CARITASNEWS #149 | WINTER 2017
SUPPORTING WOMEN, TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES
“I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10
> AFRICA EMERGENCY APPEAL Learn how you can help those facing starvation in Africa
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> MOTHERS OF BANGLADESH Life-saving
education about maternal and infant health
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> CARITAS COMMUNITY Creative and
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The Catholic agency for international aid and development
WOMEN FOR THE WORLD
FROM THE CEO Women and girls represent more than half the people on our planet. In every country and society women play the pivotal role in binding communities together; yet women are most affected by marginalisation, poverty and discrimination. Since 2013 Caritas Australia has drawn attention to this essential role of women through an event we call “Women for the World”. We have run this fundraising luncheon event in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, and this year, will run events again in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Because we have such close relationships with women leaders in the countries in which we work, it has not been difficult to bring one of those leaders each year to speak at our May luncheons. This year we have Sister Leonor Montiel, a Maryknoll Sister and a passionate advocate for Cambodia’s poor. Sister Len is the director of ‘Seedling of Hope’, a Caritas Australia program that supports children and adults affected by HIV and AIDS in Cambodia. Last year, I was privileged to meet Sister Len and two of the exceptional women in that program. Another important development since my last message to you is about Pope Francis’ vision for refugees. He recently said that, “Hearts must not be closed to refugees, but those who govern need prudence.” Caritas Australia is an active member of the Catholic alliance for asylum seekers and wherever it is appropriate we try to contribute to the considerations of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, and its other agencies, including ACMRO, its Office for Migrants and Refugees, on these matters. In practical terms, Caritas Australia directly supports refugee support service for Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. We are most grateful for your support for our Project Compassion appeal. I sincerely thank you for your generosity so that we can continue this valuable work.
Paul O’Callaghan, CEO FOR THE LATEST NEWS, EVENTS AND UPDATES HEAD TO:
Caritas Australia, 24-32 O’Riordan St, Alexandria NSW 2015
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Donate to Women for the World today, to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity for women all over the world, today! www.womenfortheworld.org.au
Sister Leonor Montiel, speaker at this year’s Women for the World events. Photo: Caritas Australia
THANK YOU FOR CARING Thank you for supporting Project Compassion 2017. Your donations towards community ‘self-help’ projects in countries like Fiji, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam has changed lives. Thank you for welcoming our international Project Compassion visitors who shared their stories in parishes and schools across Australia: Semiti Qalowasa from Fiji, and Father Tonette from the Philippines.
CONTENTS 03 A POSITIVE RIPPLE EFFECT 04 FROM MIDWIFE TO COUNCIL MEMBER 06 AUSTRALIA 07 CAMBODIA 08 ZIMBABWE 09 AFRICA EMERGENCY APPEAL 10 PROJECT COMPASSION Cover: A proud mother Salma with her newborn daughter Maya — participants in the Safe Motherhood Program in Bangladesh. Photo: Majed Chowdhury. All photos Caritas Australia unless otherwise stated.
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Caritas Australia acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians, past and present, of the land on which all our offices are located.
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Leonor Montiel was born and raised in Romblon, Philippines and has been a Maryknoll Sister since 1994. Since 1997 she’s lived in Cambodia, where she directs the Caritas Australia supported program, Seedling of Hope - which leads the way in HIV and AIDS education and awareness raising. She is a speaker at Women for the World events this year in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney on May 11, May 18 and May 19 respectively.
MIX logo Caritas Australia is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID).
Caritas Australia is fully accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Please note: some of the programs featured in this issue of CaritasNews are funded by Caritas Australia and the Australian Government.
GENDER AND PROTECTION
A POSITIVE RIPPLE EFFECT Mothers are the bedrock of the family and when a mother is disadvantaged or overlooked, the whole family suffers; and when families suffer, entire communities are put at risk. At Caritas Australia, we want women to flourish. Protection programs build a framework where mothers and by extension their daughters, can thrive. Caritas Australia is committed to ensuring that women in marginalised communities have access to essential goods and services — like food and healthcare. Through your ongoing support, we are investing in the empowerment of women, recognising ‘protection’ as one of our key themes for our Strategic Directions in 2013-2018.
