Every month, just after payday, yer man Zero goes Robin Hood on someone’s ass, giving a cash wad to some charity or other on top of the usual direct debits. Payday has been and gone, and before every penny disappears on crumpets and gak I’m setting aside 50 smackers for the first official charity of the month, CARE International.
CARE is one of the world’s top three aid agencies, working in 70 countries to help 59 million people escape extreme poverty and hardship. It addresses natural disasters, HIV/AIDS, water and sanitation, food and farming, education, microfinance, community organisation and gender issues. Its goal is to see “a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security.” We’ll go for some of that.
CARE checks out with the charity commission, and highlights from last year’s annual review include training 31,317 teachers, immunising 79,943 children against measles and giving 3.8 million people access to safe water. My £50 could pay for oral rehydration therapy for 50 children, train a couple of Cambodian farmers to grow fruit trees to increase their food supplies, or provide seedlings to three families so they can grow their own crops. That’s money well spent, and there’s nothing Alan Rickman can do to stop me.
Although Bryan Adams could break my morale.
Donate here.
Photo credit: Care International UK
