On the World Day of the Sick 2020, Caritas responds to neglected populations suffering from all the major diseases and to the health needs
Address: Tuutuuileloloto Hall, Mulivai- Apia, PO Box 532
Telephone: +685 27692 Fax: +685 27630
E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]
Facebook: Caritas Samoa
Caritas Samoa was founded in February 2008 and became a full-fledged member of Caritas Internationalis in 2011. The collection of Pacific islands which form Samoa has a population under 200,000.
Caritas Samoa works in close partnership with Caritas agencies, international relief organisations, as well as the Samoan government’s National Disaster Management Office to provide assistance and training where needed. In 2012, after Cyclone Evan hit the Pacific Islands, knocking out power and destroying more than 1000 homes, Caritas Samoa partnered with Caritas agencies to provide immediate emergency relief provisions, such as food, water and generators for lighting, to thousands of people in Samoa, Fiji and elsewhere. Part of the aid included utilizing Caritas Samoa’s basement hall and three other centres, in partnership with the Red Cross, to provide shelter to more than 1000 people. In addition, Caritas Samoa also distributed emergency relief items from six pre-positioned containers-four on the main island of Upolu and two on Savai’i, to provide hygiene kits, jerry cans, tarpaulins and kitchen sets to help families establish temporary shelter and homes.
Apart from its work on emergency response, Caritas Samoa also provides assistance to low income families by providing food and clothing, promotes capacity building initiatives for women and helps with the improvement of rural waters supplies.
Caritas Samoa also takes part in peace and reconciliation on a grassroots level by improving relations between students in schools where there is unrest. Caritas Samoa intends to boost its work with young people by establishing a centre where young people can meet, learn and interact, and by giving encouragement to young people who dedicate their lives to the Church.
Caritas Samoa main office in Apia has a staff of around 5 employees and volunteers to supervise their programmes.
Caritas Samoa collaborates with the Caritas network to develop and implement their activities, such as Caritas Australia and a project involving Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand to build classrooms in schools following the Pacific tsunami of 2009 and Cyclone Evan in 2012.
Updates from Samoa
Archbishop Peter has a passionate concern for the environment and speaks out strongly on behalf of his region’s indigenous peoples and the balance of ecology that sustains them.
Six women leaders from Caritas worldwide speak about pushing for women’s rights and changing the balance of power.
Coastal communities in Oceania are being forced from their homes by rising sea levels and erosion in a situation assessed as severe, says a new report from Caritas.
Global temperatures averaging almost 1oC above normal. For people in some parts of the world, this might still seem like a technical measurement, or a future concern. For us in Oceania, it is rapidly becoming a matter of life or death.
By Angela Ford Caritas emergency response teams in the Pacific are preparing for emergency relief as one of the most powerful cyclones to hit Samoa in 20 years devastates Apia. Cyclone Evan made landfall on Thursday 13 December, with winds up to 160 km per hour. At least two people have died, and many are ...
The newest member of the confederation, Caritas Samoa, found itself coping with a major emergency when a tsunami hit the Pacific Islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga in September.
Over 150 people are reported dead as a result of massive tsunami waves which hammered the South Pacific islands of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, after a huge earthquake at sea.
Caritas emergency officers are at full stretch bringing aid to the survivors of a series of humanitarian disasters. Typhoon Ketsana appeal Tyhpoon Ketsana (known locally as Typhoon Ondoy) has made 600,000 people homeless in the Philippines and left 1.8 million people in need. The storm has left a trail of destruction across Vietnam, Cambodia and ...