses Tower Bridge in the

2011 London Marathon

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AROUND CENTRAL ENGLAND

BISHOPS FROM around the Midlands region became baristas for a morning, making and serving Fairtrade coffee.

Also taking part was the chair of the Lincoln and Grimsby Methodist District, Rev Dr David Perry, who said: ‘I had a brilliant time, it was a lot of fun and everyone was so welcoming. The cappuccino was the most difficult to make; my first one ended up looking like a Jackson Pollock painting!’

The inspiration for this year’s Christian Aid Week is the story of small-scale coffee farmers in Nicaragua and the support given to them by Christian Aid partner Soppexcca. This has helped them form a cooperative, which enables them to get a fairer price for their beans, improve their communities and work

their way out of poverty.The Bishop of Nottingham and

Southwell Rt Rev Paul Butler said: ‘It was nice to be able to get involved in the activities of one of my local parishes; it was great to meet the volunteers who work at the coffee shop and to do my bit in raising awareness of Fairtrade and Christian Aid Week.’

Customers and staff alike gave their new baristas top marks. The barista at the Lincoln Stokes Café even remarked: ‘Rev Perry could be a potential threat to my job, he was so impressive!’

The Rt Rev Bishop Alastair Redfern, Bishop of Derby, said: ‘Serving coffee creates a little community of its own – we are creating communities here to help the communities in Nicaragua.’

FROTH’S UP FOR THE BARISTA BISHOPSIt was all about the coffee as cafés and coffee shops were taken over by the region’s bishops and ministers, who turned baristas to raise awareness of this year’s Christian Aid Week.

A clerical cappuccino served up by Rev Dr David Perry

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FROM CAKE STALLS and concerts to sponsored walks and electric scooter time-trials; our region has had an eventful Christian Aid Week 2011!

One of the earliest events was the ‘barista bishops’ which saw the Rev David Perry, Rt Rev Paul Butler and Rt Rev Alastair Redfern swapping cassocks for aprons and becoming baristas for the morning to raise awareness of Christian Aid Week (see below).

There were sponsored walks galore across the East Midlands, including

Nottingham, Oadby, Loughborough and the Humber Bridge! The Loughborough Christian Aid group sponsored walk saw more than 100 people walking a choice of either 20km or 12km around the beautiful Charnwood countryside. The Mayor of Charnwood (left) made a special visit to start off the 12km walk, and members of the Loughborough Christian Aid group, dressed as waiters and waitresses, served coffee to walkers.

Singing and scootingThe East Midlands hills came alive with the sound of music at various fundraising concerts, while another exciting Loughborough sponsored event was the famous ‘Scoot for a Hoot’! This event, which won ‘Most Original Christian Aid Week Event 2010’, tested competitors’ driving skills on motorised scooters and wheelchairs! Smelling the coffeeMPs from the West Midlands met Christian Aid supporters who lobbied and presented and bags of partner-produced Fairtrade coffee to their elected

representatives. The meetings gave supporters a chance to explain what they were doing for Christian Aid Week, and challenge the MP to take action.

Local supporter Hugh Brocklebank met Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell and engaged him in a challenging discussion about climate change.

People of all ages were invited aboard the Big Green Bus (below) to encounter principles of poverty and justice, when it stopped at Hall Green school, Birmingham. The school’s eco-group presented local MP Roger Godsiff with a bag of coffee from our Nicaraguan partner Soppexcca and lobbied him to take action for a fairer future for all.

We would like to thank everyone who got involved this Christian Aid Week.

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EVENTS IN CENTRAL ENGLAND


EAST MIDLANDS

MONDAY 20 JUNE – SUNDAY 26 JUNECelebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James BibleDerby Cathedral, 18-19 Iron Gate, Derby DE1 3GP.The Cathedral is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible by holding a seven-day public reading of it, lasting about 80 hours! The readings will begin with the Bishop of Derby at 9am on Monday.

SUNDAY 26 JUNELoughborough Christian Aid Simple Lunch12.30pm, St Mary’s Church, Nanpantan.

SUNDAY 26 JUNEThe Bishop of Leicester’s thank-you garden party2.30-4.30pm, Bishop’s Lodge, 12 Springfield Road, Leicester LE2 3BD.Bring a picnic and join us in the Bishop of Leicester’s beautiful grounds. It’s a chance for us to say thank you to supporters as well as enjoy live music by local jazz band Lazy Alligators. Invitations have been sent

out, so if you have received yours and would like to attend, please call the Loughborough office on 01509 265013 or email [email protected] MONDAY 27 JUNEChristian Aid Week evaluation meeting and cream tea4-7pm, Charles Street Methodist Church, Newark NG24 1RN.This is your chance to tell us what you thought of Christian Aid Week 2011 and help feed into the plans for 2012. Sessions are either 4-5pm or 6-7pm with a cream tea in between.To confirm attendance, please call 01509 265013, or email [email protected]

THURSDAY 30 JUNEChristian Aid Week evaluation meeting and cream tea4-7pm, St Nicholas Church, Lawn Ave, Allestree, Derby DE22 2PEDetails as above.To confirm attendance, please call 01509 265013, or email [email protected]

SUNDAY 31 JULYLoughborough Christian Aid Simple Lunch12.30pm, Good Shepherd, Park Road, Loughborough.

SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBERLoughborough Christian Aid Simple Lunch12.30pm, All Saints Church, Thorpe Acre, Loughborough.

WEST MIDLANDS

THURSDAY 30 JUNEThanksgiving service7pm, All Saints Church, Church Street, Broseley, Shropshire TF12 5DA.Service for Christian Aid supporters, fundraisers and collectors, led by Reverend Michael Kinna. To confirm attendance, please RSVP to the Birmingham Christian Aid office on 0121 200 2283 or email [email protected]

SATURDAY 2 JULY Fun in the Park2pm, Riversley Park, Coton Road, Nuneaton. Sponsored walk, stalls, games and fun for all the family. Contact Anne Vincent on 024 7635 0737 [email protected]

TUESDAY 4 OCTOBERChurch Service7.30pm, Lichfield Cathedral.Service providing inspiration and reflection to enable your church

to engage with the issue of climate justice.

SATURDAY 8 OCTOBERSponsored walk1pm, Kingsbury Water Park.Family-friendly sponsored walk around the lake amid beautiful autumn scenery. Dogs on leads welcome and path is suitable for pushchairs. Pedestrian entrance to the park is free but there is a car park charge of £3.50.

