Christian Aid Ireland magazine 49: Spring - Summer 2016

Christian Aid Ireland Spring - Summer 2016 ■ Number 49

A mother’s story ‘I’m scared of the river’

Christian Aid Ireland is the official relief and development agency of the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Non-subscribing 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 dublin@christian-aid.org

Rosamond Bennett Chief Executive, Christian Aid Ireland Belfast 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 Canal House Canal Road, Dublin 6 Tel: (01) 496 7040 Email: Dublin@christian-aid.org Contact: Peter Byrne, Church and Community Manager (Dublin)

How we communicate with you We currently produce two magazines a year for our supporters throughout Ireland.

• We aim to show you how your money is being spent with stories and photographs.

• We encourage you to get involved in our campaigns closer to home.

• We bring you news of what you, our supporters and volunteers, are doing for Christian Aid. • We let you know about forthcoming events that you can take part in, like concerts, lunches, and walks.

But the magazine is quite expensive to produce and especially to post.

Would you like to continue receiving this magazine?

Perhaps you would prefer to keep up to date by signing up for our monthly e-zine, Christian Aid Ireland eNews, or visiting our website, christianaid.ie, or through Facebook or Twitter.

If you want to stop receiving this magazine, simply write or telephone or email any of our offices (details on the left) to let us know.

Alternatively you could continue receiving this magazine through your church. Sending it in bulk is a much cheaper option for us.

If you would like to get a copy in your church or if you can help distribute it, then please contact us and we’ll do the rest. Thank you.

Cork Hill View Bandon, Cork Tel: (023) 88 41468 Email: Cork@christian-aid.org Contact: Andrew Coleman, Fundraising Co-ordinator NI Company no. NI059154 NI Charity no. XR94639 / NIC101631 ROI Company no. 426928 ROI Charity no. CHY6998 / 20014162

The work of Christian Aid Ireland is based on our Christian belief that everyone, regardless of faith or race, is entitled to live a full life, free from poverty.

We believe in tackling the root causes of poverty, not just the symptoms. We believe the world can and must be changed so that there is equality, dignity and freedom for all.

We are driven to make this change happen and to inspire others to help make it happen.

www.christianaid.ie

christianaidireland

@christianaidirl

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Contents

Editorial ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. Those resounding words spoken by Jesus have echoed down through the centuries to us.

When Jesus was asked ‘And who is my neighbour?’, in Luke chapter 10, He responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Today we are still reading stories in the news of desperate people who are lying by the roadside – sometimes literally – hoping that a passing stranger might stop and help them.

It is five years since the conflict began in Syria. Five years is a long time for an adult. For a small child, five years is a lifetime.

For many of those children, being constantly on the move in search of safety has been their whole life. Feeling unwanted and unworthy, they don’t know anything we take for granted.

Things like schooling, regular food on the table, a safe and secure home.

In these pages you can read about the work being done in Europe and areas closer to the conflict by Christian Aid and its partners in Action by Churches Together, to help those who are fleeing from danger.

Of course, it’s not just conflict that forces people to flee their homes.

In Bangladesh when the floods come, we hear stories of mothers like Morsheda Begum – pictured on our cover. Once, in a moment of desperation, Morsheda had to place the youngest of her four children in a large kitchen pot and then cling to it as they floated away together in the current.

How we can help Morsheda and her neighbours, living together on a low-lying island in the Brahmaputra River, is told in our story about this year’s Christian Aid Week, in the centre pages.

Which brings me back to that original question asked of Jesus, ‘and who is our neighbour?’

This Christian Aid Week, 15-21 May, when our supporters and our churches all over Ireland come out to help those in need, we are asking everyone to ‘Love EVERY neighbour’.

God bless.

13 News ■ 4 Archbishop

Rowan Williams - 70th Service in Cork

5

■ 5 Christian Aid’s

first ever charity shop

Features ■ 6 In search of sanctuary

The refugee crisis

■ 8 Christian Aid Week

Morsheda’s story

■ 10 Nepal

A year of rebuilding

6

Campaigns ■ 12 Challenges for the

new Government in Dublin ■ 13 A taxing question

for Northern Ireland

12

Events Rosamond Bennett

■ 14 Run, cycle, hike

CEO Christian Aid Ireland

- or simply come to a concert

■ Cover: Morsheda is a young mother of four living in a flood-prone area of Bangladesh.

