Sunday, July 27, 2008

Will the last person leaving

please turn off the lights?

I'm just about done for the moment.
3 Eucharists and a double Baptism this morning (spilling over into this afternoon)
a bit of sacramental ministry by telephone that has left me gasping
all sorts of odds and ends actually tidied up
and now....

well, now it's bedtime on Sunday night and tomorrow I will leave home at crack of dawn to drive to Gatwick to reclaim Hugger Steward from Darkest Africa!
I am ridiculously excited......

not least because once I have collected HS, we come home only briefly and then it's off to the joys of Polyphony for 11 whole days.

Take care, all of you. Do nothing rash while I'm away - and I'll see you when we get back.
Hugs and loves, ok?

Saturday, July 26, 2008

A "couldn't be better" Friday Five


As I may just have mentioned a couple of times, we are off to Polyphony on Monday as soon as I have reclaimed Hugger Steward from the baggage check at Gatwick - and, as one of the world's most disorganised packers, I know that four hours after we arrive I will have to gloomily admit what essential item I've forgotten this time. My RevGalPals, in an effort to alleviate this dismal situation, have given me a chance to decide on the five essentials without which I should not, would not, could not leave home...which probably means that I'll find I have none of them by Monday evening.
Dreams are free, however, so this is my list of the things that I absolutely positively can't leave home without

1. Digital camera - since its advent in my life, Biggles has been a source of huge pleasure, helping me to look more carefully and to make more of the world around me than I ever have before. I usually manage the camera, to be fair - it's the charger that may be stuck in my study!

2. Journal and pens - even if I write nothing, I always go hoping for the time and space to think.

3. Books - usually deeply frivolous for the boat, but with one "been meaning to get around to" added to the box for good measure. I raided the Oxfam shop yesterday and emerged with a huge haul of cheap and cheerful fiction, largely of the detective variety..to that mix I will add "Take this Bread" which arrived too late for me to join in the RevGals discussions a few weeks ago, plus just possibly one other from my "work to read" piles.

4. Tapestry - I only ever seem to do this when on retreat or at the boat so progress on projects is terribly slow, but it's a good way to pass the time while the world slips past at 4 mph.

5. Music - ipod now, walkman in days of yore...My own instruments are not easily portable, but I love that Hugger Steward took his flute to Africa, and have vivid memories of inter railing as a student, and sharing a railway carriage from Copenhagen to The Hook of Holland with Robyn from New Jersey, who played her flute for us to sing all day long.

Great forgettings include - my father's pyjamas, on a weekend break in the New Forest when I was a small child...he was quite a formal man, the product of his age, - so he didn't have a spare tee shirt in his luggage, and this was a Bank Holiday weekend in the countryside, so no emergency shopping options...I don't remember what the resolution was, just the appalled and muffled expletive as he emptied his suitcase
-the Dufflepud's sleeping bag (or was it Hugger Steward's?) on an early music residential
- my towel - too often to contemplate (I'd never survive in a Douglas Adams galaxy) and my flannel and hairbrush too when I went to India
I'll let you know when I return home what the Great Missing Item was this time! Just so long as it's not the dog food/leads/toys/beds....travelling with a puppy reminds me of travelling with a baby, except that the feeds are trickier!

Out with a bang

The happy arrival of Libby has not been the only change in our lives at the vicarage of late. School term ended for the Dufflepud last Friday, - and that meant the end of an era, as he will be moving in September to a 6th form centre far closer to home than the school where his siblings completed their secondary education.
It felt quite strange to realise that, apart from going in to collect his GCSE results in 3 weeks time, we've ended a connection that has been running for 10 years....that when the History department arranges a trip to Russia, no Fleming children will go along...that we won't have to listen to the Head's Charter Day speech once again (it varied little from year to year)...that none of my offspring will be attending the summer music residential next year.
Last year, as Hugger Steward left school, his final concert was overshadowed by the floods that swept across the country. The planned "Festival in the Field" rapidly became a "Get through this as best we can" and the promised fireworks and RAF Falcon display were clearly a wash out.
The Dufflepud, however, fared rather better, though the evening was more than just chilly for the audience. We sat with some dear friends whom I'd not seen properly for far too long, and thoroughly enjoyed much of the music (the sound system did no favours to the classical performers, contending with the difficulties of an open air performance - but the jazz band was excellent).
"What about the fireworks?" you ask.
They were amazing! A great way to end our relationship with a school that has done my children proud for 10 years...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Inertia rules

I ought to be writing articles for the parish mags, but at the moment all I seem capable of is playing with the puppy and counting the days till Hugger Steward gets home (at the mo he is climbing Kilmanjaro - please pray! - but he will be HOME in just 9 days time)....so what better excuse for a Friday Five on Saturday?This week's is really fun....and comes from my friend RevHDRod, whose own You don't have to listen, I just like to talk is one of my all time favourite blog names, - summing up in a phrase the attitude of so many of us to blogging!