SATURDAY 15 OCTOBERCannock Quiz Aid 7pm, St Luke’s Church and Community Centre, Cannock£5 for a team of four. Contact: Ruth Isitt, on 01543 466562 or email: [email protected]

EAST OF ENGLAND

SATURDAY 30 JULY Sponsored canoe ride10.30am-3pm, Sudbury to Bures.Canoeing on the River Stour to support Burkina Faso. Sponsorship will be quadrupled by the European Union. Cost £15. Participants must be over 18 but no previous experience is required. To book a place, contact Eldred Willey on 01603 620051.

Poverty Over tour CHRISTIAN AID’S Poverty Over exhibition came to Ely Cathedral last month, giving supporters and schools in the East of England a chance to learn more about our work and the issues behind poverty.

The exhibition will visit Worcester Cathedral from 7 November to 9 December, and will be at Peterborough Cathedral from 13-26 January and Norwich Cathedral from 3-16 February.

Step out in support of India’s landless poor IN 2007 more than 25,000 people walked 200 miles across India to demand land rights for the dalit people. The Janadesh march prompted government officials to promise a lot for this marginalised class, but progress has been slow, so Christian Aid partner Ekta Parishad is mobilising people to take to the streets again – but it also needs you to step out in solidarity.

There are four walks planned, each raising funds for Ekta Parishad and other social exclusion projects in India. In Norfolk participants will follow a scenic 15-mile route along the River Yare on Saturday 1 October. They will finish at Norwich Cathedral where they will be welcomed with refreshments before being invited to participate in evening prayer. In Suffolk participants are invited to join a three- or eight-mile walk, which will end in St Edmundsbury Cathedral, in Peterborough a walk on Saturday 1 October ends with a service in the cathedral at 5.30pm and in Worcestershire and Herefordshire walkers will cross the picturesque Malvern Hills on Saturday 1 October.

Contact the Peterborough office 01733 345755 for further details of the Peterborough walk; call Eldred Willey on 01603 620051 for further details of the Norfolk and Suffolk walks, and call Jill Smith on 0121 200 2283 for further details of the Malverns Walk.

Regional_Central.indd 2 27/05/2011 16:20


AROUND NORTH ENGLAND

ALL OVER THE north of England supporters and staff walked, ran, sang, sold, cajoled, quizzed, ate and cycled their way through Christian Aid Week.

There are just too many achievements to mention them all but here are a few highlights: Christian Aid Week shops opened their doors for the week in Sedburgh and Wooler with people queuing up to get in and raised several thousand pounds. Volunteers collected and busked in stations and streets from Carlisle, Manchester and Newcastle to Leeds, Darlington, Sheffi eld and West Kirby. Plants were sold from Runcorn to Westerhope where the sale of books and plants raised more than £1,000. A coffee morning in Alsager raised £1,066 and quiz nights

in Lymm and Blyth were highly successful. The Yorkshire paper quiz was adopted by the North West and North East with nearly 1,000 quizzes sent in.

Meanwhile, thousands of volunteers walked thousands of miles knocking on doors to deliver and collect envelopes and some even went on sponsored walks as well, such as the annual Humber Bridge crossing. This year we had seven bishops and a Methodist chair being baristas in Fairtrade cafes across the North. Bishop Richard of Warrington even managed to combine it with supporting the three Christian Aid staff who cycled the Trans Pennine Trail in grim weather, raising more than £1,100. Congratulations and thank you.

Christian Aid Week 2011: take a bow, all of you!

Main picture: Bishop Mark Davies of Middleton shares a coffee with Ann Mummery outside Manchester Cathedral. Insets, from top: our Trans Pennine cyclists and Bishop Richard Blackburn of Warrington; collecting at Darlington station; barista John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds

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EVENTS IN NORTH ENGLAND


EVENTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND YOUTH GROUPSSATURDAY 25 JUNE One Summer Knight 6-10pm, Camelot Theme Park, Chorley, Lancashire. An inspirational evening of extreme fun and extreme challenge for young people and youth groups, co-sponsored by Christian Aid. Tickets £13, from urbansaints.org/onesummerknight

FRIDAY 8 JULY – SATURDAY 10 JULY Spree North at Bramhope, Leeds. An action-packed weekend, held in conjunction with Urban Saints and Warrington Youth for Christ, for young people and youth groups (aged 7-16). There is a programme for leaders too. For details, contact [email protected] or call 07740 432570. SPONSORED WALKSSATURDAY 2 JULY Sheffi eld Night HikeA 17-mile sponsored walk from Lodge Moor out in the Peak District and back again. To register, go to sheffi eldmidnighthike.org.uk; contact Alex Jones 01132444764; email [email protected]

SUNDAY 11 SEPTEMBERSponsored walk St John’s Church, Yeadon, Leeds. Distance is approx six miles. Contact Alison Lockwood on 0113 250 8469 or email [email protected]

SATURDAY 24 – SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER March for Justice Frodsham, Cheshire.A 34-mile sponsored walk along the Sandstone Trail, from Frodsham to Whitchurch, Shropshire. Overnight accommodation in Tarporley. For details, contact the Warrington offi ce on 01925 573769 or email [email protected]

SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER March for Justice 10am, Ripon. Two circular walks ending up at Holy Trinity. For details, contact the Leeds offi ce on 0113 244 4764 or email [email protected]

SATURDAY 8 OCTOBER Bede’s Way sponsored walk 10am-5pm, St Peter’s, Monkwearmouth.12-mile walk, supporting March for Justice, from St Peter’s, Monkwearmouth, to St Paul’s, Jarrow – plus a four-mile walk from Jarrow in the afternoon. Contact the Newcastle offi ce on 0191 228 0115 or email [email protected]

CHALLENGE EVENTSSUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER Great North RunNot only are places available through Christian Aid if you wish to run, but we are also looking for volunteers on the day. If you’d like to cheer or serve refreshments, please contact the Newcastle offi ce on 0191 228 0115 or email [email protected] To run, visit christianaid.org.uk/run

SOCIAL EVENTSSATURDAY 2 JULY Voices in Harmony 7pm, St James’ and St Basil’s Church, Fenham Hall Drive, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 9UU. Newcastle Male Chorus and the Gibside Singers present a varied and entertaining programme of choral music. Tickets £8. Contact the Newcastle offi ce on 0191 228 0115 or email [email protected]

SATURDAY 9 JULY Flanders and Swann concert 7.30pm, Allhallowgate Church, Ripon. Contact Michael Montgomery on 01765 605276 or email [email protected]

WEDNESDAY 13 JULY Annual coffee evening 7.30pm, Holy Cross Church Hall, Park Rd, Timperley, Manchester. Contact Doris Robinson on 0161 7407547.

SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER A Transport of Delight 7.30pm, St Andrew’s Community Hall, Bruntcliffe, Morley.An evening of the music of Flanders and Swann, with a little Gershwin thrown in. Contact Hazel Rennison on 0113 2535107 or email [email protected] SATURDAY 22 OCTOBERHarrogate Band concert 7.30pm, Holy Trinity Church, Ripon. Optional two-course meal at 6.30pm. For details, contact Michael Montgomery on 01765 605276 or email [email protected]

Poverty Over Cathedrals Tour THE POVERTY OVER TOUR is aimed at provoking debate about how Christians can best meet the demands of their faith by challenging poverty around the world. It features a stunning sculpture of enamel and steel by artist Mel Howse and as part of the tour, school visits, clergy study days and other events are being planned. Saturday 22 September – Wednesday 5 October, Manchester Cathedral, Victoria St M3 1SXThursday 6 – Saturday 26 October, St Nicholas Cathedral, Mosley Street, Newcastle NE1 1PFThursday 26 October – Wednesday 11 November, Wakefi eld Cathedral, Westmorland Street, Wakefi eld WF1 1PJ

The tour will visit Durham, Carlisle and Blackburn Cathedrals in February and March 2012. Contact your local offi ce for details

If you would like us to include your event in the next edition of Christian Aid News please contact your local offi ce

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AROUND SCOTLAND

IT WOULDN’T BE Christian Aid Week in Scotland without stumbling across a good opportunity to buy a few worthy reads and donate funds for the cause.

This year’s book sale at St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church in Edinburgh attracted attention once again with its wide range of unique books, art and collectables. Book lovers queued up round the block ahead of the opening.

Scots national poet Liz Lochhead, this year’s patron, was joined by other Scottish poets for the launch, and the Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh also stopped by with the Lady Provost to enjoy some of Walter Scott’s works.

Sale convenor Lady Mary Davidson and her team work tirelessly to ensure the sale’s smooth running, and this year offered more books than before, including exciting items such as a rare 19th-century photo album of Scottish pictures and one of the most important works in the history of medical science, a 1649 text by William Harvey entitled The Circulation of the Blood. The hard work and dedication of all involved resulted in what will be a significant sum to add to the £2m already raised since 1974, when the sale was first held.

Elsewhere in the city, it was also a good year at the Holy Corner Christian Aid Book Sale, which took on a new look in 2011, relocating to the sanctuary at Morningside United Church. A new feature was the advocacy area, where a Christian Aid democracy exhibition introduced passers-by to a range of current global issues between browsing.

On opening day there was a coffee morning offering refreshments from Nicaragua – a reminder of Christian Aid’s focus this year on the work of partner Soppexcca, and the week got off to a great start with the visit of Kathy Galloway, head of Christian Aid Scotland, who preached and sang at a joint service. The result to date? £10,118 from the sale of books – an increase of 24 per cent on last year. In Aberdeen too, the book sale at Queen’s Cross Church was a huge success, raising more than £20,000 – definitely the year of the book!

Christian Aid Week 2011: Scotland does it by the book!

Introducing… the moderator’s mocha!

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WITH BARISTA BISHOPS all the rage for Christian Aid Week, the team in Scotland had to come up with a suitably Scottish slant in demonstrating our support for coffee farmers in Nicaragua. And so the moderator’s mocha was born! Described by The Scotsman newspaper as the new coffee king in town (move over skinny latte!), and served up in cities across Scotland – Christian Aid was delighted to receive the support of the Moderator of the United Reformed Church, Rev John Humphreys, and the outgoing Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Rev

John Christie (pictured below). The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Most Rev David Chillingworth, also joined us in Perth as our very own barista bishop.

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EVENTS IN SCOTLAND


SATURDAY 18 JUNECumbrae Challenge sponsored walk10am, Cumbrae Slipway, Isle of Cumbrae. Choose from three routes of varying lengths, with stunning views around the island. To register, contact Amy Corcoran on 0141 241 6138, or visit christianaid.org.uk/walks MONDAY 20 JUNEChristian Aid Contextual Bible Study7pm, Lansdowne Parish Church, 416 Great Western Road, Glasgow G4 9HZ.For details, contact Wendy Young

on 0141 241 6137, or email [email protected]

FRIDAY 24 JUNE – SUNDAY 26 JUNESolas FestivalChristian Aid is again delighted to partner with Scotland’s newest celebration of music, film, literature, theatre and art.For details, contact Wendy Young (as above) or visit the Solas website: solasfestival.co.uk

SEPTEMBER Autumn Roadshows – dates for your diary The team goes around the

country working with local churches and committees to run roadshows, as well as to facilitate events for churches thinking about working together for Christian Aid. If you would like the team to visit you, get in touch with Val Brown using the contact details below.Saturday 3 September10am-12.30pm, Kilmarnock.Tuesday 6 September7-9pm, Fraserburgh.Friday 9 September7.30-9.30pm, Cupar. For more information, contact Val Brown on 0141 241 6134, or email [email protected]

A fresh opportunity to be heard!SINCE THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT elections in May, Christian Aid has been working hard to ensure that the issues of global poverty and climate change remain on the political agenda.

Even before the new MSPs were sworn in, Kathy Galloway, head of Christian Aid Scotland, was lobbying at the parliament in Edinburgh alongside other voluntary organisations as part of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition. We are keen to ensure that our new parliamentarians act on commitments made before the election and we will use any opportunity to remind them that they have a responsibility to tackle both the symptoms and causes of global poverty – especially in relation to climate change and tax justice.

We are grateful for the role that so many of our supporters played during the campaign. Many people contacted their candidates through letters, emails, hustings events and climate cafés. Some even logged on to the very first online debate that Stop Climate Chaos coordinated. Now that the elections are over, it is as important as ever that our voice is heard. If you would be interested in inviting your MSP to meet you, whether they are new or have represented you for a while, then get in touch with Diane Green, our campaigns officer, on 0141 241 6136.

Fighting poverty step by stepA BIG THANK YOU to all who turned up in the wind, the rain and even sunshine to take part in this year’s annual sponsored walks across the Tay, Erskine and Forth bridges (pictured below).

