While visiting Christian Aid partner Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado (CIPCA) in Bolivia, the poorest country in South America, Marshall witnessed the concept “You add, we multiply,” Christian Aid Week’s slogan, which embraces the idea that together we can make a big difference and that even the smallest donation can grow and achieve real change.
He visited the village of Santa Ana where two and half years ago the community was given 20 ewes and one ram. The villagers have now bred more than 250 sheep and have returned the original sheep to CIPCA to be passed to another community. The sale of meat and sheep at market has provided the villagers with a new form of income, allowing them to send their kids to school, improve their diet and buy everyday essentials.
Kris Marshall said: “’You add, we multiply’ is a great idea. Sheep are a valuable commodity and just by giving enough money to buy one this Christian Aid Week people can really change lives for a very poor family. My mum bought me a ram, Mr Gruff, last Christmas and having seen this project for myself I can now see how amazing it is. The best ideas are always simple and this is one of them. If every person in the UK gave just a quid, that’s over 50 million quid. Christian Aid works in more than 50 countries and a million quid goes a long way in Bolivia.”Marshall also saw how cattle ranchers are chopping down vast swathes of the Amazon rainforest in the quest to find new grazing areas, driving indigenous farmers off their land.