She is holding the large cooking pot that she used recently to rescue her youngest child.

Read more of her story in the centre pages.

Photo credit: Christian Aid/GMB Akash/Panos Pictures

14 Christian Aid Ireland

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News The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Dr Paul Colton, said:

Hundreds gather for Christian Aid 70th thanksgiving service in Cork Over 300 people from the Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross and also the wider community in Cork attended the Christian Aid thanksgiving service at the end of February 2016, in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral. The preacher at the service was Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury and Chair of Christian Aid Britain and Ireland.

The service was in celebration of and thanksgiving for 70 years of the work of Christian Aid. It was also an opportunity to express Christian Aid’s appreciation for years of continued support from the churches, schools and communities in Cork, and to thank the Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal, not least for their support for a housebuilding project in Haiti following the earthquake there.

'It is a truly historic and significant occasion for the Church of Ireland in Cork, and by extension for the city and region, that a former Archbishop of Canterbury is honouring this event with his presence in this way.'

Dr Williams spoke of the ‘vision of a joy-giving community and God’s purpose for us to model the kind of community that makes people glad.’ He referred to the generous fundraising of the Dioceses for rebuilding houses in Haiti as ‘a symbol of what we are about as a Church and Christian Aid.’

Bishop Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, preaching during the Service of Thanksgiving at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork.

Sheep’s Head Hike raised over €8,000 The Christian Aid Sheep’s Head Hike that took place last September raised €8,057. A record number of 220 walkers joined us last year – the highest number of walkers we have had in seven years. Thank you to our dedicated organisers and supporters; to our sponsors and to all the walkers who travelled from Cork and beyond to take part in the hike.

Visit christianaid.ie/trekking for details on this year’s Sheep’s Head Hike. It will take place on Saturday 3 September 2016. We hope to see you all again and to have new walkers as well.

Organisers and supporters of the Christian Aid Sheep’s Head Hike present cheque of funds raised. Back (l-r): David Hayward, Donal O’Donovan, (Sheep’s Head Way Committee), Caroline Coleman, Sandra Dukelow (Board member Christian Aid Ireland), Kurt & Ulla Zepperitz (Gourmet Grill), Sean Coughlan (Sheep’s Head Way Committee). Front (kneeling l-r) Andrew Coleman, Christian Aid Ireland and Margaret Skuce.

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Walking 70km in solidarity with refugees A retired Co Monaghan minister set himself the amazing challenge of walking his age in kilometres.

So in Christian Aid's 70th year, Revd David Nesbitt, Minister Emeritus of 1st & 2nd Ballybay Presbyterian Churches, walked 70km to raise funds for our Refugee Crisis appeal.

'I watched films of so many Syrian (and other) refugees walking to find a future secure from war and I thought “Why don’t I do a symbolic walk to raise funds for Christian Aid’s response to their needs?

Why not walk 70 kms?”’ he said.

Revd David Nesbitt presents Christian Aid Ireland CEO Rosamond Bennett with €6,525 from his 70km walk.

On November 19th, he set off from his home in Ballybay and walked to Cootehill, Co Cavan, and back via Rockcorry.

He then walked to Monaghan town and back via Tullycorbett and finished the walk on November 20th.

David and his wife Elsie have supported Christian Aid for over fifty years. David lives in Ballybay, Co Monaghan, and together they established the Annual Ballybay Coffee Morning and Sale which continues to this day.

Our heartfelt appreciation goes to David for taking on this challenge. We would also like to thank the local communities who supported him along the way and who donated towards the walk.

Christian Aid’s first shop ‘The Changing Room’, Christian Aid’s first charity shop, is now open for business in Main Street, Garvagh. The shop is the idea of local Christian Aid supporter Rachel McCormick, pictured here in the centre of the group at the official opening by the Mayor of the Causeway Coast and Glens, Michelle Knight McQuillan. The shop is staffed entirely by volunteers. Please do visit!

Christian Aid Ireland

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Emergencies

In search of sanctuary

With the world’s refugee crisis showing no signs of being resolved, Christian Aid and its partners are continuing to bring some relief to those affected

Driven by the conflict in Syria, humanitarian crises in Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen, decadesold instability and conflict in Afghanistan and Somalia, millions of refugees are on the move.