Friday Five: What's in a Name?

So how did you come up with your blogging name? And/or the name of your blog? Being hopeless at dissimulation of any kind, I realised that there was Absolutely. No. Point. in even trying to adopt an alternative blogging identity - and in any case, I assumed that only those people who already knew me would ever read my blog. I began posting just a few weeks after I began my life as a curate - and in the UK at least the first word association of "curate" is likely to be "egg" - which comes with the tag "Good in Parts". I've blogged the story some while ago, but the short version is that a Punch cartoon once depicted a hapless curate, a guest at his Bishop's breakfast table, being asked if his egg was OK. It wasn't, so his diplomatic response was "Good in parts..." Thus "the curate's egg" has passed into the language

Are there any code names or secret identities in your blog? Any stories there? When I began blogging I was entirely unimaginative, as I assumed that only the handful of bloggers I knew already would ever read me, and they were clearly well-aware of who was who in our household. Later, though, the children named themselves. Hattie Gandhi is so-called a)because of her predilection for attractive head-gear, in which she looks predictably stunning and b)because in her toddler years she used to wander around aftgr her bath swathed in one of those baby towels with a hood, and looking for all the world like the late great Mahatma, as her fond parents pointed out. A two-year old's pronounciation of this became "Hattie" and the rest is history.Hugger Steward not only works at the wonder that is the Greenbelt Festival, where yes, he is indeed a steward and receives the embrace of dozens on the annual "Hug A Steward" day, but is also renowned for his own talent as a hugger....another reason why his mother is busy looking forward to 28th July. The Dufflepud was named in full daylight on this blog, after he'd had a happy morning experimenting with the coracle that belongs to Best Spir Dir Ever...He looked so very much like the illustrations of the Dufflepuds in Voyage of the Dawn Treader - quite irresistable. Otherwise, I pretty much stick to initials, though FabBishop, Wonderful Vicar and Best Spir Dir Ever are indeed just that! I'm very blessed....

What are some blog titles that you just love? For their cleverness, drama, or sheer, crazy fun? So very many....Pink Shoes in the Pulpit seemed to be a sign of hope when I found myself in a very male deanery, in a church which is still struggling with the idea that women can minster without becoming pseudo men in the process....A Blog Less Ordinary might be better named "A Blog lessPosted On"but nonetheless, tis a good title and a good reflection of the man behind the writing. Then there is Moreena's wonderful "Falling Down in Also a Gift", which seems to sum up in one phrase the way that she and her whole family live life to the full despite the shadow of her daughter's life-threatening condition. Really, though, all the blogs I read have names that draw you in to the world behind the title.

What three blogs are you devoted to? Other than the RevGalBlogPals blog of course! Three?? Only THREE?!? How can I possibly say...I do, though, value those blogs that help me to keep a sensible perspective on the dramas of the Anglican Communion - Bishop Alan's, for example...And Jonny Baker the Eminence Grise of UK Christian blogging, is a wonderful read and source of inspiration, as is Fr Simon at Parish Life. Goodness. Three men!!!! But those are almost the only male blogs I read regularly at all...Strange. Nearly all the rest of my blogroll consists of revgalblogpals - or blogs that are a more specific "catch up" with the life and times of my friends, though looking now I see that the roll as it appears here is woefully out of date. Blog-keeping as hopeless as general domestic maintenance. Oh dear.

Who introduced you to the world of blogging and why? Two or three Greenbelt friends -including One Pedestrian and Reach out and Touch the Screen started blogging in 2004 and invited me to view their blogs...Inevitably I wanted to comment, and it seemed impolite somehow to do so when I had nowhere of my own for them to retaliate. I was ordained Deacon that Petertide and began Good in Parts a few weeks later, as a way of reflecting on the early experiences of ministry. Bloggy birthday coming up very soon, actually...though I suspect I will be away at the time.

