Afraid, alone, in pain
Be the answer to Loko’s prayer this Christian Aid Week.
This Christian Aid Week, you can help transform the lives of women like Loko.
From 10-16 May, churches the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland will come together to pray, campaign and raise money to improve the lives of people like Loko.
Every year, 100,000 volunteers demonstrate God’s love for the poor by taking part in house-to-house collections for Christian Aid.
This fantastic witness is a chance to take the mission of the church into your community.
Loko’s choice in life is simple: ‘If I can’t collect firewood, my children will die.’
Four times a week, in a remote corner of Ethiopia, Loko makes a back-breaking eight-hour trip to gather wood. It’s a task she dreads, but she steels herself to do it because if she doesn’t her children will starve.
She prays to God as she walks. ‘I ask him to change my life and lead us out of this,’ she says.
Just £5 could give Loko a loan to start her own business buying and selling tea and coffee, freeing her from her desperate task and allowing her to spend more time caring for her family.
You can help by filling in one of the donations envelopes in church.
You can help by praying for people like Loko and for all Christian’s Aid’s staff and volunteers.
Help us prevent further deaths in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake
The devastating earthquake that hit Nepal and parts of India has killed more than 2,000 people, and many more lives hang in the balance. Entire communities have been ravaged by the earthquake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale.
Some 6.6 million people are affected, with the death toll set to rise.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that 80% of homes have collapsed near the epicentre, less than 50 miles from Kathmandu.
Hospitals are overwhelmed.
Because of the risk of further aftershocks, people can’t even shelter in any buildings that are still standing. Thousands are living out in the open. People are shocked and frightened. They need emergency shelter, food and clean drinking water, clothes and some of the basics, like blankets and hygiene kits.
We have to help them now.
Our partners are there
We’ve already sent £50,000 (this figure taken from their website 28 April) so that work to help those affected by the earthquake can begin. But we need to raise more funds to reach those in need.
Our Regional Emergency Manager, Ram Kishan, said yesterday: ‘Our partners are en route to establish where need is greatest, so that we can respond quickly and effectively.’
Our sister agency, Lutheran World Foundation Nepal (LWF), part of the ACT Alliance, already has teams in place on the ground. LWF will be assisting with the coordination of emergency supplies at a government-run camp, due to start providing temporary shelter from today.
Other Christian Aid partners are joining the relief efforts.
Local organisation PGVS, which teaches communities on the Nepal/India border how to cope when disasters strike, will be distributing 100,000 sets of water purification kits we’ve supplied.
Meanwhile, humanitarian response experts RedR and water treatment group Aquaplus will also deliver much-needed aid.
Christian Aid is part of the ACT Alliance, a coalition of more than 140 churches and affiliated organisations working to alleviate poverty and respond to humanitarian needs.
(India has also been affected by the earthquake, so money donated to this appeal may be used to help people there.)
For an interactive timeline of their work go to
http://www.christianaid.org.uk/70th-anniversary/
Christian Aid Week