The numbers trying to reach northern and western Europe, via Greece and the Balkans, rose sharply in 2015. In October, the number of people arriving in Greece peaked at 10,000 a day. As a result, transit countries including Greece, Macedonia and Serbia have struggled to cope.

As some European countries have tightened their borders, or closed them completely, the number of safe routes for 6

Christian Aid Ireland

refugees to travel through has diminished. Large numbers of refugees are stranded at the Greek-Macedonian border.

In response to the growing needs of refugees in Europe, Christian Aid launched its Refugee Crisis Appeal in September 2015. To date we have generously received more than £100,000 in Northern Ireland and nearly €100,000 in the Republic. We are working with our ACT Alliance partners in Greece and Serbia, who are providing humanitarian assistance to the refugees.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon and Iraq our partners continue to support some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, including those with disabilities and women who have experienced gender-based violence.

Our partners in Iraq are also responding to the humanitarian needs of displaced Iraqis, providing food, as well as items such as blankets and fuel.

Iraq - the forgotten crisis While media attention is focused on the plight of refugees struggling to cross Europe’s troubled borders, Johanna Rogers reminds us that many, many more people are also displaced in Iraq Against the background of continued fighting and a depressed economy, the Kurdish region of Iraq is home to more than a million displaced Iraqis and a quarter of a million refugees from the conflict in Syria.

In total, 10 million Iraqis, almost a third of the total population, are in need of humanitarian aid, with more than 3 million of those in need located in areas which are impossible to reach as a result of intense fighting.

Ironically, the ranks of ‘those in need’ are now being swelled by Iraqis from communities hosting people displaced from elsewhere.

Christian Aid continues to support internally displaced Iraqis, Syrian refugees and vulnerable host community families through our partners across Iraqi Kurdistan and in federal Iraq.

Our long-term partner REACH is distributing food, blankets and shelter as well as providing cash assistance and cash for work, which helps the unemployed to provide for their families and allows them some control over their situation.

Our partner Asuda continues to work with women who have been affected by sexual and genderbased violence, an often overlooked lifesaving response.

Children playing in the Dawodiya Camp in Dohuk, northern Iraq.

The camp shelters Christian and Yazidi families displaced by ISIS. Photo credit: Christian Aid/Giles Fraser

Christian Aid has recently expanded its support to Kirkuk, where there is a growing number of displaced people seeking refuge. In addition, we are now funding St Joseph’s Clinic in Erbil to provide life-saving medicines and medical equipment to the clinic, for the treatment of the displaced.

Refugee Crisis in numbers 4 million + Syrians are refugees in neighbouring countries: 2 million in Turkey 1.1 million in Lebanon 600,000 in Jordan 250,000 in Iraq

100,000 in Egypt 856,000 refugees and migrants arriving in Greece in 2015

‘They have no choice but to go on’ Nenad Prevelic, who works with Christian Aid partner International Orthodox Christian Charities in Greece said: ‘People are coming from areas devastated by wars. They have nothing to return to, they have no other choice but to continue on their journey. Why

else would people travel with very young children or travel in a wheelchair? Their lives are threatened. I admire their hope and strength; they are very determined to reach their destination. They don’t just deserve our assistance - they deserve our full respect.’

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15-21 MAY

Helping families at the mercy of a mighty river

Morsheda with her children, outside their flooded home in Bangladesh.

It is anticipated that Morsheda will be supported through our partner GUK’s work in the spring of 2016.

Photo credit: Christian Aid / Nicky Milne

Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the people living on the low-lying islands on the Brahmaputra river are among the poorest of the poor.

scramble to safety. Racing against time, she gathered her terrified children together and hastily made a raft from a banana tree.

Each year when the snow melts on the Himalayas the river swells, occasionally causing catastrophic flooding. The rising river destroys homes, crops, sweeps away people’s possessions and sometimes even their children.

Bangladesh’s annual floods have trapped Morsheda in an inescapable cycle of suffering. No matter how hard she works, every year they threaten to destroy her modest resources and leave her with nothing. Again.

Meet our neighbour, Morsheda

Morsheda’s life doesn’t have to be this way. There’s a simple way to lift her out of poverty: raise her home.

