Looking for a life-changingfestive gift?

He said: “This Christmas is likely to be like no other in many ways, but we in Northern Ireland have much to be thankful for, despite the ravages of COVID on our community. In the midst of it all we’re out and about buying presents for our friends and family, but what to buy someone who appears to have everything? Some years ago I decided to buy an odd gift; a goat - not for Auntie Ethel but for a family in deep poverty in Rwanda and I sent a card to Auntie Ethel telling her that instead of more perfume or yet another item of clothing that she didn’t need, I had enriched a poor family on her behalf, and she was delighted. Last year I visited Rwanda, the land of the birth of my son-in-law and I met the goat and the family that had benefited from Auntie Ethel’s Christmas present. The goat was a Nanny that had been introduced to a Billy, paid for by another donor, and on average three little goats appear each year. The first kid is given to another family and from then, the family can choose to breed the animals or sell them to earn money to buy school uniforms, medicine or clothes. In the meantime the Nanny had provided manure to increase the crop yield to feed the family or sold at the market. Such a visit brought home to me the very practical benefit of buying a goat, it can be life changing. You can learn more about the charity by visiting www.aidforeducation.org where you can buy a goat online for £20 and there are no deductions from your gift; 100% goes direct to the needy.”