Fantastic spirits were maintained throughout by our wonderful walkers, who attended with dogs, prams, and some in brilliant fancy dress.

Thank you to the team of volunteers who helped make the day possible and for encouraging the walkers throughout the day. We couldn’t do it without you!

SHARE YOUR SUCCESSWe recognise that many of

our supporters raise funds through book sales, and would encourage

you to share your success with the team in Scotland. We may be able to

help you with media, posters or advice, and it would be great to spread the

word on our website and through our publications. Thank you to everyone who helps with these book sales,

and other similar events across the country.

National poet Liz Lochhead (centre) at this year’s Edinburgh book sale

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AROUND SOUTH AND WEST

Join the March for JusticeIN OCTOBER 2012, 100,000 people from across India will march for just over a month, to Delhi, to take part in one of the country’s biggest ever non-violent protests to demand land rights for the landless poor.

The march is being organised by Christian Aid partner Ekta Parishad, which says that land reform would mean that 400 million poor people in India would be able to feed themselves.

This October, 1,000 people in Kerala will kick off the first in a series of marches and rallies in 25 states across India in preparation for the 2012 March for Justice. Here in the UK, we want to stand in solidarity with the marchers, so Christian Aid is organising a series of March for Justice sponsored walks.

The route of our Severn Way Walk on Saturday 1 October will be 13 miles and stretches along the beautiful River Severn, between Tewkesbury Abbey and Gloucester Cathedral. Refreshment breaks will be hosted by churches along the route.

Watch out for news of another possible walk nearer the south coast – details later from our Southampton office.

You can register online at christianaid.org.uk/walks or call your Christian Aid office.

Walkers on the 2007 Janadesh march in India

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FROM ITS LAUNCH BY the ‘barista bishops’ in Gloucester and Swindon through to the presentation ceremony of the People of Exmouth awards, Christian Aid Week in the south and west was filled with a fantastic line-up of events and collections.

This year the focus was on Nicaraguan coffee producers and the Bishops of Swindon and Gloucester gained a lot of publicity by learning to be baristas in local coffee shops. The Bishop of Gloucester was also joined by two visiting Indian bishops who served Fairtrade tea to customers.

Ashleworth Manor opened its beautiful gardens and held a plant sale that raised more than £1,500. Shops sprung up in church halls across the region and, together with cake, plant and other sales, raised thousands of pounds. Wimborne staged a football match between Christian Aid and Clergy United and Bournemouth-based Hope FM played ‘The BigMixUp’. Churches in Purton and West Coker held breakfasts before their services.

Supporters in Southampton met John Denham MP, the shadow business secretary, to lobby him about Christian Aid’s tax campaign. Meanwhile, phone calls with donations from all over the country were taken by our special team at Valldata in Melksham.

Music to our earsThe list of events was bewildering, including curry nights, car washing, fashion shows, walks, cycle rides, bell tower tours, choral concerts and even a Mamma Mia! singalong evening! Meanwhile, Christian Aid staff and

volunteers raised more than £800 collecting at Bristol’s Temple Meads rail station. Buskers were to the fore with Charles Birch playing his homemade fiddle in Somerset and Daphne Tomlinson and Angelika Roth playing harp and flute in Gloucestershire.

Saturday 21 May saw the 44th annual sponsored walk at Newton Abbot Racecourse. Walkers of all ages took to the racecourse to walk up to eight laps in memory of Sydney Williams, who had organised and participated in the walk for an incredible 42 years, before sadly passing away last year. Local talent from Coombeshead College and Kingscare Chorus provided live music throughout the day. From the recently elected Mayors of Newton Abbot and Kingsteignton, to the long-standing supporters of Christian Aid who have been taking part in the walk since its inception, all enjoyed a special occasion.

Heroes and tomatoesThe week came to a close with the presentation of the first People of Exmouth awards to some unsung local heroes who were recognised for their work to improve the life of their community, with the proceeds of the evening going to Christian Aid.

And finally, Sheelagh Wurr, our organiser in Warminster, took a primary school assembly during the week. She picked up a Christian Aid envelope and asked, ‘What is small and red and can help people?’ One little boy gazed at it and then said, ‘A cherry tomato?’! Our grateful thanks go to all of you who have been part of such a wonderful effort again this year.

WHAT A WEEK THAT WAS!

Bishop of Gloucester, Rt Rev Michael Perham was joined by the Bishop of Karnataka Central and the Bishop of

Dornakal to serve Fairtrade coffee and tea at Gloucester Cathedral coffee shop and launch Christian Aid Week

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AROUND SOUTH AND WEST


EVENTS IN SOUTH AND WEST

WEDNESDAY 15 JUNEEcclesiastical Insurance sponsored abseilSt Barnabas Church, Stroud Road, Gloucester.Ecclesiastical Insurance staff and Christian Aid supporters will abseil 100ft down the church tower. Funds raised by the staff will be matched by the company. Take on the challenge for just £15 registration fee and a minimum of £30 sponsorship. For details, contact Helen Burgess on 01395 222304 or visit christianaid.ork.uk/abseil

MONDAY 20 JUNEExmouth Christian Aid Quiz8pm, The Clipper, The Strand, Exmouth.Quiz evening organised by Churches Together in Exmouth.For details, contact [email protected] or tel 02380 706969.

SATURDAY 25 JUNEStrawberry Cream Tea3-4.30pm, Methodist Church, Scalwell Lane, Seaton. £2.50 for a cream tea featuring

real strawberries. For details, contact [email protected] or tel 02380 706969.

SUNDAY 26 JUNEThank-you picnic1.30-3.30pm, Truro Cathedral Gardens, St Mary’s Street, Truro.Free event, bring a picnic.For details, contact [email protected] or tel 02380 706969.

MONDAY 27 JUNEThank-you tea in the Palace Gardens10am or 2pm, Bishop’s Palace, Exeter Cathedral, The Cloisters, Exeter. Booking essential.For details, contact [email protected] or tel 02380 706969.

THURSDAY 30 JUNELaunch of Christian Aid Poverty Over Exhibition7.30pm, Cathedral House, Anglican Cathedral, St Thomas’s Street, Portsmouth.Exhibition featuring specially commissioned sculpture by Mel Howse. Drop in anytime

until 14 July. For details, contact [email protected] or tel 02380 706969.