Creating an earth plinth 6-8ft above water level would give her a safe place to rebuild her house, keep livestock and grow essential crops without worrying they’ll be washed away.

Morsheda is a young mother of four. She has no land, few assets and no savings. The floods are a terrifying part of everyday life. The single-room, corrugated-iron house she shares with her children has been flooded four times.

‘I feel very scared of the river. When I look at it I keep thinking “it is coming”.’

One year, huge waves crashed against her house giving Morsheda less than an hour to uproot their home and

At any moment, it could have tipped and plunged them into the swirling waters. She put her youngest child in a cooking pot and clung to it as it floated in the current.

Away from everything they owned and everything they knew.

‘If I could raise my house then I would feel much safer living here with my children.’

Make a difference for women like Morsheda this Christian Aid Week

Just £250 / €320 is enough for a Christian Aid Home Safety Package for Morsheda.

This could flood-proof Morsheda’s home. It could also provide livestock, seeds and a wormery to help produce compost - all of which will give her a long-term income and a solid foundation for a new life.

Like people everywhere, Morsheda and her neighbours long for a safe place to call home.

Feroza

Feroza is Morsheda’s neighbour. Her family used to fear the river too. River floods swept away her home seven times. Each time, Feroza, her husband and their three children picked up the pieces and started again.

A grant from Christian Aid helped her build a simple earth plinth on which to rebuild her home – safely out of reach of future floods. It also helped her buy seeds and animals, so she could earn extra income and grow food for her family.

Today, Feroza’s family are healthy and thriving, and she no longer needs charity support. None of this would have been possible without the generosity of Christian Aid supporters like you.

‘I couldn’t imagine that this kind of change could happen. I am hard working, but a little bit of money can really change things’, Feroza said.

A changing climate In Bangladesh, climate change is a present reality, not a future threat. Average rainfall is increasing, but dry spells are getting

Feroza Begum in her home in Bazetilcupi Char and, above, chatting with her neighbour Morsheda.

Photo credit: Christian Aid / G M B Akash / Panos Pictures

longer. Sea levels are rising and flooding is become more and more frequent. The poorest communities find it hardest to recover when disaster hits, making it almost impossible for them to escape from poverty without help. We can find solutions to these problems, but we need your support.

HOST A BIG BREKKIE THIS CHRISTIAN AID WEEK Fond of a fry up? Partial to pancakes? If you share Jesus’ heart for people living in extreme poverty, join us with a Big Brekkie fundraiser.

Jesus calls us to love our neighbours - and not just the people who live next door or down the street.

Morsheda is our neighbour. And there’s no better way to start loving our global neighbours than by getting friends, colleagues and next door neighbours together and serving them breakfast. The money you raise could help change Morsheda’s life.

So bring your community together and get cracking. It’s really easy to host a Big Brekkie, and whether you’re hosting one at work, at home or with your church, your pack has everything you need.

Contact our Belfast or Dublin office to get your free pack - and make sure breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.

Christian Aid Ireland

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Overseas

Nepal: One Year On

Temporary post-earthquake tin shelters in the high Himalayas of Nepal.

April 25th marks one year since the first of two earthquakes hit Nepal.

Many find themselves in extremely remote locations, miles down near-inaccessible tracks high in the mountains and at high-risk of the effects if another earthquake were to hit the region. While many authorities failed to reach these families, Christian Aid local partner organisations did, often spending up to six days trekking on foot to get there.

Between them they claimed the lives of 8,800 people and left 2.8 million people without a permanent place to call home. Hundreds of historical and cultural monuments were destroyed. As Melanie Hargreaves writes, the country remains on edge as it sits on a time bomb under the earth.

Today, the landscape remains a tapestry of corrugated iron sheets covering the temporary shelters people now call home, knowing that building a new permanent home may not be worth the time or energy if another earthquake were to hit.

I met carpenter Dhurba Shrestha, 37, who lives in a mountainous valley in Dolakha with his wife, two daughters and two sons in a small transitional shelter.Â

During a recent visit to the region, I met affected communities, many of whom are still feeling the repercussions of the disaster.

Some experts predict that this part of the Himalayan region is set to experience another major earthquake on a par with the one that hit Haiti in 2010.

