Oxfam Southport

We had an amazing time at the Vintage Fair last week! Thank you to everyone who came along and visited our stall. We still have some vintage stock in our shop on London Street if you missed it and we also have ethical craft products for making your own fashion creations!

Here are some pictures from the day:

As promised, a post on our brilliant Unwrapped Saturday last week!

As well as dressing as builders and trying to raise money to build a bog we celebrated our wonderful deputy manager’s birthday! I sincerely hope he had a fantastic day.

Now on to the builder pictures!

We had an amazing day so thank you to everyone involved (customers and volunteers!). We were aiming to build one bog but actually raised enough to build two and buy a goat! 

The grand total was an amazing £125!

Read more about where this money has gone below..

Build A Bog

You don’t have to be flush to invest in one of these amazingly influential constructions. It can bring dignity to families in refugee camps, encourage children to go to school, and can stop the spread of deadly diseases. This gift is anything but bog-standard.

How this gift helps

While most rural areas escaped the devastation wrought by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, districts like Petite Riviere were threatened by the subsequent outbreak of cholera. So, alongside some essential hygiene advice, Oxfam provided Eugene Joseph and 700 other people with the training, building plans and tools they needed to construct their own toilets.

And it’s a vast improvement on the existing situation where Eugene and his family would go in the bush or the street.

“We never had a latrine before because we had to dig it ourselves. We didn’t have the tools to dig.” Oxfam provided him with a pick so he could dig the latrine pit and a building plan. “We built the latrine because we were scared that the cholera would spread to our house. Now we’re proud of it and we’re happy that Oxfam is helping.”

This is echoed by Eugene’s neighbour and carpenter, Erntz Jean, who also received materials from Oxfam to build a latrine, and is helping others to build theirs: “Everybody here is very happy about this. Not only me. I’d have had a latrine before, but I’ve never had the money.”

Oxfam’s help has meant that Eugene’s family and the wider community have reduced the impact of cholera in their area, and can look forward to a healthier future.

Watch a video about this gift - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=okGfaPK8F28

Goat

No ifs and butts, a goat’s a great gift. These go-anywhere goats are locally sourced, vaccinated and make a big difference. They produce milk to drink and sell, fertiliser for crops, and kids to take to market. Our goats get everyone’s vote – and that means they’re likely to sell out. So be quick.

How This Gift Helps

Goats are doing great things for poor communities in Malawi, changing people’s lives for the better – including that of Aida Jonasni and her family.

Aida is HIV-positive and is bringing up two sons alone. She was chosen by people in her village Chimbalanga, to receive a goat. Under this Oxfam scheme needy families get a female goat to breed from. After returning one of the resulting kids to the scheme, the family get to keep the rest. Aida currently has seven goats.

The Oxfam-funded goat distribution programme started in 2005, since then 2,798 families have received a goat and their lives have begun to change for the better. It is a simple initiative that aims to ensure that people have enough food all year round, particularly during the dry season – when personal maize harvests have run out and little else grows without irrigation.

A goat is a valuable asset to a vulnerable household; it breeds easily and can produce up to six kids a year. They can be kept to produce milk and manure which can help improve subsequent harvests. Or offspring can be sold to raise money to pay for food, school fees or, as in Aida’s case, the medicines which have really changed her life: “Before I received this goat I was sick a lot. Now I’m receiving treatment and I feel much better.”

Watch a video about this gift - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QnK9lx1bU4Q

Thanks again to everyone involved! Watch this space for our next event!