9-18 AUGUSTSoul Survivor Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet.We need volunteers to help staff the Christian Aid stand at both weeks of this popular Christian youth festival.For details, contact Bianca Parry on 020 7523 2209, or email [email protected]

THURSDAY 22 SEPTEMBERGlobal Forecast12.30pm (tbc), The Meteorological Office, FitzRoy Road, Exeter.Free ticketed event. For details, contact [email protected] or tel 02380 706969.

SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBERFaith to Make a World of Difference conference10am-4pm, Albemarle Centre, Albemarle Road, Taunton.Day conference on the

Millennium Development Goals organised by the World Mission Group of Bath and Wells Diocese. Speakers: Suzanne Matale (Christian Aid partner Council of Churches in Zambia), Very Rev Charley Thomas (Dean of Lusaka Cathedral), Rev Rachel Carnegie (Archbishop of Canterbury’s Secretary for International Development). Worship: Liz Baddaley. Admission free, but please register in advance.For details, contact Elizabeth Perry on 01935 850326, or email [email protected]

SATURDAY 1 OCTOBERMarch for Justice – Severn Way Walk9am-6pm, Tewkesbury Abbey to Gloucester Cathedral via The Severn Way. Sponsored walk to raise money and awareness for Christian Aid partner Ekta Parishad’s work with landless people in India. See story opposite.For more details, tel: 01454 415923 or visit christianaid.org.uk/walks

YOUR LOCAL OFFICEBRISTOL OFFICE (Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire)57 High Street, Thornbury, Bristol BS35 2AP.01454 415 [email protected]/ChristianAidWest

SOUTHAMPTON OFFICE(Channel Isles, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight)106 Shirley High Street, Southampton SO16 4FB.02380 [email protected]

Luke’s been living below the lineLUKE HARMAN, our student and youth coordinator based in Bristol, recently challenged himself to live on £1 a day for a week as part of our Live Below the Line initiative run in conjunction with the Global Poverty Project.

Luke’s £1 a day had to cover all of his food: he was unable to accept gifts, or use anything already in his cupboard! Globally, 1.4 billion people live in extreme poverty and that £1 a day must cover all their living expenses.

‘The challenge was a really great way to open up discussions with people about the issues of poverty,’ said Luke, who was able to raise awareness in our region through local radio interviews. ‘Even in a week you can begin to see how your health could suffer from a lack of proper nutrition and variety. I take my ability to eat what I choose absolutely for granted and this week made me experience

what it’s like to not have that luxury.‘But poverty is also about lack of opportunity

and lack of power to change your own circumstances and it’s important for me to remember that my week of living below the line only scratched the surface of what it is like for some people in this world every day.’See also The Last Word, page 30.

Luke with his weekly shop

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AROUND THE SOUTH EASTRegional news and events in Beds, Berks, Bucks, Herts and Oxon

SATURDAY 18 JUNE Voice in concert for Christian Aid7.30pm, Church of Blessed Hugh, Faringdon.The young a cappella trio, Voice, return with a programme including a new work by Marcus Davidson entitled The Ziggurat Builders – a collaboration with oud player Khayam Allami and cellist Tara Franks. Tickets: £10/£8 (concessions) – all profi ts to Christian Aid. Contact Julia Burn on 01367 240670 or email [email protected]

THURSDAY 30 JUNE The Mikado 7.30pm, Witney Congregational Church. A performance, in costume, of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado by Kennington Church choirs. Free entry, with collection for Christian Aid.Contact Pip Cartwright on 01993 703717 or [email protected]

WEDNESDAY 6 JULY 2011Supporting political prisoners7-9.30pm, Friends Meeting House, St Giles, Oxford.Hear from Addameer, a partner working with Palestinian political prisoners in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Contact Amy Merone on 01865 246818 or email [email protected]

SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER – SATURDAY 17 SEPTEMBER Poverty Over Cathedral TourSt Albans Abbey, Herts.A spectacular new work of art about global poverty, along with a photographic exhibition of Christian Aid’s work. Open all week. Contact Abi Knowles on 01865 246818 or email [email protected]

EVENTSJoin the March for Justice

Find out more Would your church or Christian Aid committee be interested in fi nding out more about the work of Christian Aid partner organisations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory? If so, Amy Merone has recently returned from a visit to the region, and would be happy to speak to your congregation or committee. Contact Amy on 01865 246818 or email [email protected]

THANK YOU!We’ve had lots of great reports of everything you have been getting up to in Christian Aid Week, from plant sales to coffee mornings and more besides, of course not forgetting the all-important house-to-house collections. Hundreds of you have taken part in Walk the Country and the Christian Aid Walk. Thank you for all your efforts; the money you raise makes a real difference to the work of our partners. We’re hosting a series of thank-you cream teas and evaluation sessions on the dates below, and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. The teas will be from 5-6pm and the feedback sessions from 4-5pm and 6-7pm.23 June – Quaker Meeting House, Oxford29 June – The Well at Willen, Milton Keynes7 July – Tyndale Baptist Church, ReadingFor more details, contact [email protected]

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s IN OCTOBER 2012, 100,000 people from across India will march for just over a month to Delhi, to take part in one of the country’s biggest ever protests to demand land rights for the landless poor.

The march is being organised by Christian Aid partner Ekta Parishad, which says that land reform would mean that 400 million poor people in India would be able to feed themselves, instead of being dependent on welfare handouts or charity.

This October, at least 1,000 people in Kerala will kick off the fi rst in a series of marches and rallies that will take place in 25 states across India in preparation for the 2012 March for Justice. Here in the UK, we want to stand in solidarity with the marchers and raise money for our partners’ work, so we are organising our own March for Justice sponsored walks.

On Saturday 8 October we will be walking from Abingdon to Oxford along the Thames Path (about nine miles). The walk will fi nish at Wesley Memorial Church with a curry evening and an opportunity to hear more about our partners’ work in India and the March for Justice. We would like as many people to join us as possible. For more details, contact Amy at the Oxford offi ce on 01865 246818 or email [email protected]

Barista for a day, Rt Rev John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford, said: ‘The story of the coffee farmers in Nicaragua shows how our actions can help to support thousands of people

around the world to work their way out of poverty’

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Regional news and events in London, Essex, Surrey, Kent and Sussex

WEDNESDAY 15 JUNEChristian Aid Week thank-you and evaluationFrom 3.30pm, Inter-Church House, 35-41 Lower Marsh, London, SE1 7RL.If you’ve been involved in Christian Aid Week, we’d like to say ‘thank you’ and hear what you thought about the resources. There will be two separate evaluation meetings with tea, cake and an opportunity to meet other Christian Aid supporters and staff. It’s not too late to let us know you’re coming! 3.30-5pm for first evaluation.5-6pm for thank-you tea.6-7.30pm for second evaluation.

