oxfam australia 2012 report
DESCRIPTION
Together, we picture a world free from poverty — where people are valued and treated equally, have a say in decisions that affect their lives, and enjoy their basic human rights and needs.TRANSCRIPT
THANK YOU!Thanks to your generosity, our work has reached more than 7 million people in 39 countries this year. You are helping to transform lives and create a brighter, more hopeful future. So from us to you:
7.02mlives you are
helPing to changeFront page photo: Lara McKinLey/oxFaMaUS
YOUR annUal RePORT
THANK YOU!Thanks to your generosity, our work has reached more than 7 million people in 39 countries this year. You are helping to transform lives and create a brighter, more hopeful future. So from us to you:
905,307of you suPPort
what we do
7.02mlives you are
helPing to change
$49.3mmillion donated by
you for our Programs
Together, we picture a world free from poverty — where people are valued and treated equally, have a say in decisions that affect their lives, and enjoy their basic human rights and needs.
Your generosity enables us to work with partners and communities on simple, smart solutions to tough humanitarian problems — solutions that help people take control, become self-reliant and create positive, lasting change in their lives.
So take a moment to celebrate all that you’ve achieved — the families you’ve touched, the lives you’ve changed and the difference you’ve made. Thank you so much!
GiVe
DOnaTiOn HOTline:
1800 088 110
694staff
Together, we are a global movement for change.
7.02mProgram
reciPients
355,247oxfam shoP customers
199,455donors
155,429camPaign activists
250Program and
shoP Partners
185,000young PeoPle
6,592oxfam trailwalkers
3,334volunteers
305action Partners
48oxfam grouPs
7state committees
liKe us On FaCeBOOK
eMail Us
FOllOW us On TWiTTeR
VisiT Us
BUY TaKe aCTiOn
$4.41mreceived from you to tackle the east africa food crisis
2.25mPeoPle received clean water, food, cash and livelihoods suPPort
Thanks to you:
photo: Kieran Doherty/oxFaM
“When I want to fetch water for my family it takes one and a half hours to get there. This water won’t come home by itself. It’s me who has to go and fetch it. Water from the scoop holes holds faeces, then we get diseases from those scoop holes.Some children from the neighbourhood became ill. One child lost their life.
“When I saw the Oxfam team arriving to drill for water, I felt very happy … We were all very happy when we saw the water spurting out.
“In our Turkana culture, we create songs for the biggest events. Today we have water so we made a song for the water: ‘Oxfam is good for coming; for coming to drill water. They have drilled us clean water’.
“The goodness of the borehole is that it provides clean water. It will bring hygiene at home. It will bring good health and will help the school children to bathe quickly and go to school. It will reduce the diarrhoea diseases in households. It will help the goat not to catch any diseases.
“When there is no water, there is no life. Water is life.”
Helen eWOTOn, NAWOYATIR, KENYA
Ken nseleBU, NZODZA, MALAWI
“since the floods in 2001 and before this irrigation scheme, i never harvested anything. the sad part is that i could not afford to send my children to school because i had nothing … there were times that hunger would force us to cook and feed on grass.
“[oxfam] came in and assisted us to establish this irrigation scheme. i joined the scheme in 2008 and have since been relying on it for food and cash crops because with climate change, the rains are unpredictable.
“i don’t only grow maize, but also other crops like pepper, eggplants and tomatoes. last year (2011) i decided to grow cucumbers, besides maize, for food and cash. i started selling them during the last week of november and i make over mk7,000 (aud $20) every week.
“since joining the scheme, my four children are now in school … i cannot see my family ever going hungry again because we have plenty and i can buy any type of food at any time. this scheme and especially crop diversification has changed my life so much and the lives of many in this area.”
photo: MaUreen Bathgate/oxFaMaUS
1,823farmers in malawi
benefitted from new croP irrigation
94kgincrease in harvests
was achieved on average
Thanks to you:
BROOKe, WARRANDYTE PRIMARY SCHOOL,VICTORIA
“we looked up poverty and ... we found out ... around 700 people actually die from poverty in an hour and that really moved us. so that’s when we got onto the [oxfam] website and we decided we needed to do something about it.
“once we worked out we were going to raise money for oxfam we thought ... ‘we’ll have a crazy hair day because we’ve done it before and we get lots of money’.
“crazy hair day is a day when everybody does their hair and they come to school and they have a parade at the whole school assembly and normally a prize goes out to the class that raises the most amount of money and a prize with the person who has the craziest hair.
