Connecting one community to another – A fundraiser’s story

June 21, 2016

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10 million people face hunger, due to the devastating drought rippling through Ethiopia. Through our local partners we are able to reach the most vulnerable with urgent supplies.

 Donate to our Ethiopia Food Crisis Appeal

 Some of our supporters in England and Wales have been supporting communities in Ethiopia for a number of years through the Connect2 Ethiopia scheme. This project links a parish to a village where money raised has been helping people become self-sufficient.

 For six years Henry and Nuala Rosenvinge, have organised their own plant and cake sale for CAFOD. This year’s event raised an incredible £2,500, which was especially poignant given the heartbreaking drought in Ethiopia. Here Henry writes about how one neighbourhood connects to another.

Continue reading “Connecting one community to another – A fundraiser’s story”

One Climate, One World: CAFOD speaker from Zimbabwe tours England and Wales

June 21, 2016

CAFOD partners provide clean water in Zimbabwe using solar energy
Solar energy helps provide clean water in Zimbabwe

In July, Takura Gwatinyanya, from CAFOD partner Caritas Harare, will be travelling across England and Wales to share his passion for tackling poverty and to show how your support is making a difference in Zimbabwe.

Meet Takura and discover more about CAFOD’s climate and energy campaign at a series of special events, starting in London on Wednesday 6 July.

Book your place now >

We caught up with Takura to ask his about his family, his work and what keeps him motivated.

Tell us a little bit about your family.

I am married to Rutendo Avriel, and we have one five-year-old son.

You’re an expert in water and sanitation. What makes you passionate about this area?

My experience in sanitation and humanitarian work has shown me that access to water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. It bring human dignity, with immediate and evidenced results. The need for decent water and sanitation cuts across all ages and all backgrounds, it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor.

Pumps run on solar power are helping people in the communities where I work to access clean water and are reducing the time it takes people to collect water.

Continue reading “One Climate, One World: CAFOD speaker from Zimbabwe tours England and Wales”

World Refugee Day: Send a message of hope

June 20, 2016

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For World Refugee Day, CAFOD communications officer, Mark Chamberlain reflects on attitudes towards refugees

In the past fortnight a time machine took me back to the late 1980s. I was sitting watching my favourite tea-time programme: a re-run, in glorious Technicolor, of a McCarthy-era, American sci-fi series.

The meek, unsuspecting earthlings were being duped again, by the cold, cunning aliens. More invaders had landed in their town and were taking over. But the only people that could see this were a small boy who kept shouting for people to listen…and me.

Send a message of hope to refugees on World Refugee Day Continue reading “World Refugee Day: Send a message of hope”

Ethiopia drought: we must work together to tackle climate change

June 16, 2016

Ethiopia Food Crisis - Herit in her field
Herit has not been able to grow any crops this year

A crippling drought has hit Ethiopia and 10 million people face hunger. We are working with our local partners to reach the most vulnerable with life-saving aid. Severe and extreme weather shifts, part of the El Niño effect, mean that the rains in Ethiopia have failed twice. It is believed that the severity of the droughts caused by El Niño are worsening because of climate change.

Find out more about the current situation in Ethiopia

Our partners around the world have been seeing climate change affect communities for years now, and things are only getting worse. Abba Teum, the Diocesan Director for Adigrat Diocese Catholic Secretariat, (one of our partners in Ethiopia) told us how climate change has impacted his local landscape and affected his community. Continue reading “Ethiopia drought: we must work together to tackle climate change”

Youth leaders: Get your group ready for the Rio Olympics!

June 15, 2016

Ahead of Rio 2016, Julia from CAFOD’s Youth Team muses on sport, silly and serious, and suggests easy ways to get your group of friends, youth group and secondary students Rio ready with CAFOD!

Julia from CAFOD's Youth Team finishing the Great South Run.
Julia from CAFOD’s Youth Team finishing the Great South Run.

As a youth leader and teacher I’ve run (and played!) my fair share of silly games. From parachute games with HCPT on the meadow in Lourdes, to 500 rounds of North, South, East, West with Guides. From ten pin bowling with plastic bottles in a Loreto school in India to mini-Olympics with tutor groups. I had to get serious when supporting students with physical disabilities to play Paralympic sport boccia at a regional competition,  as moving the ramp accurately according to the player’s precise instructions meant the difference between victory and defeat.

Download CAFOD Olympic resources for young people

Although not an absolute natural, I love taking part in sport too. Aside from a few (very unexpected) shot-put wins at school sports day (my training one year was to throw bean cans as far as I could in the garden), coastal rowing is the sport I’ve been most involved in. The feeling of a win after a two kilometre sprint was elation, but it was the week in, week out training with friends and sunny days on the South coast at regattas that made it fun.

Continue reading “Youth leaders: Get your group ready for the Rio Olympics!”

Ethiopia Food Crisis Appeal – Ten million people at risk of hunger

June 10, 2016

Ethiopia Food Crisis - Dry River bed
Two failed rainy seasons have caused a severe drought

CAFOD’s World News Manager, Nana Anto-Awuakye has returned from Ethiopia where ten million people currently face extreme hunger. She visited CAFOD’s partners in the northeast of the country to see how they are trying to tackle the devastating effects of the worst drought the country has seen in 30 years.

