Charity

Please consider giving a little to Afghan charities. It has proved very difficult to raise funds as people assume that their gifts will not get through. But the charities are desperate for more help for the massive humanitarian crisis that is emerging and say they are confident about being able to help local people.

However, if you can give £5 a month for ever (you won't miss it) rather than giving £50 now that is a good strategy for long term development. Please consider giving a bit of emergency cash to the emergency appeal but also supporting a long term development campaign.

MSF is a great charity and seems to have taken over the mantle of Oxfam as the charity that dares to go in where no one else will tread. But the UK website is a bit poor. It contains no info on the Afghan situation but the main site does. UK donors please CLICK HERE.

Oxfam has an honourable history of helping the oppressed and not being afraid to say what it thinks. You can make a regular donation by direct debit or use your credit card online for the Afghan appeal.

Refaid is a UK charity working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and is one of the main charities active on the ground in the Afghanistan area. CLICK HERE for the donation page.

 
Last time I tried to help raise funds for the downtrodden via the Red Cross I got sent a letter telling me that I was breaching the Geneva convention!!! The UK site has a section where you can donate but they seem to have not incorporated gift aid relief into the system which is daft. The international sites for the ICRC and the IFRC have more info. The US site contains links to help relief efforts there.