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LEARN
THIS EDITION This edition concentrates on five stories which demonstrate the importance of protection, an approach which underscores Caritas Australia’s work and the improvement of women’s lives. • High infant mortality rates in Bangladesh mean that Altabanu has become a community leader by delivering affordable, quality antenatal care to mothers in her village. (pages 4 and 5) • Since we first met Karen in 2011 as part of Project Compassion 2014, ‘Food for Life’, she has developed the skills to provide nutritious food to her children and grandchildren in rural New South Wales. (page 6) • Raksmey has overcome the stigma of HIV and AIDS and developed a sustainable income to help support her family, through the Seedling of Hope program in Cambodia. (page 7) • Famine has affected many people across Africa , but through collective farming practices women like Francesca are investing in their futures. (page 8) • Over 23 million people are currently on the brink of famine in South Sudan and other areas of Africa. Find out how your urgent donation can help. (page 9) • All over the country, Caritas Australia’s generous supporters are helping to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. (pages 10 and 11)
Learn more: www.caritas.org.au/ women-and-development
In Cambodia, Raksmey and her family have changed their lives through the Caritas Australia supported Maryknoll Seedling of Hope program.
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FROM MIDWIFE TO COUNCIL MEMBER
PROTECTING MOTHERS, STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES Nine years ago, Altabanu, a Bangladeshi woman, was living in a leaky bamboo hut and barely able to provide for herself or her children. Now, she’s the elected council member of her village, a trusted community health worker, who has delivered 247 babies. She is also the proud mother of a university graduate.
Your generous support has enabled the training of rural midwives to provide quality care for women in rural areas, to reduce maternal and infant mortality and improve the entire families’ participation in the care of mother and child. Pregnancy support is an ongoing challenge in Bangladesh. Reluctance to seek medical help for newborns means that only 20 per cent of children receive postnatal care from a trained provider during their first week of life. Malnutrition alone accounts for the death of over 10 percent of Bangladeshi newborns. Inititally, Altabanu’s neighbours were a little reluctant to receive care from her. In Bangladesh, poor women like Altabanu are often overlooked by members of their own communities. But her persistence paid off, particularly among the women of the village who began to note her skill and helpfulness. “Altabanu saved me and my child,” says local woman, Hemonto Rani Das. “Altabanu gave my wife and me good advice,” says another neighbour, Sombhu Robi Das.
A COMMUNITY LEADER Altabanu’s work has done more than save countless lives. She has also become a leader in her village. In 2016, she decided to run as a candidate in the local Union Council elections, backed by a strong group of female supporters. Altabanu gives advice to a new mother and the child she helped deliver through the Safe Motherhood Program. Photos: Majed Chowdhury.
CONNECTING WITH HER COMMUNITY Altabanu comes from Rotonpur, a village in the northern Bangladeshi district of Dinajpur, which is prone to flash flooding and where, like many parts of Bangladesh, antenatal care is limited because of a lack of trained medical workers. Through the support of Caritas Australia, she undertook antenatal training, as part of the Safe Motherhood Program (SMP), to become a midwife and to provide in-house support for pregnant women.
One day while campaigning, she received news that a woman had gone into labour. Altabanu found that the baby was in breech and safely delivered it. During the campaign period she delivered seven babies. When Election Day came, local women encouraged their husbands to vote for Altabanu. She won by a landslide, racking up around 600 votes more than her nearest rival.
