Christian Aid Ireland magazine - Winter 2012 (No.40)

CHRISTIAN AID IRELAND Winter 2012

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Number 40

GUATEMALA

Where tax dodging leads to hunger ■

T AX JUSTICE BUS Tours Ireland

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C ARTOON CONTEST Winning entry inside

www.christianaid.ie Christian Aid Ireland is the official relief and development agency of the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Nonsubscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Moravian Church, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the Salvation Army, and the Irish Council of Churches.

It is a member of ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together), the worldwide ecumenical network for emergency relief.

Christian Aid is a signatory to the Dóchas Code of Conduct on Images & Messages. More details can be found on www.dochas.ie Please send any feedback about images in this publication to ahorsman@christian-aid.org

Chief Executive, Christian Aid Ireland Rosamond Bennett Belfast Office: Linden House, Beechill Business Park, 96 Beechill Road, Belfast BT8 7QN Tel: (028) 9064 8133 Email: Belfast@christian-aid.org Contacts: Deborah Doherty, Head of Church & Community Adrian Horsman, Head of Communications & Media

Dublin Office: 16-17 Clanwilliam Terrace Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 611 0801 Fax: (01) 661 0949 Email: Dublin@christian-aid.org Contacts: Nazma Kabir, Head of Programme Development Peter Byrne, Churches Liaison/ Development Officer

Cork Office: Hill View Bandon, Cork Tel: (023) 88 41468 Email: Cork@christian-aid.org

CHRISTMAS IS FUN FOR KIDS – SO WHY NOT GIVE A GOAT? Inside your magazine you will find this year’s Present Aid catalogue and we hope you will be able to find a gift which will be perfect for someone you know.

These life-changing gifts, both large and small, will help people to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.

There are small gifts from £5/f6 and also larger gifts where you can join together with friends, relatives and colleagues to buy as a group.

If you’ve already received a copy of our catalogue, please take the opportunity to pass this one on to someone else – or if you would like extra copies to distribute in church, school or work please call Helen in Belfast (028) 9064 8133 or Jennifer in Dublin (01) 611 0801.

Christian Aid is a Christian organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty.

Contact: Andrew Coleman, South West Co-ordinator

We work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. We are part of a wider movement for social justice.

NI Company no. NI059154 NI Charity no. XR94639 RoI Company no. 426928 RoI Charity no. CHY 6998

We provide urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty as well as its root causes.

www.christianaid.ie

Christian Aid Ireland is on Facebook

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Christian Aid Ireland

CONTENTS EDITORIAL It’s hard to believe that I have been here two months already. In some ways I feel as if I have been here a lot longer simply because everyone has made me feel so welcome and I can’t seem to remember ever enjoying a job so much. A highlight has been meeting the many supporters who volunteer in our offices and I am really looking forward to meeting many more of you.

One of the other highlights of the past few weeks was the arrival of the Tax Justice Bus. It started its tour of Ireland in Dublin. There a number of prominent politicians came on board, including Trade and Development Minister Joe Costello TD and Gay Mitchell MEP, along with the Christian Aid Ireland Board.

After travelling to Limerick the bus headed north to Larne and it was there in 1st Larne Presbyterian Church that I met Sammy Wilson MP MLA, Northern Ireland’s Minister of Finance, to talk about the tax campaign. We had a good discussion about how tax avoidance contributes to poverty and why we in Christian Aid believe it is so important to speak out about tax justice. I am delighted to say Mr Wilson is very supportive and will help us in our campaign to create change.

Now that the nights are drawing in, the conversation in our house frequently turns to Christmas. As a working mother Christmas can become a time of stress rather than celebration. This year, more than ever, I am aware of how much we actually have as a family and how little others have. For us it’s usually a case of too much food, while for many people around the world it’s a case of little or no food at all – and what’s worse, the insecurity of not knowing when there will be food. So this year I am not going to buy more things for my friends and family, who let’s face it, probably have everything they need already. I am going to make my life a little bit easier by buying from Present Aid. By doing that I know I will be helping people who really need it and that will make Christmas better.