It is truly shocking to hear a mother talk about her children going hungry, to say that she can’t remember the last time she was able to feed her children three meals a day.

Donate to the CAFOD Ethiopia Food Crisis Appeal now

Last month, I was in Ethiopia’s north eastern region, where I met mothers who told me that they, along with millions of others, are facing severe hunger because of food shortages brought on by drought.

One such mother is Herit who lives in a village called Arato in the country’s northern Tigray region. There are around 1,200 families here, and nearly a third of these families are run solely by mothers like Herit. Continue reading “Ethiopia Food Crisis Appeal – Ten million people at risk of hunger”

Volunteers: the heart of CAFOD

June 9, 2016

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As part of Volunteers’ Week, CAFOD celebrated a special Mass to give thanks for the many people across England and Wales who volunteer.  After the Mass, CAFOD director Chris Bain spoke about the passion volunteers bring to CAFOD:

CAFOD Volunteers and staff pray at Mass during Volunteers' Week.
CAFOD volunteers and staff pray at Mass during Volunteers’ Week.

We were started by women who saw things in the world that needed action, who believed that we as a Catholic community of England Wales—particularly the families of England and Wales—should do something about this, and started the very first Fast Day in 1960.  They were volunteers.  CAFOD was a voluntary organisation at its core right from that point onward.

Learn more about volunteering at Fast Day

We rely even today on thousands of committed volunteers in our parishes, in our schools, and around the world.  All of us who work for CAFOD and are lucky enough to be paid by CAFOD should be serving those volunteers in their work.

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“A marathon like no other” for CAFOD

June 8, 2016

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Justin Rowntree owns the highly acclaimed Silversmith’s Restaurant in Sheffield.  On 5 June he ran the Ugandan Marathon in memory of his late mum, Sarojini, his grandmother, Angelina, and to support CAFOD.  He set himself the challenge of raising £4,000 to cover the cost of building a borehole in the Gulu region of Uganda.  He spoke to CAFOD’s Katherine Binns about the race:

CAFOD Volunteer Justin Rowntree during the Ugandan Marathon
Justin Rowntree during the Ugandan Marathon

The week before the marathon was truly life changing. Meeting people in the remotest of villages rebuilding their lives after 20 years of war, [and seeing] their dignity, determination and relentless strength to improve their lives is something we in the west can learn so much from.

See the impact your efforts during Lent have made

I saw how wells already implemented by CAFOD changed the fortune and lives of whole communities. No six hour trips for water by the children meant school could be attended, hygiene and health improved tenfold, and crops had a chance to survive drought.

As one village leader said to me “building a well is giving life, as here water is life”

Continue reading ““A marathon like no other” for CAFOD”

Why I volunteer: “…the best decision you will ever make!”

June 7, 2016

This Lent, Joe Andrew celebrated 20 years of volunteering with CAFOD.  Here, he writes about the journey on which volunteering has taken him:

My involvement with the Catholic Church and with groups like CAFOD has gone in waves or cycles all my life. As a teenager I was an altar boy, went to Mass several times a week, and did house-to-house collections, sponsored events, all that kind of thing.

Volunteer Joe Andrew accepts a cheque from pupils at English Martyrs school in the Birmingham Diocese
Volunteer Joe Andrew accepts a cheque from pupils at English Martyrs school in the Birmingham Diocese

In my 40s I returned to my youthful faith and enthusiasms, and with it a renewed sense that ‘faith without deeds is dead’.  With a few like-minded people in the parish I helped set up a local CAFOD group. We did lots of different stuff: raised money by auctions, coffee mornings, raffles and all the things that Catholics are so good at. Within a few years, I felt the need to go further, and applied successfully to become what was then known as a Covenant Volunteer for Birmingham Archdiocesan CAFOD. (‘Covenant’ meant that you ‘covenanted’, that is, committed to spend x hours a year on work for CAFOD).

Now the arrangements are more informal and you do what you can. For me my main role is as a Media Volunteer, and I also speak at Mass around the two Fast Days, visit a few local schools at those times, and also help out with fixing up speakers at Mass for the two Fast Days.

See how you can volunteer with us

Continue reading “Why I volunteer: “…the best decision you will ever make!””

Volunteering: my journey to Parliament

June 5, 2016

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Molly McCaffrey recently spoke at a CAFOD reception at Parliament 

When CAFOD invited me to speak at their parliamentary reception, I panicked. I’m a

UK - Parliament - Molly McCaffrey
Volunteer Molly McCaffrey in Parliament

student at Durham University, in the midst of end-of-term essay-writing. How was I going to plan a speech that was worth listening to, in between revising?

I decided to use my speech to reflect on the journey and experiences that CAFOD have facilitated for me; the people who have inspired me; and the conversations that have taught me to think and question.

See how you can start your volunteering journey

Continue reading “Volunteering: my journey to Parliament”