Online donations now accepted

The online donation page at www.ihaudp.org

The IHA-UDP website is now able to accept online donations.

As with ‘offline’ donations, money is being accepted on the Project’s behalf by long-term UK supporting organisation, Glenfall Fellowship Trust.  As a registered UK charity, Glenfall is able to recover Gift Aid on donations made by UK taxpayers, and the Gift Aid declaration can be made during the online donation process.

Donations are being handled through PayPal, who are a leading provider of secure payment technology.  This means that donations can be made with complete confidence that your details will be handled safely and securely.

You can make an immediate donation to the Project’s ongoing needs, and also to the Food Price Crisis Appeal.  To see more details, or to make a donation, visit the homepage at www.ihaudp.org.  In the near future, it will be possible to make a greater range of donations to cover specific needs, and we hope that this will make the website an invaluable tool in raising much-needed funds to enable the Project’s vital work to continue.

Highlights from the UK Supporters Day

Some highlights from the annual UK Supporters’ Meeting

Saturday, 1^st November 2008 Cheltenham

About 40 friends of IHA-UDP from all over the UK gathered for the annual meeting. Dr Jember had stayed overnight in Cheltenham so she took everyone by surprise when arriving in good time. Glenfall Fellowship hosted the event.  A full breakdown of the day is given below, including a detailed update of CRED’s recent activities in support of the Project.

CRED appeal reaches 2,500.00

IHA-UDP’s long-term supporter, the CRED Foundation, has raised over 2,500 pounds towards the current food price crisis.  CRED launched the appeal to its own supporters just two months ago, and will now be able to present the money raised when a group of supporters visit the Project this month.

This fantastic sum is in addition to money already raised by a group of the Project’s friends & supporters, and further donations from larger donors.  All of this money will make an enormous difference to community members who are working for the Project, but struggling to feed their families as the cost of food in Ethiopia soars.

The appeal is ongoing, and if you would like to support CRED, you can make a donation online at:

http://www.justgiving.com/pages/?pid=1381559

Appeal tops 5,000 pounds

The urgent appeal which was launched to combat the food price crisis has now topped over £5,000.00 – and money is still coming in.  All of this money has been raised by individual friends and supporters of the Project, and is in addition to some existing funds and recent grants which have also been earmarked for the same cause.

Ben Booth recently visited the Project team in Addis Ababa, and learnt how this money can make a difference.  A sum of around £5,000 could provide a single round of aid to struggling families – with the precise make-up of each family’s handout depending on their circumstances.

“The response to this appeal has been so quick and overwhelming,” said Ben.  “The Project is enormously grateful to all its friends and supporters who have been so generous in responding to this urgent need.”

Sadly, the crisis shows no sign of ending, and food prices are continuing to rise further – putting essential items out of reach of ordinary people.  “Everwhere we went, this was the topic of conversation,” Ben recalls. “Despite all the problems which you can imagine in the Project areas, this was the one thing which was at the front of people’s minds.”

The appeal remains open.  For further details, including how to make a response, read the initial article here:

http://ihaudp.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/urgent-appeal-food-price-crisis/

Ancient Axum obelisk unveiled

An ancient obelisk at the historic site in Axum, northern Ethiopia, has been unveiled after an extensive restoration project.  The obelisk had been removed by Italian troops in 1937, and was only returned in 2005.  A project then began to re-assemble the obelisk in its upright position.

Axum is one of the key historic sites in the north of the country – along with Lalibela, Bahar Dar, and Gonder – and is a popular destination with those visiting the country.  The unveiling of the completed obelisk coincides with the ending of Ethiopia’s millennium year.

Read the full story, and see a video of the unveiling, at the BBC News website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7597589.stm

Project team make the news!

Two members of the ‘media working group’, Ben Booth and Sheila Johnson, took part in a radio interview at the weekend to raise awareness of IHAUDP, and also to draw attention to the impending Food Price Crisis which is affecting the Project.

