Conflicts and Disasters

Pakistan 6 months after floods: Dulshan’s story

Pakistan 6 months after floods: Dulshan’s story

By Jessica Howell, Programme and Advocacy Officer, Catholic Relief Services Dulshan Bajkani looks to be about 23 years old, but she says she doesn’t know for sure.  Regardless of her age, she’s endured more in the last six months than any woman in her twenties should have to bear. Her nightmare began in early August, when record ...

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Pakistan 6 months after floods: Soomri’s story

Pakistan 6 months after floods: Soomri’s story

By Jessica Howell, Programme and Advocacy Officer, Catholic Relief Services “Ours was a love marriage,” said Soomri, a frail woman with almond-shaped eyes that seem to dance when thinks about her youth.  “He was the only literate man in town,” she said of her husband, “And we were both favored by our parents.” The 75-year-old mother of ...

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Pakistan 6 months after floods: Ariz’s story

Pakistan 6 months after floods: Ariz’s story

By Jessica Howell, Programme and Advocacy Officer, Catholic Relief Services A wizened man whose mirthful eyes suggest more mischief than age, Ariz smirks when asked how old he is.  “More than 50,” he said, to the chuckles of his friends and family standing nearby. There hasn’t been a lot to smile about lately though. The floods that ...

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Climate change and disasters in Mexico

Climate change and disasters in Mexico

By Salvador Urteaga, Consultant Emergency for Caritas Mexico  Mexicans have recently experienced larger and more frequent natural disasters previously unknown in our history. The list includes hurricanes, heavy rains, landslides and floods in some regions and water scarcity in others. The most disadvantaged peoples are being affected the hardest. Aside from those living in rural ...

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Sudan votes: tears make way for hopes

Sudan votes: tears make way for hopes

by Renee Lambert, Emergency Coordinator Young Sudanese polling officials sat inside a small two room school, silently unfolding ballots while national and international observers looked on.  It was just after 7 pm, the polls had closed 2 hours earlier. Outside the school the sun was setting, so the polling officials were counting by the light of ...

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Last day of vote in Sudan

Last day of vote in Sudan

By Sara A. Fajardo Click here to view more pictures. Watching the southern Sudanese line up to cast their ballots has been a lesson in civic-duty. Eric Keri, a tall lanky 50 year-old father of 10, refused to leave Sudan until the last day of the vote. Despite having family in neighbouring Uganda he chose ...

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Sudan votes: the journey home

Sudan votes: the journey home

By Sara A. Fajardo-Henning At 7 a.m. in the morning the Juba port bristles with early morning rooster calls, women laundering along the banks of the Nile, and young children stirring on bed mats where they nestle like kittens in their temporary open-air bedrooms. They arrived by the hundreds, these Sudanese who meandered down the ...

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Haiti mourns its loss one year after quake

Haiti mourns its loss one year after quake

Read in French or Spanish Homily of Cardinal Robert Sarah, President of Pontifical Council Cor Unum Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Hebrews 2:14-18; Psalms 105:1-2, 3-4, 8-9; Mark 1:29-39) Cher tout people Haïtien: Moin poté la pé ak Ké Kontan Gran Mèt la pou nou. Dear Haitian people, I bring you the peace and joy of the Lord. Exactly ...

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