10 Christian Aid Ireland

Mrs Shrestha tends to her goats in the quake damaged village of Dolokha.

Behind his humble home stands the remains of his former three-storey house, destroyed by the earthquake.

Yet, despite spending 13 years building his perfect home that now stands destroyed, Dhurba – who has received building materials and specialist carpentry training from Christian Aid partner HURADEC – believes that they should only look forward. He plans to help other families across his region to build earthquake resistant shelters using the techniques he has learned.

He said: 'I now feel confident I can make earthquake resistant houses in the area.

Before I was a carpenter but I was unaware of these techniques. Now I’m a specialist, it will lead to a better life in the future.'

Dhurba also received a cash grant from Christian Aid, which he spent on a goat that he can breed with other goats in the neighbourhood to provide another source of income.

Photos credit: Christian Aid/Claudia Janke

Dhurba Shrestha and his wife stand outside their former home, a three-storey house, which is now too dangerous to live in.

Finding strength in one another When the earthquake struck Nepal, in April 2015, many rural communities were cut off from relief for several days. Landslides and widespread devastation made it difficult to transport aid quickly. Millions were left without shelter, food or water. It was during this difficult time that some communities were able to organise their own survival response.

Chandra Ghale, 32, Gorkha

Laxmi Gurung, 30, Gorkha

Dhan Kumari Magar, 44, Gorkha

‘Once the earth had stopped shaking we helped rescue people buried in the rubble, removed the dead bodies and looked for the injured. For two or three days we lived a dreadful life. The roads were closed and no one came to the rescue. We began to clear the roads ourselves and formed a group to set up temporary shelters and request relief materials. When it finally arrived we distributed it according to the size of the family.’

‘I have a hotel and we had stored food there so I was able to feed people in the days after the earthquake. Many neighbours gathered and I would cook for them. Everyone was hungry. When people were going through such a miserable time, I did not think twice about giving them food.’

‘I helped to rescue a woman and her six-month old baby from a nearby house. They were trapped under the debris and the woman was unconscious. It was terrible to see them under the collapsed house. I also looked after the injured. I boiled water and helped clean their wounds. There were no medical supplies and we had to use old clothes as bandages.’

A year on, Christian Aid and our partners have reached more than 100,000 people across 7 districts, providing essential food including lentils, rice and cooking oil; hygiene material; cash grants for livelihood support; materials to help build safer shelters and latrines; and training so people can learn how to make their new homes more earthquake resistant.

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Campaigns Northern Ireland councils take stand against tax dodging Christian Aid’s ‘Sourced Campaign’ has been making waves in Northern Ireland. The campaign is calling on local councils to ask searching questions of the companies that they do business with, regarding their tax affairs.

The result of these questions would be to send out a strong message to companies that those receiving lucrative tax and rate-payer funded contracts are expected to pay a fair amount of tax themselves.

Four councils in Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, Lisburn and Castlereagh Council, Antrim and Newtownabbey and Ards and North Down, have already put in place these measures.

Tax and climate change are the big political issues Whatever shape the new government in Dublin takes, for Christian Aid three things are clear - writes Sorley McCaughey One, the issue of tax and Ireland’s role in the global tax architecture is going to remain in the global spotlight. In the coming months we expect the European Commission to publish its ruling on Ireland’s alleged secret deal with Apple.

And throughout the year we will continue to see initiatives emerging from Brussels aimed at addressing corporate tax dodging that may well have implications for Irish tax policy.

It will be important for Christian Aid, because any discussion of the international rules around tax provides us with an opportunity to ensure the concerns of developing countries 12 Christian Aid Ireland

DUP Councillor Peter Martin from Ards and North Down Council said, 'Christian Aid has proposed a new, more ethical way of doing business and we’re supporting it. This will ensure that when we buy goods or services, they are from a company who pays the appropriate rate of tax.'

UUP Councillor Alan Chambers from Ards and North Down Council said, 'We need to ensure all businesses and traders can compete on a level playing field to provide goods and services. Tax avoidance and evasion hurts our local economy and in particular it harms some of the world’s poorest countries.'

