4-7Find out how Caritas Australia is working with Muslim partners to promote stronger communities in West Java.

8-9How do the poorest fare following the latest meeting of world leaders.

10-11 Caritas Australia’s support has quadrupled rice production in Aceh.

12-13Find out when the exciting AusAID/Caritas Australia multimedia exhibition is in your area.

14Caritas is providing Australians with new ways to stand in solidarity with the world’s poor.

15Find out how Caritas is tackling diabetes in the Kimberley, WA.

16

POPE BENEDICT XVI recently released his encyclical ‘Caritas in veritate’ (Charity is Truth). It is a challenging document that builds on the strong history of Catholic Social Teaching and examines what it truly means to be a person of God in the complicated world in which we live.

Fundamental to this teaching is the principle which Caritas holds dear; that the human person must be at the centre of their development. We see the latest encyclical as a resounding endorsement of

Caritas Australia and the work we do across the world in helping people to help themselves out of poverty.

In this issue of Caritasnews, human dignity is at the forefront. In Indonesia with our partners Laz Harfa we are building the power of some of the poorest communities in one of the poorest regions. What started as a water and sanitation program has merged into microcredit, animal husbandry, agricultural productivity and many other areas appropriate for the local people. It is development at its best.

The power of a Catholic organisation like Caritas, working with an Islamic organisation in a predominantly Muslim country, highlights how working together we really can make a profound difference to the dignity of others.

Similarly we examine the recent G8 meeting in Italy through the lens of how the poorest will be affected. More than two million people in Pakistan remain displaced due to the conflict in the north of that country. We, along with our international Caritas family are struggling to give them dignity.

I personally would also like to thank you for your generous support to Project Compassion this year. Considering the hostile economic environment and the generous response so many Australians made to the bushfire rehabilitation efforts, it is an amazing result for us. $8.7 million was raised, a decrease from last year, but important funds that we will use to bring dignity to many more around the world.

Jack de Groot, CEO

CEO

CARITAS NEWS

UPDATE

“THE CARITAS CONFEDERACY was saddened to hear of the tragic death of Ricky Agusa Sukaka, who was recently shot dead in Musezero, North Kivu, on his way home from work”, said Caritas Australia’s CEO Jack de Groot.

Mr Sukaka was part of the relief effort assisting almost one million people displaced in North and South Kivu following violent clashes between the army and rebel forces.

An official inquiry is being initiated that will examine reports by villagers that Mr Sukaka, himself a Congolese national, was stopped by two men wearing Congolese army uniforms before he was killed. His colleagues later found his body stripped of his Caritas France t-shirt and his pockets emptied.

While the inquiry will hopefully clarify events leading up to his murder and allow justice to be carried out, his death adds to the growing number of victims stemming from the increased activity of rebel groups and the army in the region.

Although the 1998-2003 war has officially ended, lingering fighting remains in the large eastern provinces and appears to be intensifying.

The region is being rent apart by the operations of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) in North and South Kivu and the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Orientale Province (Eastern Province), while overall security is compounded by an ill-disciplined Congolese national army.

The subsequent violence is often particularly predatory as it targets the largely unprotected civilian populace, with looting and rape accompanying the killings. Those that flee their homes often end up in camps where they are reliant on aid for basic necessities such as food, water and clothes.

Aid agencies estimate that 5.4 million Congolese have died in the past 11 years from hunger, disease and violence.

“The world is dotted with such ‘forgotten’ conflicts like the DRC but we as an international community must not turn our backs on the many men and women, who like Mr Sukaka, confront injustice even to the point of death”, said Caritas CEO Jack de Groot.

Caritas Australia remains committed to the people of DRC with long term development projects in the region. To stand in solidarity with the victims of DRC you can donate to our Congo appeal.

CARITAS NEWS

the power of partnership

THE CALL OF the muezzin splits the air as I arrive at Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International airport. It’s a startling reminder of how far you can go in just a few hours on a plane. From the multicultural pluralism of a highly developed economy like Australia, the call to prayer invokes an invitation into a very different culture.

