MAKE POVERTY HISTORY brings together over 500 charities, campaigns, trade unions, faith groups and celebrities who are united by a common belief that 2005 offers an unprecedented opportunity for global change.  They are all calling on the British Government to use its international leadership in 2005 (including its hosting of the annual G8 Summit and Presidency of the EU), to compel rich countries to reform the policies that cause millions of people, many of them in Africa, to live in poverty.

What do we want? Very simply in 9 words ...
TRADE JUSTICE. DROP THE DEBT. MORE AND BETTER AID.

Martyn says ‘I’m asking people to support this campaign which is so clearly about justice for the world’s poorest people. The gig in Milton Keynes on 27 th June will be a great opportunity for people to get involved.’

To learn more about making poverty history please click here.

To do something about it, please send a letter to Tony Blair by clicking here.

Advantage Africa
Martyn is a patron of the charity Advantage Africa.
Their Director Andrew Betts explains... 

After years spent living and working in developing countries, my wife Jane and I live each day feeling as though we have a foot in each of the so-called ‘first’ and ‘third’ worlds. Living in Africa was bound to change our perspective on life and right now we can’t help feeling angry about the fortune spent on the ‘war on terror’ when poverty and HIV/AIDS take thousands of lives each day due to an apparent lack of resources.


Children from the Mitaboni Special School in Kenya being
supported by Advantage Africa.

But we have hope. Across Africa, Jane and I have been privileged to meet many resourceful men and women whose commitment and determination to overcome poverty and injustice have greatly inspired us. In 2001, it led us to start Advantage Africa, a registered charity, to support such people as catalysts for change in situations of great need.

Working in partnership with inspirational people, their organisations and communities, Advantage Africa aims to reach people who are ·doubly disadvantaged· by disability or HIV/AIDS as well as poverty. Our current work in Kenya and Uganda includes training, health, school building, farming and water projects. Jane and I think the portrayal of Africa in some charitable appeals and the media, as a hopeless continent beset by disaster and overflowing with victims, is seriously unbalanced. We don·t deny that Africa has more than its fair share of suffering, but know there is another side of the story to tell; that of people who are working with passion and integrity to improve their lives. And with joy too; often more than we see in our own country with all its facilities and wealth.

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The MST Project

Check out Martyn's MST Diary entries while he was out there...
[Click here]

In March 2002 Martyn travelled to Rio in the company of Christian Aid singer/songwriter Martin John Nicholls and BBC Radio Wales to observe the work of the MST of Brazil. Founded in 1984 the Movmento dos Sem Torra was formed in response to one of the world's most unequal societies where almost half of all farmland is in the hand of just one per cent of landowners and 25 million peasants struggle to survive on tiny plots.

"It was an amazing trip of deep emotion, rich experience and challenge. One of the moments I will never forget was by the side of the road in a place called Campos. There at an MST encampment, I saw the reality of the struggle for a group of courageous people, intent on obtaining justice and a piece of land on which to plant crops, raise homes and build a community. I made a promise to them that I would do whatever I could to tell their story."

The MST, a partner of Christian Aid, has taken the campaign for fair land reform on to the city streets organising mass demonstrations to raise awareness of the land reform issue. The MST's strength comes from it's focus on community and working together. The people on the settlements are encouraged to set up co-operatives taking responsibility for sanitation, health, education, security and social life. Redistributing land alone is not enough to solve Brazil's extreme social problems. Christian Aid has been supporting the work of the MST since 1986 and in 2001 Martyn, Martin John Nicholls and the poet Stewart Henderson highlighted the work in their "World of Difference" tour. But now as Martyn says "I'm seeing it first hand and it's heartbreakingly moving."

On returning from Brazil Martyn decided the best way to keep the promise he'd made was to record a CD with the song "Till the end" written whilst in Rio, which deals with, amongst other things, the murder of 19 MST members by the police in April '96. Asking Tom Robinson, Steve Knightley, Ricky Ross and Stewart Henderson to donate tracks the end result also included a video version of the track "Till the End." As folks kindly gave freely of their time and costs were cut to a minimum nearly all the monies raised from the sale of the CD would go directly to the MST. The CD was launched at Greenbelt last August and by the end of the year was virtually sold out.

A sum of £7,500 has been sent to the MST so far but with new stock available for the Christian Aid tour in April, which reunites Martyn, Martin and Stewart, "Unsung Heroes" then even more can be raised. Finally some of Martyn's observations on an incredible trip: "What a privilege and how fortunate I have been to learn huge lessons in the presence of these people. I should not be surprised. For a long time I have known that to sit with the poor brings extraordinary blessing and insight."

