Words About Things

Dedicated to providing information, financial support and health care to those effected by cancer – Macmillan Cancer Support’s many recent endeavours include their knit for cancer campaign for those sadly effected by cancer and struggling to pay their energy bills, which just a short while ago ‘knitted its last stitch.’

While being treated for cancer, people tend to feel colder than they would normally, and do stuff such as raise the temperature of the central heating, as well as having trouble paying the bills regardless due to having to be out of work while undergoing treatment. Fuel poverty, defined by Macmillans site is “When someone has to spend more than 10% of their income on energy to heat and power their home.”

The idea of the campaign is you add ‘what makes you feel warm’ and the ‘knit-bot’ would turn your message into a knitting pattern and add it to the real life scarf – the scarf would then be presented to the government in an attempt to raise awareness about those effected by fuel poverty.

Ethiopia is currently being hit by the latest drought in africa and thiso ne is being called the worst in decades in the region. The United Kingdom have pledged 38 million sterling to help feed the starving people of Ethiopia. The vast sum is estimated to feed 1.3 million people for three months.

At the same time aid agency Oxfam is launching an appeal to help out with the African food crisis. Ethiopia is among other countries hit hard by the drought, including Somalia and Kenya.

Somalia has been especially hit hard, with its lack of a functioning government and has been called one of the poorest and most violent states in the world – and during this crisis – 111,000 Somalis have moved over the border to south east Ethiopia. The UN has said that new people are arriving at a rate of 1,600 a day! In 2009 the Al-Shabab imposed a ban in Somalia on all foreign aid agencies accusing them of being anti-Muslim. However, this week it has been lifted to receive help with the east african appeal and the UN have welcomed it, though saying that they will need security guarantees for it’s staff though.

“I welcome all efforts to ensure the people of Somalia can access the assistance which they have a right to,” the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden

Over half of all children arriving at the borders are malnourished according to UN officials, with many dying in the journey, or even within a day of arrival at the borders. “When people decide to move they suffer even higher rates of mortality,” said Mark Bowden. The ban being lifted by Al-Shabab should hopefully reduce the number of people who feel the need to evacuate the country in search of food and aid.

For those who want to make donations that will support Oxfam’s important work to help those affected by the east Africa drought you can do so here.

As the video shows online payments service PayPal are very generously boosting all donations made to Oxfam through them. The idea behind the generosity is to cover the administration costs, so that 100% of what is being given goes to the front-line causes.

All charities have overheads that need to be met, and Oxfam are no exception. for them 19 pence out of every pound donation is needed to keep everything running, and this is what PayPal are effectively covering by adding an extra 19 pence to every pound donated using their service.