Archive for July, 2009
July 31, 2009
Mark Snyder, CRS country representative in Sudan
The Caritas confederation has lost a long-serving colleague, Mark Snyder, who was country representative in Sudan for Catholic Relief Services (a North American member of the Caritas network).
He died on 29th July after being diagnosed with malaria.
Lesley-Anne Knight, Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, said, “I am really saddened by the news which has been so sudden. Mark was totally dedicated to development and justice, and he was a man committed to the poor and marginalised. He brought much needed expertise and skills in mediation and reconciliation to the Sudan context over recent years.
“This is an enormous loss for the whole Caritas family and our love and prayers go to his wife, children and CRS colleagues,” she said.
Please click here to learn more about Mark Snyder’s life and work.
Posted in Caritas news | 4 Comments »
July 29, 2009
The collapse of Zimbabwe's healthcare system meant that sick people had to bring their own medicines with them to hospital. Credit: Caritas/David Snyder
David Snyder in Zimbabwe – Day 3
Read this entry in French
My last night in Zimbabwe, after a few days now with Caritas staff visiting Caritas beneficiaries in southern Zimbabwe. There is a lot to say about Zimbabwe today. After many years now of decline – the collapse, really, of both the economy and the health care sector – I’ve been happy to see some level or normality return to the country. (more…)
Tags:economic crisis, health system, hunger, rural poor, Zimbabwe
Posted in Caritas news, Emergencies, Zimbabwe | Leave a Comment »
July 29, 2009
The face of the impact of the economic crisis in Zimbabwe: parents have abandoned their children leaving them either alone or in the care of grandparents. Credit: Caritas/David Snyder
David Snyder in Zimbabwe - Day 2
Français, Español
If you want to understand the scale of the economic crisis gripping Zimbabwe, travel to the village of Mandabe. While evidence of the hardships facing the people of Zimbabwe is not hard to find across much of the country, the face of crisis is not what you will find in Mandabe, but rather what you will not: the parents of many of Mandabe’s children. They have left Zimbabwe, and their families, for a new life in neighboring Botswana. (more…)
Tags:economic crisis, hunger, Zimbabwe
Posted in Caritas news, Emergencies, Zimbabwe | Leave a Comment »
July 29, 2009
Without the promise of a meal, many children from poor families in Zimbabwe wouldn't be able to go to school. Credit: Caritas/David Snyder
David Snyder in Zimbabwe – Day 1
Français , Español
After a drive down from Harare yesterday, we headed out this morning for the village of Lupaka. We spent the day there visiting first the Lupaka Primary School then the Lupaka Clinic, which sit side-by-side and both of which Caritas Internationalis is supporting with food as part of the ongoing Emergency Appeal.
The school has 535 students, each of whom has since April been receiving daily meals of porridge made from corn soy blend – a highly nutritious mix provided to the school each month by CI partner agency the Catholic Development Commission (CADEC). With the economic meltdown that has taken place in Zimbabwe, people everywhere here are hurting. Nowhere is the impact of the crisis more evident than in rural areas like Lupaka, where many of the students we saw today would simply not be able to attend school at all were it not for the meal they receive there.
(more…)
Tags:economic crisis, hunger, Zimbabwe
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July 16, 2009
By Patrick Nicholson, Head of Communications, Caritas Internationalis
The English romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley once said “the great instrument of moral good is the imagination”. We took our theme of this year’s annual report to be using our imagination to believe not in a first world, or a third world, but one world where our responsibilities to the poor are shared.
We hope you enjoy the report as it explores this theme through our different sectors of emergencies, pandemics, climate change, peacebuilding, migration, and economic justice.
It’s available online in English, French and Spanish.
Of course, imagination is not everything. A little less imagination and a little more practical knowledge of sailing might have helped Shelley when he found himself in a schooner off the coast of Italy in a fierce storm that would cost him his life. We don’t just want imagination, we want action too.
We hope the Caritas Annual report shows how practical solutions to the problems of poverty are being implemented by Caritas members around the world.
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July 9, 2009
By Pascale Palmer, guest blogger from Caritas England and Wales (CAFOD)
I stood 30 feet from President Barack Obama yesterday. It’s the first time in my life that when someone (I didn’t know personally) entered the room, I felt the right thing to do was stand up and cheer. Luckily CAFOD’s head of policy stopped me, but I was nearly on my feet.
At the press conference he was joined on the podium by Prime Minister Berlusconi, then Kevin Rudd of Australia and finally a small huddle including Japan, France and the UK. Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, was looking jolly despite the heat and hours of negotiation on climate change.
(more…)
Posted in Caritas news, Economic Justice, G8 L'Aquila | Leave a Comment »
July 9, 2009
Kalikinkar narrating his story
As darkness descended over the Choto Sehera village on that fateful day of 25 May 2009, Kalikinkar Das had an unique experience that he would treasure as long he lives. People came to him in numbers, handed over their life’s savings in a packet or wrapped in cloth with their respective names tagged on it, and said ‘please keep this secured, we fear theft and robbery’.
(more…)
Posted in Caritas news, Emergencies | Leave a Comment »
July 9, 2009
Asura Bibi at Panchayat office
Asura Bibi, entered silently and went and stood beside the table of Kalikinkar Das. She had two papers in her hand. She passed one to Kalikinkar, mumbled something and stood there motionless. There was a sudden silence in the office room of Kalikinkar, the Deputy Chief of Sehera Radhanagar Panchayat. He was immersed instantly in the content of the paper handed over to him. The whirling sound of the electric fan took over the room.
(more…)
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July 9, 2009
The right approach
The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is the premier of a gob-smackingly beautiful country. In fact it is well beyond beautiful in parts – it is that awe-inspiring notion of the sublime where man is swallowed up by the immensity of mountain and alluvial plain, and senses his smallness, the presence of God, his place in nature.
(more…)
Posted in Economic Justice, G8 L'Aquila | 1 Comment »
July 9, 2009
Home sweet home
It is actually a two-hour coach ride between our accommodation and the G8 summit. From the half-built Mediterranean Village in Chieti, which is gearing up for the Mediterranean Games, it is a slow 100km to L’Aquila. Yesterday we had Carabinieri and police escorts all the way and I think the route may have had restricted access as the roads were almost empty. Today we seem to be left to our own devices with neither blue lights nor silent highways.
(more…)
Posted in Caritas news, G8 L'Aquila | 1 Comment »
