Oxfam Unwrapped: This Christmas, change the present and change a future

The holiday season is approaching and it’s looking suspiciously similar to last year…and the year before that. You’re wondering again what to get for that special someone, but coming up empty.

Fear not. Oxfam Unwrapped is here, ready to help you change the present and change a future. 

Here’s how it works: you choose a present from the Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue, you get a card to give to your friend, and the gift goes to people in the developing world who need it most.

In the past five years, Oxfam Unwrapped has raised nearly $3.5 million to help people achieve their fundamental human rights and work their way out of poverty. The impact is massive. Toilets have been built, gardens have been planted, clean water systems have put an end to hours of walking to collect dirty water, livestock has multiplied, farmers have gained organic certification, trees have been planted and small businesses have started up.

There is a great mix of new gifts and old favourites this year. Feeling that animal attraction? A Piglet for $40 is a very sty-lish present! Plus there are Ducks for $18, Lambs for $40 and the perennial favourite, the Oxfam Goat for $47. These furred and feathered creatures not only make cute gifts, they provide food, fertiliser and income for a family.

For foodies there are several gifts you can really get your teeth into like Organic Bananas for $10, Chillies for $15 and an environmentally-friendly Cooking Stove for $30. Or for a veggie-patch enthusiast, it’s easy to go green with Honey Bees for $35 or a gift to Feed a Family with a Nutritional Garden for just $20. Along with training in gardening techniques, these gifts help families create a reliable food source and become more self-sufficient.

If your friends and family like to get back to basics, how about giving Safe Water for 100 People, 20 Bars of Hand Soap, or a Toilet? It’s the season of giving, and what better thing to do than help a community take those first vital steps out of poverty?

There are nearly 50 future-changing gifts to choose from. Prices start from just $9 so there are no more excuses for giving novelty socks or bubble bath!

Oxfam Unwrapped gifts can be purchased online or by free phone 0800 600 700. Simply check out the website www.oxfamunwrapped.org.nz to find out more.

With an Oxfam Unwrapped gift you really can change the world, one present at a time.

Here are a few gift ideas:

·        A pair of lambs $40 A pair of lambs makes a woolly good gift for a family in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Raising these fleecy creatures allows women to support their families by making woollen textiles. Baa-rilliant!

·        Baby emergence health kit $27 When disaster strikes, babies are often the most vulnerable. This gift helps the youngest member of the family survive those first traumatic weeks. This kit includes all the essentials to feed and bathe a baby in an emergency. Oh baby, what a great gift!

·        Coffee plant $20 Wake up and smell the quality coffee! With the right tools and training, a farmer in East Timor can grow and sell better coffee beans. And better beans will mean more money to spend on food, education and healthcare for their family. Get them a coffee fix today!

·        Toilet $50 Where there is no toilet, there is disease. And where there is disease, there follows death. The construction of toilets means the writing is on the wall for cholera, typhoid and other deadly diseases. You don’t have to be flush to finance these facilities! 

·        Gardener’s pack $40 With the simple tools of a shovel, hoe, watering can and a gift of seeds, a family can grow a life without poverty! This gardener’s pack will help a family in Indonesia or Papua grow more food so they can improve their diets and sell any extra to earn a better living.