Faith Shongwe is from Swaziland. She lives in a remote rural village and her life – and her family – have been fundamentally changed by the impact of HIV/Aids. But she is determined to build an independent income for herself and end the cycle of dependency that drives down her and her friends.
She wants desperately to have a skill she can use, a business she can grow, and an income to feed her family.
Faith is not unlike the vast majority of the one billion people who live on our planet with under £1 a day to make ends meet. They are at the mercy of economic and political forces beyond their immediate control, but they want a chance to change that.
I visited Faith last summer. Her community is extremely remote, yet the folks there want furniture in their homes; the schools and shops need benches, and the grieving want coffins to bury their family members with dignity. She and her friends worked with young women carpenters from the UK, and today they are winning orders, making furniture and building independents lives.
Their medical condition will not suddenly vanish, their environment remains difficult, but their families have a chance to live a different life. This is practical development in action.
From 25-29 April I am eating and drinking within £1 a day for 5 days. No cheating, no gifts, no freebies. Not the same life as Faith has obviously, but an opportunity to highlight to existence of this disgrace in the 21st Century of abundance, and to raise some money to do something practical. All the money I raise will go towards this and similar income generation programmes.
Positive Women and McConnell International Foundation will expand Tools for Life, we will assist more women in Swaziland to change their lives, and then we will take it to other communities and countries in the region.
I am today on Day 3 of the challenge. Porridge, lentils, rice and basic vegetables are sustaining me, along with an awful lot of tap water – and I am always grateful for the fact it comes out a tap and it is clean.
Your donation – however large or small – would be very welcome. But more importantly Faith and many more women like her would be so very grateful. They had a vision that this project could work and it was inspirational to see their enthusiasm and ambition. Let’s give more the same chance.
To donate please either go on line here: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/jackmcconnell or send me a cheque made out to the McConnell International Foundation at House of Lords, Westminster, London SW1A 0PW.
grieving want coffins to bury their family members with dignity
More than about a 200,000 people get in this country per annum who are burned in the hospital crematoria where they have died. Euphemistically termed “Medical science donation” which is unfortunate today since much younger people also “Donate” to medical science, which as a lord bishop rightly pointed out is a crime, since the human body is sacred until all mortal remains have gone.
If the Scottish former first minister prepares carefully he will probably dine better on £1 per day than he normally does on £40 and restaurant fees. At this time of year vegetable salads cabbage, carrots, onions, celeriac, tomatoes and so on are very good. If he has had the initiative to chuck in a few seeds in march, he will have done even better. He might even turn a profit, and donate.
Just visited your livebelowtheline link and saw the £250 donation, apparently from Tony Blair. Couldn’t find anything from Gordon Brown…possibly a ‘someone’?
Hope this improves your click rate!