Today is Blog Action Day, and the theme for 2008 is Poverty.

I’m the Web Co-ordinator and Graphic Designer for Oxfam Ireland, as you’ll know if you follow this blog. There can sometimes, for me, be a disconnect between the work I’m doing and the work that we do. Sometimes it’s hard to connect sitting at a pc drawing colourful starbursts for Oxjam with our partner programs doing HIV testing in Uganda, or buying school bags for children in Tanzania. It’s also hard to talk about it without sounding sanctimonious, as though I’m praising myself for the great work that is done by our organisation, when in fact nothing could be further from my mind. I get to spend most of my working week being creative and learning new things, and the job is so incredibly rewarding: I feel very lucky to be here.

So when thinking about how to blog about poverty for Blog Action Day, I decided to briefly cover just two things:

How Little It Takes To Help

It only costs €18 to buy a set of schoolbooks for a child in a developing country. €18! That’s about four pints. (Note to self: try to stop always using pints as main unit for measuring cost.  It looks bad.) We all know that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Small contributions can change lives; don’t be put off donating because you feel that you can’t donate very much.

Why You Should Volunteer To Design For A Charity

Anyone who works in or cares about design knows the power of a strong photograph, a compelling poster campaign, a striking slogan. Charities often struggle to find the budgets for design work, and are endlessly competing for attention with consumer advertising. If you can donate a few hours of your time to design something for a charity, it could provide the charity with a cohesive identity for a project, and potentially be used in lots of materials. If you’re a photographer, a high quality photograph can make a huge difference in mailouts and press (photography, particularly, is so important to charities). Check out Volunteering Ireland’s arts and culture / office-based work sections or contact your favoured small charity and offer your services. People often associate volunteering with a regular weekly commitment, but a one-off or infrequent donation of skills can be really valuable as well.

Oxjam blogs for Blog Action Day »

Irish bloggers on Blog Action Day »