Bonus question: Have you ever met any of your blogging friends? Where are some of the places you've met these fun folks?
Blogging has been a really good way to get to know people I might have admired from afar,to approach people I would otherwise have been too awestruck to engage with. I still find it really hard to accept that people I have not met, and probably never will, engage with me through this blog too..That they should even get onto a train to visit me as one of their 3 destinations on a family trip to the UK is beyond wonderful...but maybe that's what sisters do, Songbird? Jo(e)??
Greenbelt is a great place for UK Christian bloggers to meet irl, but nothing will ever beat the excitement of finding myself All The Way across the Atlantic, heading out of New Orleans on a boat with some of the finest bloggers on the planet. It's just kind of hard to realise you have family so very far away, whom you are longing to spend more time with soooon.

A Tale of Two Bishops


Though life has been pretty much dominated by things canine for a while, there have been other events ticking away in the parishes, particularly as this was the last week of the school year.
The school attached to Church in the Valley (hereafter to be known as Valley Church School, or VCS) is a little way into a 5 phase building and improvement project, for which, as a Voluntary Aided School , we have to find 10% of the capital costs ourselves. As I've mentioned before, parish in the valley is by no means affluent - indeed it is well towards the top of the "deprived wards" chart for this county, so we're short of high-powered, high-earning families on the school roll. The sum we have to find is small in comparison with that which Church on the Hill needs for its roof, but the amazing concert there two weeks ago brought in pretty much what we need to raise each year over a looooooong period in order to repay the diocese for our building work. I would be kidding myself if I thought that we'd ever be likely to stage that sort of event down here. Life is just different.
So on Monday we launched our appeal "Building their Future", inviting the local press to come along and hear what we have in mind. As a church school we investigated whether there might be a bishop available to add "oomph" to the proceedings. It transpired that, thanks to the Lambeth Conference (I wonder how many times any of us will read those particular words in that order! but truly, I do mean "Thanks") there was not just one but two bishops available...our own +J, the suffragen who "put me in" to my parishes here and also +V, the bishop of Karnataka Central Diocese, where I spent my Indian month in November 06. We're twinned as a diocese with KCD, so it made sense that +V and his wife should be guests in Gloucester before the conference, but it was a lovely surprise to be able to welcome them, as they had so warmly welcomed me, to visit "my" school, and "my" parish. I love it when my worlds touch, however briefly.
Even better, I'd spent some time only a couple of weeks earlier sharing some Indian memories with the children at VCS as part of their "global dimension week", and had taught them the way to offer "namaste" greetings...+V and his wife were delighted by 200 English children saying "namaste" to them...while I was delighted that they chose to talk to the children, as I had, about the work that is being done in the church's New Life hostels for the street children of Bangalore. (I just looked through the archives to see where I could link to my experiences there and realised that I don't seem to have blogged them at all...some seriously retrospective writing seems to be called for when time permits)
But then it struck me.
The huge irony of +V being there to help us launch a fund-raising drive to improve facilities in a school that would be absolutely Top of the Range in every respect if we were in India. Valley Church School does genuinely need some money spent on it, as it competes for children with one very glossy county school and the miracle working school whose 50th Birthday celebrations I enjoyed recently. If we want parents to choose us, and so open the route to a distinctively Christian ethos and education for their children, we can't afford to look shabby or second rate.
+V absolutely took the point that, where they have any choice at all, all parents will seek the best for their children and spoke powerfully of the need for a vision of excellence as a driving force...a vision which unites us at VCS with the leaders of his projects back in Karnataka. There was no trace of "You don't know you are born" in anything he said to staff or children.
The visit was, I believe, a success all round. Head, Bishops and children all shared hopes and dreams, hats were hurled on high as cameras clicked, and the appeal was well and truly launched.
But, nonetheless, it was hard not to think of what the Indian children would feel if our existing facilities could only be transported magically to Bangalore...
Global perspectives can sometimes be uncomfortable things.

Friday, July 18, 2008

She's here

Ladies and gentlemen
May I introduce you to the one and only, really rather delightful

LIBBY

So far she has excelled in general obligingness as much as in puppyish charm and Mufti shows every sign of being happy with her company (not least, i suspect, because I am spending lots of time playing with both dogs as part of the settling in process).