By Janet Roe

Check out Martyn's MST Diary entries while he was out there...
[Click here]

www.mstbrazil.org
Christian Aid

War Child
After a positive response from many of you to Martyn's recent challenge to release a something to raise funds and awareness in the wake of the recent war with Iraq, a 5 track EP was released on May 12th. There has been a fantastic response with many of you going out of your way to order copies from the shops and over 1000 copies were sold in the first month. All profits are due to go to the organisation War Child. Unfortunately circumstances outside of our control threw a large, temporary spanner in the works. The sudden and unexpected demise of the distribution company means that the funds you have raised so far have not been released to us and it will be sometime and much administrative wrangling in the future before we can send the initial money raised to War Child - if at all. In the meantime we have decided to sell the EP direct through Pipe Records and not through the shops or other online channels. Some of you have mentioned sending additional donations by cheque. Don't send these to Pipe Records, instead buy the CD and share it with your friends or tell others about it. We are keen to raise awareness of the issues as well as funds for War Child. Thankyou for all your support so far. We intend to keep running with this project and do the best we can to recover the loss and send a decent amount of money out to children in Iraq.

The Great American Novel Track List: The Great American Novel L.Norman The Good In Me Is Dead M.Joseph (New Recording) Arizona Dreams M.Joseph/S.Henderson (New Recording/Version) Swansea M.Joseph/S.Henderson (New Recording) War Baby T.Robinson (Live from the Faith Folk and Anarchy Tour) [Order online]

Martyn Joseph writes:

***I was a little reluctant to go and do this. I mean there will be a number of releases right now with all this in mind, to raise funds etc, and thank God too. The good folks that will be asked to contribute to those projects will have the ability to impact more people than myself anyhow. But it is the rich tradition of the music I walk within to tell the story and to say when the 'king has no clothes on'. It seems to me that most people who opposed this action, and sought other ways of removing the evil, feel helpless and let down. At our web site there was months of discussion about these issues, and, after encouragement from many and a push from a few, I decided to give it a go. Enough with the wrestling about what's cool or artistically correct, let's say something.

I have been singing 'The Great American Novel' now for around fifteen years, but apart from one obscure live recording, I have never recorded the song. Though written in the seventies by Larry Norman, it still connects deeply and is every bit as relevant today, which I guess is an indictment in itself. 'The Good In Me Is Dead' is the consequence of that lack of change, an attempt to get inside the mind of a person that the writer and journalist John Pilger describes as 'unpeople'; people who have had a lesser value placed on their lives, and indeed are seen as dispensable in view of a 'bigger' purpose by those who hold the real power and wealth. While 'Swansea' speaks of the reality of fear and life in the front line, 'Arizona Dreams' gazes at the true American Dream in order to offer a little hope. Tom Robinson's 'War Baby' was recorded live on the recent Faith, Folk and Anarchy tour, with Tom and Show Of Hands Steve Knightly.

It has to point somewhere though, there is no point in anger without another path to follow, hope has to be offered up, a little light to bleed into the darkness. The human spirit doesn't need much coaxing, it has proven itself time and time again in the most desperate of times. We need to be reminded of the greater good and a bigger picture occasionally. I think that's here, the refugee seeks community in the end and puts down the gun of revenge, in the sunsets of Arizona another voice calls, and the bravery of soldiers in the front line finds a human voice in the longing for the mundane of an ordinary life. We need stuff that comes along side and tells us to keep going, this is an offering, 'The Great American Novel.' '***

Unsung Heros
Unsung Heroes Tour April 03

Back in April 2001 Martyn, Stewart Henderson and Martin John Nicholls undertook a national tour on behalf of Christian Aid entitled "A World of Difference." Through songs, poetry and video clips they highlighted the plight of some of the world's poorest communities and told stories of courage and hope.

One of the organisations featured was the MST (Movimento Sem Terra) in Brazil and it was just a year later that Martyn was able to visit Rio himself and see at first hand the work they do among Brazil's landless people. The visit inspired him to produce the album "Till The End" from which all profits are being donated to the MST. To date £7500 has been raised but more importantly the project has raised an awareness of the issues at stake.

Southend 'Unsung Heroes' gig with Stewart H and Martin N - sent in by Cath Pilley

This year in a run up to Christian Aid week 2003 the three were back together again for the Unsung Heroes Tour which focused on Christian Aid Week's theme of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. In a unique fusion of evocative music, poetry, and images they told stories inspired by the courage and hope of people in some of the poorest communities in the world - the unsung heroes who often risk their lives in the struggle for survival and social justice.

Martin John Nicholls stated: "These concerts will not only expose the scandal of global poverty and the double standards that operate in the world, but we hope they will also reveal how each of us can be part of the solution!"

Edited by Janet Roe

Christian Aid