I would encourage you to take a look at the Present Aid catalogue and see what a difference you could make by giving something a little bit different this Christmas. A gift with God’s blessing.

8 NEWS ■ 5 TAX CARTOON

The winning entry!

■ 6 BLACK SANTA

Visiting India with Christian Aid ■ 7 CAMPAIGN SUCCESS

Land Rights march called off

FEATURES ■ 8 GUATEMALA

Hunger in a land of plenty ■ 10 THE WORST PLACE IN

THE WORLD …to be a woman

■ 12 CAMPAIGNS The Tax Justice Bus tours Ireland ■ 15 DIARY DATES

Rosamond Bennett

‘Celebrate a Life’ Thanksgiving Service

Christian Aid Ireland

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REGULARS

God bless.

Chief Executive

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■ Cover 12 year old Santos and his younger brother Mauricio live high in the mountains of eastern Guatemala. Child malnutrition is rife in their village and Santos has had to leave school to work with his father.

See the feature story on page 8. Photo: Dave Thomas

Christian Aid Ireland

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NEWS 4:48 CHALLENGE

RAISING MONEY THE HARD WAY Climbing Carrauntoohill in Co. Kerry at the end of August, this group of Christian Aid supporters are nearing the climax of their monumental ‘4:48 Challenge’.

The challenge was to climb the highest peak in each of Ireland’s four provinces, and to complete it in less than 48 hours.

They succeeded in their quest, and they succeeded in raising thousands for Christian Aid’s work overseas.

SHEEP’S HEAD HIKE

Around 130 people of all ages took part in this year’s Sheep’s Head Hike, raising nearly g6,000. This popular event at the beginning of September has become a regular feature in the Co. Cork calendar.

COUNTRY MANAGERS VISIT TO DUBLIN Christian Aid’s Country Managers from Angola, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, IoPT, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe met in Dublin for their Annual Global Meeting, funded by Irish Aid. They’re pictured here with some of their Irish colleagues. The meeting was an opportunity to share lessons learnt across Irish Aid funded programmes in their respective countries.

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WORLD CHANGERS

REQUIRED A Northern Ireland politician once said that if just six of his constituents write to him about the same thing then it becomes an issue.

Next year is a big year politically for the UK and Ireland. The G8 leaders’ summit will be taking place in the UK in May or June, while Ireland will hold the presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2013. This means that it’s the perfect opportunity to raise issues of global poverty with our politicians, as both the British and Irish governments will be in strong positions to take action that could make a huge difference to the world’s poorest.

Christian Aid would like to recruit 2 people in each political constituency across the island of Ireland.

They will learn more about the root causes of poverty that Christian Aid campaigns on, such as tax dodging, and they will write to and meet with their local politicians throughout 2013 to ensure that tackling poverty is high up the agenda with both the G8 and the European Union.

We will provide campaign training and briefings that you can send to your politicians.

If this sounds like something that you could do, then please contact David Thomas in Belfast, email dthomas@christian-aid.org, or Michael Briggs in Dublin, email mbriggs@christian-aid.org

COMPETITION WINNER

“A stitch in time saves nine”

*% ! tax ()?

CARTOON competition

TAX CARTOON WINNER We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Christian Aid Tax Cartoon Competition is Bairbre Smith from Booterstown, Co. Dublin with her cartoon “A stitch in time saves nine”.

The judging panel, including Irish Times cartoonist Martyn Turner, really liked Bairbre’s colourful cartoon with a powerful message.

Bairbre says of her cartoon, ‘This cartoon aims to portray how tax dodging companies assume different national identities in order to avail of their tax advantages.

‘It represents their approach as purely an accounting exercise with no regard for the nationalities being assumed, or the number of nationalities assumed.

