Christian Aid

Christian Aid Week 15-21 May

Coffee Time: Five years ago, Eladio Simeón Pineda’s community in Nicaragua was a group of poor farm labourers. Then Christian Aid partner Soppexcca (pronounced so-pecks-ka) offered them credit to establish themselves as coffee farmers and supported them to work together as a cooperative. Even though Eladio and the other members of the La Paz del Tuma cooperative have only been working with Soppexcca for a short time, their lives are already changing for the better. The credit which Soppexcca gave to Eladio and the other farmers has been vital in getting them started and they now have a community fund that will be used to achieve the dreams which they once thought were beyond their reach.

‘I hope one day we will have a school on this land, clean water and latrines,’ says Eladio. He knows this is possible. After working with Soppexcca for 12 years, the nearby community of Los Alpes now has a school and health centre. But how can we help?

* £14 could buy enough coffee seeds to plant a 0.7 hectare plot of coffee and start one farmer on the path out of poverty.

* £2,170 could pay for a processing plant, allowing farmers to process the coffee they have grown and then sell it for a better price.

Last year, here at Norbury, we raised over £2,000 in Christian Aid Week. If we could do this again this year we could finance another processing plant.

We’ll be fundraising as usual throughout the week with a House to House collection, Cake Sale and a service with a special Christian Aid focus on Sunday 15th May. As usual, all are needed and welcomed as collectors, money counters, cake bakers, etc. Please get in touch to let me know you are on board!

How about holding a coffee morning or Bring and Buy Sale in your own home? This can be great fun. Let me know if you are holding an event and I can supply envelopes, posters, bunting, Christian Aid leaflets and magazines.

The website is www.caweek.org.

Candy Stokes, Christian Aid Representative (01625-871343)