Christian Aid Week 2020 toolkit

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Photo credit: Christian Aid/ Adam Finch

Photo credit: Christian Aid/ Adam Finch

Photo credit: Christian Aid/ Adam Finch

Short magazine article

With every gift, we help Rose stop this climate crisis

In Kenya, the rains haven’t come. Again. For villagers who farm the land, that means life is getting even harder. Rivers are bone dry, and crops wither in the fields. The drought is starving people of food, water and the chance to earn a living.

At 67 years of age, Rose walks for six hours to fetch water for her grandchildren. She tries hard to give them the kind of life she remembers from when she was a girl: when the rivers flowed with water and the crops bore fruit.

Grandmother Rose shouldn’t have to go hungry. A simple earth dam, built with the help of Christian Aid’s partners and your donations, could completely change her life. This Christian Aid Week, you can be one of the hundreds of thousands of our supporters who give, act and pray to stop the climate crisis driving people like Rose to hunger.

From house-to-house collections to Big Brekkies, Christian Aid Week brings people together as one community against global poverty and injustice.

This Christian Aid Week (10-16 May), please:

Give generously to help Rose and her community build a water dam, providing fresh water to help families survive the drought.

Act to call for a New Deal for Climate Justice to help restore creation and build a world where everyone can thrive.

Pray for a radical change of heart for politicians, and that, as a global community, we will care for people living in poverty.

Together we stop this climate crisis.

Join us at caweek.org

Long magazine article

With every gift, we stop this climate crisis

Our planet is changing, but some people are feeling the effects of this more than others. Droughts are more frequent and more intense due to the climate crisis, and one place that has experienced this is Kenya.

In February 2017, the Kenyan Government declared a national drought emergency. As many as 2.7 million people do not have enough food, and, without reliable water sources, many communities are struggling to survive.

- ‘Water is a big problem. Rivers have dried up. It’s a serious crisis.’ Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance

Drought is causing a hunger crisis

In Kitui, eastern Kenya, 8 out of 10 people depend on rain to grow crops. Without water, staple crops like maize and beans wither up and die. People can’t grow food, which means they can’t earn a living, and go hungry.

Drought forces people to walk further and further to collect water. This daily burden robs them of the chance to farm and grow food for their families. Elderly women and children are especially vulnerable on these dangerous journeys, and can face robbery or conflict as people battle over scarce resources. Cows, sheep and goats are becoming weaker and weaker in the drought, and can’t produce milk or be sold. Lives are at risk.

Rose: a loving, hard-working grandmother

One woman who is experiencing the worst of the climate crisis is Rose. A grandmother of 67, Rose is an experienced village leader. She is proud to be able to cover the costs of her grandchildren’s education, by working as a casual labourer. When her husband died in 2006, Rose began to feel ill. She went to the hospital and was diagnosed with HIV. She says: ‘My faith has helped me to accept my status and I believe that, with the doctor’s advice, I will live a long life.’ The medication Rose takes requires her to eat a balanced diet, but in the drought, she can’t farm the vegetables she needs, and feels hungry. In this desperate drought, Rose battles to bring water home for her grandchildren. Every morning, after nothing to eat, she sets out on a long, dangerous journey, walking six hours to collect water.

While she walks, her stomach gives her stabbing pains. She feels weary under the hot sun, and the full jerry cans are so heavy (40 litres of water weigh 40kg). Her aching legs walk on and, because if she gives up, her grandchildren will hunger and thirst. ‘The drought has been severe,’ she tells us. ‘We have had three long months without water, and now we have to walk long distances. We are suffering.’

Rose needs every last drop to survive this drought

Rose remembers her childhood, when the rain was reliable and there was plenty of food. She wishes her grandchildren could have the same lives; instead, she hopes that her sacrifices will give them the chance of a better future. When she arrives home, exhausted, her grandson Charles, back from school, cooks her a meagre bowl of porridge – but he knows she is still hungry. He says: ‘My grandmother, she motivates me. She encourages me to learn more. If I could, I would give her everything. I would provide her with everything she needs.’ It breaks his heart to see his grandmother suffer like this.

But it shouldn’t have to reach this breaking point. There is an earth dam just minutes away from Rose’s home. It should be a lifeline. But many people in Kenya, just like Rose, are struggling to survive the drought. With over 3,000 people in the area in dire need, every last drop of water in the dam has dried up.

Rose and her community need a bigger dam, to help them capture the rainfall and create a long-lasting source of water for their families.

A song of hope and power

What happens when the search for water does not consume people’s lives? We can find out by meeting Florence: a woman who has transformed her life with access to a dam full of water.

Florence is a soulful, joyful woman: full of life, love and laughter. The women in her farming group look up to her. She’s courageous and kind – a survivor.

