Standing Together
Stories of the lives made better by the love of Christian Aid Ireland supporters like you
Amani and her son fled war in Sudan. In a refugee camp in South Sudan, they received support thanks to people like you.
Growing food amid famine
‘I spend long hours here to maintain a good harvest and sell my tomatoes in the local market. I received fertilizer [from Christian Aid’s partner] to ensure the success of my crop.’
Every morning, Palestinian farmer Imad Al-Muanni travels by donkey and cart to his tomato farm in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. The 40-year-old is accompanied by his wife, son and sister. They work together, tending to their tomatoes and harvesting them.
Imad and his family have had to flee their homes three times since the war started. He told us: ‘I rely on my greenhouse as a source of income for myself and my family. The greenhouse is not far from my home and I spend long hours here to maintain a good harvest and sell my tomatoes in the local market. I received fertilizer [from Christian Aid’s partner] to ensure the success of my crop.’
The Israeli blockade of Gaza has impacted Imad’s farm business, as he explained: ‘It’s difficult to get water to irrigate the crops. I buy diesel at a high price to operate the generator that pumps water from underground wells. I dream of having solar energy to obtain water at a lower cost. This would also help reduce vegetable prices in the market.’
As famine continues to unfold in Gaza, and starvation has claimed the lives of hundreds of people, your donations allow our partner, the Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (PARC) to support Imad and other farmers to grow food desperately needed by everyone in the territory.
Although the Israeli blockade hinders the efforts of many other humanitarian agencies, preventing all but a trickle of aid getting into Gaza, Christian Aid is still making cash transfers to partners such as PARC, based inside the strip.
Since October 2023, your donations enabled our partners to reach those most in need with food, water, medical care, education and shelter. Your generosity delivered emergency aid to more than 800,000 people, provided food to over 1.3 million and supplied water and sanitation to more than 950,000.
Our partners are not distant bystanders. They live this crisis every day alongside the communities they serve. They do far more than deliver aid: they lift voices that must be heard, fight for justice and carry hope into the darkest moments.
Christian Aid / Majdi Fathi
Imad Al-Muanni shows off some of the tomatoes he has grown in his greenhouse in Gaza, with support from Christian Aid.
You reached earthquake survivors
U Aung is haunted by his memories of the day when powerful earthquakes caused his home to collapse. The father-of-two still feels the panic and horror of seeing his wife buried in the rubble, only her head visible, and his daughter with her left arm trapped under the debris. U Aung’s home, which was old and dilapidated, was unable to withstand the violent tremors that struck the Mandalay region of Myanmar in March.
In a desperate attempt to save his wife and daughter, U Aung called for help and his neighbours rushed to assist. Sadly, due to the impact of the collapse and the weight of the rubble, his wife died within minutes. Neighbours managed to release his daughter but her injuries were so severe that she now has only limited use of her fingers. Thankfully, his teenage son was not at home at
A Just Word
the time of the quakes and wasn’t injured.
U Aung’s wife was among 3,800 people to die in the disaster. Thousands more were forced to leave their homes and 2.5 million tonnes of debris needed to be cleared away. Powerful aftershocks in the following months added to the fear, trauma and uncertainty that people faced. Since the earthquakes, work opportunities have dried up
‘I am grateful for the support I received. It gives me strength. Life will never be the same after losing my beloved wife. But I will try to provide for my children the best I can.’
Coming from a farming background, Harvest is one of my favourite times of year. It is a time when we are surrounded and sustained by the beauty and abundance of nature. A time when we join together to thank God for all that we have, especially for the food we eat and for those who produce it.
As we give thanks, we also remember our brothers and sisters around the world, fighting hunger on a daily basis as a result of the climate crisis and on-going conflict. In the Bible, we are instructed to protect the vulnerable. God wants us all to look after our global neighbours. In Galatians 6: 9-10 it says ‘Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at Harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all.’
him in his time of need. Thanks to donations like yours, Christian Aid’s local partner provided cash assistance to help cover the family’s day-to-day costs. U Aung will also use the cash to pay for the rubble to be cleared away and for rebuilding works.
Around 600 earthquake-affected families in the Mandalay region each received €170/£147 in the local currency to buy essentials such as food, drinking water and shelter materials as well as pay for medical care in the days following the earthquake.
Kaye Steele, newly appointed Church and Community Manager
Above: U Aung stands on the site of his home which was destroyed by the earthquakes, killing his wife and injuring his daughter. Below: A building damaged by the earthquake that struck Myanmar in March 2025.
No crib for a bed
‘I told my husband that I was going to leave for fear of being raped.’
When armed conflict swept through Chance’s community in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), her shop was looted and she witnessed her neighbour being raped. She said: ‘I told my husband that I was going to leave for fear of being raped.’ Chance hasn’t seen her husband since that day.
Clutching her newborn baby and rallying her other children, she fled on foot, carrying what she could. As fighter jets screamed overhead and bombs fell around the family, Chance felt her recent caesarean wound open.
After walking for 50 miles, Chance found medical assistance and relative safety for her children in a camp for displaced people close to the town of Kalehe in South Kivu. Now in a temporary shelter, she has nothing of value and fears her husband is dead. With nobody to support her, life in the camp is incredibly hard. Despite having very
young children to care for, Chance must work in nearby fields, earning around 50c/45p a day to buy food for her eight children and herself.