Since 2008, Caritas Australia has been working in partnership with Caritas Bangladesh to deliver the Safe Motherhood Program, designed to provide healthcare and health education to women and children throughout Bangladesh. This project is supported by the Australian government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
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FROM MIDWIFE TO COUNCIL MEMBER
STABILITY AND PROSPERITY In Bangladesh, where over 30% of the population live below the poverty line, Caritas Australia, and its partner Caritas Bangladesh, have run the Safe Motherhood Program since 2008. The program trains rural midwives to provide quality antenatal, delivery and postnatal care for women in rural areas, with the aim of reducing the rate of maternal and infant mortality and increasing the extended families’ participation in maternal and infant care. Altabanu and her family have changed their lives as a result of her participation in the program. “My middle son, Ruhul Amin, has now completed a MA degree. He is seeking a good job that will improve our situation even more,” Altabanu says. “With the help of the money I earn from my midwifery work, we can now all eat different kinds of food.” “I can even feed others, like an ill woman, Onjoli Maiso, who now lives in my home”. It’s not her own comfort which matters most to Altabanu, but a deep commitment to service, and to upholding the dignity of local women. “Whether they are able to give money or not, I will work for pregnant women,” Altabanu says.
A proud mother Salma with her newborn daughter Maya. Maya received support through the Safe Motherhood Program.
“Whether they give money or not, I will work for pregnant women.” – Altabanu, Local Council Member and Graduate of the Safe Motherhood Program
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LEARN Learn more about the Safe Motherhood Program and its potential to save lives at www.caritas.org.au/safemotherhood-program
Maya, one of the children safely delivered through the Safe Motherhood Program, smiles contentedly.
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AUSTRALIA
FIRST AUSTRALIANS OVERCOMING CHALLENGES Karen has flourished and grown through Caritas Australia’s support, going from strength to strength, as a mother and community role model.
REACHING HER POTENTIAL
We first met Karen in 2015, when she featured as a Project Compassion feature story. This mother of six living in rural New South Wales was overcoming the challenges of debt. She also had difficulty accessing good food because of the higher costs of necessities in rural NSW.
Thanks to the Strive to Drive program, supported by Caritas, she has gained her license and her independence.
Now, through your support, and Caritas Australia’s partnership with Centacare Wilcannia-Forbes and the ‘Manage Your Income, Manage Your Life’ program, Karen is thriving. Her children are succeeding at school and she is, happily, debt free. “It’s just so good not having any debt. It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Karen says. “I feel more confident. I feel that if I put my mind towards something, that I can achieve it now”.
Karen’s positive experience through the program with Centacare and Caritas Australia has helped create a better future for her children.
“Before I got my license I had to contact family and ask ‘can you take me here? Can you take me there?’ - now I just jump in my car and can decide for myself,” Karen says. Her children are also flourishing. “My eldest daughter finished Year 12 of her scholarship in Sydney. She got a scholarship through Parkes Mines to help with her boarding expenses at a University in Melbourne,” Karen says. “I talk about her all the time. And even the younger kids now are thinking of going away like Gabby.” “All the little cousins and siblings are very proud of her and they look up to her and want to do what she’s done. She’s sort of paving the way for them.”
When Karen enrolled in the Centacare Wilcannia-Forbes ‘Manage Your Income, Manage Your Life’ program, which is supported by Caritas Australia, a whole new world opened up.
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LEARN The key to ending inequality for First Australians is for them to be centrally involved in decision-making that affects them. Read more at bit.ly/subsidiarity-close-the-gap
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Karen with four of her children. Photo: Sascha Costigan/Caritas Australia.
First Australian communities face major inequalities with the wider Australian community in life expectancy, education and employment.
CAMBODIA
ENTREPRENEURS CHANGING COMMUNITIES In Cambodia, where 74,000 people are living with HIV, the social stigma connected to this disease is still strong. But through innovative partnerships like the ‘Seedling of Hope’ program, women are overcoming feelings of shame to become confident entrepreneurs. “The Caritas program helped me to realise that having HIV is not the end of my life. It helped me to value myself more and start anew with a better livelihood,” said Raksmey, a mother Caritas Australia supports through the program. Raksmey farms crickets, a good source of protein in Cambodia and a delicious fried street food, through support and training provided by the program. “I am happier, healthier and feel more secure in my life,” Raksmey says. “I have acquired a second life and am now living it fully, thanks to the program. My children are also growing up healthy and will finish school and have a better life than me.” However this renewed self-confidence emerged out of a period of deep darkness for Raksmey, who felt so ashamed of her illness that she left her rural hometown with her teenage daughter, for the capital, Phnom Penh, where she became a factory worker. When her physical health deteriorated, Raksmey fell into a depression and considered suicide.
