News release

Christian Aid Media office

FLYING TOILETS TO HIT RADIO STATIONS

Interviews, images and CDs available on request

Christian Aid is launching its gifts catalogue www.presentaid.org with
a spoof Christmas single Feeling Flush this Christmas? on 17 November
2005 to help tackle sanitation problems such as 'flying toilets'
which affect many people in third world slums.

The single is a remix of the Christmas carol We Three Kings of Orient
Are. No musical instruments are used. Instead the carol is composed
of unusual sounds associated with gifts from the Present Aid
catalogue. The 'musicians' include a mosquito choir, a chorus of cows,
sheep, and goats as well as toilet flushes.

The term 'flying toilets' might sound funny but it's deadly serious.
In some African slums, such as Kibera, in Nairobi, up to 15,000 people
could be sharing a single block of six toilets. Without running water
people are forced to use plastic bags to defecate in. They then throw
the bags into the street - and hence are known as 'flying toilets'.

Clean toilets drastically reduce diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria
and cholera. A donation of £55 would buy a latrine that really gets to
the bottom of things. And this is where the Present Aid catalogue
comes in.

People can log on to www.presentaid.org and choose a virtual present
for a friend, relative or colleague who will receive a card. A gift
then goes to help people in developing countries, wherever the need is
greatest.

David Pain, head of the Africa division at Christian Aid, said: 'It
was hard to conduct the rowdy choir of mosquitoes and get the goats in
tune, but we hope they will help us raise awareness about the
difficulties facing some of the poorest communities around the world,
not just at Christmas but throughout the year. A quirky gift from
presentaid.org will put a smile on the face of the person who receives
a card about it, but more importantly it will help people in
developing countries help themselves.'

Other presents on offer include a mobile clinic, fishing nets, a flock
of guinea fowl, sheep, cows and a sesame oil press. You can also 'buy'
a stethoscope for £7 and a community water tap for £24. The Present
Aid catalogue contains 23 gift ideas, ranging in price from £7 to
£8,000.

The money raised through people 'buying' gifts doesn't go directly to
a family in a poor country, but into one of the following funds that
are used to support Christian Aid partner organisations working with
some of the poorest communities in more than 50 countries:

- emergencies and disaster preparedness,

- agriculture and livestock,

- health including HIV/AIDS,

- water and environment,

- education and training,

- campaigning throughout the developing world.

Last year, almost £1 million were raised for Christian Aid's work
through this virtual gifts scheme.

Ends

For more information, radio plays, images, web clips or mp3 files
contact

Kati Dshedshorov on 020 7523 2452 or [email protected]

Notes to editors:

1. All gifts must be bought by 15 December 2005 in order for
them to be dispatched in time for Christmas.

2. The Christmas carol 'We Three Kings of Orient Are' has been
reworked by Goatherderz in association with Heavy Entertainment using
sounds related to the Present Aid catalogue:

· toilet flushes (representing latrines that help reduce
life-threatening diseases like diarrhoea, malaria and cholera)

· machine sounds (representing a sesame oil press that can
give a whole community the opportunity to work themselves out of
grinding poverty)

· animal sounds (cows, sheep, goats, guinea fowls are given as
a loan to farmers; once the animals have reproduced the loan is given
back to help another family)

· running water (symbolising water taps or wells)

· heart beat (representing a stethoscope which is a vital
equipment for local communities where tuberculosis, for example,
caused by poverty is still rife)

· mosquito buzz (representing life-saving mosquito nets in
areas where malaria kills hundreds of thousands of people every year)

No musical instruments have been used.

3. The website www.presentaid.org has been designed by digital
agency, RandomMedia, with the e-commerce functionality provided by
Venda.
An earthquake in south Asia, floods in Central America and drought in
Malawi have devastated tens of thousands of lives across three
continents. We need your help. Please give what you can to our
Emergency Crisis Fund.

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/crisis