Your Compassion in Action
Change starts with you.
Words of gratitude
Despite being only a few months into the year, 2024 is already offering numerous opportunities to strengthen our mission and work hand-in-hand with our partners across the world.
Last year was indeed challenging, as our world was struck with many a crisis. However, we also witnessed the impact that your generosity had across many vulnerable communities.
Your support helped us reach approximately 1.5 million people across 36 countries. We also had the opportunity to work with 90 partners to deliver 108 long-term development programs and humanitarian emergencies worldwide.
For this and so much more, I would like to thank you for your ongoing commitment to supporting Caritas Australia and for always putting your compassion in action. Thus, I look forward to seeing all the wonderful ways in which the Caritas Australia community rallies together to raise funds for Project Compassion.
The theme of Project Compassion 2024 is For All Future Generations and it brings you the stories of three incredibly resilient women whose determination to build a brighter future have helped them, their families and communities forge a path out of poverty.
There is the story of Ronita from the Philippines who lives with her two young children and her husband. She left high school after becoming pregnant as a teenager, which put her at high risk of never gaining an education. Ronita joined the Faithful Companions of Jesus, which helped her complete her studies and find employment to forge a path out of poverty for herself and her family.
There is also the story of Memory from Malawi, who despite facing many barriers to her education, enrolled in a technical school and became the first female carpenter in her village.
And finally, there is Leaia from Samoa. Without access to a reliable source of clean water, Leaia and her family struggled daily. With the support of Caritas Australia, a water tank was installed at their home, improving their living conditions.
These inspiring stories would simply not be possible without your support. On behalf of everyone at Caritas Australia, I thank you for your unwavering generosity and hope that you enjoy this edition of Your Compassion in Action.
With gratitude,
Chief Executive Officer
Caritas Australia
Your impact
The latest from Gaza
Since 7 October 2023, we have seen the unimaginable impacts and devastating human toll caused by conflict in the Holy Land.
In Gaza, daily bombardments have only increased since this date, impacting the whole population and destroying homes, hospitals and essential water and sanitation infrastructure.
Recent updates report that more than 1.9 million people (a staggering 85 percent of the population), have been displaced in Gaza with immediate food, shelter, health, and psychosocial needs.
According to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing, at least 70 percent of all housing in Gaza has been damaged or destroyed. The Gaza Strip remains under an electricity blackout and medical care is devastatingly limited with only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals partially functioning.
Currently, the entire population in the Gaza Strip is facing an imminent risk of famine due to severely limited access to food and nutrition.
Additionally, approximately 29,954 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have lost their lives, of which 70 percent are said to be women and children, and more than 7,000 people in Gaza are estimated to be missing.
With your generous support, our partner CRS and other local organisations have been on the ground since conflict began. So far, they have distributed shelter in the form of bedding supplies to 8,047 families and tarps to 59,556 people. They have also distributed food parcels to 63,525 households, cash assistance to 22,053 households and ongoing psychological first aid to those affected by conflict.
Voices from the field
Food deprivation in Gaza has reached extreme levels with the entire population at imminent risk of famine.
Residents are also enduring a lack of access to medical care, safe shelter, and clean water.
Meanwhile those in Jerusalem and the West Bank are under increasingly dire economic stress due to widespread loss of income, leaving families struggling to cover the cost of basic needs such as food and medicine.
The need across the region is extensive, with the ongoing compassion and support of the international community set to become increasingly essential as conflict displaces people in other areas of the Middle East.
For all future generations
Project Compassion 2024
Each year, Project Compassion invites people from all across Australia to put their compassion in action, and raise money to help fight poverty and to promote justice.
The theme for this year is ‘For All Future Generations’, a great reminder that the good that we do today will have a ripple effect for generations to come.
Project Compassion 2024 brings you stories of three remarkable women from the Philippines, Malawi and Samoa.
Each of these stories demonstrates the powerful impact that your generous support can have For All Future Generations.
Together, we can create lasting change for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities in the world.
Leaia's story
You help provide clean, safe water
Leaia’s family built their home entirely out of recycled scraps collected from a nearby recycling plant, as not to waste precious income and provide for her children.
Their home is not connected to a piped water system, so they used to rely solely on rainwater collected in old fridges. When their water ran out, she had to walk with her young children to collect water in buckets and containers from a neighbour down the street.
With your support, and that of our local partner Caritas Samoa, a water tank was installed in Leaia’s home to harvest rainwater.
This means that her family can now have access to clean water to drink and bathe. Prior to having the water tank, Leaia’s children would sometimes miss school during the dry season, as they could not bathe before school.
We are very thankful and grateful for the water tank. It has helped us so much and made our daily life easier.
Caritas Samoa is installing water tanks in crucial areas of communities, such as schools and family homes, to prevent children from missing out on their right to an education.
During the next phase of the program, Caritas Samoa will work to provide homes like Leaia’s with hygienic toilets with septic tanks, which will improve the health of rural communities.
Thank you for being a partner in compassion and being there for resilient families like Leaia’s.
Memory's story
You help change lives through education
Memory grew up in the Mwanza district in southern Malawi, with her four siblings and her parents.
As the eldest child in her family, she had to support her family with chores such as farming, carrying water, cooking and cleaning, alongside her education efforts. After being identified by local leaders in her village, Memory was referred to a technical college near the city of Blantyre with support from our local partner CADECOM.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, through the A+ program, Memory was supported by CADECOM with the provision of logistical support like tuition and boarding fees.
