Looking for that special Christmas gift, one that is appreciated and treasured? How about a goat, a heifer, or a fly-free latrine?
These are among the "extraordinary gifts" in the Gift for Life catalogue published by Christian development agency Tear Fund.
The catalogue lists 10 items which might raise eyebrows if you
gave them to your family, but would help disaster relief projects worldwide.
It could be that you have little need for a $25 midwife kit, yet it would provide birth attendants in Cambodia with training and equipment to deliver infants safety.
For $50 you can buy a goat, which would wind up going to the poor families in Afghanistan's Dara-I-Noor province.
If you are looking for something a little more pricey than a goat, Tear Fund can help - at $180 heifers are a great source of fertiliser and can be used to plough.
Poor communities in India, Burma and Uganda will beam with delight on Christmas morning if you opt to splash out $80 to give them a fly-free latrine.
This multi-purpose gift will dramatically improve sanitation, and give the locals construction training, Tear Fund says.
"Have you ever wandered through stores struggling to decide upon a gift for somebody you love?" the catalogue says.
"Have you ever settled for something you are not sure they want or need. Give a gift that really matters."
Other options are literacy training books for women ($20), a literacy teacher for a year ($250), toys for anaemic children in Baghdad ($40), or $135 for a microenterprise loan (helping those in the developed world avoid loan sharks who charge as much as 200 per cent interest).
The big ticket item is a $400 playground for Ugandan children orphaned by Aids or war.
"The playground brings joy to the lives of these children who have lost everything," the catalogue says.
Tear Fund works in partnership with child sponsorship, community development, microenterprise and disaster relief projects in the developing world.
It helps people regardless of their religious beliefs.
- NZPA
Tear Fund