Yet the story of modern Indonesia, although vastly different to our own in Australia, has many parallels with our own divergent and pluralistic country.

The humidity hits you as you step out of the airport. My shirt immediately

clings to my back and the bags feel heavy as I am surrounded by people selling fake Rolexes and taxi touts.

It’s been about a decade since I first came to Jakarta and the changes in that time are incredible. Now a supremely modern city, full of department stores and retail malls, food stalls appear much less prominently along the pavements and the tollways sweep me quickly into town on a sticky Sunday night, free from the torturous traffic jams that plague the city through most of the working week.

Indonesia, the sprawling archipelago to Australia’s north is the largest Islamic

dominated democracy in the world. With more than 237 million people, 198 million of them identifying as Muslim, spread across 33 provinces over more than 13,000 islands, the successes of the Indonesia democracy ‘experiment’, as it is known by many pundits, belies the challenges and complexities of this emerging Asian nation.

Just a decade before, the authoritarian rule of Suharto was overthrown and a transition to democracy ensued that appeared to proffer a highly unstable time. The Asian economic crisis of the late 90s wrought havoc in Indonesia with wealth plummeting, the $900 million trade surplus reduced to junk bonds and 13.5 percent of GDP disappearing virtually overnight as the currency plunged in value. The future of Indonesia looked extremely bleak.

Yet, despite the odds little more than a decade on, Indonesia appears on a strong footing for economic and social development unthinkable just years before.

The sporadic though brutal bombings that have occurred predominantly in Jakarta and Bali over the last seven years seem carefully targeted at destabilising the democratic success of Indonesia. Yet although these despicable acts have left a tragic toll of Indonesian and foreign deaths they appear to have had very little success in their political intentions.

When contrasted with the majority support for moderate Islam, robust economic performance and blossoming social development, these terrorist acts appear in direct contradiction to the will of the vast majority of the Indonesian people.

UPDATE

CARITAS NEWS

It is here in some of the most remote villages on the western tip of Java that Caritas Australia’s partner Laz Harfa are reaching out and making a real difference.

Laz Harfa, literally translated as ‘hope for the poor’, is an Islamic community organisation focused on supporting community empowerment through education, health, advocacy and disaster preparedness and response.

Spearheaded by a young team of mostly university educated workers, the program has developed from a sole focus on water and sanitation to include animal husbandry, microcredit, agricultural production and many other facets. The common goal being to help the poorest of the poor.

Back in 2006 Caritas Australia began supporting Laz Harfa in implementing a water and sanitation program in Pandeglang District. Much of this work was focused on ensuring communities got access to clean reliable water and improved their general sanitation.

As this project has developed and prospered with the roll out of water pipes and water tanks other needs within the

community are also being met.Laz Harfa is clearly focused on

promoting sustainable development through a community owned and operated model and collaborates with government and non-government organisations to assist communities in improving their welfare.

The sophisticated model Laz Harfa use includes the best elements of community development and are tailored to be appropriate for the community they are working in.

The team of local office and community based staff are closely vetted before they are engaged. University degrees proliferate amongst the staff who commit to working in the

... these terrorist acts appear in direct contradiction to the will of the vast majority of the Indonesian people

One of the key successes of Indonesia’s transition to democracy has been to keep a clear division between religion and state. Though the majority of Indonesians are Muslim, in the most recent elections the majority didn’t vote upon religious lines with hard-line religious parties again being soundly rejected achieving just seven percent of the vote (down from sixteen percent in 2004 elections).

As in Australia, the majority of Indonesian citizens like the idea of a democracy and strongly support the benefits of a secular state.

Also similarly to Australia, immense wealth in Indonesia is held in the hands of a few. And although we here in Australia have a far greater standard of living, the middle class in Indonesia has also boomed over recent years. Per capita incomes have doubled in Indonesia in just five years from less than $1000 USD per annum to more than $2300 USD as a direct result of the annual GDP increases of 6 percent over recent years.