HIV IN CAMBODIA • 74,000 people are living with HIV in Cambodia • Six out of every 1,000 people ages 15-49 are likely to be HIV positive • 70,000 adults aged 15 and over living with HIV • 0.6% [0.6% - 0.7%] prevalence rate for adults aged 15 to 49 *Source: UN AIDS, HIV and AIDS estimates (2015)
Raksmey and her family have changed their lives by participating in the Seedling of Hope program. Pictured with Caritas Australia CEO Paul O’Callaghan and Manager of South East Asia Programs, Kath Rosic.
MOVING FORWARD WITH STRENGTH Sister Len Montiel, the Director of the Seedling of Hope tells how the program can be a lifeline, taking vulnerable women, like Raksmey, from the brink of death into new life. “She realized that her value and her dignity as a human didn’t end with her HIV, nor is it defined by it.” Sister Len said. “She realized this of others too, especially women like her who used to be so dependent on the husband or other male family members.” Raksmey now shares her life story and knowledge of raising crickets with other women in the hope that her story might inspire others to overcome the challenges of poverty and society’s restrictive gender roles. “Keep trying and reach out. There are people who are willing to help you and you can also help yourself,” Raksmey says. Caritas Australia’s Seedling of Hope program helped to restore her health and hope for the future but it is her own entrepreneurship that has taken her further than she had dared to dream.
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Find out more about Sister Len and Seedling of Hope by donating to Caritas Australia’s Women for the World appeal! www.womenfortheworld.org.au #147 SUMMER 2016 | 7
ZIMBABWE
NOURISHING BODY AND SOUL In drought-prone Zimbabwe, collaborative farming practices are helping women like Francesca to support their families and overcome the challenges of famine. Seventy-five year old Francesca Mateka has been living in the same village, Dendere, in the Midlands province of Zimbabwe her entire life. Widowed, with five children and seven grandchildren scattered around Zimbabwe and South Africa, she supports her orphaned 14-year granddaughter on her own.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND POVERTY Agriculture is the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy. But ongoing drought, exacerbated by climate change, has significantly reduced crop yields and food security in all 60 districts of the country. 72% of the population lives in chronic poverty and 2.8 million people are food insecure. Tackling climate change is a fundamental part of ending poverty and promoting justice in Africa. MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK The Kuzviritira community garden has 24 garden beds, full of onions, rape, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, beans, okra, butter nut and sweet potatoes. As Chairperson of the garden, Francesca sees 26 households nourished through its produce. In 2015, along with other members of her community, Francesca joined the Internal Saving and Lending Scheme (ISAL) group, funded by Caritas Australia and with the support of Caritas Gweru. Now, Francesca can provide for herself and her granddaughter through the produce she grows in the bountiful community garden.
Through the support of a Caritas community garden, Francesca is able to provide for her grand-daughter with confidence for the future. Photos: Sister Ivy Khoury/Caritas Australia.
HOPE FROM DESPAIR Francesca can’t believe how much her life has changed, and expresses a deep sense of gratitude. “I want to thank the people of Australia who have changed my life.” “I am so happy that I can now give her (my granddaughter) enough to eat and that she can go to school,” she says.
> Francesca stands alongside other members of her community garden who are working together to improve the status of the entire community.
