New Edinburgh exhibition to showcase inspirational Christian Aid work

Valerie Cishahayo now has more control of her life, and can send her children to school, thanks to her involvement in the coffee cooperative.

The exhibition, In Their Lifetime – Celebrating 10 Years of Ground-Breaking Work runs September 4 – 28 in Edinburgh as part of a nationwide tour. It will feature images from around the world, from coffee growers in Burundi to farmers in Nicaragua, to planters in Bangladesh.

The exhibition also features images of participants promoting multi-ethnic dialogue in the conflict state of Myanmar and helping girls thrive in Nigeria.

“We’re thrilled to bring the In Their Lifetime exhibition to Edinburgh and to share some of the inspiring stories of the people who have made these projects such a success,” Christian Aid Scotland philanthropy officer Nadia Cunden said.

“In Their Lifetime projects have helped to tackle poverty in over 20 countries, directly impacting the lives of tens of thousands of women, men and children,” she added.

“When In Their Lifetime was conceived 10 years ago, Christian Aid aimed to test how innovation could be used to bring about longer-term change and tackle the root causes of poverty.”

“It brings together philanthropists, technical experts and grassroots organisations in developing countries to find radical new solutions to the entrenched problems that are the root causes of poverty.”

The images will also showcase the ground-breaking work the charity has been doing with honey farmers in Kenya.

The project has implemented “honey hubs” as training centres and collection points for farmers to bring their honey to be pasteurised and processed in preparation to be sold.

Around eighty per cent of land in Kenya is suitable for beekeeping and honey production, but in the past most of the honey consumed in Kenya was imported across the border from Tanzania.

Yields of Kenyan honey were also very low, and the quality of the honey produced was poor.

“This In Their Lifetime project had the ultimate, ambitious goal of restructuring the Kenyan honey sector to provide small-scale producers with profitable and resilient livelihoods.” Ms Cunden said.

“We would encourage everyone to come and see how these innovation projects have transformed the lives of so many communities.”

In Their Lifetime is a seed fund run by Christian Aid in over 20 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Central and South America.

The aim of the fund is to “take risks and push the boundaries of development work to improve the lives of the poor.”

In Their Lifetime – Celebrating 10 Years of Ground-Breaking Work is at the Scottish Storytelling Centre until 28 September.