Dear friends,

When some of you very kindly asked what I would like as a birthday present, the very first - in fact only - thing that I could think of was something positive, that would be of some help: in other words, a small gesture to counter-balance the extreme fuckwittery in the world these days. 

Initially, I wanted to support a local, community based charity. However, for reasons too complicated to go into here, this wasn't really an option. I wasn't sure which of the more well known humanitarian charities would be best so I asked a trusted expert, who told (in fact, taught) me: 

"  a french charity I would trust is the red cross, sounds obvious and lacking in imagination but the whole network of red cross agencies throughout the world is very well coordinated, well managed and financially responsible. Internationally they report to the International red cross ICRC, and I have worked closely with them (not for them) in africa, they are the only charity I donate to now as a result, to they always partner with a local red cross agency and have no middle men - they work directly with affected people, provide non-denomenational assistance, staff are trained to follow a professional code of conduct on how to help people (without religious / age / ethnic etc bias, no exploitation etc...). They are also often the first responders and have impressive access to hard to reach people because they are trusted by authorities.  So I feel safe that donations will go to the needy."

So here we are, a mere 3 weeks after my research began!

Please note this is NOT a selfless act on my part, I get a HUGE amount out of this, not least the warm feeling that my turning 40 has gone from a slightly negative thing, to a positive one :-)

This is honestly the best present you could give me. 

Thank you so much!

Love in tons,

Oona

*I wanted to use this site (the closest thing to a French version of Justgiving) so that those who kindly donate could benefit from a tax break (you will receive RECU FISCAL as part of your donation confirmation email). This means that if you are a French taxpayer you receive a 66% tax break: a €25 donation costs you only €8.50!