Your bumper gift of ducks, a goat, a cow and some chicks will change the lives of four families for the better. Milk and eggs are an invaluable source of nutrition for a family living in poverty. The money from selling any surplus milk and eggs will supplement their family income so children can go to school and medicines can be bought. And of course the animals can be bred and sold to other families to trigger a life-changing chain reaction for the whole community.

"I sell up to 16 litres of milk a day and earn up to 12,000 Kwacha (approx $78) in a month. I believe that my children have the prospect of a bright future because I manage to send them to school with the money that I earn from selling milk." Maureen Khomba, mother of 6 children, pictured left, who received a cow from Oxfam in Malawi.