THURSDAY 30 JUNESurrey Christian Aid Week thank-you7.30pm, Cranleigh Band Rooms, Village Way, Cranleigh.Do you live in Surrey? Were you involved in Christian Aid Week? Come and join the Cranleigh Christian Aid Week group and others for a meal and an after-dinner talk about the work of Christian Aid in Cambodia. For

catering purposes, please let us know if you are coming.

THURSDAY 14 JULY – TUESDAY 26 JULYChristian Aid Poverty Over ExhibitionChichester Cathedral. The touring exhibition includes a stunning new sculpture by renowned British artist Mel Howse and a wonderful photo exhibition featuring the work of Christian Aid partners.

SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBERRichmond Park sponsored walk10.30am, Cambrian Centre, 1 Grove Road, Richmond TW10 6SN.Enjoy the beautiful autumnal surroundings of Richmond Park on this 3.5- or 6.5-mile walk, which starts with coffee and croissants! Please register in advance to receive your sponsorship pack. Call 020 7523 2321 or visit christianaid.org.uk/walks

SATURDAY 1 OCTOBERMarch for JusticeA 12-mile sponsored walk for

church leaders through beautiful Hyde Park, along the Regent’s Canal and finishing in Victoria Park. For background, see story opposite.

SUNDAY 9 OCTOBERRoyal Parks Half MarathonPut yourself up for the challenge and join Team Poverty in London’s most picturesque half marathon. Starting and finishing in Hyde Park, this 13.1-mile course will take you through four of London’s Royal Parks past Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Registration is £35, minimum sponsorship £300. See christianaid.org.uk/runs

To register or find out more about any of these events call us in the London and south east Office – 020 7523 2321 for London and Surrey, 020 7523 2105 for Essex, Kent and Sussex.

Christian Aid’s London and south east Team are available to come and speak or preach at services, church meetings, fundraisers or other events.

EVENTS

ANOTHER CHRISTIAN AID WEEK has come and gone, and with it a whole host of diverse and successful fundraising events, kicked off with our Barista Bishop launch (see page 4).

Starting off on a good foot were sponsored walks over a range of distances, from the hundreds of people taking part on the 5.5-mile Circle the City walk, (featuring the pearly King and Queen of Bow Bells), to gorgeous countryside treks in Alfriston and Meopham, and fantastically physical supporters in Bexley, who walked 100 miles to mark the week.

Stepping out in style were Churches Together in Ruislip, who raised well over £3,000 from a sale of ladies’ fashions.

No one could have said a bad word about

the very successful silent auction organised by the Great Sampford committee, where a tasty ploughman’s supper accompanied an evening of great lots. At the opposite end of the speaking spectrum, Mervyn Roberts, a vicar in Godalming, was sponsored to read aloud the whole of the Bible!

Of course, across the region hundreds of similar events were taking place, as well as the vitally important house-to-house collection. Thank you to all of you who took part! The ingenuity and generosity of your fundraising is testament to the fact that Christian Aid supporters never stop thinking of new ways to combat poverty. Spurred on by your commitment and passion, neither will we!

CHRISTIAN AID WEEK 2011

LONG TO SEE AN END to extreme global poverty? Feeling inspired to challenge injustice, but not sure how?

At Christian Aid we know the value of campaigning and the real difference it can make to those living in poverty. Challenging the structures and systems that keep people poor is the only way to get rid of extreme poverty for good.

From sending text messages and signing campaign postcards to going on marches and lobbying MPs, there are many creative ways to voice your support for our campaigns and we’d love to tell you about them!

Are you part of a church or group interested in campaigning? We can come and share with you the background to the tax and climate campaigns, stories from our partners, what we’re calling for and how you can get your community involved.

For more details, please contact Jo Marshall on 020 7523 2120 or email [email protected]

Campaigning: a call to act justly

Rev Mervyn Roberts on his sponsored

Bible-reading

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AROUND WALES

A REPLICA OF A SLUM dweller’s home in Matopeni, Kenya – featured in Christian Aid Week 2010 – proved to be a popular attraction on the Christian Aid stand at some of Wales’s summer events last year. So much so, that as part of Celebrating RE month in March this year, it was decided to rebuild Jeremiah Muli’s house in the vestry of Capel Heol Awst in Carmarthen, with local schools invited to participate in activities designed to teach them about life in Matopeni and the work of Christian Aid.

After watching two short films in which Jeremiah talks about the challenges of daily life in Matopeni, the pupils were given a tour of the home, gaining an idea of what it would be like to live there. They were asked to consider what they thought Christian Aid should do to help, before discovering what we are doing there today.

In all, 525 children from 20 schools took part and teachers were full of praise: ‘The experience was an excellent opportunity for the children to see the films come to life and really appreciate the severity of the problems,’ said one.

Jeremiah’s House…in west Wales!

WITH COFFEE BEING the focus of the 2011 Christian Aid Week, it’s no surprise that the

coffee morning was much in evidence this year. Shoppers and church stalwarts called in for a cuppa in Tabernacle Church, Cardiff city centre. St David’s committee in Pembrokeshire combined their coffee morning with a stall on the square, and the Radyr committee invited people to a coffee morning to drop off their little red envelopes.

A new twist on the coffee morning was Bishops as Baristas, with three Welsh bishops taking part. Following a quick demonstration by the staff of the Rainbow Centre cafe in Chepstow, Bishop Dominic of Monmouth proved that he could whip up a mean mocha! His message to customers was, ‘Christian Aid Week is a wonderful opportunity for Christians and people of goodwill to offer hope for those in greatest need. Please be generous.’

As an alternative, Caerleon committee arranged a tea party in the town hall with entertainment by local schoolchildren. The people of Pontypool enjoyed a bowl of delicious homemade soup, and light lunches

were on the menu at the Llanelwy Christian Fellowship in north Wales.

Sponsored walks were also popular, with two west Wales committees making their walks a lesson in local history. Cynwyl Elfed supporters followed some traditional pathways and Llandysul walkers stopped at sites of local interest. Brecon walkers had plenty of time to admire the scenery around Llangorse Lake and from the top of Yr Allt!

