The Christmas Present Conundrum

This time two weeks ago I found myself hiding out in a toilet cubicle in tears.

I had taken the family down for brunch at one of my favourite cafes in Melbourne. I absolutely love this time of the year, watching the excited faces of my kids light up in the reflection of the Christmas lights, and talking endlessly about the pending arrival of Santa. As we drank our coffees and babycinos, my husband and I were making secret gestures and nods to communicate what we might get the kids this year.

Despite the usual Christmas excitement, something felt very different for me this year.

Earlier that week I had returned from Bangladesh where, for the first time since having my own children, I had witnessed widespread poverty first-hand. I had met gorgeous, friendly and very cheeky little kids who seemed no different inside to my own little ones. Only, I knew these kids would be lucky to get one nutritious meal today, let alone be taken out for brunch and a babycino.

I left the table and made my way to the bathroom to try and get myself together. I simply couldn’t reconcile these two contrasting worlds. How could I buy my 3 year old another lego set, knowing what a huge difference $25 would make in the lives of these Bangladeshi children and families. I had visited the largest slum in Dhaka and a refugee camp in Southern Bangladesh, where I’d witnessed kids my son’s age struggle to carry 8kg bags of food rations back to their families.

So I did what any woman does when reduced to tears in a toilet cubicle, and called my best friend. Christey always knows exactly what to say; especially in this case. Christey had not only shared the experience of travelling to Bangladesh with me but had also taken her own young family out for brunch that morning in Tokyo and was dealing with similar conflicting emotions. We cried, we processed and then we brainstormed about how we could harness the immense compassion and generosity people feel at Christmastime to create change.

Following our call, we got straight on to our local Project Leaders across Asia and Africa and asked them what goods and services they needed to make an immediate and sustainable improvement in the lives of people in their communities.

Christey and I are proud and excited to have launched Just Peoples Gift Cards earlier this week. Starting from just $10, buying a gift card for a loved one enables them to choose the impact they can have in the world this year. There are 9 life-changing items your gift card recipient can choose from including refugee support kits (for the very people that inspired this initiative), clean water filters and sanitary products.

If I’m honest, my son probably will get his lego set from Santa this year, but he’ll also be getting a Just Peoples gift card from his mum. He’s such a thoughtful and generous soul and I know he’ll absolutely love it.

Happy holidays from my family to yours,

Jo de Burca,

CEO

Just Peoples