IT'S the most expensive date in history but will help change the lives of some of the planet's poorest people. Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson will have a mystery guest on her arm as she sashays down the red carpet at next month's world premiere of her new film, He's Just Not That Into You. A Brit known only by the name of Bossnour splashed out s25,500 at a charity auction for the chance to arrive at the screening in a chauffeurdriven limousine and spend 20 minutes with the stunning actress. It's all to help Oxfam, a charity close to Scarlett's heart.The 23-year-old has witnessed first-hand how they use donations to help change lives. That's why she is backing the Record's campaign asking readers to give old compact discs and vinyl records to their local Oxfam shops.
An unforgettable 10-day trip to northern India and the southern coast of Sri Lanka with the charity opened Scarlett's eyes to the fierce fight for survival people there face. She said: "Once you've met amazing people like the Dalit girls I met you can't turn your back. "I was shocked by a lot of what I saw but, seeing the fantastic work Oxfam is doing, I also felt that there was hope." Scarlett visited pupils at an Oxfamfunded school deep in the countryside of Uttar Pradesh. It offers a life-changing education to more than one thousand poor children who are Dalits, the lowest of all in India's caste system. For generations they were considered "untouchable" by society and still suffer discrimination.
Their homes have no running water or electricity and every day is a relentless struggle. But in a country where 40million children have to work rather than go to school, the kids Scarlett met are the lucky ones. As well as an education, they get at least one square meal a day. Many pupils are forced to stop attending during harvest time to help their parents in the fields. When they can go, the five tiny classrooms where they learn basics such as reading, writing and arithmetic offer a way out of poverty.
Scarlett sat with Gudiya, 11, and her classmates on swings in the playground and listened keenly to their hopes and dreams. The star said: "Gudiya was an amazing, bright girl full of ambition and attending the fifth grade. "When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said a government official. "Every morning she rises at 3am to study then complete the household chores before walking for half an hour to school. "I asked her how she felt she would be able to raise her family and also hold a government position. She responded confidently, 'I can manage.' Her pride and drive to succeed was an obvious outcome from her schooling." Gudiya lives in a one-bedroom house where she sleeps on the floor with her mum and two brothers. Most girls in Uttar Pradesh are married by the age of 12 but as one of the three per cent of Dalit women who can read, Gudiya has a way out.
Scarlett said: "It mademe realise how vital education is to developing countries in bringing people out of poverty and giving them a sense of dignity, self-worth and confidence." Scarlett missed out on attending the Oscars to take the Oxfam trip. She told friends she was ditching the glamorous awards to go "to the other end of the world". Her sacrifice allowed her to hear stories she claims were more shocking than any film script, many of them from survivors of domestic violence in Delhi. Thankfully, through Oxfam's We Can campaign, they are slowly learning to rebuild their lives.
In the Indian capital's slums, Scarlett also met some of the millions who live on less than 10 rupees - just under 13p - per day. There is no running water, sanitation or healthcare. Each year, half a million Indian children die from easily treatable illnesses such as diarrhoea. The poverty was heart-breaking - but it was visiting those whose lives were devastated by the tsunami which made Scarlett collapse in tears. In Galle, on Sri Lanka's southern coast, Bandawathi Maitipe told the star how she had little to live for after her husband and son were killed in the Boxing Day stormin 2004. She lost her home and tailoring firm. She and remaining son Asela Abeytunga, 26, face a bleak future.
Scarlett said: "The devastation both directly and indirectly as a result of the tsunami is overwhelming. "I went to visit a rural fishing community which Oxfam had fully irrigated, allowing people to live safely in a government development. "After hearing such a devastating case that morning, seeing this village thrive gaveme a sense of hope and progress. It was an incredible opportunity to see the grassroots approach being taken by nongovernmental organisations like Oxfam towards reconstructing the lives of this devastated country."
news source : http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/
