From a sweetie shop at Glasgow Cross to a village in Ethiopia. Everyone needs to get a chance in life
KIRSTY YOUNG IN AFRICA SALUTES THE VITAL WORK OF UNICEF SUPPORTING FAMILIES IN PERIL
I am in a shop staring at the ordered and immaculate shelves. There’s an old-fashioned, glass sweetie jar half-full of tiny, jewel- coloured treats.
Sitting on the well- scrubbed counter are weighing scales, and in the corner a dozen unwrapped cakes of soap, next to cans of cooking oil and a few hefty bags of flour – the everyday essentials of life.
Standing here, thousands of miles from my home in Oxfordshire, I am thinking suddenly of the shop my dad used to own – spick and span and well ordered, just like this one.
As a five-year- old, now and then I’d be allowed to stand customer-side to spend my 5p pocket money, inevitably on that king of kiddie confectionery – the Curly Wurly.
That was Glasgow Cross in the early 1970s, this is the small town of Agulae in Ethiopia in 2016.
This shop belongs to Almaz, a married motherof-four who looks to be in her mid 30s. She’s welcoming but doesn’t smile easily, her face betraying a life spent worrying and working.
I marvel inwardly at the order this woman has conjured amid the dusty, flyblown town that sits outside.
Something stirs near my feet. From a bundle of muslin draped over a cushion on the f loor, a perfect little toddler’s fist and forearm emerges, stretching. Almaz’s youngest daughter Eyerus, three, has woken from her afternoon nap.
She’s on the brink of bewildered tears when her mother bends down, deftly scooping her onto her hip.
Almaz tells me emphatically that “yes”, the 15-hour days are punishing and it’s been a long haul getting this far but it has been worth it – because soon, with the money she has made from the shop, she’ll be able to move her family into a new, two-roomed house, from the single- room property she currently rents.
A modest-sounding achievement by Western standards but, in the harsh day-to- day reality of life in Ethiopia, a signi f icant smal l triumph.
In my 10 years of talking to castaways on Desert Island Discs, a constant theme is how much their huge achievements have been underpinned, at some early stage, by a helping hand from others.
Jo Malone described how her world-renowned fragrance and beauty business was built from slogging hard work but was also careful to acknowledge the loyalty and support of a handful of wellheeled and well- connected Knightsbridge ladies, who spread the word at their swanky soirées. Mark Rylance went to drama school with the help of a grant and was given his f irst professional roles at the publicly subsidised Citizens Theatre.
Most of us, of course, don’t want to win a Nobel Prize or an Oscar but, wherever we peg our ambitions, the simple truth remains that hard work, determination, resilience and single- mindedness are nothing without opportunity.
If you are born into a country of 90million people beset by drought and poverty, finding the opportunity to do the very best for yourself and your children can seem nigh impossible.
In Ethiopia, that’s where something called the Community Care Coalition comes in.
Tiny amounts of “seed” money are
distributed through carefully monitored local committees to enable women like Almaz to start their own, very small business. It’s donations to Unicef that make the programme possible.
I took on the role of president of Unicef UK in January of this year and my trip to the Horn of Africa with my Unicef colleagues was my first experience of seeing the “ground level” work we’re responsible for.
It’s in my nature to ask questions and there are very important ones that need answering when it comes to how donations to charities are spent and the long-term effectiveness of “aid”, be that in the form of UK government support or the charitable giving of the British public.
So let me give you some interesting facts. In 1990, approximately one in five Ethiopian children would not have lived to see their fifth birthday. Today, as a result of improvements in the country’s health, nutrition and water, supported by long-term Unicef projects, that number has been cut by more than a half.
Sadly, Ethiopia is currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades and millions of children stand to lose out on their health, education, wellbeing and future.
What’s happening with Unicef in Ethiopia is only a tiny snapshot of the work we do worldwide. The conf lict in Syria has now raged on for five years and, in 2015, we treated more than 13,000 children there for acute malnutrition.
In May last year, two major earthquakes in Nepal left nearly 9000 people dead and more than 22,000 injured. Unicef were there immediately, giving essential help.
In the last 12 months alone, Unicef projects have vaccinated more than 530,000 children against measles and rubella.
Today, we hold our charity celebrity football match, Soccer Aid.
Just a £ 5 donation could provide life- saving food for a child for a week and, what’s more, the UK Government will double your donation.
We need your help to reach every child in danger and, as a mother, there isn’t a cause on earth I would rather speak up for. This feature was f irst published in the Daily Telegraph. To donate to Unicef, visit itv.com/socceraid