Day 13 - Write To Your Local Paper

My letter to my local paper The Birmingham Post.

Dear Sir/Madam,


Christmas is almost upon us and for me it's a time of year where I take a couple of weeks off work and spend time with my friends and family. As I am not a Christian, the holiday does not have any religious connotations for me, however it is still a very important holiday for me and my family. 


My biggest disappointment however is with the over commercialisation of Christmas. It has become a holiday filled with materialism and for me this is a very disappointing prospect. We have become a society of over consumers and we are teaching our children that happiness lies through gifts, this is especially prevalent in advertising. They are everywhere, TV commercials, radios, bill board, the Internet and every message conveys a message 'this is your solution to a perfect Christmas' followed by some item you MUST have. 


As a society we have bought into this, do we stop to think 'my child does not need that Nintendo Wii' or 'I wonder how this was made? Was it made in a sweatshop? Was it made by a child the same age as mine in India/Bangladesh/China for less than minimum wage and poor working conditions?'  


If these issues aren't at the fore front of our minds, I believe this is a real shame and as an activist it's my duty and moral obligation to bring these issues to light. So with this in mind I decided to make my December count (although, I do participate in many activities throughout the course of the year). 


The first activity is the Oxfam Campaigner's Christmas Calendar, which is like an advent calendar but instead of receiving a piece of chocolate, every day leading up to Christmas you take part in an activity (outlined on the blog: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/pressoffice/2010/12/06/the-campaigner%E2%80%99s-christmas-calendar/). This is an excellent way for you to make your Christmas count. 


The second large activity I have taken part in has been the Big Brum Collection for Oxfam on the 12th December. We spent a couple of hours in Kings Heath collecting money. Dr. Mark Lee from the School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham brought his Morris Dancing group along and they dances for money. We raised approximately £93 in 2 hours and raised some awareness as well as collecting for Oxfam which helps many people in poverty globally and in the UK. 


I have been involved in many other things during the month of December, including letter writing for Amnesty International to support human rights. 


So why am I doing all this? On Friday I was at the 'Food and Climate Change: A Panel Discussion' in Warwick and a quote from Momodou Sallah describes exactly why. He said "A global citizen must be morally outraged by social injustice" and as a global citizen I am. For me the first step is to be morally outraged and the proceeding step to actively try and do something about this. It's easy to think that you are only one person, but one person can make a significant difference. If each person took action to help alleviate poverty and injustice then collectively we can make a huge difference to the world. 


I urge everyone to do at least one thing before Christmas to help someone in need, whether this is campaigning, signing a petition, donating money or writing to your MP. Birmingham has a vast array of local charitable groups you can be involved with including Oxfam, Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth and remember together we can make a difference. 


Merry Christmas,
Femma Ashraf