Action Aid offers
people the chance to sponsor a child in a poor community. I started sponsoring
a 6yr old girl in Nigeria 6 years ago. After sending my payment I received
a beautiful photo of the little girl, Nala, and a series of drawings she
had done to show me her family and her home. A letter from the Nigerian
action aid worker telling me about the excitement in the village that
they had become part of the Action Aid scheme and their hopes for the
future.
The money you give is paid to the
village association not just your sponsored child and their family! The
village acts together and votes on how the money is used to improve life
in the village. As an example, so far my money has supported one teachers
wages, a mobile health worker and the digging of a water bore hole. That
was 6 years ago, since then I received many letters and drawings from
Nala, letters from the villager support worker about the changes on the
ground and the Action Aid reports and reviews which tell you about the
positive work happening in the area and what you have helped achieve.
Its fantastic to receive stories of some of the successes, they do help
to counter the doom and gloom of the media coverage of the African situation.
If like me, you are haunted by
the feeling you are not doing enough then this is the present for you.
Its not expensive – two pints less per week, not buying a daily
newspaper, one less take out meal per week and suddenly you can afford
to support a child and the community they live in. And it really does
make a difference, Action Aid has one of the best reputations in the charity
world and over 90% of everything they receive goes on the causes they
support.
So click on the link and do something
amazing, reach out and touch these people…
http://www.actionaid.org.uk/index.asp?page_id=943
Louise (Nov 2004)
