Why We Raise The Money?

You've surely heard of Oxfam. In fact, according to a recent survey, 99% of the British population have heard of the charity. For the past 65 years, Oxfam have been bringing an end to cases of severe poverty across the entire planet.

Poverty is not a natural phenomenon. Its causes go far beyond a natural lack of resources. The world has an everlasting potential for equality, but complicated international relations and corrupted leadership across the world has meant certain countries have lost out. In a society like ours, where the richer countries are quite able to share their wealth, the fact that poverty still exists seems unjustifiable, even unbelievable. People aren't poor because they are unlucky, but because of maltreatment.

Poverty is a result of our inability to relate to the rest of human race. When a natural disaster strikes a developing country, we should feel enough compassion for our own human race that we can send an emergency response to those who were effected.

We must acknowledge our responsibility as individuals, and live our lives appropriately. As citizens, we also have the power to call on our government to fight poverty. A lot of the time, poverty is deepened because of biased rules and regulations set by richer countries.

For example, the New York 'C' market is enshrouded in so much red tape that coffee becomes the currency of rich businessmen and the hard-working farmers lose their say. The recent film Black Gold shows how we can ensure farmers get the pay they deserve, simply by shopping more carefully.

To developing countries, trade is more important than aid. Although the latter offers short-term solutions, which are necessary in emergencies, securing fair trade deals with poor countries gives them a sustainable place on the global scene. When countries no longer rely on richer ones for support, when they have a strong enough market to turn down unfair deals, when poor countries are accepted as equals, and their concerns are listened-to by the rest of the world; these are true signs of an end to poverty.

Oxjam is an opportunity to show that young people care about others across the planet. All the money raised through ticket sales, the prize draw and collection tins on the day will be forwarded directly to Oxfam's remarkable work. The sale of one ticket, for example, is enough to buy two textbooks for a school in Africa, or feed 100 schoolchildren in South America.