‘It shows the corporate figure at the front switching to the next nationality, as long as it pays.

‘There is also the double meaning of the accountants depicted at their sewing machines, as if in a sweatshop, perhaps to suggest they are also being exploited.’

Bairbre wins the original ink drawing of Martyn Turner’s cartoon ‘Twister’, which he created exclusively for Christian Aid. Christian Aid Ireland

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NEWS

‘BLACK SANTA’ TO VISIT CHRISTIAN AID PROJECTS IN INDIA Dean John Mann and his wife Helen will visit a number of Christian Aid projects. They will be accompanied

by Christian Aid’s Chief Executive Rosamond Bennett and Deborah Doherty, Head of Church and Community.

When he distributed cheques totalling £180,000 at the Good Samaritans’ Service last February, the Dean expressed a desire to visit some of the projects which had received funding for the charitable work they do.

In Tamil Nadu province, they will visit two Christian Aid partners; one working on Dalit human rights and the economic empowerment of Dalit women and another focused on HIV prevention.

Afterwards the group will travel to Andrapradesh to view a project working with Muslim women, and another working with Dalit women and agriculture.

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Christian Aid Ireland

Photo credit: Church of Ireland

Belfast’s Black Santa, Dean John Mann, is travelling to India in November to see how funds raised on the steps of St Anne’s Cathedral each Christmas are making a difference to lives far away.

Very Revd John Mann, aka ‘Black Santa, will visit India before beginning this year’s sit-out on the steps of St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast.

‘Heading to India is something that Helen and I have dreamt of doing for a long time, but to go with Christian Aid will be very special as we visit projects supported through the gifts of many fundraisers and personal donors in Ireland,’ said Dean Mann.

‘The Black Santa fund has contributed to this important work over a number of years – so I shall be wearing that hat as I learn where the money is being spent.

Scarf and gloves and black cloak will not be needed – it will be hot!’

This year’s Black Santa Sit-Out begins on Saturday 15th December.

You can follow the Dean’s visit to India on Rosamond Bennett’s blog ‘BeenAndSeen’ and on Twitter @christianaidirl

INDIA: SUCCESS OF THE MARCH FOR LAND RIGHTS

The march crosses the Chambal Bridge on Day Five.

The line goes on for as far as the eye can see.

Photo credits: Ekta Parishad

On 11th October Christian Aid partner Ekta Parishad was able to call off the Jan Satyagraha march after just one week, as the Indian Government agreed to the marchers’ demands for land rights. The march – which was expected to last one month – was the main cover story in the summer edition of this magazine.

Since the march was called off, the Land Reform Task Force (set up as part of the agreement) has met for the first time and agreed various action points with timelines within 90 days.

Ekta Parishad’s President is one of 11 members of this Task Force. While the agreement and subsequent progress is encouraging, Ekta Parishad are willing to re-call the 60,000 marchers to continue the march to Delhi if the government fail to fulfil their promises.

Anand Kumar, Christian Aid’s Country Manager in India said,

Young women from Assam lead their group on Day Three of the march with local folk dances.

‘Congratulations to Ekta Parishad and the marchers. This is a true example of people’s victory through peaceful negotiation.

‘Access to land is critical for the eradication of poverty. We hope that today’s success will give hope and inspire other land struggles in other parts of the world.’

Thank you to our supporters for all your prayers, commitment and solidarity surrounding this march.

By publicly supporting Ekta Parishad’s campaign we helped give credibility to those who were marching and there is no doubt that this international pressure helped to bring about the successful agreement.

Christian Aid Ireland

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COVER STORY

GUATEMALA

– HUNGER IN THE MIDST OF PLENTY David Thomas

Nurse Rosalina with Sylvia and Gonzalo in the Bethania clinic in Jocotan.

Guatemala is not a poor country. But it is a very unequal country.

Half of all children under the age of five in this Central American nation are chronically malnourished. In some areas this figure rises to over 70%.

