Making a difference

Just after my last post, got a note from my favourite campaign website - pressureworks - to say that it's closing down, but that it's gonna carry on under the Christian Aid "Act Now!" banner. Will have to check that out - my social justice alert mechanism seems to be on overdrive at the moment.

We live in strange and interesting times. With wars in ex-Soviet republics, trouble in Zimbabwe and starvation and poverty all over the world, it sometimes seems that the whole scope of it is beyond us. What can any of us do to change the world? And then it struck me. Everything is a choice. Poverty and injustice isn't just something that happens, out there, beyond us. It's something that we all make an active choice to allow or deny. We, each of us, choose in our daily lives to allow poverty, to allow injustice, to survive and thrive. So, what would be my list of top things that we can each do to make a difference.

1. Be informed. Ignorance is the greatest breeder of injustice I can think of. So much goes on without our knowledge of consent. Knowing, understanding how the world works is the first step to changing that. Read, listen, look around you.
2. Act - don't put off making a difference - see what other people are doing and copy it. Strike out on your own and bring people with you.
3. Write letters and take up campaigns - there are so many websites that help you - try Oxfam, CAFOD, Amnesty International, Save the Children, WWF. Whatever takes your fancy, use that as a starting point. Tell other people what you're doing.
4. Buy Fair Trade. A little thing that makes an enormous difference. Every time you choose not to (and I'm guilty of doing this) you choose to support unfair trade. By definition, if it isn't fair, it's unfair.
5. Remember how powerful you are. We are all powerful - we spend money, we invest money, we vote, we have a voice. All of these things can make a tremendous difference.