Help make milestone special

2:47pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

I AM writing to let your readers know that Christian Aid celebrates its 60th birthday this year.

It began in 1948 helping European refugees in the aftermath of World War 2 and now works through its 600 partners in nearly 50 developing countries around the world to support communities whose need is greatest irrespective of religion, ethnicity or nationality.

Local volunteer supporters of Christian Aid in Stourbridge will be running their annual street collection from May 11th to May 17th to raise money for Christian Aids' work in the developing world.

In 2007 the national house to house collection raised over £14 million enabling Christian Aid support projects involving health, education and training, agriculture, disaster prevention and disaster relief worldwide. We hope that 2008 street collection will once again bring vital funds that make a big difference to developing countries.

One of Christian Aid's current concerns is the impact that Climate Change is already having on the worlds' poorest communities. In Bangladesh getting clean, fresh water is a major problem.

In the central low lying wetlands the land is flooded for more than half the year and underground water sources can be contaminated with arsenic.

In the southwest, the rise in sea levels, partly due to climate change, is making fresh water salty.

People often have to walk for up to 24 hours to collect water to drink.

Christian Aid is funding local organisations in Bangladesh who work with local people, particularly women, to promote the best solutions to their water shortages. Women directly benefit from these solutions as they no longer have to walk miles for water and can focus on developing an income for themselves.

Through their involvement in local community groups the women also develop their confidence.

Rekha Biswis from Bangladesh visits local homes to encourage them to attend meetings of their local water council or pani pashad.

Rekha explains, "In the pani panishad we give training to help local people understand what they need and then how to achieve it."

But most importantly they understand they can do things for themselves.

We thank the residents of Stourbridge for all their support in the past and hope that the street collection this year will be particularly special "birthday present" for Christian Aid and its partners worldwide.

Hugh Williams, on behalf of Stourbridge Christian Aid Committee

11 Rectory Road Oldswinford Stourbridge 01384 394118