Supporter David Collins organised a fun Mastermind Quiz in a Cardiff pub, with the winner specialising in the Back to the Future films, and Rev Paul Harris of Neath held a sponsored scripture readathon.

Christian Aid benefited from the Mayor’s Sunday Service collection in Carmarthen, thanks to Tom Defis, staff member and incoming mayor, and guest speaker at the Porthcawl service was Steve Dubé, a reporter with the Western Mail, who travelled to Nicaragua last year with Christian Aid.

Finally, along with other committees, Llangattock/Llangynidr find it increasingly difficult to keep up the traditional house-to-house collection. This year, therefore, they will hold three big fundraising events in June – a car-boot sale, quiz night and a garden party.

A TASTE OF CHRISTIAN AID WEEK IN WALES!

Bishop Dominic of Monmouth turns barista for a day. Inset: our Mastermind winner, Dan Collins

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WEDNESDAY 22 JUNECardiff Christian Aid Organisers and Supporters Meeting7pm, City URC Church, Windsor Place, Cardiff.Share your views of Christian Aid Week 2011 events, resources and collections in Cardiff.Please contact Robin Samuel on 029 2084 4646 for further details.

MERCHER 22 MEHEFINCyfarfod Trefnyddion a Chefnogwyr Cymorth Cristnogol CaerdyddCapel City URC, Windsor Place, Caerdydd am 7yhDewch i rannu’ch profiadau o Wythnos Cymorth Cristnogol 2011 - yr adnoddau, y casglu a’r digwyddiadau yng Nghaerdydd.Mwy o fanylion gan Robin Samuel ar 029 2084 4646.

MONDAY 4 – SATURDAY 9 JULYLlangollen International Music EisteddfodSt John’s Church, Llangollen. Christian Aid will be supporting Denbighshire Fairtrade group on their stand during the week.Full details and volunteering opportunities from Anna Jane Evans on 01248 353574.

SUNDAY 10 JULYSongs of Praise6pm at Bridgend United Church, Tondu Road, Bridgend.Take some popular hymns; a four-part harmony; a desire to praise God; a passion for justice, a collection for Christian Aid and you have a recipe for an evening of enjoyment and inspiration. Details from Rev Valerie Davies on 01656 654120.

FRIDAY 15 – SUNDAY 17 JULY Art for AfricaFriday: 6-9pm; Saturday and Sunday: 10am-6pm,Bridges Community Centre, Drybridge Park, Monmouth NP25 5AS.This annual art sale for Christian Aid is moving to Monmouth Town Centre, and will be raising funds to support food and water projects run by Christian Aid partners in Sierra Leone.For details, contact 01600 715 638 or 01600 860 264.

MONDAY 18 – THURSDAY 21 JULYRoyal Welsh Agricultural ShowRWAS Showground, Builth Wells, Powys.

Christian Aid will be at the Churches Together stand. Come along for a chat and if you would like to volunteer to spend some time on our stall, please contact our Carmarthen office on 01267 237257.

FRIDAY 9 SEPTEMBER Local Talent Evening7pm at Tabernacle Chapel, Derwen Road, Bridgend.Songs, sketches and musical items performed by members of the town’s churches in support of the work of Christian Aid. Details from Dr Peter Speakman on 01656 776973.

SADWRN 3 GORFFENNAF – SADWRN 6 AWSTEisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru, Wrecsam a’r FroMaes yr Eisteddfod, Wrecsam.Fe fydd staff Cymorth Cristnogol Cymru ar ein stondin ar Faes yr Eisteddfod ar hyd yr Wythnos. Galwch heibio am sgwrs; i weld ein harddangosfa; casglu adnoddau a phrynu nwyddau Masnach Deg. Os oes gennych ddiddordeb mewn gwirfoddoli yn ystod yr wythnos, cysylltwch â’n Swyddfa

ym Mangor ar 01248 353574.

MAWRTH 9 – MERCHER 10 AWSTSioe Môn, Maes y Sioe, Gwalchmai, Ynys MônEleni eto fe fydd Cymorth Cristnogol yn cefnogi’r grwp Masnach Deg lleol ar ei stondin yn y sioe boblogaidd hon i’r teulu cyfan.Am fwy o fanylion a chyfleoedd gwirfoddoli cysylltwch ag Anna Jane Evans ar 01248 353574.

SATURDAY 1 OCTOBERBearing Witness – Act and Pray for Climate Justice12 noon-7.30pm, Manchester.A day of workshops, service and vigil during the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester. See Campaigns, page 14.For details of transport from north Wales, contact 01248 353574.

EVENTS IN WALES – DIGWYDDIADAU YNG NGHYMRU

EICH SWYDDFA LEOL – YOUR LOCAL OFFICE

BANGOR (Gogledd Cymru/North Wales)106 Stryd Fawr, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 1NS. Tel/Ffôn: 01248 [email protected]

CAERFYRDDIN/CARMARTHEN (De Orllewin a’r Canolbarth/South West and Mid)75 Heol Dwr, Caerfyrddin/Carmarthen SA31 1PY. Tel/Ffôn: 01267 [email protected]

CAERDYDD/CARDIFF (Cenedlaethol/National Office)5 Station Road, Radyr, Caerdydd/Cardiff CF15 8AA. Tel/Ffôn: 029 2084 [email protected]

THIS PAINTING, ENTITLED Red Dancer, is one of a series of artworks created by Welsh Platform2 returnee Eifion Sven Myer.

They were recently featured in Christian Aid Wales’s I Am the Change exhibition at Y Ganolfan, the base of Arad Goch Theatre Company, in Aberystwyth.

Eifion is studying for his BA in animation at the University of the Creative Arts, Fareham, Surrey, and his artwork was inspired by the 10 weeks he spent with an environmental project in Kenya, which aims to preserve forest areas threatened by degradation. Many of his paintings highlight issues such as community and westernisation.

‘My experiences provoked a number of mind-set changes in my life, including a real interest in how humans live within the natural environment, especially alongside animals. It was scary but quite exciting to share these experiences with the people of Aber!’

Christian Aid has been working with Platform2 returnees encouraging them to use their skills, talents and creativity to translate the development issues they witnessed into a voice for change. As well as art exhibitions, there have been films, poverty monologues, a CD of original songs and spoken word, and a book of poetry and photographs.