“the day went really well ... we raised $250 [and bought] a lamb, chicken family and a calf [through oxfam unwrapped].”
photo: Lara McKinLey/oxFaMaUS
330community events
were held to raise funds for our work
197,924oxfam unwraPPed gifts you bought
helPed change lives
Thanks to you:
ROselYn MOMOG JOsHUa, BAIRMURU, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
“I am an illiterate, cannot read or write … and when [Oxfam] announced literacy classes for illiterate, I enrolled.
“Now I can read, write and speak broken English … Since attending literacy, I sell rice and tinned fish at my canteen … I can use a calculator to calculate change. I can read a Grade Three level book. Now I can budget to pay school fees.
“Coming to literacy has changed me. When something big in the community happens,
I share ideas with the committees and councillors about the happenings because they ask me to give ideas. In my home, my children and my husband respect me now — in the past, no. In the past the husband is the boss and I submit, but it changed because now I can read.
“My dream is to be a pioneer to literacy … I want to follow my dream to become a true life skills promoter so others can see me as an example and come to literacy.”
photo: richarD KenDaLL/oxFaMaUS
79women and three
men in yehimbole are learning to read, write and count
Onenew community
learning centre was built to
Provide classes for 279 PeoPle
Thanks to you:
130,000PeoPle took Part in 848 events on national close
the gaP day
4“healing circles”
for aboriginal men, women and youth were suPPorted
Photo: bonnie savage/oxfamaus
Thanks to you:
“Our people (the Noongar people) were dying too young ... with the funding, especially from Oxfam, I am able to go out into the communities ... to work with the people, to get them to change their lifestyles a little bit, in terms of healthy activities ... so it prolongs their life span.
“In the last six years, with the Close the Gap campaign, I have seen a change. We’ve got more education out there. Our people are starting to manage their own health ... not too many of our people are being hospitalised … and more of our people are being trained to take on [health] work.
“I makes me feel proud to have National Close the Gap Day here in Bunbury because we need to put the awareness out there ... Talking to people face-to-face, it was really good to see the surprise on their face and get them to sign [the Close the Gap pledge] and be part of the campaign.
“To the people supporting the campaign, I am really proud that you are assisting us to Close the Gap. Good onya!”
JOYCe DiMeR, SOUTH WEST ABORIGINAL MEDICAL SERVICE, BUNBURY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
3,060PeoPle in laos have
access to clean water via 12 new
water systems
409families now have household toilets, reducing the risk
of disease.
BHOOMY DeUnGMaRnY, SABONG VILLAGE, LAOS
“in the past when we didn’t have the water pump, we had to collect water from the river … it took around one hour for every trip because it was heavy. we collected water four times in a day … twice in the morning and twice in the evening.
“other problems were leech bites and mosquito bites … there was also a tiger … sometimes i would fall down because the path is steep …
i used to catch malaria, cold, develop a cough and get diarrhoea as well.
“after we installed the water system there were many changes in our village. collecting and using water is easy and it is easy to grow our garden. as for disease, there’s less sickness since oxfam gave us water and sanitation training … many things have improved.
“the water is very important because … the whole village uses it, not only one person … it reduces our labour carrying water. the water is nearby now so we don’t have to go far … it only takes me about five seconds to get 10 litres; others can carry their water home in about four to five minutes.”
Thanks to you:
Photo: john sones/oxfamaus
MiKe FlaVel, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA
“i started supporting oxfam in 1989 while i was at university. twenty-three years later i am still donating. the way oxfam works is smart and clever — and respectful of the people it works with. i like the way it engages with local communities, coming up with local solutions. i like well-coordinated, practical solutions that get a result.
“as an organisation, oxfam doesn’t just try to make a difference themselves — but tries to influences others to create a bigger change.
“shout the horn was a great idea and we were happy to take part — especially because it was such a positive thing oxfam was asking us to do. it was a great opportunity to talk to our kids — that not everyone in the world was as lucky as us to have nice food. it’s important for kids to have a good sense of sharing and wanting to help others.
“i keep supporting oxfam because i realise it is still making a difference to real people on the ground — and doing it enthusiastically. it’s inspiring.”
68%of our
funding comes from your donations
26,893online actions helPed deliver big wins in for our camPaigns
Thanks to you:
photo: Lara McKinLey/oxFaMaUS
DinH THi nHan, VAN GIANG, VIETNAM
“i have worked with mai handicrafts (oxfam shop partner) for three years. i had worked at another place but it was not as good as here. there we were not paid on time. one special thing about working here is we can suggest our opinions.
“i feel good to work here. they care for my health, the working conditions are clean, they pay us on time, the wage is good enough for me to cover my living costs food, medicine, school fees for my two children and a little bit for saving.
