This is an appeal on behalf of oxfam,to see if you could give just 2 pounds a month to help those who are suffering in the 3rd world.Yes thats right,just 2 pounds a month.Imagine knowing that your children are dying of dehydration-and realising that the only water available may kill them.2 pounds a month can help buy fresh drinking water-and buy the seeds to grow fields of crops to feed there families.And they can sell the excess food to other families,with the money they cant buy books and equiptmemnt to give there kids an education.So that they can have a good start in life-and take up the many jobs available.With the money that they earn from these jobs they can buy farm machinery to expand there agricultural industry,making them very rich and able to build there own houses so that the whole of the 3rd world population may live in luxury.All this on just £2 a month,please help.

By AnDyPaNdY on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 01:04 am:

A few things have always bothered me about these adverts,these are:
1.How can £2 a month make such a difference?
2.Where do they buy there seeds,farming equiptment and stuff-is there a local b&q in ethiopia?
3.How can they sell the excess food to other families,when there is no money in the country?
4.There are no schools in ethiopia-so how can they be educated?
5.There are no jobs available in ethiopia
6.The ethiopians cannot be that poor otherwise how could they afford to advertise there appeals in the daily telegraph?-it costs £3000 to do this.
7.If conditions are really that bad over there-y don`t they emigrate?
Just my views

By girl from Ipanema on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 04:58 am:

Unfortunately, the problem in Ethiopia is not as simple to solve as we'd like to. We have a similar situation in my country (Brazil) regarding poverty, but here it doesn't happen all over the place, like it seems to be there...

What we all see on tele about ethiopia is very superficial (skeletons dying of hunger and a civil war here and there) but I don't think we have the exact idea of what really goes on there.

I might be stupid for saying this, but I don't know if they don't have school there or if they do, it only exists for a minority... I don't know if some try to emigrate or not, most of us don't know much about their reality there. Some people think Brazil is a huge forest and we walk among elephants and snakes...(??) And thinking like that is not being stupid, is just not having enough information...

Giving money and food might help, but it's far away from solving any problem. It envolves politics, and the ones who rule that country are not interested at all in building a nation where people are nourished and educated enough to question anything. Their situation brings them no perspectives, they're not even healthy enough to think about moving and changing things...

By girl from Ipanema on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 05:05 am:

Unfortunately, the problem in Ethiopia is not as simple to solve as we'd like to. We have a similar situation in my country (Brazil) regarding poverty, but here it doesn't happen all over the place, like it seems to be there...

What we all see on tele about ethiopia is very superficial (skeletons dying of hunger and a civil war here and there) but I don't think we have the exact idea of what's really going on...

I might be stupid for saying this, but I don't know if they don't have school there or if they do, and it only exists for a minority... I don't know if some try to emigrate or not, most of us don't know much about their reality there. Some people think Brazil is a huge forest and we walk among elephants and snakes...(??) And thinking like that is not being stupid, is just not having enough information...

Giving money and food might help, but it's far away from solving any problem. It envolves politics, and the ones who rule that country are not interested at all in building a nation where people are nourished and educated enough to question anything. Their situation brings them no perspectives, they're not even healthy enough to think about moving and changing things...

By girl from Ipanema on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 05:06 am:

SHITE! SORRY, THAT WAS SENT TWICE... READ THE SECOND ONE, IT HAS BEEN REVISED, HEHEHE....

By AnDyPaNdY on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 12:05 pm:

Thats ok,I needed to read the second one as well anyway,because there were so many long words in that passage-I needed to read it twice to fully digest the passage.I like Brazil,ive never been but it looks great-and Brazilians love there football,so do I.Another thought on the poverty front.Why on earth do the ethiopians have Children?Do they mean to-or is it just the lack of contraception?I mean who would want to bring a child into such an unhealthy climate.....

By AnDyPaNdY on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 12:07 pm:

Not me!

By girl from Ipanema on Thursday, December 28, 2000 - 11:16 pm:

Thanks for understanding, Andy Well, I think they have children because they don't have information about contraception... Hard to believe in those days, but there are still people who don't know about those things...

By R~S~P on Friday, December 29, 2000 - 12:40 am:

Andy, please tell me you're kidding... If not, I'll be quite happy to go through that list of questions and make you look just a tiny bit silly, k? Let me know.

By AnDyPaNdY on Friday, December 29, 2000 - 02:55 pm:

Yes Chris,I was indeed just kidding..Girl from ipanema-My parents only found out about contraception the day after I was born-My Mum told me this whilst we were eating our Christmas dinner,which im sure you`ll agree was rather upsetting.But I had my vengeance,I put strontium nitrate in my her coffee.

By AnDyPaNdY on Friday, December 29, 2000 - 02:56 pm:

Yes Chris,I was indeed just kidding..Girl from ipanema-My parents only found out about contraception the day after I was born-My Mum told me this whilst we were eating our Christmas dinner,which im sure you`ll agree was rather upsetting.But I had my vengeance,I put strontium nitrate in her coffee.

By caz on Friday, December 29, 2000 - 05:21 pm:

I agree with Chris there. I can help you too. Just ask me...
Now the 1.st question.
£2 a months are better than no money at all isn't it? And if everyone in the whole world (who is rich) gives £2 or more every month there will be loads money, right?
Think Andy, before you say such a silly things.

By Chris on Friday, December 29, 2000 - 08:44 pm:

The point is that £2 is worth more in a Third World country than over here due to exchange rates, isn't it?!

By caz on Saturday, December 30, 2000 - 11:23 am:

Yeah I think so, Chris.

By girl from Ipanema on Saturday, December 30, 2000 - 08:36 pm:

I'd like to wish to all of u nice ppl from BC a great new year!!

Hope the chat will be as good as it was before with all of us meeting again...

And I know you don't like new years'eve, Chris dear, but remember - it's just a day... Anyway, hope you have a good one ;)

By AnDyPaNdY on Sunday, December 31, 2000 - 12:54 am:

You have a great new year too.....

By Luk'as on Sunday, January 7, 2001 - 11:32 am:

I once gave in to one of them £2 a month charity appeals. I think it was £1 a month though. I filled in this form, wrote a cheque and sent it off. I didn't tell anyone I had done it, as real charity is done inot for your own self glory but for the needy. And I din't feel good about myself either as I realised the money would probably go to adminstation costs of the charity.

Within a week I received nine letters from other charities asking if I would give them money too. I don't think this is a coincidence.

By Bonehead on Sunday, May 5, 2002 - 11:48 am:

what a stupid topic