2007 Gift Giving Appeals
Give a gift to your family/friends that makes a difference, especially if they probably already have everything they need.
Support for a child, per year, is the equivalent of two cartons of beer, a family movie and drinks/sweets, a meal for two at a restaurant. Donate, on your friends/familys behalf, to one of our projects. There are five of them (see the selection below) and EMAIL US.
After receiving your donation, we will send you a card, for you to forward to your friends with your personal message, plus extra information about how your gift will be used.
GIFT NO. 1: EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN PATAN, GUJARAT, INDIA
Women in the villages of this remote area are powerless because of cultural pressures but they are being encouraged to form self-help groups, being given training in how to operate such groups, and are being empowered by visiting other groups to see the progress that others have made.
Many of these women have no right to speak unless spoken to, are married barely in their teens, and live a life of drudgery both in the home and in the fields.
GIFT NO. 2: PROVISION OF CLEAN WATER IN V'IEFA VILLAGE, BEREINA PNG
The villagers of this area depend on water from the river for both their drinking water and for water to grow their vegetable gardens.
Because of a rising level of a jaundice type illness, and even deaths, among the villagers in the region the water was tested and found to have levels of arsenic up to THREE times the safe level for humans. It is believed that mining further upstream may have contributed to this.
We are trying to provide water storage tanks to remove the villagers' dependency on the river water.
GIFT 3. EDUCATION SUPPORT IN EAST TIMOR
by the fighting. We are supporting one village where the only building is a thatched roofed, dirt floor, with a blackboard. In rainy weather the holes in the roof let in all the rain so nothing can be stored here. We aim to provide an on-going amount of funds to supply these needs.
4. PURCHASE OF GOATS FOR SELF-HELP GROUPS TO INCREASE THEIR INCOME AND FOOD SUPPLY IN KARNATAKA STATE, INDIA
In Karnataka State, the director of one of our centres is organizing people into groups of about 20 families to provide them with the means to increase their earnings and provide a protein food supply. Each family receives a goat, and a day's workshop in animal husbandry, by a veterinarian.
When the first female kid is born the family donates it to the project organizers to help start another group.
All ensuing goat kids are kept and milked, with surplus milk sold to provide cash to supplement the family income.
Goats are easily managed, even by young children, and a good way to start people on the road to self-sufficiency. Each goat costs $100 but the recipients contribute $10 - affirming their commitment to the project. Small-scale self-help projects are a proven way to start to change the lives of the very poor.
5. HEALTH PROGRAMMES FOR CHILDREN IN A BADLY-AFFECTED TSUNAMI VILLAGE IN KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
We sponsor 35 children from this village. It was found that their health was poor and many were still suffering the after-effects of trauma associated with the tsunami.
A health, nutrition, hygiene and self-development project was started. On-going programmes for the children are in place and the situation is being monitored by continuous assessment.
To commence the programme, every child in the village was given a medical examination. As well, a protein food is provided daily for each child. Parents are encouraged to participate in hygiene and nutrition classes. Children are participating in music, dancing, and drawing classes. Activities such as yoga are also planned to introduce the children to other ways of expressing themselves and to develop their self-confidence.
