Derry Concern group holding annual Christmas appeal at Millennium Forum

Donations can be made in the foyer of the Millennium Forum from 10am to 5pm.

Mick Conway, of the Derry Concern group, said the charity wanted to express their thanks to the people of Derry and Donegal for their magnificent support for the various appeals made over recent years.

Their generosity has helped people worldwide struggling with the consequences of war, climate change and natural disasters in: Ukraine, Afghanistan, Haiti, Nepal, Turkey and Syria, he said.

In all these appeals Concern has been a partner in the Disaster Emergency Committee, DEC, where they cooperate with the other major charities to coordinate a response to help people in desperate need.

"It might appear that Concern responds in a knee jerk type reaction to every disaster. This is not the case. Concern has long term commitments in 25 poor countries around the world.

"Before the media took interest in Afghanistan, Nepal, Haiti and Syria, Concern already had people in those countries committed to various ongoing initiatives.

"With staff already on the ground they were able to use their experience and expertise to help when disaster struck,” he said.

Since its beginnings in the 1960s Concern has concentrated on the problem of hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity.

Mr. Conway points out that there is enough food in the world but 783 million people, about one in ten of the world’s population suffer from lack of nutrition. He gives a concrete example.

“Eliza John Wesele is not a statistic. She is a 67 year old widow with seven dependent children living in a rural village in Malawi. Malawi is a landlocked country in southern Africa.

"It is ranked 161 out of a total of 191 poorest countries in the world. Like Eliza ninety percent of the population is dependent on subsistence agriculture. Being a widow is a particular burden.

"Much of the work in farming is done by the women of Africa. Like many poor countries it is being adversely affected by global warming caused by excess in the developed world.

"The result is that drought is followed by floods. We are all aware of the problems caused in our country by the Covid pandemic where our comparatively massive resources were fatally overwhelmed. The situation was much worse in Malawi which had its major health problems even before Covid.

“Concern has had an active presence in Malawi for 21 years. Women like Eliza have been helped by Concern by direct finance to get over their most pressing problems of hunger. There is longer term help in the form of donations of seeds and tools.

"There is advice about farming methods such as new crops to produce more varied and nutritional food. Finance and advice about new business ventures are equally important to develop possibilities beyond subsistence farming. Eliza’s work with Concern is also helping raise the status of women within her society,” he said.

Mr. Conway said the collection on Saturday, December 16 is one way of helping people like Eliza. Donations can be made at any time to our Bookshop in Shipquay Street. People may also consider making a direct debit to Concern which can be easily be arranged through the Concern Worldwide website.

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