I'm not getting all the work done that I maybe should be, but just for a day or two I'm allowing myself not to positively hunt for things that need doing, if they aren't immediately clamoring for my attention. I've been waiting for a Golden Retriever since I was, iirc, 4 years old...so I'm a rather happy vicar at the moment. Warm thanks to my friends at St M's, whose gift enabled us to enlarge our family so delightfully.
Ministry has never been so cuddly!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Just to cheer us all up

I'm going to visit this litter on Wednesday, all being well. There is, it appears, one bitch still available so I'm now torn between manic excitement and "ohnowhatamigoingtodo-ness"
It does at least divert me from my techie dramas...
Next question...dog cages...good or bad idea? I think I'm in favour, but haven't used one with earlier dogs, and won't for Mufti. What do you think, peoples?

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Grrrr

Any techie wizards reading?
My desktop is being about as unhelpful as it knows how at the moment....running very slow indeed, and despite managing to download emails when I first boot up, it then can't summon the ooomph to stay connected - even though the icon claims "Connected - strength good".
My lap top is also a bit iffy in its connection, but that has been an issue off and on for some time...so I'm reduced to using Marvin - the very elderly depressive computer that once belonged to my old office. Not being able to work at my desk and go online might be wonderful for my concentration but it's very bad for my temper - and of course, the little darling has waited till the week when I'm home alone until Thursday, as the Dufflepud is off on his final music department residential, LCM is mending clocks, and the globetrotters continue to trot around the globe.

So...if I don't respond to emails, post nothing anywhere and generally vanish from the ether for a while, it's probably not the fault of the number 11 bus but rather a case of my technological ineptitude finally catching up with me. It does make me cross though. As I said earlier, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

eta Oh no....Now it seems to have lost track of Hugger Steward's server and his website, despite the fact that the server is switched on and humming away merrily. He is going to be sooooooooo cross when he gets home (I can only hope that the stuff he has posted from Tanzania will reappear somewhere once he has managed to persuade his website to spring into action again, but I hae my doots.
Oh heck, oh dear, oh bother!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Doggy dilemma


Non pet-owning readers feel free to skip this post...you won't understand why I'm even having this conversation. Why would any sane person, with an already busy life, add to their potential complications? Why indeed??
Everyone else....please read on!
You'll remember the agonies of deciding whether or not to try to rehome Dillon the Evil Jack Russell and our huge relief when he settled happily in a new abode before the traumas of our house move became yet more traumatic thanks to his presence. Since then we've been a one dog, two cat family, and that's been largely OK. Mufti has been pretty contented without him, except that she has rather insecure if she's home alone (she has never been an "only dog" for more than a couple of weeks in all her days) and has taken to raiding the laundry basket so that she can snuggle up with a garment of mine to remind her that there is indeed a mum out there somewhere...After a few pairs of holey knickers, I'm remembering to close the bedroom door, so that's really only a minor issue (except as a symptom of how she's really feeling). However, she has definitely become more sedate since Dillon's departure, and even on walks is inclined to remain velcro'd to my heels most of the time, which isn't her normal way of being.She could definitely decline into premature old age, if left to her own devices. BAD idea...Solution? Another dog, of course, and St M's sweetly gave me such a huge cheque when I left there that despite having bought a rather splendid cope I still have a sizeable chunk in hand, which has long been labelled "puppy fund". I'd love to have something as special as a dog to remind me of all those wonderful people each and every day - and if it doesn't get spent soon, it will disappear on petrol. Not the object of the exercise, I feel. So, there is £500 in the puppy fund, just waiting to be spent.
The only problem is...what puppy?
The Dufflepud has a yen for a Golden Retriever, - and certainly they are delightful dogs, very well suited to the comings and goings of vicarage life...but they are also on the large side, and it must be said that I've quite enjoyed being able to stick my dogs under my arm when the need arises - and also have limited time to take them for cross country walks. So, a bit of me worries that a retriever might be more dog than I need, might get bored, might become - heaven help us - a problem dog itself. A large lollopping well meaning problem, but all the same...
On the other hand, if I'm ever going to have a big dog, it had better be now - and there's something rather wonderful about being able to bury your face in a canine shoulder if the world is out to get you....

Having grown up with a spaniel who was one of the two best dogs ever, I'm pretty sentimental about them too...and they have the advantage of being more portable, and maybe a better "fit" in the narrowboat too.

