CHRISTIAN AID NEWS

NEWS
WalES
a journey
Size matterS!
of peace
and healing
Jeff Williams
Christian aid in Wales is to receive
financial support from the environmental
charity, size of Wales, for a project to
help Brazil’s indigenous Guarani people
in their fight to secure land rights and
conserve their forest territories.
size of Wales wants to protect 2 million
hectares of rainforest (equivalent to an
area the size of Wales) by co-funding
projects submitted by charities. it
works with communities, businesses,
organisations and schools in Wales and
hopes to forge lasting links with some of
the world’s poorest people.
the Christian aid project will directly
protect 21,654 hectares of the Mata
atlantica rainforest, on the coast of
Brazil. home to the Guarani, the forest is
increasingly under threat from climate
change, deforestation, urban growth and
unsustainable exploitation. the aim is to
raise £50,000 during the year, which will
be doubled by size of Wales.
Comissao Pro-indio (CPi), a Christian
aid local-partner organisation in
The future in Brazil
looks better for this
young Guarani boy
the region, works with the Guarani,
providing legal support in land
ownership disputes and whenever their
traditional way of life is threatened.
Jeff Williams, head of Christian aid
in Wales, who visited the project area,
said: ‘size of Wales support will enable
our partner, CPi, to strengthen its work
in protecting the rights of the Guarani
and the future of the forest, making a
vital difference to a unique people and
environment.’
the project has already got off to
a flying start with £2,170 from the
Challenge Climate Change run done by
Christian aid interns, Moses tutesigensi
and Catherine Garsed, back in March. it
will also benefit from a clearance sale at
a Monmouth art gallery, and later this
year from a celebrity auction to be held
in Cardiff.
• For more details, please contact
Christian Aid on 029 2084 4646 or visit
sizeofwales.org.uk
at ChristMas this year, join us
on the journey of 12-year-old Waleed
Badir, who has found a new sense
of healing and hope against the
backdrop of unrest in the occupied
Palestinian territory.
Waleed was born severely deaf.
Unable to access the medical care
he needed in the West Bank, he grew
up isolated and afraid. But last year,
volunteer doctors working with our
partner Physicians for human rights
israel gave Waleed a hearing aid – and
his world was transformed.
his mother said: ‘Our children have
only ever met israelis at gunpoint.
i told Waleed, “these israelis are
doctors and they consider it their duty
to help people.”’
• Share the hope of Christmas with
children living with conflict. Order and
download your Christmas resources
today, at christianaid.org.uk/christmas
• You can also order and download
resources to hold your own Big
Christmas Sing celebration. See
christianaid.org.uk/bigsing
christian aid/Tabitha Ross
Waleed inserts his
hearing aid
colombia
FeArS Over new lAnd rightS lAw
Christian aid Partner aBColombia
has raised concerns about a recentlypassed
law that allows for the return
of territory to communities forcibly
removed from their land to make way
for business interests.
Colombia has the highest number
of internally displaced people in the
world – millions have been forced
from their lands in areas rich with
natural resources. the Victims and
land restitution law (law1448) is a
positive step, in so far as it recognises
the land rights of minority groups
and admits the existence of an armed
conflict in Colombia (previously denied
by the state).
however, aBColombia has
reservations about how the law
is to be implemented. in a report
in June it notes that corruption,
8 Christian Aid News