Thanks Azizi and s6k. I'll try again in a minute!Right then...yesterday something quite extraordinary happened. We went to Honiton in Devon, just down the road from where we live, in Sidmouth. Amongst other things we went into Oxfam to leave a few bits and pieces with them and I bought some more of the 'Make Poverty History' bands that they're selling and picked up a few of their new leaflets.
Then, I went into the health shop to buy a few things. It was an incredibly hot day yesterday and there was an elderly lady in there who was obviously 'feeling the heat' somewhat. I joked about the weather and she grinned and told me that her friend who was staying with her found the heatwave very cool! Then her friend came round the corner of the stand, a beautiful lady who apparently was from Tanzania. We laughed and that's when she noticed my Oxfam bracelet. Well....she took hold of my hand and squeezed it so tight, looked right at me....and then her eyes filled with tears!
Well....that was it! That sweet woman said more to me with her eyes than a thousand words could ever speak. We just stood there holding hands and then we wished each other well and said goodbye.
So...here for everyone to pass on is a new idea and a new website.
Oxfam is now doing its own 'Gift Catalogue' but this is unlike any other that you've seen before. These are the 'gifts' that you can buy, except you buy them for the people who really need them on behalf of your friends, (for birthdays), yourselves, the new bride and groom who already have everything, maybe instead of funeral flowers that just waste away:
Here is what your money can do:
.£6...School dinners for a child. Often their only meal.
.£6...2 textbooks for children
£10...Essentials for a child
£16...50 trees
£16...Fills a school satchel
£19...Health and hygiene kit
£24...A goat "You start with one and end up with a herd"
£24...Plants an allotment
£30...Building materials
£30...Textbooks for an entire class
£36...Training a teacher
£50...Starts a business for someone
£50...Services a truck
£64...Teach and support a farmer
£70...A cow for a family, the resulting calves go to the village
£95...A camel..."the most valued livestock in Somalia.."
£100..Basic medicines for an entire village
It goes on all the way up to thousands of pounds, buying an entire farmyard stock for villages, training and supporting carers, instilling water supplies etc. Everything is designed to educate people, make them self-sufficient, give them dignity and pride, all the things we take so much for granted.
Here's the site:
Fingers crossed that it works Azizi and s6k!!
So tonight we're all sitting round and deciding what we're going to get. My children are really excited about it and from now on I'm going to include this idea in people's presents too. Let's face it, how many toys..for big people or little people...do we actually need anymore? ENOUGH!
I'll let you know what we've decided upon shortly. Take a look at the site it's brilliant! If you had told me a few days back that I'd be on Mudcat urging people to go out and buy a cow....I'd have looked at you as if you were mad! But here I am!!
The words above all stem from that sweet lady from Tanzania who literally 'reached out and touched me' yesterday in a small Devon town.
I hope that through me she reaches out to you too.
Lizzie :0)