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ACT Support our petition on climate change action by visiting www. caritas.org.au/climate-petition
AFRICA EMERGENCY APPEAL
UNPRECEDENTED CRISIS THREATENS MILLIONS 23 million people are facing starvation throughout Africa in what has been called the largest humanitarian crisis since the end of the second world war. Caritas Australia is working with its partners on the ground to deliver life-saving aid to communities in South Sudan, Kenya and Malawi. LAIMONA FROM WAU VILLAGE, SOUTH SUDAN Laimona Khamis Mahmud is 40 years old and lives with her four children under a tarpaulin in a United Nations’ Internally-Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in the town of Wau in South Sudan. “I’ve fled to this place with my four children but nobody wants to share a tent with me because I have epilepsy,” Laimona says. “If I get an attack, everyone is afraid of me. Therefore my children and I live here under this tarpaulin.” The famine has hit them hard. “We only have some onions and some flour left but in four days’ time, our food will be finished. I have no idea what to do then,” she says.
Tawonga Mhango is one of many Malawian children who need financial support to complete their educations during a severe food crisis. Photo: Scott Martin, Caritas Australia.
If I get an attack, everyone is afraid of me. Therefore my children and I live here under this tarpaulin. – Laimona Khamis Mahmud
TAWONGA FROM LUKALI, MALAWI Laimona is doing her best to provide for her children, but food shortages in South Sudan mean she needs extra support. Photo: Patrick Nicholson, Caritas Internationalis.
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Your donation will help Caritas Australia continue to provide critical humanitarian support to those affected by the African hunger crisis, ensuring urgent food, water and medicine is delivered to where it’s needed most. Visit www.caritas.org.au/africa and support the Africa Emergency Appeal today.
Eight year old Tawonga Mhango, is the youngest of six children and walks with a withered leg. The failure of the annual rains and crops mean that since August last year, Tawongo’s family have had to cut back from two meals to just one a day. Four days last week, they went without any food at all. Hunger-related illnesses, including weakness and fevers, have resulted in Tawongo and her siblings’ regularly missing school. The Mhango family’s dire situation is repeated across Malawi, with 6.7 of the country’s 18 million people currently in need of food aid.
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PROJECT COMPASSION
PROJECT COMPASSION 2017 All over Australia, communities pulled together through Lent to to raise millions of dollars in support of those impacted by poverty and injustice. Through your financial support, creativity and teamwork, you are changing the lives of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable. Thank you!
(Left to right) South Sydney Rabbitohs player, Sam Burgess, Uncle Richard Campbell and Uncle Lester Maher of Caritas Australia partner, the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation, for Project Compassion 2017. Photo: Carl O’Sullivan.
Brisbane school students pancake racing for Project Compassion. Photo: Joseph Foley.
Don’t forget to bank your Project Compassion 2017 boxes! Follow the instructions found on the box and make sure your donations count! Pancakes for Project Compassion in Sandhurst, Victoria. Photo: Kerry Stone.
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PROJECT COMPASSION Semiti Qalowasa, Director of Caritas partner the People’s Community Network, with Catholic school students at De La Salle College in Ashfield, NSW.
In Sydney, Project Compassion was launched on Ash Wednesday, March 1, at St. Mary’s Cathedral. (Left to right) Paul O’Callaghan, Caritas Australia CEO, Semiti Qalowasa, National Director of Caritas Australia partner, the People’s Community Network (PCN), Bishop Richard Umbers and Father John Anderson.
It’s not too late to support Project Compassion 2017! Caritas supporters at the launch of Project Compassion at the Cathedral of St Stephen in Brisbane. Photo: Joseph Foley.
Visit www.caritas.org.au/projectcompassion to make a donation today.
Trekking in Solidarity NEPAL, NOV 10-22, 2017 Challenge yourself to trek in solidarity with Nepalese communities. Sign up now at Inspiredadventures.com.au/events/caritas-nepal-2017
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CARITAS IS THERE: BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE EMERGENCY. Communities affected by crises need immediate and urgent relief as well as ongoing support to rebuild and recover. Around the world Caritas responds to emergencies by delivering food and water, shelter and protection.
Photo: Caritas Internationalis
Our ongoing relationships with program partners ensure that immediate needs are satisfied and long-term impacts are managed. Your monthly donation helps us offer this crucial long-term support.
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