The growth of the middle class in Jakarta is easy to see with the proliferation of skyscrapers, international branded boutiques and shopping malls. Yet beyond the glass, bitumen and metal of flourishing Jakarta, a very different Indonesia lies just a few hours to the south west.

With a population of more than 1.13 million people, Pandeglang District in Banten Province inhabits an area of land of just 2,756 square kilometres and constitutes one of the poorest regions in Java.

CARITAS NEWS

relevant community for two years. The staff members must also be accepted by the community hence ensuring they are supported by the community.

A truly impressive part of the Laz Harfa model is the commitment and dedication that this employment scheme has delivered in terms of the calibre of staff. Throughout our trip the staff were often stopped and welcomed, exchanging information about their families and in turn enquiring and learning about the welfare of the people that they care for.

To say that Indonesians see the importance of separating politics and religion, is not to say that religion is not an important part of many Indonesians lives.

The staff of Laz Harfa have strong religious convictions, a key factor in their choice to work with the most marginalised. Mamak Jamaksari, the social services coordinator with Laz Harfa explained, “many of our staff are highly educated and are likely to go on to work with Government or in other areas but their strong religious beliefs encourage them now to help those who need it.”

Mamak is likely referring to the concept of Sadaqa, a tenet of the Muslim faith which involves doing good deeds for those who are less well off.

The good deeds of Laz Harfa though are not simply words or good gestures – through their dedication and commitment and with the help of Caritas Australia, the staff of Laz Harfa are actively and directly helping communities to lift themselves out of poverty.

Education, as they say, is the foundation of development. Hence Laz Harfa have recently commenced training courses on health and sanitation in schools throughout the region.

On our visit to the Sukulangu primary school we were called on to judge a poster competition between the three composite classes. The children had designed colorful pictures promoting washing their hands and other keys to hygiene and good nutrition. Using creative ways to engage and hence encouraging children to voice the issues in their own words and pictures – proves an important way to pass on this basic yet crucial information.

Laz Harfa have only recently begun to harness the power of schools to broaden their message and now educators from the team spend considerable time with the students in the classrooms, using puppetry, drawing and other creative means to impart public health messages that they can take back to their families and on into their lives.

Teachers too, who often in Indonesia are poorly trained and under resourced, have also embraced the sanitation and health awareness work of Laz Harfa, seeing it as a complement to the formal curriculum and an inspiration for how to keep children engaged and learning.

Just a short ride away on the back of motorcycles through muddy unsealed and pot holed roads, we came to a sub- village of Parigi called Kebon Keju. Here we found many local volunteers under the leadership of Laz Harfa installing water pipes for 40 houses.

Getting the community involved was evidently no problem with about 60 men, women and children all lending a hand. Ensuring communities are involved at every step of the process leads to stronger community ownership and ultimately real sustainability for the project.

Along another unsealed road and up a rather precarious hill, our skilled partners delivered us to the home of Ade Jaya, a community leader who impressed us with his passion and commitment to his village.

After having successfully implemented their own water systems supplying every house in the village and allowing for considerable growth in population with the possibility for expansion, they are now looking at other ways in which to assist the community.

Rice intensification is being employed with great hope for increasing the number of annual rice crops from two to three per year, reducing the amount of water required and reducing the quantity of seeds required for planting. At the time of our visit plants had grown more than 15 centimetres in the first month, almost double the traditional growth rate. Caritas Australia is supporting similar methods in Aceh that have increased output per crop by 400 percent (explained in more detail on page 10) and the villagers hold great hopes for the future.

After a visit to the rice field, Ade Jaya showed us back to his house where the walls were covered with information pertaining to the program. Outlining which community members are involved and how all the information is freely available to view by community members at any time establishes a very high level of transparency.

After a restful sleep we were back on the motorbikes for a journey of about ten kilometres to visit more communities being supported by Caritas Australia.

Overnight rain had badly affected the roads and whilst slipping and struggling through the clay caking mud, it was clear that this project is reaching very isolated communities.

Despite the relatively short distance it took more than an hour before we arrived at the Padaherang primary school. With just one road the transport of goods and people is a constant headache for the densely populated region.

