Christian Aid Week 2015

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Loko Jarso carrying firewood

Afraid, alone, in pain – Be the answer to Loko’s prayer this Christian Aid Week.

Loko Jarso carrying firewood
Loko Jarso carries firewood to sell. Loko is responsible for a family of eight and struggles to feed them all. Gathering and chopping firewood on her own, up a mountain, is a hard, dangerous job that she dreads, but it is her only source of income. She receives just £1 for her heavy load. Photo: Christian Aid/M Gonzalez-Noda

Loko’s choice in life is simple: ‘If I can’t collect firewood, my children will die.’ Four times a week, in a remote corner of Ethiopia, Loko makes a back-breaking eight-hour trip to gather wood. It’s a task she dreads, but she steels herself to do it because if she doesn’t her children will starve.

She prays to God as she walks. ‘I ask him to change my life and lead us out of this,’ she says.

Just £5 could give Loko a loan to start her own business buying and selling tea and coffee, freeing her from her desperate task and allowing her to spend more time caring for her family.

This Christian Aid Week, you can help transform the lives of women like Loko. From 10-16 May, churches the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland will come together to pray, campaign and raise money to improve the lives of people like Loko.

Every year, 100,000 volunteers demonstrate God’s love for the poor by taking part in house-to-house collections for Christian Aid. This fantastic witness is a chance to take the mission of the church into your community.

Find out how you can play your part at Christian Aid Week