My 1% of September 2006 goes to Oxfam

I have decided to donate 1% of my salary to some private voluntary organization, every month.

I will consider my net income, so this will be after deducting the usual 27% in normal taxes (yes, I pay taxes of 27%!). 1% seems to me quite a symbolic figure and easy to calculate, and it's above the usual 0,7% that most NGO's claim to the governments of the world. Very roughly, if seven in ten citizens did the same thing, 0,7% of the country's wealth would go to development and solidarity projects. 1% of my current net income is near or above the amounts of money that those organizations usually set as standard subscriptions.

And I prefer to make single donations every month instead of becoming a member because I don't feel like choosing the one NGO. This way I can easily change recipient, in case I find a better one and depending on the circumstances. When I was a member of Greenpeace, I used to receive mail and their magazine at least once a month. But today we don't need paper and stamps any more to keep up to date.

Last Friday, being 28th, I received my payslip.

I must admit that I initially thought of Oxfam because of their great advertising campaign ─their ads flood the walls of the underground carriages─ and the elegant public image that they present. Then I tried to remember what kind of connection do they have with the Catholic Church, recalling that in Spain they are actually “Intermón Oxfam”. But Wikipedia told me that

“Oxfam International is a confederation of 12 independent, non-profit, secular, community-based aid and development organizations who work with local partners in over 100 countries worldwide to reduce poverty, suffering, and injustice. It is a member of the OneWorld Network, which seeks to `to promote sustainable development, social justice, and human rights.' [...] Oxfam International was founded in 1995. Oxfam Great Britain is based in Oxford, UK. It was founded in England in 1942 as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief by Canon Theodore Richard Milford (1896–1987) and the Oxford Meeting of the Quakers (which included Edith Pye and the Gilletts), with a mission to send food through the Allied blockade to the citizens of Nazi-occupied Greece.”

(I think that Araceli can tell us more about what is Oxfam and what they do).

After visiting their web page, I went for Oxfam Great Britain.