What IF?

A number of charities including Action Aid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam, Tearfund, Save the Children and Unicef, launched the Enough Food for Everyone IF campaign on January 22.

The campaign video was animated by my buddy James Munro, so if you can’t be bothered reading the rest of this blog, at least watch his excellent handiwork here.

What’s it all about?

Well, here’s what campaign organisers have to say about #IF...

Nearly one billion people go to bed hungry every night and two million children die from malnutrition every year. We've made progress in other areas, but hunger is still the great scandal of our age. All around the world, even in the UK, people are struggling to feed their families.

In 2013, the government has promised to provide 0.7% of national income for aid and to host a Hunger Summit. We must make sure they keep these promises. In June, the world’s most powerful leaders will meet in the UK at the G8.

This is our best opportunity to tackle hunger. We must make IF happen.

Reading this makes me want to do something. How can we sit around stuffing our faces when we know two million children are DYING each year from malnutrition each year?

Imagine you had nothing to feed your children! Imagine even going one day without food yourself!

The campaign is split into four segments covering aid, land, tax and transparency; urging the government to keep its promises and step up to the plate on eradicating hunger. As president of G8 this year, the UK has a key role in bringing about the changes needed to stop people suffering from, and dying of, hunger.

What can you do?

1. Join the campaign here.
2. Share the message. Post the campaign video to your Facebook or Twitter account and get 
people talking about it.
3. Take note of upcoming events here.
4. Buy Fairtrade food and only buy what you will eat!
5. If you are aged 18-25, get along to one of the youth meals Christian Aid Collective is hosting. Not only will you get a free dinner, you’ll join the debate about eradicating global poverty. They’re happening imminently so check dates here!

Read more from Joy in the next issue of Liberti magazine.

Rising to the challenge is tougher than it sounds

So here we are on day 24 of Lent, and of the 40acts challenge. Last time I wrote about it, we were on day two, and I hadn’t actually fulfilled either of the tasks.

I’m afraid this was a pattern of things to come. Each day I open the email and think about how I’m going to carry out the acts. But then I invariably forget all about it once I open the next email. That’s not to say I haven’t done any of them, though. 

I’ve picked up litter (day 24), paid a visit (day 23), made someone smile (day 22), simplified by getting rid of unnecessary possessions (day 21), been polite on the road (day 20), loved my bags by reusing them (day 19), shared a joke (day 18), ‘wasted’ time with others (day 14), prayed (day 13), passed it forward (day 12), left my comfort zone (day 11), shopped locally (day 9) and nurtured myself by reading the Bible (day 6).

I haven’t necessarily done them in the right order or on the right day, but I’ve done them nonetheless. In fact, I’m trying to make a habit of most of them. They’re not just things to do once; they are patterns I want to build into my daily life. It will take discipline to do so, but who doesn’t want to be more considerate, generous, kind and friendly?   

But what about the tasks I’ve skipped over? Well those are the ones I struggled with as they require a bit more thought and preparation. I haven’t given up on them, it’s just a case of getting round to it. Here’s my plan of action:

Day 1 Create a giving jar. I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t done this. I will do it today, though, and empty everything I have in my purse into it (except my library card – I need that!).

Day 2 Cross a social divide. I probably have done this involuntarily, but I want to do it deliberately. I’ll keep you posted.

Day 3 Share your skill. I’ll need to find someone who is lacking one of the skills I have and devote an afternoon to teaching them. Watch this space.

Day 4. Grab a cuppa. I’m yet to buy an extra cuppa to share with a homeless person, and if I’m honest, I think I’ll struggle with this.

Day 5 Buy Fairtrade. I plan to do it purposefully by stocking up on choc and wine!

Day 7 Be spontaneous. This isn’t something I’m good at, but random acts of kindness/generosity are certainly an admirable aim.

Day 8 Donate your holiday. Any ideas of how I can give a day’s holiday to help someone out?

Day 10 Go screen-free. I’d much rather play a game/sit and chat than watch the box. I just need to find someone who feels the same!

