The Pramble is over, but the campaign is not.

Well what an experience it’s been. It’s easy to underestimate the sheer scale of what we’ve put into action over the last 2 weeks of March. The planning stage began back in the summer as a follow on from the re-launch of the maternal mortality blanket at Manchester Cathedral. The original launch of that blanket was around 3 years ago. Back then the number of women dying was 1400 a day compared to the current 1000. At least some progress has been made, even though there’s a long way to go….

When we questioned under-secretary of state for international development Stephen O’Brien in parliament on the penultimate day of the Pramble, I’m glad he said that“women and girls are at the heart of our development plans”. This is as discrimination against women is a huge barrier to development in a lot of the poorest countries. Furthermore the reason why our Manchester Oxfam Group chose to campaign on maternal mortality rates is that it is the least performing of theMillennium Development Goals set by the United Nations.

I can honestly say being involved with the Pramble has been a great experience. I’ve met lots of new people, seen lots of new places and developed a lot of skills. All of which has been part of an enjoyable and worthwhile campaign. There is nothing like taking positive action for what you believe in.

This has been recognised for thousands of years, indeed Aristotle said in the 4^th century BC that ‘active citizenship’ was an essential part of the good life. Things we take for granted in our country today like freedom of speech, votes for women and most relevantly free health care would not have been achieved if hundreds of thousands of people hadn’t campaigned on what they believed in. So for me campaigning with organisations like Oxfam is more than an ‘extra-curricular activity’ or ‘a bit of fun’ it’s who I am. If we as humans don’t have our principles, then what do we have?

On the whole most people in the UK are better off than the majority of countries around the world. People’s relevant comfort is probably a reason why a lot of people don’t see the point in campaigning for a more just world. I think another reason is the habits of the mainstream media, tending to focus on stories which only affect this country and are often not significant to key humanitarian issues. However I’m confident that anyone who takes part in a charity project like this one finds it rewarding and often will go on to do more voluntary work. If everyone in the UK spent just half an hour each week doing some kind of voluntary activity for the benefit of others, I’m confident that the nation would be much happier as would the wider world.

The campaign to save the lives of women all over the world goes on. Everyone can play a valuable part in that; you don’t need any qualifications, just a heart. Our Manchester Oxfam Group will now decide what other issues we want to turn our attention to, and how we want to campaign on them. The group is open to everyone and their ideas, so please contact us if you want to get involved.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has made the Pramble campaign possible. It’s a great achievement that a large number of people have between them managed to walk from Manchester to London with 4 prams, 1000 cubes and lots of other equipment!

Here’s to campaigning, justice and mums…