DUP Councillor Tom Smith from Ards and North Down Council added, 'The public are rightly angry that some larger companies are able to flout our tax laws with impunity, paying such a miserly rate of tax that even Ebenezer Scrooge would blush with embarrassment.'

Sinn Féin Councillor Michael Goodman from Antrim and Newtownabbey said, 'Tax evasion is a serious subject and should be treated as such, and condemned by everyone.'

Whilst it is wonderful that four councils in Northern Ireland have taken this step, there are another seven councils who haven’t yet incorporated these measures. We need the help of you, our supporters, to raise these issues with your local councillors.

You can do this by visiting our website www.christianaid.ie/sourced or by contacting your local councillors directly.

are represented. We were very successful in doing that during the 31st Dáil, and we hope to be able to do that again in the 32nd Dáil.

Two, our response to climate change will (I hope) be an unavoidable issue for Irish politicians. Unfortunately to date, Ireland’s political response to what many describe as the greatest challenge of our time has been to do the minimum required, and shamefully sometimes to look for permission to do less than the minimum required. The ink was not dry on the Paris Climate Agreement of December 2015 when some European leaders, including Ireland, began resisting efforts in Brussels to raise the EU’s emission reduction ambition to a level in keeping with what the science tells us we need to do.

Christian Aid and others will be working to hold the new government to account, and pushing them to show leadership in taking the decisions to ensure that we are leaving an earth behind that is habitable for our grandchildren and their grandchildren. There is no time for procrastination or for pleading special status; the science is stark and clear.

Recent newspaper reports highlighted that global surface temperatures across land and ocean in February were 1.35 degrees warmer than the average temperature for the month, from the baseline period of 1951-1980.

And three, it will be hard work to ensure that Christian Aid’s issues find allies in the new Dáil and Seanad. The general election has deprived us of some strong allies and supporters but some old friends survived, and the new faces in the Oireachtas represent new opportunities and new possibilities to push our agenda of fairness, justice and equality.

Sorley McCaughey is Head of Advocacy and Policy, Christian Aid Ireland.

Climate Rallies In the run up to the United Nations climate change talks in Paris in December 2015, Christian Aid joined with other organisations working on climate change to run a series of public rallies and marches across Ireland.

In Belfast we coordinated an ecumenical service at St Anne’s Cathedral followed by a rally in Writer’s Square. Clergy from the Church of Ireland, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran and the World Council of Churches took part in the service. Around two hundred people attended the rally after the service to call on world leaders meeting in Paris to take action on climate change.

In Dublin, Christian Aid along with Trócaire and Ecocongregations Ireland organised an ecumenical service at

The Big Question In the run-up to the Assembly elections on 5th May, Christian Aid is asking its supporters who live in Northern Ireland to ask their local candidates the ‘Climate Question’.

Campaigning for the next generation. Grace Thomas (8) at the Belfast Climate Rally in Writer’s Square. Photo credit: Press Eye Belfast

St Teresa’s Church and included the reading of a new poem written for the occasion by the celebrated poet John F. Deane. The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, and a number of representatives from the churches attended the service.

In Cork our staff and volunteers took part in a rally in Cork city.

The outcome of the Paris climate talks was welcomed by Christian Aid as an agreement that has the potential to transform the global economy to address climate change.

Christian Aid’s senior Climate Advisor Mohamed Adow said, 'For the first time in history the whole world has made a public commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the impacts of climate change. Although different countries will move at different speeds, the transition to a low carbon world is now inevitable.

Governments, investors and businesses must ride this wave or be swept away by it.'

The question is: "If elected, will you support a Northern Ireland climate change act, including ambitious targets for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions?"

If you get a response please post it here: www.christianaid.ie/elections Christian Aid Ireland

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Events Christian Aid Week 15 - 21 May 2015

15-21 MAY

Seven days of loving every neighbour. For stories, resources and information, see pages 8-9 and online at www.caweek.ie

Christian Aid RTÉ TV Service

Upcoming Concerts in Belfast

Sunday 1 May 2016 Recording of the service at the RTÉ TV studios in Donnybrook, Dublin 4

An Evening of Brass and Voices Saturday 7 May 2016, 7.30pm Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, Belfast

Sunday 22 May 2016, 11am Service broadcast on RTÉ One television

Soloist Ceara Grehan, Downshire Brass and Voices Together Community Choir

Christian Aid invites you to join us for our ecumenical service of worship on RTÉ television. Our service theme follows the Christian Aid Week call to ‘Love every neighbour’. We will share stories from the 'Char' (sandbar or low lying island) dwellers of the River Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.

