by | May 29, 2012

Renew the face of the earth

Augusto Zampini is a member of CAFOD’s theological reference group. He is an Argentinian priest, currently studying for a PhD in theology and social ethics at Roehampton University, where he also lectures in moral theology. He is currently travelling to visit CAFOD projects in Zimbabwe.

“Lord, send us your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth”.

I woke up this morning after two hours of sleep in a packed Kenya Airways plane, but excited and spiritually refreshed by this antiphon which I prayed immediately on waking.

How wonderful it is to celebrate the feast of Pentecost from the air, seeing the gorgeous spectacle of a sunrise from above, where the horizon’s line is not very neat, and the face of the earth (or part of it) begins to recover its light. Millions of people, animals and plants will start a new day, probably unaware that the Spirit of God is sustaining their existence, less aware of the fact that, humans permitting, God is willing to renew the world. Continue reading →

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by | May 24, 2012

Rio+20: Looking forward, looking back

Brazil is preparing for the Rio+20 summitThis week I turned 28, and am beginning to feel that I’m at a crossroads in my life. I’m not old, obviously, but I’m not that young either.

It’s a good age to look back at what I have done so far (growing up in Paris, going to university, starting my professional life, getting familiar with the British culture etc.) and to start thinking about the future.

In a month the Rio+20 summit will start in Brazil. Also known as the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, it marks 20 years since the first Earth Summit took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Like for me, it’s a good opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved for our planet and to discuss the future we want to see. 

Ask your MP to support a greener, fairer world > Continue reading →

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by | May 24, 2012

Liberia refugee crisis: a happy mood

In the early months of 2011, more than 130,000 refugees fled into Liberia to escape fighting in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). Many arrived in villages like Glarlay, which were already struggling with food and water shortages. Joseph Mansaray, Emergency Response Officer from our Freetown office, describes a recent visit to Glarlay.

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Among the many Ivorian refugees that I met in Glarlay, Kouhon Princess Doe’s story was the most touching and inspiring.

“You seem to be in a very happy mood,” I started our conversation.

“Indeed I am”, she replied, “I have to always keep a happy mood for the sake of the children. But when I am alone, sometimes I feel like crying when I think of home.”

Kouhon is a 40-year-old married woman with three children. She and her children left Koahro in north western Côte d’Ivoire in the company of other Ivorians fleeing from that country’s post-election crisis. Kouhon said she does not know the whereabouts of her husband and whether he is still alive, since they got separated that fateful night when they fled.

“As a single parent, I always have to keep a cheerful mood to keep the hope of my children alive” she said, trying to hold back the tears that were welling up.         Continue reading →

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by | May 30, 2012

St Giles & St Thomas Tean, Connect2 cake stall

This weekend, Pentecost, parishioners at St Giles & St Thomas parish in Tean held a cake stall to celebrate their new Connect2:Ethiopia scheme. The cakes were made by parishioners, using fair trade ingredients, where possible. It was a great success - all the cakes were sold out and the parish raised £111.00 for Connect2.

If your parish would like a closer connection to a community where CAFOD works, please get in touch with the Birmingham office birmingham@cafod.org.uk or 01922 722944

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by | May 30, 2012

St John Fisher, Coventry; Fairtrade baking success

Fairtrade Fortnight at St John Fisher Parish in Coventry concluded with a special surprise. One week after the CAFOD talk highlighting Zimi’s story, the Parish Centre tea and coffee morning bristled with activity. Some very enterprising young people in the parish had spent a great deal of time and effort making fairtrade cakes and fudge from fairtrade ingredients. Selections of cakes, small and large were on display which had been prepared by the young people themselves the night before. The young people had also written and prepared recipes from fairtrade goods and displayed leaflets for parishioners to take away and try themselves. The piece de résistance though was a large square fudge cake that was cleverly decorated with the fairtrade symbol. Since this first cake sale, the young people have hosted 2 more cake sales, the total amount raised so far for CAFOD is £222.29.

Due to the positive response shown by the parishioner’s during Lent, the young parishioners hope to  continue with future cake sales and also as the demand for recipes has been great, the young people have decided to begin creating a baking book full of recipes of the cakes sold and favourite recipes given to them by parishioners.

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by | May 25, 2012

Helping get the food through

CAFOD’s Laura Donkin explains some of the different ways agencies like CAFOD distribute food.

Bernard weighs out a month's ration of mixed beans for one person.

Bernard, Assistant Logistician for CAFOD partner the Catholic Diocese of Tambura-Yambio weighs a month’s ration of mixed beans for one person.

In situations like last year’s drought in East Africa, there are several ways in which we assist people who need food.

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Food AidWhere possible, we try to get hold of food supplied by the World Food Programme, who are the specialist UN food agency and who have huge warehouses of food. We then distribute it through our local partners.

The World Food Programme usually try to buy food in the country or region where it’s needed, as shipping food from overseas is costly, time-consuming and can cause problems for the local economy. The standard ration they supply is 2,100 kcal per person per day. However, in practice there is often not enough food to go round, so people sometimes receive less.

If we can’t get food from the World Food Programme or other organisations, we buy food locally through our partners.

The organisations we work with try to distribute the food as close to people’s homes as possible - the guideline is within a day’s walk. However, this is not always possible in remote areas with bad roads.

Continue reading →

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by | May 22, 2012

Recruitment of child soldiers returns to Congo

Children as young as this are being targeted on their way to school by armed gangs in Eastern Congo and to be used as child soldiers. Photo by Ryan Worms/Caritas 2011

We have pledged £50,000 to help our partner Caritas Goma support families made homeless by fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

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by Caritas Goma

All week they come. The children arrive at the centre tired and breathless. They say they’ve been seized by fighters who want to use them as child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s renewed wars.

“We were captured on the hill overlooking our school,” says one child, who has just arrived at a transit centre for former child soldiers in Masisi run by Caritas Goma in Eastern Congo.

The child says his classmates were taken on their way to school by the Mai-Mai, one of the militias active in the fighting that has returned to Congo. “They forced us to follow them,” he said. “They told us that we had to defend our homeland against the aggressors.” Continue reading →

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