Chance’s children are hungry and at grave risk of malnutrition and malaria. She told us: ‘The life I am living with this baby is very painful. Even finding soap to wash him and his clothes is so difficult. Here in the camp, people need food, clothes, jerrycans, saucepans, blankets and mattresses.’
With funding from Irish Aid, Christian Aid’s partner, Churches of
Christ in Congo is making cash grants to those most in need of support - families like Chance’s. With your support, we could reach even more families.
This Christmas, we’ll be sharing more about Chance and people like her who’ve had to flee violence. We’ll be appealing for donations to help buy food to ward off malnutrition, hygiene kits to guard against deadly diseases, and shelters for people fleeing their homes. You can find more information at caid.ie/Christmas
Christmas appeal
Christmas is approaching and you’ll likely hear more about our Christmas appeal in the coming weeks. Whether you donate, pray, volunteer or campaign with us, our appeal this Christmas is called No crib for a bed, helping mothers like Chance.
Christian Aid/Esther
Chance escaped armed conflict in eastern DRC. Now it’s a bitter battle to protect her eight children from hunger, malnutrition and deadly diseases.
Saint and scholar
Facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, Dublin man John Steele confided in his cousin Elizabeth that he feared nobody would remember him after he was gone. But Elizabeth was determined that would not happen. She shared John’s story with Christian Aid Ireland’s Lisa Fagan.
Born in 1943, the elder of two boys, John Steele lived his whole life in the same house in the Dublin suburb of Terenure.
According to his cousin Elizabeth Coote, his childhood was happy until, aged just eight, his father died suddenly, leaving John as the ‘man of the family’. It was a heavy burden for young shoulders and Elizabeth speculates that it may have been the reason why John never married, instead living at home with his mother and caring for her until her death.
Reflecting his love of books, John began his career in the publishing industry, later becoming Head Librarian at University College Dublin’s Smurfit Business School. Colleagues
there remember a scholarly man who studied part-time alongside his full-time job, graduating in law and accountancy. One said: ‘He was an absolute gentleman, incredibly clever and well-read. He was very generous with his time, helping countless students with their essays and assignments.’
John attended Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin. The Dean, The Very Rev Dermot Dunne recalled a quiet man. ‘He was a gentle and faithful person, not interested in material possessions. There was an innocence about him. He was one of life’s saints.’
John died in September 2022 following a latestage cancer diagnosis and it was at Christchurch
John Steele left a €61,500 (£53,000) gift in his Will to Christian Aid. His cousin Elizabeth Coote said: ‘It was embedded in his Christian faith to give and not seek anything in return.’
Cathedral that his funeral service was held. His cousin Elizabeth gave the eulogy.
John left a €61,500 (£53,000) gift in his Will to Christian Aid. Elizabeth explains what motivated John to leave such a generous donation: ‘After the death of his father, John’s mother relied on the support of the extended family to bring up her two boys and he never forgot that. I think he wanted to repay the kindness he had received. If he heard of anyone who was sick or had money worries, he would send them a cheque. John believed that you should help people in need and that, in giving, you get great joy. He believed that
80 years of global solidarity
Eighty years ago, Christian Aid was founded by the churches in Britain and Ireland to help refugees after the end of the Second World War. A thanksgiving
Gifts in Wills are very special final donations, reflecting the donor’s lived values of care and compassion for those in desperate need. As staff, we take time to reflect and give thanks for the lives of those who give in such an impactful way.
you should give without seeking anything in return.’
As John approached the end of his life, he told Elizabeth that he feared he would be forgotten. She said: ‘He told me that nobody would remember him. But I promised him that my family and I would remember him. That’s why I’m sharing his story, because I want John to be remembered for the beautiful soul that he was.’
service was held at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast to celebrate eight decades of Christian Aid’s work to help vulnerable people across the world. Thank you to everyone who joined us to mark the occasion.
L-R: Church of Ireland Primate, The Most Rev John McDowell; Dean of Belfast, The Very Rev Stephen Forde; Christian Aid Ireland Chief Executive, Rosamond Bennett; Presbyterian Moderator, The Rt Rev Dr Trevor Gribben; Methodist President, The Rev Alan Wardlow.
Your Christian Aid Week fundraising
Our supporters at Ballywalter Parish, County Down held a cooked breakfast event which raised almost £1,000 for Christian Aid Week. The event, which was open to the public, was led by Marilyn Armstrong and Carol Hall with the support of the Rector, Rev Adrian Green.
Sandy Lindsay of First Larne Presbyterian Church organised two games of golf at Ballyclare Golf Club, raising almost £2,000 for Christian Aid Week. L-R, Ken McKinley, Jacqui McKinley, Michael Bailie and Sandy Lindsay, all members of First Larne.
Herbie and Marion Watt of Sligo Methodist Church raised around €2,300 for Christian Aid Week with their annual ‘open house’ event when around 60 neighbours and friends dropped into their home near Skreen for a cuppa and some of Marion’s home baking. The pair have raised well over €30,000 for Christian Aid since they began holding their event in 2000.
