With her 50 square metre plot of land, Shanangurai has renewed hope for her future — and her children's future.
"When they grow up I want to train them to do conservation farming and to live better lives, so they can manage to support themselves and other people," she says.
The Christmas Bowl is the annual appeal of Act for Peace, the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia. Funds raised support Act for Peace's work with project partners in conflict- and disaster-affected countries including Pakistan, Ethiopia and the new nation of South Sudan.
Last year, generous giving by Australians through the Christmas Bowl raised $2.3 million to help people from conflict- and disaster-affected countries, including Burma, where violence and persecution have forced tens of thousands to flee to camps along the Thailand–Burma border. Act for Peace's project partner is providing food, shelter and medicine to people in the camps.
This year, the Christmas Bowl highlights the work of Act for Peace's partners in Zimbabwe, where agriculture has been crippled by the combined effects of drought, HIV/AIDS and controversial government land reforms, and more than 39 per cent of the population is undernourished.
Act for Peace's partners have introduced a low-cost and low-technology farming strategy, called conservation farming, which can increase a farmer's yields by up to 200 per cent.
"The flow-on effects are enormous," said Act for Peace's Executive Director, Alistair Gee. "With better yields, farmers can buy clothes and school supplies for their children, and reliance on food aid is reduced."
Conservation farming also has important social benefits. "Psychologically, if you don't have to think about food because it's already there, there is less strain on members of the family, and it creates security," said Elleck Mabhena, a project assistant on the conservation farming program. "It also builds self esteem for the farmers, knowing that they can provide for their families.
"We appreciate the support which has already helped us in many ways to make our farmers food secure at a household level, which will help provide food to the nation," he said.
For the more than 60 years that it has been running, the Christmas Bowl has shown how churches can work together to make a lasting difference in the lives of people around the world, said Alistair Gee.
"Uniting Church congregations around Australia have been extraordinarily generous in their support for the Christmas Bowl over many years," he said. "Thank you!"
A range of resources is available to help congregations incorporate the Christmas Bowl into worship, including PowerPoint presentations, activities for young people, and worship resources prepared by the faculty of United Theological College in Sydney.
For more information or to give today, please visit www.actforpeace.org.au or ring 1800 025 101.
Images courtesy of Janet Cousens/Act for Peace.
