My Christmas gift to the SAP Business One Community

You are proving a donkey to help Oxfam  respond quickly and efficiently after disaster wreaks havoc on peoples’ lives. One of the most common obstacles they face in an emergency are road closures, which means they are unable to reach the people who need their help the most. In these situations, donkeys play a crucial role in their emergency response.

They are able to skilfully navigate their way through terrain that a vehicle can’t access, and can carry life-saving supplies and food parcels!

“The use of donkeys is a critical step in our emergency response. They are already familiar with the terrain, so that they really make a difference in the fast delivery of life-saving supplies to those in need.” Meg Quartermaine, Humanitarian Operations Manager, Oxfam Australia

 https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1411394610

A small loan can help Sri Lankan women start a small business such as brick-making or tailoring. It’s a way to get people back on their feet after the civil war and tsunami.You are helping 10 women living in poverty in Sri Lanka start their own small businesses by funding a start up loan -Getting a business up and running is hard when you’re living in poverty. In Sri Lanka, Oxfam Australia works with marginalised women and men, many of whom are rebuilding their lives after the tsunami and a 20-year civil war. With the help of a small loan, they are able to start businesses to help them get back on their feet – from farming, brick-making and tailoring, to spices, small shops and clay-pot production. For women, operating and increasing their income by running a small business is empowering.

“The loan is important because now we are able to be independent and stand on our own two feet without depending on our husbands. Because we are doing this, we are able to attend to the needs of the children – buy them clothes and send them to tuition. If I need to go to hospital, it also meets my expenses … I used to do some income generation activity before, but now it’s better and bigger.” Rafia, Sri Lanka

https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1411394610

You are also helping to look after kids in South Africa who have been orphaned by AIDS. This gift will help provide love, security and education to some of the world’s most vulnerable children by supporting CATCH, a community-based organisation in South Africa which offers orphans and other vulnerable children a host of after-school activities that provide them with tools needed to meet some of the challenges they face in everyday life.

The programs, which include arts, crafts and sports, provide a safe place for the children to socialise as well as a place to learn about the importance of HIV prevention.

“CATCH is like a mother and father to people of the community. It’s like someone who shows sympathy to people. If you are crying, they are there for you. If you are hungry, if you have nothing, if you have questions, they get answers.” Phikiswa Mzukwo, Mzamomhle settlement, East London, South Africa.

     

To paraphrase Dire Straits—money for nothing, chicks for free…you bought and chicken for a family in Laos and Oxfam will throw in these chicks for free. That’s right, chicks for free! What’s more, you’ll be helping families in Laos produce life-sustaining eggs and earn much needed money, which isn’t for nothing.

These chickens are helping families in Laos generate much-needed income. In Laos, Oxfam Australia works to increase access to food by providing families with the initial funds to buy chickens. Households can then use eggs to earn an income at the market or to eat themselves. And, when the chickens breed, families can get more chickens! And more eggs … and more chickens … and more eggs …

“Thanks to the Oxfam Australia project, I have chickens to raise which gives my family food and income. My family has better conditions now and my children have

[the same] school materials as other people.” Mrs Mai, Nam Phaene village, Laos.

 https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1394189014

 

 

These three little pigs (well, two of them actuall) need a new home after theirs was blown away by a big bad wolf! So youre giving them to a household in Laos, where they can be bred and sold for much needed income. You didn’t believe that thing about the wolf did you? As if a wolf could blow down anything. It’s just a wolf.

In Laos, pigs are a popular animal to raise. Half a dozen little piglets trailing their mother is a common sight in villages. Pigs help fertilise crops, breed with other pigs, and provide an important source of income for families once the offspring are sold at market. Oxfam provides poor families in Laos with the means to buy piglets, along with proper training on how to raise and care for pigs, which is a sure way to improve their wellbeing.

“I bought three pigs, including two big female pigs, and one female pig is now pregnant. When I have piglets, I will sell a number of piglets because I want to pay back the loan, I want to buy some clothes for my children to go to school and some basic need equipment for using in my family. ” Mrs Kan Thaem, Phinbe village, Samoui district, Laos.

https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1351891746 

This gift doesn’t just get you one poverty-busting fruit tree, it gets you plenty – delivered to a village where they’re needed most. These fruit trees, such as guava, papaya and coconut, can be harvested to raise funds for the community. Let’s see soap on a rope do that.

Your fruit trees will be delivered to a village where they’re needed most. Fruit trees, such as guava, papaya and coconut, can then be harvested to raise funds for the community. This project is managed by our partner organisation in South Africa, Ingwavuma Orphan Care. In South Africa, many families are affected by extreme poverty, as well as HIV and AIDS. Growing fruit trees helps empower people and is a sustainable way of developing the community. The planting of fruit trees also has the long term effect of reducing environmental degradation through the preservation of soil. And of course, they provide fruit to eat!

