Giving a charitable gift at Christmas is a wonderful thing to do but the choice can be overwhelming! It can help to understand how it all works so here’s everything you need to know about Gifts for Good, an initiative from ChildFund Australia that offers a simple way to transform the lives of children in disadvantaged communities around the world.
Real Christmas gifts that change lives
Gifts for Good are real gifts that are given to children and families to help them on a path to self-sufficiency. They are an essential part of ChildFund’s long-term community development programs, providing the key resources needed to get these programs off the ground. If you buy a dozen chickens, for example, twelve chickens will be given to a family in need, along with training on animal husbandry, information about the nutritional benefits of eggs for their children and even small-business skills to help them generate an income.
How do our Christmas gifts work?
In three easy steps you can give special and affordable gifts designed to make a major impact on children living in poverty. When you select your Gifts for Good, they are delivered to children or families who really need them and you’ll get a beautiful card so you can share your gift with your friends and loved ones.
How are charity gifts selected?
Each gift in the catalogue has been selected on a needs basis. So when you buy a bomb clearance on community farm land in Laos, that’s because clearing unexploded mines and bombs has been identified as a critical need in the communities where ChildFund works.
While gifts relating to education, health care and livelihoods are regularly included in the catalogue, new items this year include:
We’ve also brought back the popular favourites that make a massive impact, including:
How are gifts allocated?
Each gift is allocated to a child or family based on a needs assessment. These assessments are usually conducted in collaboration with the community to decide who is most in need.
ChildFund is committed to supplying the exact gifts purchased to children and families who really need them. If more gifts are donated than a country is able to provide, we reallocate the funds to a similar program.
On the night of 14 August, extreme flooding in Sierra Leone caused a devastating mudslide to sweep down the steep hillsides of the capital Freetown, engulfing the homes of thousands of families who live in the city’s most densely populated areas.
The estimated death toll is around 400, with that number rising daily as more bodies are discovered beneath the mud and debris. Around 20,000 people have been displaced from their homes, and as rescue efforts continue there are real fears that entire communities may have been wiped out.
Approximately 75 percent of those affected are women and children, including 150 sponsored children who are enrolled with ChildFund. We are relieved to report that all children living near the affected areas are safe and accounted for.
ChildFund is coordinating with other humanitarian organisations on the ground to assess the most urgent humanitarian needs, with a particular focus on child protection. Emergency assistance is already being provided in Regent, one of the areas most impacted by the landslide, and includes:
- Establishing Child Centred Spaces at displacement shelters, where children can gather to play and receive trauma support. These spaces also provide parents with a safe location to leave their children as they begin to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
- The provision of non-food items (NFIs) such as blankets, mosquito nets, water purification supplies, and scholastic materials so children don’t fall behind in their education.
- Cash transfers to the most vulnerable families, such as female-headed households who have lost their homes and are now without shelter and other basic necessities.
As time passes, there is increasing concern that waterborne disease may become widespread in Freetown due to the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, and contamination from bodies still lost under the mud.
The growing risk of diarrhoea, malaria and other diseases, compounded with poor access to adequate food, increases the potential for significant malnutrition, especially for the youngest children and lactating mothers.
Although Sierra Leone is prone to flooding annually, the country was not prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. As the country is only halfway through the rainy season, there are real fears of a second mudslide, with satellite data and radar imagery indicating a new fault line in another section of a Freetown hill. This situation will be monitored closely.