If you would like more information about Eifion and his work, or are interested in hosting an exhibition of the paintings, please contact Mari McNeill on 029 2084 4646 or email [email protected]

Eifion’s art of change

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

CUSTARD IN TEA, reheated cheese on toast and cream cheese in porridge – you might find these unappetising and you would be right, but when you are living on £1 a day it’s the sort of thing you resort to.

I was living below the line – and I was desperate! This new fundraising initiative (see box) challenged supporters to spend just £1 a day for five days on all their food and drink. Inspired by the challenge, I and three other members of Christian Aid’s PR team decided to take part. We made it through the five days, but our ‘diet’ took a surprising toll on our wellbeing and normal sunny moods.

It had seemed so simple during the run-up. We all became obsessed with what we were going to eat, comparing different supermarket prices and inventive menus to get us through the week. Foraging for wild berries was allowed, but difficult to do when you’re living in London and I couldn’t bring myself to go foraging in the bins behind supermarkets. The rules also meant we could not accept gifts – even a well-meant cup of tea would have disqualified us, if the tea bag and milk had not been bought as part of our rations.

The main shopping item for me was to be a kilo of frozen vegetables for 65p, but, unfortunately, I was unable to find it in the shop. This was a blow to my plan and I definitely missed vegetables in my diet. After doing my ‘weekly shop’ with £5 in hand, thankfully I had £1.22 left over to spend on extras, which ended up being carrots, celeriac and more bananas. I felt elated when I found a chunk of ginger on a market stall for just 3p, but grumpy when I had to do without salt. One of my colleagues had a few pennies left over, too, but her craving

‘We were eating for the sake of nourishment and all enjoyment was gone’


In May, Christian Aid’s media support officer, Melanie Marks, joined colleagues and supporters in a new fundraising challenge – Live Below the Line. It wasn’t plain sailing, but it was pretty plain food

was sugar and so she went for a bumper pack of ‘value’ Rich Tea biscuits. Her mood completely changed once she had them to munch on and I think they really got her through her five days.

I was really surprised by how difficult I found the challenge. Food is one of my passions and I promised myself that I would still make my ‘meals’ interesting. The staple foods of my diet were mainly carbohydrates and I realised that ‘interesting’ just didn’t apply. At work we were eating for the sake of nourishment and all enjoyment was gone. I felt tired, moody and bloated.

I work in the world of development, but taking part in this fundraiser really made me think about the millions of people around the world who are malnourished and what a luxury it is for us to be able to enjoy food.

I really felt inspired by this fundraiser as food is part of my day-to-day life. And although the challenge affected me physically and mentally, it was nothing compared to what people go through around the world. Between the four of

us, we raised £1,134 while, overall, Christian Aid supporters raised more than £26,000. I am proud to have been part of it and happy that the money will be going towards helping people who live below the line for a lot longer than five days.

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LIVE BELOW THE LINE

new campaign run by the Global Poverty Project and fronted by actor Hugh Jackman. Its aim was to recruit people across the UK to take up the challenge of spending just £5 in five days on all their food and drink. Globally, 1.4 billion people live below the poverty line, surviving on just £1 a day to cover all their living expenses. Christian Aid joined forces with The Global Poverty Project to raise money towards our work to end poverty in the developing world. Nearly 250 Christian Aid supporters and staff took part, raising more than £26,000. To find out more visit livebelowtheline.org.uk/christianaid

Melanie with her Live Below the Line breakfast of porridge

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PartnershipScheme

MAKE YOUR MONEY GO FURTHER IN THE FIGHT TO END POVERTY

To find out more about the Partnership Scheme and how you can help bring change to Africa, call Max Khanna on 020 8123 7523 or visit christianaid.org.uk/partnerships

You can help fight poverty in Africa by becoming part of Christian Aid’s Partnership Scheme.

If your church, business or school joins the Scheme and raises at least £5,000 in the next two years, we can match your giving with grants from the European Commission. For every pound you give, at least another £3 goes to a specific project, which hugely increases the impact of your donation.

The people of Sierra Leone are struggling to recover from the effects of a civil war that ended a decade ago. Now, with Christian Aid’s help, they are increasing their harvests, improving their water supplies and strengthening their health services. The result? Less hunger, less poverty and healthier children.

Photo: Ibrahim Tucker (in foreground) is a rice farmer and public relations officer for his local village development committee. Christian Aid partner the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone is encouraging such committees as a means to help communities have more say in decisions by local authorities

UK registered charity number 1105851 Company number 5171525 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 2011

HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE A LIFE?

And when you rememberyour loved one with a gift in memory to Christian Aid you’ll also help change the lives of people in poor communities.

Celebrate a Life gives youthe special opportunity tochoose which area of workyour gift will support – our education, water, or disaster-preparedness projects. Or you could simply allow us to use

A gift in memory is one of the most thoughtful gifts you will ever give. It’s your chance to look back on a

Yes, please send me more information on how to Celebrate a Life

Title Forename Surname

Home address

Postcode

Telephone (where we can contact you)

Email (where we can email you)

Please complete if you are happy to be contacted about Christian Aid’s work.Please fi ll in your details above and return this form to: FREEPOST, Colin Kemp, In Memory Giving team, Christian Aid, London SE1 7YY

A012186

For more information on how to makeyour gift, call Colin Kemp on 020 7523 2173,email [email protected] or fi ll in and return the form.

your gift wherever it is most urgently needed.

For example, your gift could help give a child like Jonathan, in Nicaragua, the chance to get a better education and work their way out of poverty.

But no matter what you choose, you can be certain that your gift will mean your loved one, and their memory, touch many more lives around the world.

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Help people in poverty out of poverty

Back cover

UK registered charity number 1105851 Company number 5171525 The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid; Poverty Over is a trademark of Christian Aid. © Christian Aid 2011 Printed on 100 per cent recycled paper

BY JOINING A DAY OF WORKSHOPS, SERVICE AND VIGIL IN MANCHESTER ON SATURDAY 1 OCTOBER

ACT AND PRAY FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

BEARING WITNESS

Be a climate witnessListen to accounts from our overseas partners, who are living on the frontline of a changing climate.Speak out for strong government action, challenging injustice and being a voice for the voiceless. Pray in solidarity with our global neighbours for a fairer future for all.

Register your interest in this event at:

christianaid.org.uk/bearingwitness or call us on 020 7523 2264. For more information, email [email protected]

Project name FP Ad for CAN 52 Job number 12-303-PItem name Campaign climate justice ad Proof stage 2Client Neale Jones Proof date 27/5/11Client team Campaigns Feedback due 27/5/11

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