There’s nothing quite as powerful as a mother’s love for her children, and her desire to see them grow up and reach their full potential.
If you’re considering giving mum, or a maternal figure in your life, a donation on her behalf for Mother’s Day, there’s no better way than to choose a charity gift from our Gifts for Good catalogue. You’ll not only be helping children living in poor communities, but providing support for mothers around the world.
To help you decide how you and Mum want to change the world this Mother’s Day, we’ve put together a Mother’s Day Charity Gift Guide. Read on to see what a difference your Mother’s Day gift could make, and learn about our new charity gift bundles!
Donate blankets or malaria nets to keep a child safe and sound
Every child wants to feel safe and warm, but poverty can mean a child’s life may lack basic comforts. A blanket can help a child to brave cold winter nights, so they sleep soundly, remain healthy, and can focus on their school work.
Preventable disease is also a very real threat to children’s health in developing communities. A simple mosquito net is a proven and cost-effective method to prevent the spread of malaria. Hung over a child’s bed, a net will keep them safe from malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
Gift a warm blanket or malaria net as individual gifts, or together in our Safe and Sound Bundle:
Buy furry friends and provide a family with farm animals
These furry friends are a twofold gift! Farm animals provide families in developing communities with a range of nutritious goods that can be used to feed their children, or sold for additional income. They’re also a furry companion for children to love and spend time with.
Goats produce milk and cheese which are highly nutritious for growing children. and the eggs laid by chickens area vital source of protein. Meanwhile sheep provide an ongoing source of wool, which families can use to make clothing, blankets, and other textiles.
Gift Mum your favourite farm animal, or a whole barnyard together in our Furry Friends Bundle below:
Your donation can be the gift that provides a child with a brighter future
When you were growing up, you had dreams and aspirations. Education is the most powerful strategy to reduce poverty, ensuring the next generation of children in developing countries are able to reach their full potential.
Confidence is absolutely essential to active participation in school, and a brand new school uniform will help a child develop a sense of belonging among their peers.
From pens and pencils to exercise books, there’s so much a child needs for school and when you donate our pack of school supplies you’ve got them covered for a full school year.
Give a school uniform or educational supplies as individual gifts or donate all that a child needs for school in our Bright Future Bundle below:
Change the future of an entire family when you donate water filters or nutritious food
Up to 44% of children in Laos suffer from malnutrition. You and Mum (and even Grandma!) can change the future of an entire family by providing a safe source of water and a stable diet for a family in need.
A deepwater borehole system gives the gift of clean, safe water that a whole school — or even an entire community — can rely upon. Clean drinking water protects children and their communities from life-threatening waterborne disease, such as diarrhoea. Fruit trees and packs of vegetable seeds help families establish household gardens where they can grow their own produce in what will become a reliable source of fresh food.
Donate water filters, fruit trees and seed packs as individual gifts or together in our Food for Thought Bundle below:
The COVID-19 pandemic has left children around the world without enough food to eat and vulnerable communities with limited access to the supplies needed to fight the virus.
This Mother’s Day, you can help restock a health station with desperately needed medicines, medical supplies, personal protective equipment and other necessities to ensure that children and families have ready access to the care and resources they need to stay healthy.
Change the world with a special and meaningful Mother’s Day Gift
You and Mum can change the world for a family living in poverty this Mother’s Day. Donate a charity gift for Mum now and show the world the power of a mother’s love!
Globallyevery 2 minutes, a child dies of malaria. Each year, more than 200 million new cases of the disease are reported.
On 25 April each year, World Malaria Day aims to raise awareness about global efforts to control the spread of malaria and celebrate the improvements that have been made in the areas of treatment, prevention and education. A key focus is on remote communities, particularly in developing countries, where malaria has significantly higher mortality rates.
Led by the World Health Organization, World Malaria Day 2023 calls on investors and innovators to do their part in creating new vector control approaches and other tools that can assist in the fight against malaria globally. A particular focus is on helping marginalised populations access existing, and new, tools and strategies to prevent the spread of malaria.
What is malaria?
Malaria is a life-threatening disease, transmitted through the female Anopheles mosquito, that has been infected by the plasmodium parasite. When this mosquito bites someone, this parasite is released into the bloodstream of the person.
Another way malaria can be transmitted is through blood transfusions or organ transplants.
Why is malaria prevention a serious global issue?