Music is by the wonderful Jubilate! Choir from Belfast.

The service will be led by Rt. Revd. Trevor Williams, chair of the Christian Aid Ireland board.

If you would like to be part of the audience on Sunday 1 May, please contact Peter Byrne: pbyrne@christian-aid.org or call 01 496 7040.

Tickets £10. Proceeds to Christian Aid and the Livingstonia Hospital Partnership, Malawi.

Available from the Christian Aid office in Belfast

Hardin-Simmons University Choir, from Abilene, Texas Wednesday 18 May 2016, 7.30pm The Agape Centre, Lisburn Road, Belfast Donations at door. Proceeds to Christian Aid.

Belfast Community Gospel Choir in Concert Friday 21 October 2016, 8pm Our Lady & St Patrick’s School, Knock, Belfast Tickets £10. Proceeds to Christian Aid Tickets available from Christian Aid: Call: 028 9064 8133 Email: eventsireland@christian-aid.org Online: christianaid.ie

VHI WOMEN’S MINI MARATHON ile tand still wrh us. s ’t n a c u o y If ngry, run fo people go hu

Monday 6 June 2016

Run for Christian Aid

Christian Aid Slieve Bloom Hike Strangford Sportive Saturday 14 May 2016 Slieve Bloom Mountain, Clonaslee, County Laois

Sunday 1 October 2016 Delamont Country Park, County Down

Get out your walking shoes and join us for our exciting new family-friendly hike on the hills of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. The hike is organised by churches in Tullamore together with Christian Aid Ireland.

The Christian Aid Strangford Sportive Cycle returns to scenic Delamont Park in 2016. Over 300 cyclists took part last year and we are hoping for even more in 2016. Join us in a great cycle, great fun and help fight poverty in some of the world’s poorest communities.

Two hiking routes: A family friendly hike of approximately 5km and a 12km route for the more experienced walkers.

To register or for more information: Call: 028 9064 8133 (NI) or 048 9064 8133 (ROI) Email: eventsireland@christian-aid.org Online: christianaid.ie/cycling

For more information and registration details: Call: 023 88 41468 Email: cork@christian-aid.org Online: christianaid.ie/trekking

Sheep’s Head Hike Saturday 3 September 2016 Sheep’s Head Way, West Cork To register or for more information: Call: 023 88 41468 Email: cork@christian-aid.org Online: christianaid.ie/trekking

Sheep’s Head Hike

Strangford Sportive

Run for Christian Aid Monday 2 May 2016

Belfast City Marathon

Sunday 22 May 2016

Belfast One World Run

Monday 6 June 2016

VHI Women’s Mini Marathon

Sunday 30 October 2016 Dublin City Marathon

To run for Christian Aid or for information and resources, please: Call: 028 9064 8133 (NI) or 01 496 7040 (ROI) Email: eventsireland@christian-aid.org Online: christianaid.ie/running

Order prayer and action cards and encourage your congregation to love their neighbour by using their voice to campaign on climate change. Collect the signed postcards as part of the offering as we give our voices, alongside our gifts and prayers, for change.

Big Brek a e ki v a

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Order envelopes to give out to your congregation or leave one on every seat during your Sunday service in Christian Aid Week. Download our worship resources and videos if you want to include Morsheda’s and Feroza’s stories in your service (find out about them inside!).

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If you’re not sure how to fundraise for Christian Aid Week this year, we’ve got the answer: a Big Brekkie event! Choose a venue – home, church,

nearby to join you for breakfast.

Set your price and send us the proceeds. We’ve put together a fab fundraising pack, so order it today!

Northern Ireland Charity number XR94639 / NIC101631 Company number NI059154 Republic of Ireland Charity number CHY6998 / 20014162 Company number 426928

www.christianaid.ie

For more ideas and resources contact: Northern Ireland Helen Newell 028 9064 8133 belfast@christian-aid.org caweek.org/churches Republic of Ireland Jane Burns 01 496 7040 dublin@christian-aid.org caweek.ie/churches