share
the
care
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Christian World Service | 65th Christmas Appeal
share
the
care
We’ve been working together to
help make a healthier world for 65
years. While we’ve refined the skills
to support people out of poverty and
ill health, the demand for what we
provide still increases. Our work is
far from done.
To help our Haitian post earthquake
“bath baby” (featured in this year’s
poster) reach 65 years old will take
collective effort. She survived
the January earthquake, but now
she needs your support. Coming
from a developing country she is
statistically 13 times more likely to
die before the age of five than any
New Zealand child.
For this special 65th Christmas
Appeal we’ve taken stock and
realised that health and healing have
been on our agenda all the time. The
mission of God is the purpose of
our work; to help families eat better,
drink safe water, and enjoy better
health as foundations for a better
future. That’s why our theme this
year is ‘share the care’. We want
to remind us all that health is so
much more than just a lack of
illness; it is also about vitality,
wellness and healing.
While the battle seems constant
there is progress, with tools like
the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals providing a
precise set of goals for a better world.
In 65 years there are some inspiring
stories to tell, made possible by
your generosity. Like: Supporting
carers for people with HIV and
AIDS so everyone gets a better
standard of living; providing healing
therapy programmes for children
and adults traumatised by war
and disaster; supporting health for
mothers and children trying to live
against the grim backdrop of a war
zone; or reclaiming and developing
traditional farming techniques that
improve nutrition and incomes while
at the same time helping maintain
local cultures and values.
People overseas don’t want to be
labelled as poor and hopeless. Like
us, they want to become the authors
of their own life stories and to build a
better future for their communities.
Helping people out of poverty allows
them to be healthier and more
resilient in their future.
Christmas can and should be more
than just a celebration. While
it opens the door on ultimate
mysteries it also provides us with
some bedrock certainties. One of
these is that by giving people the
opportunity for health and healing
we align ourselves with the essence
of spirituality and goodness.
Christmas connects us with all
people and with God the giver of life.
This year let us join together again
to help bring hope and healing to the
world. Let us ‘share the care’.
The Facts
In the 49 Least Developed
Countries, life expectancy is just
49 years and one in ten children do
not reach their first birthday.
In high-income countries the
average life span is 77 years and
children are 11 times more likely
to survive to five.
HIV is the world’s leading
infectious killer, with an estimated
2 million AIDS deaths in 2008
alone. More than 95% of all HIV
positive people live in low- and
middle-income countries. Even
though access to HIV treatment
has expanded 10-fold in five years,
only 42% of people in low and
middle income countries who
need antiretroviral treatment
receive it.
In 2008, 2.6 billion people had
no access to a hygienic toilet or
latrine. 1.1 billion had none at all.
Every day, one billion people do
not get enough to eat. Each year 10
million people die of hunger and
hunger related illnesses.
Globally, the percentage of the
world’s population with access
to safe drinking-water increased
from 77% in 1990 to 87% in 2008.
However, in the Pacific only 50%
of people have such access.
Every year, more than 1 million
children are left motherless
because of maternal death. These
children are up to 10 times more
likely to die prematurely than
children who have not lost
their mothers.
Annual deaths of children under
five years of age in 2008 fell to
8.8 million, down by 30% from
1990. Yet nearly 3 million children
under five still die each year from
diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Every minute, at least one woman
dies from complications related to
pregnancy or childbirth – 529 000
women a year. Another 10 million
women suffer injury, infection
or disease. Most complications
could be avoided by accessible,
affordable and quality health care.
“
Better health is central to human happiness and well-being. It
also makes an important contribution to economic progress, as
healthy populations live longer, are more productive, and save
more. Poverty creates ill-health because it forces people to live in
environments that make them sick, without decent shelter, clean
water or adequate sanitation.
World Health Organisation
”