“i would not know about fair trade if i did not work at mai handicrafts. if i did not work here my life would be hard and my health also not be good. fair trade is a marvelous organisation. it changed my life, brought me a much better life.
“we love our products. they are so beautiful. i think people who buy them understand the value in each product we make and they want to help … bring us better and stable lives. we are very happy and we thank you so much all of you.”
photo: Bonnie Savage/oxFaMaUS
165different Products
made by mai handicrafts are
sold in oxfam shoPs
1,080mai handicrafts
artisans are Paid fairly for
their work
Thanks to you:
Mohamed Hisham, ACTION PARTNER, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
“i’d always done community work at school, but when i left school i felt i was missing something … “[the oxfam international youth Partnerships program] was a powerful way to bring about social change — to be young people beyond our ethnic groupings or regional divisions.
“by being an action Partner, i learnt there is no single way of bringing about change … we were all doing different things but all had the same passion that bonded us together.
“[in oiyP} there are a lot of people doing such awesome work. so whenever i felt frustrated in my own advocacy work, there was this amazing oiyP network
that were always a source of energy and helped me have a bigger picture … i call them my oxfamily.
“i learned a lot through oiyP. [my next step] was to do advocacy to get the government to redraft the [sri lankan national] youth policy … finally, after a year and a half, we got them to re-draft it … i have a voice — it keeps me going.”
305oxfam international
youth action Partners were suPPorted in 70 countries
6,368young PeoPle
shared 3things they can do to helP change the world
Thanks to you:
photo: Lara McKinLey/oxFaMaUS
3,334volunteers contributed 72,269 hours
of work
6,592PeoPle hit the trail
in three oxfam trailwalker events
Thanks to you:
Photo: lara mckinley/oxfamaus
“the 2012 melbourne trailwalker event was my first time volunteering with oxfam. Quite a few colleagues had entered teams in the event, and our company was running checkpoint 4 in olinda.
“i was helping organise the car-parking at checkpoint 4, to prevent it from descending into chaos as car parks are prone to do ... it was great fun and quite hectic at times ... there was a strong sense of occasion and everybody seemed excited to be there — especially when teams began coming through.
“i loved being told some of the stories by support crews about what they’d
been doing to motivate their [teams] along the way. the day also gave me a good chance to get to know some of my colleagues outside of the office environment.
“i know that k&l gates carried out some thorough research when developing its corporate social responsibility program. oxfam was an excellent choice [as a partner] because of its work towards solutions to poverty and social injustice, and also because of the way it provides opportunities for our employees to be involved in such initiatives and to have a hand in the work that oxfam does ... i would absolutely volunteer again.”
BelinDa nisBeT, K&L GATES, MELBOURNE, VICTORIA
YanTi BOYs, RAKNAMO VILLAGE, INDONESIA
“I am the secretary of the women’s budget committee … [It] was important for us, to understand about our village grants … It was only the business of the village chief before that.
“We went out and did a survey throughout the village about the village grant. Then we met with the village government to understand how the budget was being used …
We found there were irregularities in the use of our funds. [Village leaders] had used money without proper procedures, for [their] own sake.
“The village chief did not welcome our initiative. He made us feel unwelcome.
At first, [he] was very angry … He said to us, ‘Why do you women want to know about problems with the village fund?
“We felt discouraged and unconfident but [Oxfam partner] CIS accompanied us, they supported us and encouraged us to move forward.
“Before we formed the group, women were viewed as second class ... Now after our group has formed, we understand women can be equal to men, that they can be treated the same as men. There has been a change in my mind. Now I speak up. I am not silent.”
Photo: lara mckinley/oxfamaus
533women and men
learnt basic advocacy skills so they can camPaign
on local issues
7PeoPle from waioti
village successfully lobbied for clean water for their
community
Thanks to you:
FaDUMO, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
“i came here after my son, mohamed, became very sick about two months ago ... the watery diarrhoea stopped, but he was still thin and weak, and not able to eat or drink anything.
“a saacid (oxfam partner) outreach lady, who came to my home, told me that there was a centre which treats malnourished children in the district. she took me to the centre. when i came here, the nurses at the centre told me that mohamed was ailing with malnutrition.”
“when he was admitted to the program he was very thin and i thought that he would never return to his standard weight, because he had stopped eating and drinking ... [but] after he began taking the special biscuits, he almost immediately began to eat and drink water and milk again ... he began putting on weight ... he regained energy and became more active. he even began smiling again.
“this health centre is clearly providing lifesaving care ... we all thank saacid and its donors for this donation of life.”