Day 11 Send a thank you note. My granny is long overdue a thank you note for giving me her car. Shame on me.

Day 16 Organise a swap. This is at the bottom of the pile at the moment. I do have stuff to swap, but the word ‘organise’ puts me off – it’s really not my forte.

Day 17 Make an emergency kit. I have a first aid kit in my car, but I need to think of a kit I could put together to benefit someone in need.

It’s easy to avoid doing the tasks that seem to go against our natural strengths, but these are probably the ones we need to focus on the most. I’ll let you know how I get on – feel free to do the same in the comments below.

Read more from Joy in the next issue of Liberti magazine.

Chris Page has some pretty good cards up his sleeve

I recently interviewed a guy whose vision has become a thriving and inspirational company. In 2004, Chris Page set up Cards fromAfrica (CfA), which provides employment to people in Rwanda and makes beautiful handmade, Fairtrade cards. Chris tells Liberti how he set up the business and about the exciting road ahead.

Liberti: What drew you specifically to Rwanda?

Chris Page: I visited Rwanda for three days in 2001 during a ‘scouting the land’ trip.  I knew God was calling me to work overseas and sensed the time was right to start looking in 2000, so I started researching about countries and visiting a few in my holiday leave. Whilst I was in Rwanda I heard the word ‘dignity’ from the Lord and I strongly felt He was saying He wanted to restore dignity to vulnerable youth.

Liberti: Why did you think the card business was a good way to support orphans there?

Chris Page: I started to think about what it was that gave me dignity in my life.  I realised that apart from my identity in Christ, it was the ability to choose what I studied, what clothes I wore, having decent healthcare, what sports to play, etc. And the thing that really enabled all these choices fundamentally seemed to be money! 

So perhaps the Lord wanted me to help people earn money… How, I thought? Through job creation? The more I thought about it, the more it sat right with me, and I was filled with excitement. He wanted me to go and help start up businesses and become a business missionary.

Cards from Africa was the first business I started. I was looking for a product that could be exported, [and was] lightweight (Rwanda is landlocked), high-value, labour-intensive, and relatively unskilled. Handmade cards seemed to tick all the boxes, so we teamed up with a Rwandan artist, made our own handmade paper, and it seemed to take off. We haven’t looked back (much) since! We’re now employing over 90 people full time to make the cards. Almost all our employees are orphaned youth responsible for their younger siblings. They are all aged 18 years+, which is one of the requirements of a Fairtrade organisation.

Liberti: Did you have previous experience in the creative/business sphere?

Chris Page: No, but I have started a few small enterprises since then, including Cards from Africa in the UK as a distribution business.

Liberti: What is your vision for the company?

Chris Page: Our initial vision is to capture 0.01% of the UK greeting card market!  That would enable us to employ around 300 orphaned youth in Rwanda, which is about the capacity of the building they currently rent in Kigali, Rwanda.

Liberti: How does your Christian faith affect the way you do business?

Chris Page: Jesus is central. He’s the best business partner you could ever have! He guides, gives reassurance, whispers words of encouragement and affirmation, and His glory is CfA’s ultimate aim. When we lose track of what CfA is all about, He gently puts us back on track. He is exceedingly patient, gracious, loving and generous, and has never, ever disappointed or failed us, and he never will (even if CfA fails).

The cards take 30 minutes to make, on average, and are exceptionally beautiful. And according to Chris, Cards from Africa now has the largest range of Fairtrade greetings cards on the planet. “We don’t kill any kittens to make our cards, we only use recycled office waste paper,” he jokes. Of course, the main point is that the money goes to those who need it rather than the big American greeting cards companies many of us buy from.

In addition to buying the cards, you can become a Cards from Africa representative, selling the cards and earning some money for yourself (or for a cause you love). You can also contact Chris (chris@cardsfromafrica.com) if you know a retailer that might want to stock CfA cards or if you have any design ideas. Find out more about the company at www.cardsfromafrica.co.uk.