“The initiative of fruit tree growing not only promotes biodiversity, it also provides nutritious fruit that can be included in diets.” Mavis Nyakurimwa, Food Security and Livelihoods Program Coordinator, Oxfam Australia, South Africa.

https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1367802870 Fruit Trees

Those of you who have attended my training or seen me present or sat in a meeting with me know I sometimes like to “act the goat”. Well, now I am buying some as well….hmmm maybe I can get them named Richard….

A hoofed animal of any sort is a highly unexpected gift. And Oxfam’s goats have four magnificent hooves. Some even come with udders. Not only does a goat make a great card, but a goat can save a family from poverty. They can breed to create more goats, provide milk for the family’s nutrition, and they can even be sold to pay for school fees or tools.

Goats can play a key role in the livelihoods of rural communities. They feed on household waste — so they get rid of rubbish and unwanted scraps — and provide milk and manure as a bonus. As part of Oxfam Australia’s commitment to environmentally-sound programs, goats are distributed to vulnerable families because they are easy to raise and take care of. We also provide training in keeping, vaccinating and de-worming the animals.

“They are very easy to take care of. Every day in the morning I take the goat to graze, and around 9 or 10 o’clock, I bring it home to drink water. Then I take it back again to the grass … I am very happy because it is a female goat and it will have babies and I can sell them and buy things for school.” Alberto Atanasio Malhaieie, Mabawane, Xai Xai district, Gaza province, Mozambique.

https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1405694191

Our developers have been cooking up a storm in the labs with SAP Business One -some of them probably wonder how their lives would change if they bothered applying for MasterChef? Me too…but its too hard so instead I bought this gift and together we will change the life of someone living in East Timor with an environmentally-friendly stove that heats up using recycled paper briquettes! It burns cleaner than open fires so it means they cook without harming themselves or the environment, and they will have time for other activities now that they don’t have to collect firewood.

In East Timor, the simple task of cooking a meal for the family can have dire consequences on a woman’s health. The majority of women in East Timor cook on an open fire in an outdoor cooking hut, which causes regular exposure to toxic gases. In addition, families spend many hours each week collecting firewood, which is becoming more and more scarce.

Oxfam is providing these snazzy new stoves to families so that they can spend their time focusing on proper nutrition and earning an income. The stoves are simple to use and are fuelled by recycled-paper briquettes, which burn cleaner than wood. Plus using recycled paper means a more sustainable future for the East Timorese environment!

“Many people in East Timor cook on open fires in small huts. These clean cook stoves will reduce tree cutting, and also reduce time needed to collect firewood because cooking on open fires needs more firewood. It is better for the environment too!” Rufino Da Costa Simoes, Disaster Management Coordinator, Oxfam Australia.

https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1437990864

Are you someone with a green thumb? Or even someone who is such a bad gardener they could kill a cactus? Then we wont send the latter to East Timor but this gift of farmer training will be helping someone in East Timor gain the skills needed to harvest a sustainable crop that will provide for their families and help them earn an income.

Currently in East Timor, many farmers struggle to harvest enough crops to feed their family and make a living. They feel forced to engage in “slash and burn” farming practices, which involves clearing a piece of land with fire, farming a crop for one season and then moving on to farm another piece of land. This not only makes life very difficult for them, it harms the environment.

Oxfam is helping farmers change these practices by providing access to seeds, credit to purchase equipment and training. Training covers sustainable farming methods including terracing, living fences, water collection, mulching and composting. Training is based on soil and water conservation techniques that use permanent farm plots, helping steer farmers away from environmentally-damaging practices.

“They supported us to grow vegetables. We grow vegetables to eat and some we sell to the market”. Elsa Barros De Costa, Suco, Lepo, East Timor.

https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1347502327

 

 

A water tap may not seem like an obvious gift , but this water tap is very different. This tap helps prevent disease and increases attendance at school. That’s because this tap comes with a water system and will be given to a school in Cambodia.

For the children of Kampong Pang village in Cambodia, the only school with water is several hours walk away from their homes. So, many children simply can’t go. Your gift of water for a school will help build latrines, a pump well and a water system in remote village schools to ensure children can go to class – and stay there!

“We have water collection tanks in our schools now, we can use them for toilets and clean water for drinking. We want to do the same in other villages.” Sam Sovanna, Oxfam Australia Country Manager, Cambodia.

https://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/collect_ecard?email=richard%40smbsolutions.com.au&key=1438390897

 
So thats it – have a great Christmas and New Year and thanks for your support in 2012! I know we are all looking forward to 2013 and with so many cool new things happening with SAP Business One its going to be a year to remeber.