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Christian Aid Ireland

Juana Mendoza in her kitchen garden in La Marimba. She says, ‘We thank God for the help that Bethania have given us and the work they have done for us. I feel happy now.’

In July, Christian Aid took a group of young people from the Methodist Church in Ireland to visit Guatemala to learn more about how our partners, with the support of their church, are trying to tackle malnutrition at individual, community and national levels.

Bethania is one of those partners.

It works in the mountainous region of Chiquimula about 100 miles east of Guatemala City. Many people here are indigenous Chorti people descended from the pre-Spanish Mayan inhabitants. They have been forced off the best lands into the mountains and even there much of the remaining farmland is owned by

wealthy landowners.

Malnutrition in this area is so common that many parents don’t notice their child is malnourished because they appear to be developing normally when compared with other children in the community. In the villages that Bethania have been working with malnutrition is being reduced.

Bethania has a clinic in the town of Jocotán that takes in young children to treat them for malnutrition. When we visited, Sylvia (2) and Gonzalo (4) were being fed with traditional Guatemalan food, which provides a balanced diet, including frijoles (refried beans), plantain, maize tortillas and a sweet maize drink.

The children were very quiet and subdued. Their nurse, Rosalina,

The group of young Methodists visiting the village of La Marimba.

Moe (with NY t-shirt) and Nikki are in the centre.

explained that the children are often like this when they are first admitted, but after a couple of weeks of a good healthy diet they will begin to play and act like normal children again.

Unfortunately if children are malnourished within the critical first 1,000 days of life, and for a long enough period, the effects on brain development and growth can be permanent.

Bethania also works to change things at a community level to prevent the children from becoming malnourished in the first place.

In the high mountain village of La Marimba, Bethania has been

providing training, seeds, fruittree saplings and tools to enable people to set up their own kitchen gardens. Bethania has particularly selected plants that have a high nutritional value and provide nutrients that are missing from people’s diets, such as iron.

Nikki Hanna from Bangor, County Down said, ‘I was able to fully

appreciate the amazing work that Christian Aid does. It was such a privilege to hear about how this had changed their lives and given them new opportunities. We met a lady called Juana and she was so full of joy, it was hard to stand next to her and not feel happy!’

Santos and his brother Mauricio playing marbles outside their house.

NO MORE SCHOOL Like children anywhere in the world, brothers Santos (12) and Mauricio (11) enjoy playing when they get the chance.

But life in the mountain village of La Marimba is difficult and many children are smaller than they should be because of chronic malnourishment. And despite doing well at maths at school and his wish to become a teacher, Santos has had to leave behind his studies to help his father in the fields.

As Moe Coonagh from Dublin said, ‘Never have I met a 12-year-old with so little and such happiness. Seeing how excited Santos was to show us his kitchen garden and talk about his life really made me think about everything I have and take for granted.’

TAX DODGING IN GUATEMALA The Methodist Church in Ireland also supports another Christian Aid partner in Guatemala called ICEFI. This is the economic organisation that economist Ricardo Barrientos works for. Ricardo visited Ireland in September with the Tax Justice Bus, as featured on page 12.

ICEFI says that malnutrition is not adequately tackled in part because the Guatemalan government lacks the resources to invest properly in education, health and food security.

Guatemala’s total tax revenue as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is only 12%. In Ireland it’s nearly 31% and in the UK 39%. Part of this is due to a high level of tax evasion and avoidance by wealthy individuals and companies in Guatemala, but a growing problem is tax dodging by multinational companies operating within Guatemala.

Christian Aid Ireland

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FEATURES More than 10 years of war have left a legacy of poverty, poor governance, violence and displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

THE WORST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO BE A WOMAN Florence Mutesasira

This photograph of a group of women holding a protest banner was taken by Niall on the road from Kamituga to Bukavu. The women are survivors of sexual violence.

Their banner is calling for ‘all rapists to be sent to prison’. Christian Aid partner SARCAF is working to address the culture of impunity that exists in this area, where the perpetrators of sexual violence often go unpunished.

