National Youth Young Adults Ministry

The Rough Guide to a Better World

The Rough Guide To A Better World and how you can make a difference
by Martin Wroe and Malcolm Doney* (2004)

(free e-book, downloadable as PDF from www.roughguide-betterworld.com)

'I have been asked a question many a time, 'Who is your hero'? I say, A hero does not depend on the position a person occupies. My heroes are those simple men and women who have committed themselves to fighting poverty wherever that is to be found in the world'. (Nelson Mandela)

The Rough Guide To A Better World was put out by the UK's Department for International Development and is the essential guide to how the world can be a better place for everyone. Public opinion research tells us that lots of people are concerned about poverty, but that they aren't sure what positive action they can take as individuals. This guide shows how people can get involved. (Note: it's written in the context of the UK but much of the guide is easily transferrable to the Australian context).

It explains in plain words what development is, and how individuals can make a difference in combating poverty in developing countries through:

* speaking out and campaigning
* volunteering with organisations
* buying Fairtrade
* ethical trading and investment
* fundraising and giving to charity

Individuals can make a difference. This Rough Guide is a welcome and concise insight into the issues that contribute to global poverty and a useful guide to the range of individual actions possible. Those who may feel powerless to affect change are given practical ways in which we can all support the world's poorest communities. (Penny Lawrence, Director of VSO International Programmes)

The guide includes a foreword by Sir Bob Geldof and contributions from volunteers, and stories from people from the developing world.

Two million copies of the free book were distributed through UK post offices in 2004. Amazing vision to generate change, and to champion the power of the individual to make a difference!

(* Malcolm Doney is an Anglican priest in London)