You add - we multiply
Donations made in Christian Aid Week change lives. Here’s what your money could buy in El Salvador :
£5 could pay the monthly tuition fees for a young person like Chus to go to school
£12 could pay for a school uniform
£90 could pay for the construction of a latrine
Chus and his brother-in-law are crab fishers: their average daily earnings as a family are £1.70. On a bad day they can earn as little as 57p.
The efforts of the worldwide campaign to cancel the debts of the poorest countries are beginning to bear fruit in the lives of ordinary people. Ten-year-old Herbert Asio from Uganda is just one of them.
Uganda is currently benefiting from debt relief amounting to around £25 million. This is placed in a special fund, the Poverty Action Fund (PAF), which is being used to increase the incomes of the poorest people and to improve their quality of life. For Herbert and his family this is beginning to make a tremendous change.
Herbert attends Asuret Primary School and for the first time in his life he can go to school without his mother having to pay fees. Although Herbert still works in an old classroom, younger children have brand new classrooms. At the moment there are 16 classrooms for 1,300 children, and thanks to PAF the school plans to build a further seven rooms within five years. Herbert's headmaster, Elieru John Brown is proud of the school and what is happening there. He says: 'Pray forpeace in our country. Where there is peace, there is development and poverty will gradually disappear'
At home, Herbert lives with his mother Grace who is a farmer. She is benefiting from PAF in her everyday life and in her work. Money has been allocated to repair water sources, and Grace now has water close to her home. And thanks to advice she has received from a PAF-funded local agricultural extension officer Grace is able to make her five acres of family land much more productive.
Every home should have one
Grace and Herbert's lives have also been changed by the arrival of a cow, sent through the 'Send a Cow' scheme which is operated locally by Christian Aid's partner, the Soroti Diocese Development Office (SDDO). Herbert loves the cow whom he has called Ida and feeds her on elephant grass. He would like to milk her as well but his fingers aren't yet strong enough. Grace says: 'I've had Ida since July 1999. She had a bull calf, Samuel, and produces 10 to 12 litres of milk per day. I feed her on elephant grass and a new food supplement called nutrimix, which I get free because I'm taking part in a trial project. Milk sells for about 25p per litre and the money has enabled me to have some ploughing done. I've also used the cow dung and urine for the garden and have seen a great improvement.'
Grace is now the local chairperson for 'Send a Cow' and is also one of the local co-ordinators for the development work of the Church of Uganda.
o Lord, Creator of all the earth,
Thank you for the mercy you have always had for us Ugandans,
and for giving us your Son to sacrifice his life for us.
In the same way, Father, you touched the hearts of our brothers and sisters
overseas to work for our families, our schools and our health.
Father as time goes by, may we also be able to help our needy brothers and sisters.
Lord, give us the Spirit of love through all our lives.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.