As a keen supporter of charities, I was thrilled when Oxfam GB got in touch and asked me to help spread the word about their #StortiesOfHope campaign.
I’m sure my regular readers already know that I’m a parent and because of this, I find myself drawn to stories about other families around the world.
One of Oxfam’s #StoriesOfHope was about a mother of four, Kitabe which really stayed with me. It breaks my heart to know that early in life, her future didn’t look too promising. She left school young, was forced into an arranged marriage and lived in poverty with very little food.
Despite her original reluctance, she got involved with Oxfam’s project and took out a loan of 10,000 Birr (around £324) which completely changed her life. Kitabe was raised in a farming family, and the funds she borrowed allowed her to buy more seeds to grow crops.
After generating enough money to repay her debt, she purchased more land, a cow and an ox. This helped her generate further income to pay for labourers.
This money not only gave her the freedom to manage the family finances and ensure that food was no longer scarce, employing people to work on the farm also helps her local economy, supporting financial independence for others.
Kitabe’s life looks completely different to the future she had imagined and it’s all down to the money borrowed from Oxfam’s project. The project is funded by people like me and you, who want to help and are able to donate.
Small-scale farmers (like Kitabe once was) rely on their crops in order to feed themselves. Around a third of people living in rural Ethiopia live this way (known as subsistence farming).
The grim reality is that subsistence farming yields very little food, meaning families often go hungry and lack any sort of financial stability. Usually the women in the family take on the highest workload but have the least control over finances.
Kitabe has been empowered by Oxfam’s help.
A donation to Oxfam can help small scale farmers improve their crop yields, adapt to extreme weather changes and explore new markets for their crops.
So what can your donations buy?
£9 could give a family organic fertiliser and and training in eco-friendly farming techniques.
£12 could help with empowerment of women like Kitabe, by giving them training and education.
£44 could support one woman to join an enterprise which will improve her income.
Regular donations are imperative to enable Oxfam to continue their life-changing work. They want to fight poverty and help people build better lives.
I think reading about the real people whose lives Oxfam have changed remind us of how lucky we are. The work Oxfam does is truly amazing and Kitabe’s story is inspiring.
We won’t live with poverty.
What a great cause! It’s amazing how a small donation (to us) can have a life changing effect. Thanks for sharing Kitabe’s story!
I think it’s so important that people get to read these real life stories, so they are reminded of the good that can come of donating so little. Everyone can help x
Its good to read the end story – I think the problem also is the infertile soil caused by desertification through deforestation and the overgrowing of cash crops. Until we the west stop exploiting their natural resources , a lot of money is needed to feed the barren soil .