Students at Padaherang warmly welcomed us and were soon engaged by the Laz Harfa community workers with more sanitation games.

One of the key aims of Laz Harfa in schools is to encourage the expansion and use of toilets to reduce the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera.

Talk of poo is always of great hilarity

CARITAS NEWS

and sensitivity to students and hence Laz Harfa have developed a wonderful game that instills the message but protects the anonymity of the pupils.

Students split into class and gender groups and are each encouraged to take a piece of paper and form a long line. The different groups are then directed to run a short distance and place the paper in one of four spots on the ground denoting where they most often toileted; in the forest, in the field, in the street or in a toilet.

A running race gets all the kids involved and the clamour of arms and legs to get the paper on the ground before they retreat ensures that it is not too obvious who has put what where. The information is then collated and a lesson on the issues of waterborne diseases is given. When the team comes

back at a later date they undertake the game again and check the results. Though by no means a scientific test, this simple endeavour involves much fun and laughter and has seen a significant improvement in sanitation practices.

After a further 20 minutes along boggy tracks, we reached Daruas sub-village. Here, Laz Harfa staff had embarked upon an ambitious scheme to increase goat ownership among targeted poor families. The villagers themselves had, through a series of meetings, chosen 10 poor families to receive the first delivery of goats. It was expected that as these goats bred, some of the offspring could be circulated to even more families in the village.

One of the beneficiaries of this scheme was a middle-aged widow, Sri. She explained that Laz Harfa had given her two female goats, plus access to one male goat that would be shared among the group of 10 beneficiaries. As she had no husband, some of the local men had helped her build her goat pens, and her children helped her tend the goats. The goat manure was collected and used for fertiliser. We departed with full confidence that Sri, with occasional assistance from her neighbours, would succeed with her goat-breeding.

Caritas Australia through its partnership with Laz Harfa, is making a positive difference to many lives in Pandeglang district. Our partner Laz Harfa has the trust and cooperation of locals, and is helping them improve their health and their economic well-being.

Caritas Australia’s partnering with a Muslim organisation has allowed two religions to come together and focus on something that is important in all religions – showing care for other people.

Villagers, little exposed to outsiders and often with limited formal education are being exposed to new ideas, new concepts and new relationships that are directly benefitting the poorest in the community and the whole community.

This partnership with Laz Harfa also assists our other partners in Indonesia, as they share knowledge and experience with other organisations from a variety of beliefs and geographical locations.

Indonesia is not without its problems but we should never let these overshadow the great leaps the country has made. The relationship between Australia and Indonesia has never been closer. Our interests are both similar and intertwined. The link Caritas Australia has with organisations like Laz Harfa builds this relationship at a local and a personal level. Such relationships are crucial to the interests of us all.

True to our mandate, it is not just by working with Catholics that we feel closer to God, but by bridging the gaps across all of humanity.

THREE YOUNG BOYS line up in the school ground. Encircled by more than a hundred of their classmates, they giggle and push each other in the manner of school boys everywhere.

Heri, one of the field workers for Laz Harfa offers them a bottle of water, from which all three greedily take a long drink. It’s warm outside and they have been gathered in a broad circle together for about 30 minutes now. They are getting restless.

The milling students seem distracted but Heri regains their attention by making several attempts at plucking a hair from the head of one of the three students in the centre of the circle. The crowd erupts in laughter as the boy, now one follicle lighter, scrunches his face.

Heri then takes the single hair and inserts it into the bottle of water. The boys look on not really being sure

of what is happening. The students surrounding them, all lean in for a closer look. You can almost see them think “what is he doing?”.

Heri now again offers the boys a drink from the water bottle. They all shake their heads in disgust and make the noises common to shocked school boys.

The message is clear, if you wouldn’t drink water with a hair in it, how can you all share the same water bottle. You can see the understanding ripple through the crowd.

It is a simple message, but in a country where Tuberculosis claims thousands of lives per year, this simple message can avert many orally transmitted diseases such as TB.

