get my goat

With so many people in Darfur fleeing their villages for refugee camps, you've got to give serious respect to the ones who are determined to stay at home, or to return to their villages. They've got to be tough as nails. Sudan's pretty much always been a hellhole, even when crazed militiamen aren't using you for target practice.

Most charities focus their aid on the camps themselves, and rightly so-- the places cost a lot to run, they need supplies and support for thousands of vulnerable people. Kids for Kids, however, is different. It's pretty much the only charity that's dedicating itself to helping families establish themselves in village life by providing goats, lending out donkeys, planting trees, training "paravets" to look after the animals and midwives to look after the people, etc etc etc. Unlike a lot of charities, these guys have no religious bias, and they're a smallish operation, so running costs are low.

Basically, what I'm saying here is: if you're contemplating charity-style holiday gifts this year, do please consider Kids for Kids. Here's a link to their gift list [PDF]. Plus, supporting a Revolving Goat Project sounds pretty cool, eh?

get my goat

With so many people in Darfur fleeing their villages for refugee camps, you've got to give serious respect to the ones who are determined to stay at home, or to return to their villages. They've got to be tough as nails. Sudan's pretty much always been a hellhole, even when crazed militiamen aren't using you for target practice.

Most charities focus their aid on the camps themselves, and rightly so-- the places cost a lot to run, they need supplies and support for thousands of vulnerable people. Kids for Kids, however, is different. It's pretty much the only charity that's dedicating itself to helping families establish themselves in village life by providing goats, lending out donkeys, planting trees, training "paravets" to look after the animals and midwives to look after the people, etc etc etc. Unlike a lot of charities, these guys have no religious bias, and they're a smallish operation, so running costs are low.

Basically, what I'm saying here is: if you're contemplating charity-style holiday gifts this year, do please consider Kids for Kids. Here's a link to their gift list [PDF]. Plus, supporting a Revolving Goat Project sounds pretty cool, eh?