Ben and Sheila chatted to Tom Lowe, presenter of BBC Gloucestershire’s weekend breakfast show.  The team will also be keeping a ‘radio diary’ whilst they are away which will be broadcast as a follow-up feature.  All four members of the team live within Gloucestershire.

The media team, consisting of Ben, Sheila, Steve Cahill, and Lucy Booth, are hoping to bring back new photographs, stories, and video footage about the project.  They will be in Addis Ababa from the 23rd – 31st August.

• Listen again here.
• STOP PRESS! The trip was also featured in the Gloucestershire Echo – read more at: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/Cheltenham-woman-Ethiopia-expedition/article-285695-detail/article.html
  

Details for UK Supporters Day Announced

IHA-UDP – 2007 SUPPORTERS MEETING

Saturday, 1st November 2008 – St Edwards Junior School, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham

(for map see: http://www.glenfall.org.uk/gflocation.htm)

18^thAugust 2008

Dear Friend of IHA-UDP

Sister Jember warmly invites you to the next meeting for UK Christian Supporters, which is planned for Saturday, 1^st November 2008 and is being hosted by Glenfall Church in Cheltenham.

Media team to visit Project

The media team

A ‘media working party’ will visit the Project areas later this month.

The team is made up of four volunteers who are all members of the network of Friends of IHAUDP.  Web Editor, Ben Booth, and his wife, Lucy, a physiotherapist, will be joined by photographer Steve Cahill and freelance-journalist Sheila Johnson.

Steve’s pictures – his black-and-white portraits in particular – are well-known to all who have supported the Project.  They can be seen on this website, and have featured in leaflets, videos and even Christmas cards.  Sheila has written a number of articles about the Project and its impact – but this will be the first time that she has seen the Project first-hand.

The team are hoping to bring back a fully up-to-date set of resources to improve and enhance the quality of materials which are available to explain the Project’s work.  They are also hoping to explore new ways of spreading the news of the Project’s work, and reaching new donors and supporters.

Date announced for Supporters’ Day

The date has been announced for this year’s annual gathering of UK-based Friends and Supporters.  The event will take place on Saturday, 1st November, and will be hosted once again by Glenfall Fellowship in Cheltenham.  Full details of the day, including programme information and a note of how to register your interest, will be posted a little nearer for the time.  For now, please mark the date in your diary!

URGENT APPEAL – Food Price Crisis

>> Click here to respond <<

As you may have seen from recent news reports, Ethiopia is currently experiencing a shortage of food – and the situation is only likely to get worse in the coming months.  Some estimates place the quantity of food needed at 500,000 tonnes. (See, for example, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7451936.stm)
All of this is now having a knock-on effect in the project areas as the cost of food in Addis Ababa is rising at an alarming rate.  Table 1 (below) shows how food prices have risen in the last six months.  For the poorest of the poor, these price rises are particularly critical.

The rising price of food

The Project now has a particular problem relating to its own staff. As you might know, once the development phase of work has been completed by IHA-UDP in a particular area, the Project work is handed over to a community-based organisation whose staff are employed from the local community.  In each case, at the time of phase-out the salary scale was very low – partly to help provide an equal distribution of opportunities for the community.  However, there is not sufficient funding available to provide an instant adjustment.  IHA-UDP is working intensely on providing a long-term solution – but this will take some time.
The Project must therefore appeal to its donors to help the staff to get through this critical period. Remember, most of the staff are people from the Project area itself and therefore any payment they receive (to help get through this critical period) would be helping the families within the Project to cope with the rising food prices.  It is also vital to the future of the project’s work in these areas that the staff are able to stay in their jobs – which means that they must be able to feed their families. Supporting these staff is therefore helping the whole community.
Table 2 gives an indication of the monthly requirements for a typical family (presuming that they can afford a normal diet).  To put it in simple terms, this basket of basic foods would have cost £26 six months ago but is now costing £55 – i.e double the amount and a bit more.
Please would you consider supporting this urgent appeal for help.  You can give directly to the Project, or donate via Glenfall Fellowship using the attached form.

Glenfall is a registered charity, and can claim gift aid if you are a UK taxpayer.

A typical family's monthly needs