On the other other hand (yes, you'll need to be as multi armed as a Hindu god to cope with this) they seem to cost a phenomenal amount - more than feels quite moral, to be honest.The local animal shelters don't have any puppies at all, and mostly seem to have dogs like collies, lurchers and some rather fierce bull terrier types...those being the predominant breeds in these parts...none of which they are prepared to recommend to a household where all sorts of people will be visiting, and the dog needs to be an agent of pastoral care, or else blend into the background completely.So, while I'd love to rescue a dog in need, that looks almost impossible at the moment.

A fresh set of hands is now called for, as I've found a website that sets out to offer a puppy register for ordinary dogs...not those from top breeders, but reputable owners who care about the welfare of their puppies...and they offer both cockers, retrievers and (very tempting - see their picture above) retriever/spaniel cross puppies at a rather more realistic price than the superior breeders I'd been exploring to date....
I've spent the last 2 hours using time I don't have to trawl the site...I have a short list of possibilities that are available here and now, many of whom have had their first set of injections, so could be ready to come on holiday with us...but I don't know what to do!!!!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

while Synod debated, in one small corner of the Anglican Communion I've had a very busy weekend...

Headlines included - a 50th Birthday Celebration for one of the schools that serves this community - and which does wonderful things to open vistas to children whose aspirations might otherwise be rather limited

- watching Longsuffering Clockmaker and an unsupsecting friend (who had visited us to attend a local Canal Festival, of which he saw little thanks to determined rain) construct an elephant (yes...this sort of thing happens in vicarages all the time - didn't you know?)

- my first wedding at Church in the Valley - for a delightful couple who seem really tuned in to what was happening beyond the immediate festivities...Bride's mum, bride AND vicar were all distinctly teary as the bride walked down the aisle and though I did have to ask the congregation twice whether "They the family and friends of N & M would support them in their marriage now and in the years to come", once they'd got the idea that this was a participative event and not a spectator sport they then engaged with it with gusto. Amazingly, there was sunshine too!

- having the privilege of introducing the most wonderful concert at Church on the Hill...Sarah Connolly just happens to be one of my parishioners and with huge generosity she gave her time, and persuaded a group of orchestral musicians to join her in performing a programme of Bach and Handel for the benefit of the church roof. An amazing team of volunteers from the village ensured that we were plied with fantastic refreshments, welcomed into a beautifully decorated and tranformed church and that the whole evening ran completely smoothly, despite the aforementioned rain (which meant that instead of little black dresses and party shoes, many sensible souls opted for waxed jackets and gum boots). As for the performance - to be given the gift of a truly world class artist(one critic in the national press described Sarah as someone he would cross continents to hear - and I'd say he's absolutely right) singing glorious music in one of "my own" churches...to be seated only a few feet away from her ... to watch the music soaking into the walls of the church, and making it more beautiful than ever...was a once in a lifetime experience for which I am deeply thankful.

- lest I get above myself, the following day saw me literally pilloried...and receiving a baptism of wet sponges as part of Church in the Valley's Summer Fete There are some disturbingly good shots among my parishioners (my skirt is actually pale blue...I was that wet) though it was very sweet the way so many of the congregation went through a "Oh, I couldn't possibly...you poor thing" routine before they could be persuaded to take aim. The weather didn't do us any favours, so we moved most of the stalls into the church building, with some in the hall, and others in the church itself...Very medieval all round! The "home team" fielded all sorts of wonderfully dedicated people, who set to immediately after worship and created a variety of stalls which really did have something for everyone.
The circus skills performer was a huge success, and the building was filled with a happy buzz all afternoon...We even had some fugitive seamstresses, producing costumes for a medieval fayre which is happening in a couple of months, beavering away in the children's corner! I'd done a rushed job on some leaflets reminding the community of those things that we can offer as a church, beyond Sunday worship - and was delighted to be able to write
"The church is open each day as a place of quiet and prayer..."
It certainly wasn't quiet and prayerful on Sunday afternoon but it felt well and truly open, and a great crowd of people came through the doors. Some even stayed for the Songs of Praise service that concluded the day - and I staggered home exhausted but so very proud of both my church families, with their differing gifts, but their common committment to making community.

- Finally Monday saw an unexpectedly big funeral to complete the range of experiences...My words seemed to connect with those who needed to hear them, and I was left wondering yet again at the variety and the privilege of this calling and so thankful for the people whom God puts in my way as I engage with it.