By working through schools in a fun and non confronting manner, Laz Harfa is providing a strong public health message that will last with the youngsters throughout their lives.

CARITAS NEWS

WHILST ITALIAN PRIME Minister Silvio Berlosconi received some brief reprieve from the focus on his bedroom antics with the staging of the G8 conference in his home country, more important are the summit’s outcomes that will directly affect the billion people in the developing world struggling to feed themselves.

The communiqué on food aid, global economy, climate change and aid contained more promises on what the world’s leading countries will do to challenge poverty but it remains unclear as to whether the promises are new allocations or just rebadged versions of deals already made.

For instance a close look at the language in the official communiqué sees lots of mentions of ‘support’ and ‘we are determined’ but not enough ‘we will’, leaving too much wiggle room for countries to fail to meet their commitments.

Jack de Groot, CEO of Caritas Australia said, “The G8 has reaffirmed its aid promises to the world’s poorest, but this is mostly just reiterating what was committed to four years ago. Disappointingly there is still no road

map for how any of these commitments will be achieved. When the language of the communiqué is so heavily infused with enthusiasm rather than solid action, we have cause to be skeptical.”

The announcement of US $20 billion from G8 leaders for farmers to grow their own food is hugely promising and reflects the call of Caritas Australia in our report Food: the Fundamental Right, to put people directly in charge of their own agricultural production.

Jack de Groot CEO of Caritas Australia said, “we welcome this announcement in taking a long term approach to tackling food security and placing local people at the centre of the solution to the food crisis. We need to eliminate the structural causes that give rise to food shortages and promote the agricultural development of poorer communities.”

Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his encyclical Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate), “This can be done by investing in rural infrastructures, irrigation systems, transport, organisation of markets, and in the development and

dissemination of agricultural technology that can make the best use of the human, natural and socio-economic resources that are more readily available at the local level, while guaranteeing their sustainability over the long term as well.”

Whilst the G8’s announcement is long over due and warmly welcomed, Caritas Australia and our international network will be working to discover if this allocation really is new money and where and when it will be spent.

On aid the G8 has reaffirmed their commitment to the 2005 promise to double aid to Africa by 2010, but considering the failure of Italy and France to deliver on their previous promises, the new announcement appears weak.

In a bid to improve delivery, an accountability framework has been agreed to which will publish each year how G8 countries are measuring

Food, climate change and corruption on the menu but can anyone afford them?

CARITAS NEWS

up against their previous promises. Implementation of this framework will be crucial to judging progress but it still fails to offer a road map for how these goals will be met.

The G8 climate change communiqué was a stark improvement from previous statements but progress remains slow. For the first time the world’s richest countries agreed that it is crucial to retain global temperatures below a 2 degree increase. This is the level many scientists suggest will precipitate dangerous climate change.

Members also agreed that rich countries should try to cut their own emissions by 80 percent by 2050 in order to meet that target. However, they crucially faltered over the 1990 baseline for these cuts which is critical to make these cuts meaningful.

Most disappointing was the abject failure of the G8 to provide any

leadership on the financing or access to technology that will be needed to be provided by them if these targets are to be reached.

Developing countries are currently reluctant to come to the UN negotiating table as they feel it is unfair for them to bear the financial burden for adapting to climate change and shifting their economies onto a greener footing.

There were lots of warm words on reforming the economy: but too little concrete action.

Essential areas to achieve this restructure were agreed: regulation, anti-corruption, taxation, trade, investment and innovation. Again the G8 has said the right things without providing detail as to how they will implement these good intentions. For example, the idea that foreign investment delivers appropriate and affordable technology

transfer remains a huge assumption. In addition, a lot of the tools governments use to encourage technology transfer are undermined in free trade agreements and other international agreements, often with these same G8 countries.

Promisingly, the G8 has agreed to the principle of sound macroeconomic and regulatory frameworks for the private sector and Caritas was pleased to see the references to the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Decent Work agenda which outlines a set of standards for sustainable employment protecting labour rights. Again questions of how these standards will be implemented and monitored remain lacking. Reliance on Corporate Social Responsibility and voluntary standards have not stopped significant breaches occurring in recent years.

