Gifts to make everyone rapt

Are you sick of giving socks, bath salts, or jocks? Is the festive season giving you gifting grief? We know trying to choose gifts for some people can be quite an ordeal - and that's why we've developed Oxfam Unwrapped. It's a unique collection of gift ideas that helps you give something special to your friends or family and give something extra special to people who haven't got much at all.

It's a funny concept, but one that helps your gift giving dilemma and the poor communities who Oxfam New Zealand work with at the same time. Your friends will receive a card detailing the present you bought them, and your donation goes to those who need it most. You could try and wrap up a goat for your best friend but we suggest you leave it to the experts.

So have a look through our gifts and discover how this clever concept works, choose a gift that best suits your friend, relative or co-worker, place your order and we'll wrap up the rest - figuratively speaking of course!

Where does the money go?

Unwrapping the whole process

All items listed in this catalogue are used in our work, and the prices of each reflect the cost of providing them. Each has been identified as essential by the communities we work with.

To ensure your wonderful gifts go to where they are needed most there is some flexibility built in. For example, your purchase of a donkey will be used for:

• Buying local donkeys (this saves us a lot of wrapping and postage costs)
• Getting them to the families they will be helping
• Training families in how to care for their donkeys
• Other essential parts of our rural livelihood work, like farming tools and training - helping impoverished farmers take the first essential step out of poverty.

Because you're helping Oxfam New Zealand fight poverty, your purchases are tax deductible. Once you've purchased your gift, you will receive a tax receipt either via email or by post.

When people are without food, water, shelter or the opportunity to support and educate their families, your Unwrapped support will be providing real and practical support. Thank you.

See how Unwrapped gifts are making a difference

• Watch Unwrapped: Campbell Live travels to Samoa, November 2007

Success amongst the cabbages

In West Papua, we are working with communities around Lake Paniai to foster new agricultural skills and crops to market. There’s money to be made growing cabbages, which had previously been imported from thousands of kilometres away. The initiative also allows growers to diversify their crops so that they are more resistant to extreme weather conditions, so people have enough to eat and sell all year round.