The high incidence of rape has been one of the grim hallmarks of this conflict. The use of sexual violence against women and girls, and in some cases against men and the elderly too, has earned the country the grim epithet of “rape capital of the world”.

In September an Irish Aid monitoring team visited projects supported by Christian Aid in South Kivu, in eastern Congo. They included Joseph Burke and Emma Warwick from Irish Aid, and Niall O’Rourke, Christian Aid Ireland’s Humanitarian Officer.

The team met some of the survivors of this violence in villages in Mwenga territory, who have been receiving counselling and economic support.

‘We must raise awareness of what is happening to women and girls in eastern Congo,’ Niall says.

‘For more than a decade eastern Congo has been infamous as the ‘rape capital of the world’. Sexual violence is being

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perpetrated by armed forces and in wider society on an unprecedented scale.

‘With our partners we are working to support the survivors and to bring an end to this outrage by changing the existing culture of impunity.’

Since 2010 the Irish Aid Emergency & Recovery section has provided F670,000 in funding to Christian Aid to support our work in South Kivu.

We are working with local partners ECC-Meru and SARCAF, providing direct emergency assistance to the displaced population and working with our partners to raise awareness of the causes of gender based violence, as well as providing support to survivors in the region.

Niall O’Rourke, Christian Aid’s Dublinbased Humanitarian Officer in South Kivu.

The continuing presence of armed groups in eastern Congo is fuelling the use of rape as a weapon of war. While the attacks are often committed by rebel militia, illdisciplined members of the Congolese army have been responsible for some of the rape cases.

As Niall says, ‘More needs to be done, by the Congo and Rwandan governments, as well as the international community, to bring an end to this conflict.’

LATE NEWS: Christian Aid’s DRC-based Emergency Officer Salome Ntububa will be visiting Ireland from 26th Feb-11th March 2013. Contact Deborah Doherty in Belfast for more details.

EL SALVADOR Shrimp farming without flood defences to obtain permission from the government to set up the shrimp farm, which included demonstrating how they would ensure the protection of the local environment, by replanting mangrove trees for example.

‘the people most interested in protecting the area are the cooperative as their livelihoods depend on it, rather than a large [shrimp farming] enterprise that can easily move elsewhere.’

Francisco says that

FRANCISCO CHAVEZ IS A SHRIMP FARMER. He lives in San Hilario, El Salvador.

After the civil war ended in 1992 Francisco (pictured left) and his family were living as refugees in Nicaragua. Along with 250 other families, they were relocated to land that the government had acquired as part of the peace agreement from a wealthy land-owner.

When the community first arrived there was very little here. With the help of a Christian Aid partner called Procares, the community has built houses and accessed credit to help them invest in income generating projects.

One of the projects that Procares has helped the local people to set up is a shrimp farm, which is owned by a cooperative of farmers. Procares supported the farmers

Procares has also supported Francisco’s community to lobby the government for flood defences on the Lempa river. According to Bertha Aguirre, the director of Procares, flooding is happening more frequently in this area as a result of climate change. In the last five years the shrimp farm has been damaged four times. Each time Procares has helped the community to repair the damage.

What they really need though for the long term is government investment. The Salvadorean government say that flood defences would cost US$11 million and they simply don’t have the resources. Bertha says that

‘rich people and big enterprises in El Salvador pay very little tax.

El Salvador needs a new fiscal law that prioritises the poor. If you have more you have to pay more.’

Christian Aid Ireland

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CAMPAIGNS

ALL ABOARD FOR TAX JUSTICE A big red Christian Aid Tax Justice bus was seen driving the length and breadth of Ireland at the end of September. It was emblazoned with a simple but urgent message “Tax dodging hurts the poor”.

Tax dodging is a global problem hurting poor communities at home as well as in the developing world. This is a message the bus was bringing to politicians, church leaders and Christian Aid supporters in Dublin, Limerick, and around greater Belfast.

