Umi Sumbajono and her family had seconds to react when a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on September 28. The 55-year-old grabbed her two grandchildren and fled from their home in Jono Ono village. “I panicked and prayed,” Umi said. “We saw the land, the ground, splitting and cracking, with mud and water ...
Caritas has a unique global presence – one million staff and volunteers – guided by compassion.
When disaster strikes, it acts quickly and effectively to provide food and shelter, clean water and sanitation, medical help and the comfort of counseling to the bereaved and bereft.
Local Caritas teams have local knowledge and expertise, often built up over decades. They have the strong foundations of the Caritas family – the fellow members of the confederation – to call on for additional help. A national Caritas can ask for specialist staff, resources and funding by launching an Emergency Appeal.
Caritas also believes in being as ready as is possible to respond to emergencies by building preparedness and resilience. Stronger communities are more able to resist repeated natural disasters. Otherwise, the extreme weather brought by climate change will push people deeper into poverty. Caritas also invests in peacebuilding and conflict transformation programmes to ensure that lives and livelihoods are not lost in an emergency caused by conflict.
Caritas Updates on Emergencies