16health centres in
mogadishu ran child feeding Programs
155,000malnourished
children aged under five were treated
Thanks to you:
Photo: geno teofilo/oxfam
sanDY WilliaMs, OXFAM BOOKSHOP GROUP, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
“the bookshop started about 25–30 years ago. it started as a street stall and progressed to be out the front of shops, garages. we got the premises purchased with the friends of oxfam, bought the building for oxfam, and the bookshop group has tenancy.
“we have 20,000 books. i can’t even begin to list all the titles! all are donated. the whole business is run entirely on volunteers. we have about 100 volunteers in all.
“we are all working for a common cause, to help oxfam and raise money for their projects. up until the end of last year we have raised over a million dollars since our inception. the results are pretty amazing considering most books sell for the price of a cup of coffee.
“it’s all about knowing sales go towards fighting world-wide hunger, poverty and social injustice. all our money goes there. we don’t buy books in, everything is donated; so all the proceeds go straight to oxfam. it’s just fabulous.”
photo: SiMon StanBUry/oxFaMaUS
$125,416was raised from
second-hand book sales
30,000books were sold
at the oxfam books, in adelaide
Thanks to you:
105child marriages
were stoPPed with helP from Police and government officers
9,552PeoPle took an oath not to conduct, take Part in or condone
child marriage
Photo: tania cass/oxfam
Thanks to you:
“I became a We Can [End Violence Against Women] volunteer five years ago and now work on [Oxfam partner] Vikalp’s campaign to end child marriage.
“When I was in 10th Class I came to know about ‘We Can’. My family was full of conservative norms such as purdah (women keeping their faces veiled), child marriage, restriction on girls and women’s mobility. I myself was married as a child. After I attended a ‘We Can’ workshop, I realised these practices are wrong.
“To make change I had to fight with my family. First, I stopped purdah in my family ... I have prevented eight child marriages including my sister’s. I contact the Collector (government official) and police to intervene to prevent the marriages.
“People are angry and fight with me because of my actions but I believe in this cause and will continue my work — their anger does not affect me. I am now influencing the Panch (village council) to build a girls and boys hostel and to give scholarships for girls.”
PRaKesH, SATLANA VILLAGE, INDIA
JUlie GOODWin, SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
“As a cook and a mum, I’m passionate about good food and know the important role it plays in our lives. Food is not just essential to life. It brings us together; it’s at the heart of our families and our cultures.
“I remember as a child being told to eat all my dinner because there were children starving in Africa and it never really made a whole lot of sense to me how me eating my dinner would help them.
“As an adult, I’ve come to a really good understanding how each one of us, our actions, impact what happens to people all over the globe. And it’s our job as compassionate people to make sure the abundance of food on this planet is shared with everybody at the table. It is a simple goal for everyone to always have enough to eat.
“I am involved in [Oxfam’s] GROW campaign, which is addressing issues of hunger and poverty. The world does produce enough food for everyone, but one billion people go hungry every day. Oxfam is working to change that and I am proud to be a part of their efforts.”
11,000PeoPle signed the
grow Pledge to change the broken
food system
240gather to grow events were held in homes and
workPlaces to highlight global hunger
Thanks to you:
Photo: lara mckinley/oxfamaus
80%-90%of livestock are now vaccinated against disease
13families in six
villages in cambodia received cows
Photo: dustin barter/oxfamaus
Thanks to you:
YUH MeT, KANDEK VILLAGE, CAMBODIA
“i used to not have a buffalo … i would rent a buffalo and provide my labour for other families …before, our rice yield was about … 900kg per year. then i would need to pay a 600kg rental fee for the two buffaloes.
“then we wouldn’t have enough food to eat … we had food shortages most of the time — maybe eight months per year. … without rice, we didn’t have money to send our children to school regularly. we didn’t have enough money for clothes.
“when oxfam gave us a buffalo, we felt very happy. we take care of it and after the buffalo has a baby, others can benefit. we can use it for ploughing, we can plant rice on time and we have a better livelihood.
“after getting the buffalo, my family is in better condition … we don’t worry about feeding ourselves and know we’ll have a better future. the money we earn from our buffalo, we can save and spend on our needs.”
A huge thank you to every single one of you who helps us fight poverty and injustice around the world and make change a reality. This is just the start of the many thousands of individuals and organisations who made their mark this year. You are all our superheroes!
pLatinUM SUpporterS
back Page Photo: Pablo tosco/oxfam
MaJor FUnDing partner LiFe MeMBerS
goLD SUpporterS
JOHn BRaiTHWaiTe
John Birch am
Dr Judith Mitchell am
Anne Batt
OXFaM BOOKs
BeCOMe a FUnDinG PaRTneR
Moumouni nonkre, GOUDI, BURKINO FASO