The Dublin-based economic think-tank TASC provided research in support of Christian Aid’s tax campaign, showing how some Irish tax breaks that favour wealthy individuals are costing Ireland money that could benefit poor communities closer to home.

Sammy Wilson MP, Rosamond Bennett and Ricardo Barrientos in Larne, Co Antrim.

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In Northern Ireland, Christian Aid teamed up with UK-focused anti-poverty group Church Action on Poverty to highlight the impact of tax dodging on those living in poverty in the UK.

One of the travellers on the bus was Dr Ricardo Barrientos, Senior Economist with Christian Aid’s partner ICEFI. ICEFI is a Guatemala-based research centre specialising in assessing Central American governments’ policies on tax collection and how that money is spent. They are trying to ensure that tax is collected fairly and is used to tackle poverty and inequality in Central America.

The bus first pulled up outside Government Buildings in Dublin, where it welcomed on board a number of high profile politicians.

After meeting with Christian Aid on the bus, Trade and Development Minister Joe Costello TD said ‘Irish Aid plays a vital role in helping to meet the needs of people in some of the poorest parts of the world.’

Sorley McCaughey of Christian Aid with Trade & Development Minister Joe Costello TD

The Minister added, ‘However, to achieve a sustainable solution to poverty, developing countries need to generate their own revenues... The recent public consultations for the review of the White Paper on Irish Aid highlighted the importance of the international community acting to combat illicit financial flows and capital flight which is depriving developing countries of much-needed resources. This is being highlighted here again today by the Tax Bus visit to Dublin.’

Outside Government Buildings in Dublin

of the world where perhaps the issues are sharper…that loss of revenue is very important.’

The tour ended with the tax bus arriving at the Sunday morning service at First Bangor Presbyterian Church, Co Down, with many of the congregation – including local MP Lady Sylvia Hermon – coming onto the bus to view the exhibition and meet Ricardo.

Christian Aid’s David Thomas speaking to Irish Aid staff on board the bus in Limerick

Whilst in Dublin the tax bus also called in at St Patrick’s Cathedral to meet with church leaders, students from St Patricks Cathedral Grammar School and Gay Mitchell MEP. In the evening Ricardo was part of a panel speaking at a well-attended event in European Union House chaired by Senator Katherine Zappone entitled

“Tax dodging hurts us all.”

The following day the bus was on the road again heading towards Limerick, where it was welcomed by Lord Mayor Cllr Gerry Loughlin and local church leaders. Limerick is home to the Irish Aid’s head office and so the tax bus welcomed aboard a number of the staff to hear from Ricardo about his work on tax in Guatemala, which is partly funded through Christian Aid’s Irish Aid programme.

The bus then made its way to Northern Ireland to First Larne Presbyterian Church in the East Antrim constituency of Finance Minister Sammy Wilson MLA MP. Mr Wilson said, ‘As Finance Minister I’m well aware of the consequences of tax dodging…whether it’s in Northern Ireland or some of the poorer countries

Lady Sylvia Hermon MP with supporters on the bus in Bangor, Co Down

If you didn’t get an opportunity to see the bus you can still take action by signing one of the ‘Tick for Tax Justice’ postcards to add your voice calling on the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister to use their influence to support Christian Aid’s campaign against tax dodging. Please contact our Belfast or Dublin office if you’d like some postcards.

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FUNDRAISING NETS WORK Young Amy Hardy demonstrates how to use a mosquito net at the launch of the ‘Net Works’ project at the recent Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Synod. Also pictured are Bishop Ken Good and Revd Sampson Ajuka.

The special diocesan appeal, in conjunction with Christian Aid and the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal, aims to buy 20,000 nets over the next year.

Every 45 seconds a child will die from malaria – yet the disease can so easily be prevented by the provision of a mosquito net.

