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Every year, this week-long demonstration of hope, faith and love supports our global neighbours to transform their own lives and leave poverty behind for good.
Like in Burundi, where malnourishment and poverty put more than 70% of the population on the edge of survival.
Coming back from the edge isn’t easy when food can be scarce, disease prevalent, and jobs hard to find.
If you have a home, chances are there’s no electricity or running water, and it may not even survive the next storm.
Caught in the inhumane trap of poverty
Aline Nibogora felt the full force of extreme poverty when an early marriage ended in abuse and violence.
Unwillingly separated from her children, she was forced to sleep on the streets of Burundi.
With no home, healthcare or security, Aline was pushed to the brink of survival.
‘People would treat me with contempt. They forgot I was a human being. It filled me with sorrow.’
Aline Nibogora
But Aline pushed back harder
Determined to reunite her family and build a better future, she found a lifeline in
Christian Aid funded business training and set up as a grocery wholesaler.
Aline nurtured a small income that in time has enabled her to farm nutritious food, build a strong home, and return her children to her side.
Aline pushed back against the inhumanity of poverty, driven by hope, faith and the love of her children.
A family with a future
Now Aline can afford food, clothes and essential healthcare for her family.
She’s also purchased a solar panel so her children can do their evening homework by an electric light.
‘I am so happy that we are together. Now my children feel supported as they have a parent who can meet their needs.’
Aline Nibogora
Burundi, however, continues to be one of the toughest places on earth to live.
The future is uncertain, and challenges wait for families like Aline’s around every corner.
When a ferocious storm destroyed Aline’s home, almost killing her and her children, she was able to recover by selling the cows she’d been keeping.
Now when crisis threatens her family’s survival, Aline has options.
Even a small business can provide just enough resilience to weather Burundi’s most brutal storms.
Thanks to Christian Aid supporters, Aline pushed back against poverty to survive against all odds.
No longer living day-to-day, Aline and her children can plan for a bright future that they’ll build together.
This Christian Aid Week, will you help more families to push back against the inhumanity of poverty?
Christian Aid Week: Seven days, so many ways to fund lasting change
There are so many ways to get involved as an individual or a community.
Why not hold a cake sale, deliver the iconic Christian Aid Week envelopes, or organise a church collection?
You could even join our new challenge: 70k in May.
Get together with your church, friends or family and raise sponsorship to move a collective 70km.
Walk it, run it, swim it, cycle it – move your way this May and support someone like Aline to push back against the inhumanity of poverty.
This Christian Aid Week, what will you do?
However you get involved, remember that together, we can beat extreme poverty.
Join us at caweek.org/7days
