Last minute present shopping? Make it the gift of light

Light up Christmas this Year with Oxfam’s Ethical Gift Card Range

While the country sparkles in the warm glow of festive lights, Oxfam are asking people to consider their Alternative Gift Card Range which includes the gift of light.

With shorter daylight hours, we rely on electric lights more and more, in our homes, on our streets. Yet people across the world are living in situations where the infrastructure for lighting no longer exists, or in refugee camps where electric lighting is not supplied/a pipedream.

Oluchi Porter, Humanitarian Project Support Officer said:

 “The gift of a solar lamp might seem small or insignificant to us, but it has huge impact in the day to day lives of people we work with. Having a reliable light source allows children to study, and most importantly, play after the sun goes down. It also helps mothers to care for their young children during the night as well as offering security when having to leave their dwelling after dark.”

“A common report we hear from women currently living in refugee camps is feeling unsafe when taking a trip to the bathroom at night due to the absence of street lighting. Having a solar lamp reduces some of this fear as it lightens up dark pathways.”

Sarah, a mother of four children living on Nyoat island in South Sudan, recently received a Little Sun Solar Lamp as part of an emergency kit distributed by Oxfam:

“The most important item I have received is the lamp because I have a small child who needs to be taken care of in the night most especially when changing her bed, previously I would light the fire then change her beddings but with this solar lamp I will just press the button and do it easily"

This gift is available as a printed card in Oxfam’s shops or as a beautifully designed ecard (plastic free!) which can be purchased online as a last-minute gift right up until Christmas morning or beyond!

For people facing conflict or disaster, an act of solidarity and support means a lot, and goes a long way. That is exactly what this gift can provide. It might not twinkle, but it will last long after our Christmas lights are packed up for another year.

ENDS

Contact: Alice Dawson-Lyons, Oxfam Ireland – alice.dawsonlyons@oxfam.org / +353 (0) 83 198 1869

Notes to the Editor:

The money raised through the purchase of a solar lamp gift supports Oxfam’s vital humanitarian work through their Saving Lives projects by providing essential items, such as solar powered lamps, to families who have been forcibly displaced due to war, natural disaster or conflict. You can view the full Alternative Gift Card range here: www.oxfamireland.org/unwrapped

New to the Oxfam Alternative Gift Card Range

A WEE Gift For You (€15 / £13): With this gift, Oxfam can work with communities in some of the world’s harshest environments – to dig wells and install toilets, taps and water pumps – contributing towards improving the quality of life in these communities. The money raised by this gift will go into Oxfam’s Water for All fund supporting vital humanitarian work. In Bangladesh, Oxfam has provided Rohingya refugees with clean drinking water, emergency toilets, water pumps and food rations. Abdul* (10) home in Balukhali Camp, Southern Bangladesh:” We used to go far away around the bushes to the toilet. At night I went with my friends, but I was scared. Now we have a clean toilet next to our house and I’m not scared anymore.”

There Is No Planet B! (€20 / £18): Climate change/Global Warming is one of the biggest challenges facing people in Ethiopia. The money raised from your gift card can help small scale farmers survive ever-worsening droughts and floods, thus safeguarding their ability to provide and care for their families. Oxfam has been helping farmers, previously reliant on maize, to grow vegetables in small kitchen gardens. They use some of their produce to feed their families and can earn income by selling the rest. Patouma, an Ethiopian farmer working with Oxfam: “Now, with this vegetable farming, I am able to sell vegetables and with the proceeds I can buy some food to feed my children. I am able to feed my children every day and which I wasn’t able to do before. I can even buy school textbooks and pencils. This kind of farming has really helped my family."

Five Reasons Why You Should Consider Oxfam’s Alternative Gift Card Range

1. Helping people to overcome income inequality

Oxfam Ireland’s work is focussed on providing families with sustainable, resilient pathways out of poverty. When you buy a gift such as a cow, goat or honeybees, you’re helping people to develop a sustainable way of living and lift their communities out of severe poverty in Tanzania, Ghana and Zambia. The animals are well looked after, and the aspiring farmers are offered support and training to give their ventures the best chance at success.

2. Improving access to education

Oxfam Ireland are working with schools and families around the world to give children, especially the next generation of girls, a quality education. Oxfam’s approach is wide-ranging that help people access vital services like education and healthcare.

3. Promoting gender equality

Educate and empower the next generation of women’s rights activists with the Educate a Girl card. Women are supported with opportunities to generate sustainable livelihoods, and aspiring activists are trained in effective ways of campaigning for gender equality and the eradication of violence against women.

4. Go plastic free

Christmas Day can easily lead to an overload of waste, so Oxfam have made sure that your gift comes in organic, compostable and recyclable packaging and courier bags. Or even better: select a digital (PDF) card which you can download and send to be completely waste-free.

5. Spreading good vibes and generosity

By gifting a gift card like Feed 6 Families, you can enjoy your festive meal, with the knowledge that you’ve helped a family in need purchase food during a hard time. Cards like this help to provide vouchers for families, to purchase necessary food in shops, helping to support local trade.