Bishop Good said ‘I am very excited that Derry and Raphoe has identified a life-saving project in Nigeria – providing thousands of mosquito nets for people who can’t afford them.’

COFFEE IN CO DOWN Sarah Jeffers, Gemma Brown, Rachel Crawford and Beth Wilson from The Church of the Ascension, Annahilt in Co Down, at the regular Christian Aid coffee morning that they organise in their church.

BUILDING HOUSES IN HAITI Revd Dr Roger Purce of Groomsport Presbyterian Church presents a cheque for £20,000 to Christian Aid’s Deborah Doherty, which will build four homes in Haiti for those left homeless after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

The money was raised at the church’s Flower Festival held in May this year. Also pictured are Adam Purce and Leah Montgomery.

CHRISTMAS CARDS FIGHTING POVERTY THROUGH TRADE We are selling a range of Fair Trade products, including Christmas cards and chocolate advent calendars. Please call into the Christian Aid Belfast or Dublin offices.

We can also place an order on your behalf if 14 Christian Aid Ireland

you want to set up a stand in your church or organisation Fair Trade products allow producers not just to live, but to flourish.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY WORLD AIDS DAY

DIARY DATE

1

ST

DEC

There are 34 million people in the world today who are living with HIV/AIDS. Seventy five percent of those living with HIV live in developing countries, and two and a half million of them are children under the age of 15.

Christian Aid works with more than 250 partners in 40 countries on HIV education and care programmes.

Margaret Kisilu from BIDII, a Christian Aid partner in Kenya, was photographed at the World AIDS Day event at the Mansion House in Dublin last year.

DIARY DATE

2ND DEC

ADVENT HOPE A special one hour event of music and reflections to mark World AIDS Day.

When:

Sunday 2nd December 2012

Time:

8.00pm

Where:

Dundrum Methodist Church, Ballinteer, Dublin 16.

DIARY DATE

10TH FEB When:

Sunday 10th February 2013

Time:

3.30pm

Where: St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast Preacher: Very Revd John Mann,

Dean of Belfast

Speaker: Christian Aid’s Tendai Madondo. She will speak about her visit to Zimbabwe and the work of our partners there.

CELEBRATE A LIFE This special Service has been planned as a Thanksgiving Service for the families of the many people who have in the past left a legacy to Christian Aid, or donations in lieu of flowers, and for those who have pledged their legacy support in the future.

We plan to contact as many relatives and friends as possible, but we would also ask our supporters to get in touch with us if you would like to attend this service.

Please phone or email Ann McIntyre, 028 9064 8133 amcintyre@christian -aid.org and leave your details.

Celebrate a Life is the first time we have ever taken the opportunity to acknowledge the wonderful work which has been achieved through the generosity of our donors who have remembered Christian Aid in their Will and we would plan to hold a similar event in Dublin later in 2013 and for those who have pledged their legacy support in the future.

WARM SOUP FOR COLD DAYS …

If you are in the following towns please take time to support our regular soup and cheese lunches: Every Tuesday :

1st Wednesday of each month :

in First Lisburn Presbyterian Church

Armagh Road Presbyterian Church, Portadown

Every Thursday :

1st Wednesday of each month :

in Hillsborough Parish Church

9 Vicar’s Hill, Armagh (beside Cathedral)

Christian Aid Ireland

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A prayer at Christmas How ancient and lovely this news of a star, A baby, a mother, the kings from afar.

Come close now, Lord Jesus, we ask you to stay And show us your face in your people today.

What star shall we follow but one that leads here To a baby born homeless and a family in fear?

What heav’n shall we long for but one that starts there For all the world’s children in your tender care?

We thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth; For the lights in the darkness that shone at your birth, For life in its fullness that you promise today, And the hope in a baby asleep on the hay.

Rebecca Dudley

Thank you for your continuing prayerful support

Northern Ireland Charity number XR94639 Company number NI059154 Republic of Ireland Charity number CHY 6998 Company number 426928.