Memory decided to pursue vocational training in carpentry to prove to her community that women are capable of working in a male-dominated industry. After three years, she graduated with an advanced certificate in Carpentry and Joinery. With the skills acquired, she secured a job as a carpenter at one of the largest hydroelectric power companies in Malawi.
Memory’s dream is to open her own carpentry workshop in her village and help provide carpentry services to households in her community. As the only female carpenter in her village, she is a role model for other young women who want to pursue a career in male-dominated industries.
Thank you for being a partner in compassion and being there for brave women like Memory.
Ronita's story
A brighter future, thanks to you
Ronita lives in Quezon City in the Philippines with her husband Lean and their two children – Egzy Grey who is three years old, and Clark who is five years old.
Her husband works seven days a week in waste disposal, from 3 am to 9 pm each day. Yet despite this, Ronita and her husband can only afford to rent a very small brick room (measuring around 10 square metres).
Growing up, her family faced many challenges. She grew up with her mum, who worked three jobs because Ronita’s father left their family.
Ronita married Lean when she was 15 years old, and quickly became pregnant with their first child. This put her at greater risk of falling further into poverty.
With your support, Ronita was given a second chance at completing her studies when she joined a program supported by the Faithful Companions of Jesus, Caritas Australia’s local partner.
Through their program, she was able to re-enrol in her studies, and continue learning in a safe and flexible environment – even with the arrival of her second child.
After completing the learning program, Ronita attended senior high school classes. She has now completed her final high school exams and secured a job at a call centre.
She hopes to earn enough income to continue her studies and support her family.
Thank you for being a partner in compassion and being there for determined people like Ronita.
Spotlight on our partners
Your support in Indonesia
Yayasan Mitra Tani Mandiri
Our partner in Indonesia Yayasan Mitra Tani Mandiri (YMTM) works across 24 villages in the Belu, Malaka, and Timor Tengah Utama districts in the East Nusa Tenggara province in Indonesia.
With your generous support, their aim is to increase resilience of assisted communities through enhanced environmentally sustainable initiatives and improved income. They also focus on diversifying income through co-investment in non-agricultural livelihoods, and in improving social peace and harmony, wellbeing and protection of vulnerable communities.
YMTM assists community members to organise themselves into groups to share experience, skills and knowledge, and supports men, women and youth to increase their financial opportunities through enterprise development.
With your support, YMTM also strengthens local communities to improve resilience when dealing with crisis through Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and climate change mitigation and adaptation awareness and skills.
So far, thanks to your support, YMTM has helped:
205 community members attend training on disaster resilience.
617 farmers participate in training session on raising livestock and livestock management.
116 community members attend training on protecting water sources.
459 farmers participate in training on cultivating nutritious food.
Katharina's story
Katharina, 39, is a homemaker and a mother living in the Belu Regency in Indonesia with her four children. With your support and the work of our partners, Katharina participated in training that allowed her to learn the necessary skills to become a pioneer in her farmer group and produce handwoven fabrics using natural dyes. Since then, she found success in her new business and even trained other people in her village.
Over the course of three months, I successfully made and sold 25 pieces of handwoven fabric using natural dyes. Many people are interested because traditional handwoven fabric production using chemical dyes often results in low-quality and easily fading products. The technique of producing handwoven fabric with natural dyes is easy and cost-effective.
“We can obtain the dyeing materials from around us. Even difficult materials like tarum, I plant around the house,” said Katharina.
“When the farmer group saw the results, everyone became interested, and now there are eight mothers in the farmer’s group voluntarily contributing funds to expand our business. Currently, we have produced 10 large pieces of fabric ready for sale,” she added.
Thank You Day 2023
Caritas Australia celebrated its second annual Thank You Day in November last year to extend our gratitude and acknowledge the generosity of our supporters.
Our staff from across the country came together to make phone calls, send emails and write cards to faithful supporters who have been donating for years and in some cases decades, as well as new supporters who made their first ever donation in 2023.
And if you did not hear from us then, don’t worry – we will try again this year!
The kindness and compassion of our supporters is the backbone of everything we do, and it has a lasting impact in the lives of those we serve.
Once again, thank you for your ongoing support.
Stories from our community of supporters, staff and partners
Get to know Praphulla Shrestha
Meet Praphulla Shrestha – Caritas Australia’s Africa Program Coordinator for Malawi and Tanzania. Praphulla has been with us for three years, but has worked in the international community development for many years.
At Caritas Australia, he plays a pivotal role in supporting partners on an array of projects and in overseeing the implementation of initiatives such as the establishment of rural maternity hospitals and schools in remote Tanzania, Farmer’s Field Schools in Malawi, and Village Saving and Loan Schemes in Malawi.
In his role, Praphulla actively engages with community members. His favourite part of his day is witnessing the tangible impact of these efforts and interacting with the beneficiaries, as well as witnessing the results that projects have in vulnerable communities.
He finds immense satisfaction in contributing to positive transformations and making a meaningful difference in the lives of those we serve.
In my recent trip to Tanzania, the community took me around to show me their new rural maternity and child hospital, where they can have regular check on their infants and women can safely deliver their children. The communities and hospital in charge were so happy to see their dream realised.
A change that Praphulla would like to see in the world is significant climate action. This includes reduction in greenhouse gases through afforestation, use of energy saving stoves, capturing solar energy, biofuel, and organic fertilizers; forest-based livelihood – bee farming, medicinal plants, fruit trees.
Praphulla would also like to see increased income for women and youth through small businesses, with support from international agencies, training and startup funds.
As always, we are immensely grateful for your ongoing generosity and for your commitment to helping us fulfil our mission.
On behalf of everyone at Caritas Australia, we hope that you enjoyed this autumn edition of Your Compassion in Action.
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