What is Gifted

Gifted is the alternative gift programme of Christian World Service (CWS). It has a gift for every occasion – all gifts help people overcome poverty and injustice in their local communities. So your gift gives twice – once for Christmas, birthdays, Mother’s Day, to say thanks or just because AND once to people in need around the world.

All gifts directly support current CWS community development programmes. Donations to CWS’s work are made on behalf of your gift recipient.

The Gifted programme provides fun and meaningful gifts. Donors and gift recipients get a strong sense of what their donations help achieve.

Select your Gift from the options—pick the gift, outcome, or price that suits you best. CWS will send you a card featuring your gift and space for your message and an envelope. You can send or give the card to friend or family – or keep it for yourself.  Choose the ecard option and save on paper and postage.  Your purchase becomes a donation to a programme that is helping people improve their lives and livelihoods.

Our Featured Gift

This year our featured gifts are rainwater tank materials for Uganda. The World Health Organization advises that only 73% of the global population have access to safe drinking water. Over 1.4 million people die each year from diseases caused by lack of safe water for drinking, hygiene and sanitation. The lack of clean safe water leads to diarrheal diseases, including cholera, dysentry, hepatitis, polio disease outbreaks and malnutrution that may stunt both physical and mental development – particularly in children.

Access to safe drinking water is particularly challenging in Sub-Saharan Africa, and more so in rural areas. In this context, CWS is very proud to partner with the Centre for Community Solidarity (CCS) in the Isingiro district of rural Southwest Uganda. The mission of CCS in to improve the livelihoods of families supporting orphans as a result of the HIV AIDS pandemic in the 1980’s. To this day, there are still many grandparents and mothers who continue to be adversely affected by the impact of virus. In Isingiro, rainfall is largely caught in streams that flow to the valley floor. Yet, the villages where people live are commonly in the hills and it is a considerable distance to collect water. This activity is unsanitary, dangerous, inefficient and it keeps children from attending school.

Choose gifts of life

Charles Rwabambari serves the Centre for Community Solidarity in South West Uganda. He’s been there for over 25 years. The organization works with women supporting orphans and vulnerable children, many of whom were negatively impacted by Uganda’s extremely high incidence of HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s and 90s. Today, many households are still headed by grandparents or older children, due to premature death of parents.

Charles explains that the region where he lives has good rainfall during two rainy seasons; however, there is a little water available nearby for villagers. Traditionally women and children walked kilometres to rivers in the valley and then carted water on their heads back up the hill to their homes. This is dangerous work as predators, including crocodiles, and those who might be avoided. Equally, the task involves so much time and energy, which if saved could be put to far more productive uses such as childcare, schooling, food production, income generating activities.

Your gift will pay for materials and expertise to build a rainwater harvesting tank in driest Southwest Uganda. Through this gift, families and orphans devastated by AIDS will have safe water and sanitation. Children can go to school rather than walking many kilometres each day to collect dirt and polluted water from the river. Clean water is a game changer.

Life flourishes when we give gifts of life

Most families in South West Uganda live in mud brick homes with corrugated iron roofs. With proper guttering, downpipes and a storage tank, rainwater could be constantly harvested and used for drinking, cooking and cleaning … all at the point of consumption. Yet, this solution costs more money to construct, and money is in short supply.

Through the support of CWS whanau, we have already funded the construction of over 14000 tanks in this region and there are currently another 100 in the pipeline over the next two years.

Your generosity will assist with employment in the region, but more importantly several thousands of people, including many venerable women, children and orphans will have their lives radically changed for good. Water tanks make the people of South West Uganda both self-sufficient and self-reliant.

Images: Centre for Community Solidarity (CCS) and CWS