Some prosperous people like to suppose that their good fortune came as a reward for virtue.  A comfortable thought!  But I know that like the vast majority of the well-off,  I owe my prosperity to good luck in the form of a good education, the key not only to earning power but to enjoyment of all aspects of life and leisure.  A century ago, when she was 13, my mother's schooling was brought to an abrupt halt by political developments in Ireland; I saw how this impoverished her quality of life.  So when I learn of children deprived of their chance to learn I want to do something about it. 

At the age of 81 I want to do something useful, provide firewood for hose who need it, and help ILA raise awareness of Iran's destitute children and give them a voice.
I seek sponsors who will donate £5 to the Charity for each 4 Kg bag of saleable firewood that I produce by cutting wood into small pieces ready for burning. There will be more than 100 sacks of 4Kg each.

Besides cutting the wood, I must find  customers for it:  proceeds from sale will also go to the Charity.  A local firm of garden designers have supplied me with several tons of scrap wood from disused fencing, decking etc. plus some branches and trunks of trees.  I pledge to cut the wood into pieces to fit wood-burning stoves and domestic fireplaces―pieces no longer than 20 centimetres (eight inches)―using only a handsaw, to store it under cover to ensure dryness, and pack it into bags each containing 4 Kg, for sale.  I will check to ensure the bags contain no unsuitable matter such as plastic, and no dangerous protruding nails etc. At my age it takes me a little over an hour to reduce scrap wood to a 4Kg bag of useful fuel.  Fuel wood needs to be of low moisture content, so scrap wood (from fences, decking etc.) will be left six weeks under cover after cutting before bagging, raw wood (tree trunks etc.) will left six months.

Why am I am doing this?
because children of Iran need to be heard through the work of ILA. We need to know about them and be their voice and also to let them know we care for them we love them, and that they are precious and important.  They are everyday heroes and heroines and I am touched by what they have to go through just to feed family members, find shelter, and be strong, just for the current Iranian regime to allow them to live. Those whose parents have been executed or imprisoned are  regarded as children of infidels and have to overcome serious life challenges every day, in particularly harsh circumstances, in some of the poorest areas of Iran. 

On the streets of Iran are many destitute children of school age who try to get by doing odd jobs for very little money, constantly risking abuse. Most of these children have lost relatives due to execution or war. Charitable efforts to provide for and educate them are frustrated by absence of appropriate legal framework; anyone simply approaching children to organize their lives would risk arrest!  International Liberty Association raising awareness about the state of these children and by international campaigns finds ways to apply pressure and giving a chance to children's rights activists to help children and allowing them to have a voice and a high profile so they can do their noble work.

Progress report 9 December 2021

One learns as one goes along.   As well as the original 4 Kg bags I now plan to fill some 8 Kg sacks; it's a matter of availability of sacks and bags.  8 Kilos is convenient for me to handle.  To weigh the bags I use my bathroom scales

Cutting wood into small pieces speeds the drying out of sap, very necessary before its use as fuel.  The higher the moisture content the more polluting the smoke.  I began with 20 Kg of wood dry enough to bag up;  Now I have enough to fill bags continually.  Meanwhile cut wood is piling up under my garden table, out of the rain but in open air, and in odd spaces indoors.  Scrap wood, made from trees cut down many years ago, is ready after a few weeks;  new-cut branches with sap still in them take longer. They can't go into bags until cracks appear radiating out from the centre of the log, the sign of drying out; those that I've recently cut will be ready about next Easter.  To speed the process I've taken to resting pieces on radiators indoors.

Recent news from ILA mentions a 14 year old boy, Amir, who was doing well at school and hoped to be an engineer.  But in 2019 his father took part in a protest against a sharp rise in fuel priced.  Police fired on the demonstrators and Amir's father was killed.  His mother had no money for school expenses.  Instead of school, Amir had to sit in the street offering a shoe-cleaning service.

Most of my cut wood needs more drying, but I now have enough to start selling (and am short of storage space).  I offer 4 Kg bags for £1.50, 8 Kg bags for £3.  This is a bit cheaper than standard commercial kiln-dried logs prepared for wood-burning stoves, but given my source material my product is of less reliable quality.  I'm learning about clean-air regulations, which can vary with location.  The smaller the pieces, the faster the drying; sawdust and shavings dry best of all.  My material includes plenty of thin twigs and fragments.  With this small stuff I'm filling small cardboard packets which once held leaf tea or pies, which I seal up and store over my hot water cylinder. Thee cartons make goo fire-lighters; two customers have tried them with success.