A few years ago, her husband died, leaving her a widow. At that time, she had no water to grow crops. Her children were hungry. Like Rose does now, she had to walk for hours to collect water. ‘Life was miserable,’ she told us.

Florence could easily have been defeated. But she is a fighter. With help from Christian Aid’s local faith partner, Florence and her community were able to build a dam together, just 30 minutes from her house.

Using water from the dam, Florence grows tomatoes, onions and chillies on her farm. Her children can eat healthy, nutritious vegetables, and she has enough left to sell. It’s her source of life and joy.

Florence also uses the dam to keep honey bees: the microclimate of plants created by the dam means the bees don’t need to search long distances for nectar. She sells the rich, golden honey for cash at the market – 30kg every season.

She says: ‘I have been sustained by the earth dam. My life has changed. I am very happy. You can see it in my face: my face is shining. I have strength and power.’

Blessings for all in need

You can see Florence’s strength and power as she hauls heavy buckets to water her crops. You can see her strength and power as she digs up the ripe tomatoes she has grown. You can see her strength and power as she sings to encourage the women with whom she farms.

Florence is a generous woman of faith. She knows others are struggling to cope with the drought, and wishes the same blessings she has received will be granted to them: ‘I am thankful to people who have donated to build this earth dam. I am praying God will increase their giving.’

How you can help more people like Florence to thrive?

Please donate this Christian Aid Week (10-16 May). Your gift could help a community build an earth dam, providing a vital water source in a desperately dry area of Kenya.

£4.40 could teach 10 farmers like Florence how to plant drought-tolerant crops that can survive the drought.

£10 could buy a tap at a water point which will be installed at an earth dam, making it easier for people like Rose to fetch water.

£1,560 could pay for all the materials, tools and equipment to build an earth dam.

And, joining together with other groups, if you could raise £132,000, it could pay for the entire process of construction of an earth dam, including all the materials, specialist engineering, site excavation, earthwork labour, and masonry work. It would also build pipes to a water point, communal toilets to keep the source clean, and a cattle trough for precious livestock. A dam like this would provide safe water for over 8,000 families (meaning just over £16 per household for clean water).

Every pound raised, every prayer said, every action taken. They are expressions of expression of our Christian love and compassion: of our belief that all life is equal and precious in the sight of God. Together, we stop this climate crisis: and give brave, hard-working women like Rose the chance to thrive.

Join us this Christian Aid Week. Donate at caweek.org

A5 flyer for CAW2020

Images

Photo credit: Christian Aid/Adam Finch

Photo credit: Christian Aid/ Adam Finch

For Rose, every last drop of water is precious In Kenya, the rains that used to water the farmlands have failed, causing a national emergency that has left over two million people hungry. One of these people is Rose.

Rose is 67. Every day, she battles to bring water home for her grandchildren. But drought and hunger are driving her to the brink. ‘The drought has been severe,’ she tells us. ‘We have had three long months without water, and now we have to walk long distances. We are suffering.’

Faced with this devastation, Rose strives to provide for her grandchildren. She does all she can to give them happy childhoods, like the times she remembers when there was plenty of rain and food. Every morning, after nothing to eat, she sets out on a long and dangerous journey, walking six hours to collect water.

While she walks, her stomach gives her stabbing pains. She feels weary under the hot sun. Her aching legs walk on… and on… because if she gives up, her grandchildren will hunger and thirst.

At last she comes home, exhausted. Her grandchildren cook her a meagre bowl of porridge – but they know she is still hungry. And she won’t have the strength to fetch water for much longer. It breaks their hearts to see their Grandma suffer like this.

The sad truth is, it doesn’t have to reach this breaking point.

There is an earth dam just minutes away from her home. It should be a lifeline. But others like Rose are also struggling to survive the drought. With many in dire need, every drop of water in the dam has dried up.

This is Rose’s climate crisis. No matter how hard she battles against it, drought leaves her hungry and heartbroken.

Together, we can help stop this crisis. But we need to act now.

You could help Rose and her community build a bigger, better dam. Your gifts and time could help her community own and protect the dam, and ensure it provides a long-lasting source of water for their families.

£4.40 could teach 10 farmers how to plant drought-tolerant crops that can survive the drought, helping Rose and her grandchildren grow fresh vegetables.

£10 could buy a tap at a water point which will be installed at an earth dam, helping families fetch water quickly.

£1,560 could pay for all the materials, tools and equipment needed to build an earth dam, saving families like Rose's from spending up to 10 hours a day looking for the water they need to survive.

With a dam full of water, Rose would be free from her long, painful journeys. She’d have time to grow fresh vegetables for her family to eat. And she could see her grandchildren grow up to live life in all its fullness.

Give today and help Rose and her family have the water they need to live.

Your community is supporting Christian Aid this May. Find out how you can help:

Together we stop this climate crisis.