Give a safe Christmas 2020

COVID-19 coronavirus is changing the world. Life has stopped in many countries as borders close and all but essential services shut down.

Through the COVID-19 Response Fund, promoted by Caritas Internationalis and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, 38 Caritas organisations have supported programmes in to help more than 13.7 million people in countries such as Belarus, Ethiopia, Jordan, Rwanda, Iraq, Greece, Nigeria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Examples of implemented projects are available in booklet Responding with Love during the COVID-19 pandemic, by Caritas Internationalis.

This Christmas, Caritas Internationalis is asking your kind support to fund nine other projects in Armenia, Burundi, Cambodia, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, Liberia, Mozambique and Sierra Leone.

The work of Caritas

Christmas 2020

Photo by Caritas Syria

Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, Caritas Internationalis has been on the frontline in responding to the COVID-19 tragedy.

Caritas Internationalis is part of a commission for COVID-19 created by Pope Francis. The confederation will coordinate with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) and the working group of the Commission dedicated to listening and supporting local Churches.

Aloysius John, secretary general of Caritas says, “In Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Oceania and Europe, Caritas is at the forefront in responding to COVID-19, even in areas where no other organizations are working.

Our work is a living witness of the mission of the Church at the service of the most vulnerable and of the entire human family.”

Through our 162 member organisations working at the grassroots level, millions of people are receiving food, soap, masks, disinfectants and have been briefed on how to avoid contagion. We are working to ensure everyone’s basic rights are protected – such as the right to food, to health, to protection and to information.

What has been done so far

So far Caritas has received 47 projects request from developing countries with the intermediation of local Caritas organisations.

To date, Caritas supported more than 13,7 million people, offering with the most basic needs and preventing the spread of the coronavirus. But millions of people are still waiting to be helped with concrete action.

GIVE A SAFE CHRISTMAS 2020

Food

COVID-19 has left communities unable to buy and cultivate food.  They are in urgent need for help. We will prepare and deliver food parcels to families in need.

30 EUR will buy 1 food parcel and feed a family for 1 week

80 EUR will feed 12 people for 1 week

Hygiene kit

Safely managed water, sanitation, and hygiene services are an essential part of preventing and protecting human health during the pandemic.

30 EUR will provide an entire family with a hygiene kit

300 EUR will provide 10 families (50 individuals) with hygiene kits

Winter relief

We will provide  blankets, mattresses, heating fuel, winter garments, and tent tarpaulins for refugees in camps so they can prepare for winter months.

50 EUR will buy winter clothes for one family

100 EUR will buy a waterproof tarpaulin for one family living in a tent

Awareness

Caritas will work on launching and developing awareness sessions to boost knowledge regarding COVID-19. We are fighting stigma and wrong information.

With 500 EUR we will be able to reach around 10,000 people with information on COVID-19

Education

Caritas will support children in rural communities with distance learning programme so they continue their education. 45% of children in developing countries do not have access to the Internet.

35 EUR will cover educational expenses for one child for one month
390 EUR will cover educational expenses for one child for a full year

“…We can believe in the love of the people we have around us, and there we can find hope”
– Pope Francis on COVID-19