Thanks to all the volunteers - about 30 - who did the house-to-house collections; they worked very hard, especially since this year they asked everybody who donated to make a certified declaration by filling in the relevant details on the envelope. This makes the collecting time longer, but the tax-back amount will be about £600, a splendid sum which makes the effort worth while.

And, of course, thanks to all the people who donated so generously, either in the house-to-house collection, or in other ways. Your very welcome contributions will make a difference to the lives of many others. For instance:-

£175 pays for Thadaham Rural People's Organisation to build a water pump in a poor village in Sri Lanka.

£350 - £750 will enable the rehabilitation programme of the Young Men's Christian Association in Beit Sahour in the Palestinian territories to modify a bathroom so that someone who is disabled can live in a hygienic and active way.

£600 pays for a year's salary for a community field worker at the Institute for Social Development (ISD) in Sri Lanka, enabling workers on the tea plantations, particularly women like Engel Selvi, to know and exercise their rights.

£600 pays for the publication and distribution of one edition of the children's monthly magazine, Rainbow, by Sanayee Development Foundation in Afghanistan, which helps entertain and inform young people about culture and practical peacemaking.

£1,500 will buy a very sensitive metal detector to enable mine clearance workers in Cambodia, to locate landmines buried in soil or vegetation.

£1,700 would pay the annual salary of a de-miner, working with the Mines Advisory Group in Cambodia, supported by Christian Aid partner, the Church World Service.

£1,800 covers transport costs for a year for two teams from Fondation Femme Plus in Democratic Republic of Congo to do daily home visits to women who are HIV-positive, providing help with health care, psychological counselling and income generation.

£2,000 will cover a three-day training course for volunteers and families living with HIV/AIDS, including meals and transport, run by Fondation Femme Plus in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

£8,500 will enable Thadaham Rural People's Organisation to buy a tractor to enable some of the poorest people in Sri Lanka to plough the land, increase productivity, and begin working their way out of poverty.

Source: The Spire Magazine - 2003 July