Christian Aid Week 15th – 21st May 2016

Posted by Admin on 30 April 2016, 8:00 am

Have you ever wanted to help someone in dire need but not known what to do? Well this is the week for you!
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In some of the toughest places in the world, Christian Aid is helping people get the basics they need – medical care, water, food and shelter. They keep people safe and help heal their emotional scars, providing the expert support they need to deal with their traumatic experiences. An example of this is Morsheda and her family who live on low-lying islands in the Brahmaputra River, where floods are a terrifying part of everyday life. Morsheda can’t even count on having a safe place to call home: the single-room, corrugated-iron house she shares with her children has been flooded four times. One year, her house filled up to her knees with floodwater. To stay dry, and keep away from the dangerous snakes that now swam through her home she raised her bed up on bricks. But during the night she was woken by a loud splash. In the pitch black, her baby son had fallen into the inky water! Another time, huge waves crashed against her house, giving her less than an hour to uproot her home and scramble to safety. Racing against time, she gathered her terrified children together and hastily made a raft from a banana tree. She put her youngest daughter in a cooking pot and clung to it as it floated in the current.
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They live a precarious life, knowing that the floods will come again, and soon. But we can help. Just £250 is enough for a Christian Aid Home Safety Package. It could flood-proof Morsheda’s home, raising it eight foot on an earth plinth, so that she has a safe place to rebuild, keep livestock and grow crops. It could also buy a goat, 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.
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Of every £1 given in 2015, 85p was spent on direct charitable expenditure. Just 1% of their income is spent on governance and administration. They spend 13p from every £1 raised to raise the next £1, which ensures that their work can continue.
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Last year you helped us raise an amazing amount of over £400 through door to door collections in Northwood. This year you would have received an envelope with your copy of Northwood News. You can hand in your envelope or just drop in money, any time in May, at the following places:

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Northwood Church
Northwood Stores
Northwood Garage
Northwood Post Office (Pallance Rd)
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We will also be doing a Christian Aid breakfast at Northwood church on 21st May from 8.30am – do come along for a great start of the day: everyone is welcome and all proceeds will go to Christian Aid!
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Whilst we know that times remain tough, with your help and support we can make life changing differences to people – families like Morsheda’s, every penny will count and will be much appreciated.
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Thank you, in advance, to those of you who donate to this fantastic charity and help turn people’s lives around.
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Rev Amanda, Northwood church