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that an estimated 619,000 people died of malaria in 2021. An estimated 95% of these deaths were in the WHO African Region. The tragedy is that malaria is both a treatable and preventable disease, however it can be fatal when the disease is not detected or treatment has not started early enough.
Access to adequate health care is a driving factor in the high malarial mortality rate in tropical and subtropical regions such as Africa, South America and South East Asia. Widespread infection rates, across communities and multiple continents, with many cases still going unreported, is what makes malaria prevention a global issue.
Life-saving mosquito nets
Fenny, age 12, and her family, live in a remote community near a river and surrounded by grassland. They faced malaria almost all their lives before they received mosquito nets from ChildFund Zambia. Photo: Jake Lyell for ChildFund Australia
By the time Fenny was 10 years old, she had come close to death more than once.
One time, she thought her time had really come. She was feverish, shivering and too weak to walk. “I was very sick,” Fenny says. “That’s when mummy carried me to the ChildFund office to get tested.”
A trained ChildFund Zambia volunteer diagnosed Fenny with malaria and referred her to the local health clinic for urgent treatment.
Fenny, now age 12, and her family live in a small home in rural Zambia that is close to a river and surrounded by wild grassland, a prime breeding ground for malaria-infected mosquitoes, especially during the wet season. There is nowhere else for the family to go; they have lived here for most of their lives and rely on a small piece of land nearby where they grow vegetables such as tomatoes and okra to earn an income.
Fenny and her five brothers and sisters have all had malaria several times. Each time, they became very sick and the disease put their lives at risk.
With ChildFund Zambia’s help, families in Fenny’s community are now able to identify and seek treatment for malaria before it is too late. But it has been the mosquito nets that have been provided with the help of ChildFund supporters that has made the biggest impact.
Fenny’s family received mosquito nets in 2017. The nets, which have been treated with insecticide, cover every bed in their home. “If possible, let it be every year that we get mosquito nets so that no one should die from malaria in our community,” Fenny says.
Since receiving the mosquito nets, no one in Fenny’s family have had malaria.
Malaria on our doorstep in Papua New Guinea
Outside sub-Saharan Africa, Papua New Guinea (PNG) – one of Australia’s closest neighours – has one of the highest proportions of malaria cases; 94% of the population is classified as high risk.
In the south-east coastal village of Kivori, a four-hour drive north of PNG’s capital, Port Moresby, everyone knows the signs and symptoms of malaria because the disease is so common. They know that when the tides are high, there are more mosquitos, and this increases the risk of malaria.
Six-year-old Paul often enjoyed playing with his friends down by the water. But a few years ago, he became sick with malaria.
Paul’s mother, Annette, was extremely worried for her son. “He was feverish and fainted,” she says. “It was quite severe.”
Community health volunteers trained by ChildFund Papua New Guinea have helped Annette and her children, Paul and Michael, survive malaria.
For many years, Annette would have to walk 10km to get to the nearest health facility because, like many families in her village, she could not afford a vehicle and there was no public transport. The journey was often unsafe because of conflict between Kivori and nearby communities.
In 2021 ChildFund Papua New Guinea supported the development of a health post in Kivori, making health care more accessible for families in Annette’s village.
When Paul got malaria, she quickly took him to the Kivori health post where he was diagnosed and referred to a larger health facility in Bereina, an hour away, for treatment.
In villages where there are no health posts available, community health volunteers trained by ChildFund will visit the child’s home and work with their family to try home remedies such as hot towels and hydration.
If the child is still unwell, the health volunteers will help transport the child to the nearest health centre for diagnosis and treatment.
After Paul returned home from Bereina, his long-term recovery was overseen by ChildFund trained community health volunteers.
How you can make a difference this World Malaria Day
This World Malaria Day, join us in the fight to eradicate suffering caused by this disease in remote and rural areas. You can help a child sleep safe at night by donating one of the below Gifts for Good.
Safe and Sound Bundle: A simple gift of blankets and mosquito nets could keep children warm and safe from the threat of deadly malaria carrying mosquitoes.
Community Health Volunteers: Gather your family and friends, and fundraise to train 7 health volunteers in remote communities to support families with diagnosing and treating malaria. Community Health Volunteers play an important role in bridging the gap between remote villages and health care centres by providing basic health services.
Your support can change the life of a child, and help us reach zero cases of malaria globally.
