World Gifts cafod.org.uk/schoolsworldgifts

Does anyone know what World Gifts is Does anyone know what World Gifts is? World Gifts are special presents and are really two gifts in one. When you buy a World Gift, you are supporting people in developing countries. Today I’ll be talking to you about one of the gifts and how they have changed people’s lives in the past.

1 2 This is how World Gifts work – you choose a gift from the catalogue (show a copy of the catalogue), which may be a gift of water, or a gift of cows, or any of the other World Gifts available this year. You can then order your gift, and you will receive a beautifully illustrated card of your chosen gift, together with a presentation gift envelope. You then give the card by hand or post to a friend. And your gift will help support individuals, families and communities around the world to transform their lives. 3 4

A good book is great, sometimes it makes us happy and sometimes makes us sad. It keeps us entertained as well as helping us to learn new things. Teacher note: Choose a book character that your class likes and describe it to them. For example, if I were to say to you he is wizard, has a scar in his forehead and wears glasses. Do you know who he is? Harry Potter. You might want to describe a couple of characters and follow up with other questions such as what is your favourite book? Why? How do you feel when you read a good book?

Teaching someone to read One of the gifts you can buy through World Gifts is the gift of teaching someone to read. All children have the right to an education, to learn to read but sadly there are 796 million people in our world who are not able to read or write. That number is 12 times the number of people living in the UK (worldliteracyfoundation.org). Being able to read gives children a better education and a better chance of getting a job when they leave school.

Meet Hector. He is 11 years old and lives in Peru.

He lives with his mother, his sister and his grandparents.

Hector likes to play football with his cousin.

Hector goes to an after-school club Hector goes to an after-school club. Hector’s mum works long hours and isn’t there when Hector gets home from school. So Hector loves going to the club, where volunteers help children with their reading and homework, and provide a safe space for them to study and play. Through World Gifts you can help many other children, like Hector, to learn to read.

This Christmas we are trying to teach 5,000 people to read, can you help us? What can you do to fundraise and buy this wonderful gift? Fundraising ideas: Try selling old books Dress up as a character from your favourite story Run a sponsored spelling bee Hold a short story competition in class Teacher note: Check out our online totaliser at cafod.org.uk/schoolsworldgifts to see how many people we have thought to read.

all your people have the right to learn. Loving God, all your people have the right to learn. We pray that children throughout the world may know the joy of reading. In this way may they be helped to build a better life for themselves. Amen This Christmas let’s share the joy of reading with our sisters and brothers all over the world. Let’s say the prayer together….