This is the first Christmas where there are very few presents under the tree - most bought by our kids with the $15 we gave them to spend at the school's Holiday store. The "store", set up in the library, sells about 300 cheap, made-by-chinese-kids-just-like-them junk that the kids can buy for their parents. We broke down and let them shop and they came home with about 5 or 6 items... each.

This year most of our presents were bought online - at Oxfam International. According to their site,

Oxfam International is a confederation of 12 organizations working together with over 3,000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice.

With many of the causes of poverty global in nature, the 12 affiliate members of Oxfam International believe they can achieve greater impact through their collective efforts.

A British friend of ours told us about Oxfam Unwrapped, a site where you purchase donkeys, goats, toilets, a 2% share in a mango plantation and safe water for 1000 people. They have 50 "funusual" gifts to choose from and will send a gift card to the recipient of your gifts.

Oxfam Unwrapped can even handle "Wish-lists". Wouldn't it be cool if this is where our children put their Santa list?