Synod update

I've just had a very helpful conversation with Someone Who Knows about most things in the C of E and am now clearer on the provisions to be made for traditionalists. As ever, Thinking Anglicans has the best roundup of all reports and comments...but here's the short version.
There will be nothing enshrined in law, no more alarming Acts of Synod that proclaim women's ministry tainted and dangerous to the purity of Anglican orders...rather there will be a code of practice so that priests and parishes who are unable to accept the episcopal ministry of a woman will be protected. My guess is that many of these will leave - but despite this, that the Church of England will be richer and healthier as the gifts of those women called by God to episcopal ministry are released for the service of His Church.
So, not a perfect outcome but the best that we could achieve in the current situation. Thanks be to God!
Now there's "just" the small matter of the Lambeth Conference to negotiate...so please dont, whatever you do, stop praying!

Monday, July 07, 2008

Please pray

as I write, the General Synod of the Church of England is debating whether and how the Church might ordain women bishops.
When the legislation went through that allows for the ordination of women as priests, there were safeguards built in for those unable to accept our priestly ministry. There is a possibility that similar measures might be part of the package this time, - which means that several thousand of us have written to our synod reps to say that we would actually prefer to wait longer and have the measure fully accepted than to live with a two tier church, in which some would undoubtedly treat women bishops as "second order". There is good coverage of the issues here. As today has gone on, I've been stopped by several people out and about in the community here, who've expressed huge support for the ministry of women together with a view that might be summed up as
"The church needs to get its act together".
I didn't expect to feel this anxious...Whatever happens, people will be hurt I think, - but please pray for minimal damage to this church that I love, despite all the institutional failings and frustrations.

eta
Synod has voted in favour of women bishops (confirming an earlier decision that there was no theological objection to this) but with provision in place to protect traditionalists....At the moment, nobody seems able to say exactly what this provision may look like, so I'm not sure whether I'm rejoicing or lamenting, though I'm thankful to read that ++Rowan said, during the debate
"I am deeply unhappy with any scheme or any solution to this which ends up, as it were, structurally humiliating women who might be nominated to the episcopate." Goodness knows, at this stage, whether his voice will have had any influence, - but it's encouraging that he's not so punch-drunk as Lambeth looms that he can't see wood for trees in this particular jungle.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Three years ago

St M's was crowded with friends and family.
Three years ago I was so nervous that I could barely speak until I found myself on the chancel steps where the President stands and heard a woman's voice saying clearly "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and ...."
Three years ago I realised that in offering absolution to God's people I felt myself more fully absolved than ever before
Three years ago I suddenly understood the reality that we do most truly "grasp the heel of heaven" during the Eucharist, as I became aware of my own personal cloud of witnesses, parents, teachers, writers, musicians who had been part of my journey to the point at which I could pray the Great Thanksgiving with and on behalf of them all.
Three years ago I presided at the Eucharist for the first time, a new priest, less than 24 hours old in my Orders, and realised what I am for.
How amazing and mysterious that something which is now the non negotiable core of my being is something that was new, that happened for the first time, just three years ago.
Thanks be to God!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

I found this in my in box just now

and it seems substantially more important than most other things I'm likely to engage with today.
Please do read it and take action if so moved...


Dear Kathryn,

Yesterday, the Financial Times declared: “G8 leaders ready to backtrack on Africa aid.”

It is inconceivable that the G8 could consider such a reversal, especially in a time when increasing food prices are making it ever more difficult for families to make ends meet. But the final decision hasn’t been made yet, and we have a critical opportunity to influence the outcome.

You—and nearly 40,000 other ONE members—have signed our petition to the G8 calling on them to deliver on their commitments to the world’s poorest people, but in light of this news, we need to redouble our efforts.

Please take urgent action by passing this email along to your friends and encouraging them to sign our petition to the G8:


This potential reversal comes at a time when we are seeing results from investments in development. For example, thanks to distribution of bed nets and increased access to antimalarial drugs, in Rwanda both deaths and cases of malaria have dropped by two-thirds since mid-2006.

As malaria still kills around one million people a year, it’s clear that we must replicate success stories like this. But it won’t happen if the G8 backtrack on their commitments.

Please tell the G8 leaders not to backtrack on aid: here's the site again