As Caritas Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary in December, one theme runs through the festivities and its work over the past few decades: empowerment. Bringing an end to an ongoing civil war and rebuilding lives after the tsunami are just two of the challenges facing the people of Sri Lanka. They are ...
Rural communities in northern Ethiopia weren’t sure they could trust what they were hearing. How could anyone benefit by setting aside the equivalent of a few pennies each month? Come visit the Weini savings and lending group a year and a half later, and they are singing a new tune. At first, saving was slow. ...
The AIDS emergency is centred on the developing world, where millions of people are vulnerable to poverty, hunger and disease. It’s in these countries where whole generations are being wiped out and societies decimated by a disease that is no longer considered life-threatening in richer countries. Rev. Msgr. Robert J Vitillo is Caritas Internationalis’ Special ...
The earthquake that hit Padang in Indonesia on 30th September, didn’t last much longer than 30 seconds, yet in that time it managed to rip up roads, flatten whole villages and result in the deaths of over 1,100 people. Rebuilding roads, school, bridges and people’s homes will take months, if not years. And that’s without ...
On 5th December 2008, Caritas Romana celebrates the twentieth anniversary of its AIDS “family houses”. Apart from providing support to people living with AIDS, Caritas Romana seeks to build understanding and knowledge among the community. Nestled in the woods of a Rome park are Caritas Romana’s “family houses” for people living with AIDS. Don Luigi ...
In the course of a few minutes, Peru’s massive 2007 earthquake destroyed everything that some communities had spent years building.Houses collapsed, roads crumbled and essentials such as food and drinking water were suddenly hard to come by for many of the 650,000 people affected. Caritas launched an emergency appeal in the aftermath of the earthquake. ...
“Without Caritas and the Church in Myanmar, many people would have starved after Cyclone Nargis hit,” said Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon on a recent visit to the Caritas offices in the Vatican. Cyclone Nargis hit the Ayeyarwady Delta region of Myanmar (also known as Burma) on 2 May 2008, causing death and destruction beyond ...
She is a sweet baby. All people in the neighbourhood love her. She is Sidora Folia. She was born in the fateful night of Sidr. Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh on November 15, 2007, killing over 3,000 people, causing a billion dollars of destruction and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. Previous storms had killed people in ...
By Antoine Adoum Goulgué, SECADEV for Caritas The Al-Nadjah centre is a handsome building in the Chadian town of Adré, about 5 km from the border with Sudan’s troubled Darfur region. With finanancial and technical support from Caritas, the centre provides training for local women, a nursery school, and a playground. The 235 beneficiaries in ...
By Tim O’Connor Saturday, 2 August 2008 marks the three month anniversary of cyclone Nargis. And despite the difficulties, Caritas’ immediate response, through the Church and other partners in Myanmar, has saved many lives and brought urgent relief to 82,700 children, women and men. Mr Jamie Isbister, adviser to the Caritas response in Myanmar said: “Despite ...