The G8 has importantly recognised that developed countries have a role to play in combating corruption and that it does not only occur in developing countries. More specifically, it is good that G8 members call for ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and emphasise the need for an effective, transparent and inclusive review mechanism. Also welcomed is the commitment to deny safe haven to corrupt individuals.

Once again the outcomes of the G8 meeting were mixed. While many warm words were exchanged, the actual deliverables remain unclear and the path ways and criteria for achieving the goal of eradicating poverty remain sadly lacking. We must continue to keep the world’s leaders to account. We can still make the Millennium Development Goals but we must redouble our efforts if we are to succeed in this pursuit.

CARITAS NEWS

FOR THIRTY YEARS the people living in the conflict affected areas of Aceh were restricted to tending the fields and gardens adjacent to their homes. The productive rice fields and rubber plantations that were further away were left dormant for over a generation, untended and un-harvested.

The fear of being caught up in the conflict that raged between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian Military, meant civilians couldn’t freely move about. Then in 2004 the Boxing Day tsunami devastated the Acehnese coast. Despite the devastation wrought by the tsunami, new hope is returning to Aceh on the back of the enormous outpouring of generosity from the international community and the consequent peace deal that also followed.

As part of the tsunami emergency relief and rehabilitation response, Caritas Australia supported the Caritas Czech livelihood program in one of the conflict affected areas – Sampoiniet sub-district of Aceh Jaya district, NAD Province, Indonesia.

In these communities, the families who had the smallest area of land holdings traditionally struggled to feed

themselves for a third of the year, due to their limited production.

Through the Caritas Czech livelihood program, local small holders have learnt the System of Rice Intensification (SRI): an innovative way of growing rice crops which has had incredible results.

Dr Ingvar Anda, Caritas Australia’s Humanitarian Coordinator says that SRI improved the yield in Aceh from two tons per hectare to 8.5 tons per hectare.

“Many families didn’t even grow enough to feed themselves, so in this very simple intervention that is very low cost, they are going to go from net consumers of food to net producers,” says Dr Anda.

Whilst the potential for rice production in Aceh is great due to the relative abundance of land and ready access to water, organisations like Caritas can add technical know-how which makes all the difference.

“In a way Aceh offers us a laboratory to see the value of sustainable agriculture as the terrible conflict meant people had been essentially cut off for 30 years from the chemical revolution that swept Java. Acehnese farmers were using a really basic unimproved agriculture and they had no access to fertilisers.

“They were introducing the System of

Rice Intensification at the same time as organic compost was introduced and it is proving a perfect combination,” Dr Anda said.

Caritas Czech also saw that the increase in production could be improved upon with better irrigation infrastructure and a willingness of villagers to planting and harvesting two crops a year.

“The farmers just don’t think it is possible to grow two crops in a year as they have never done it this way. Even when you go through the four month planting to harvest cycle, many local farmers still find it hard to conceptualise. Yet with limited improvements to irrigation infrastructure it is achievable,” says Dr Anda.

“So in their case they are potentially looking at a ten fold increase in productivity and this was a community that previously grew enough food for only eight months.”

The System of Rice Intensification was developed by Fr Henri de Laulanié, SJ, in the 1980s in Madagascar.

Traditionally when rice seedlings are transplanted in a field they are clumped in bunches of four or five plants of between three and six weeks old. The fragile roots of rice seedlings at this age are easily and

Rice aplenty in Aceh

UPDATE

CARITAS NEWS

often damaged, resulting in reduced productivity from each plant.

But with the System of Rice Intensification tiny 10 day old seedlings are taken and individually planted with bigger spaces in between so there are a lot less plants used. Hence the savings on seedlings is considerable and surprisingly productivity is far greater.

The draw back with the SRI method is it is more labour intensive. The planting process takes longer because the seedlings are more delicate. In the SRI method the field is not kept flooded and because the water normally suppresses weed growth, farmers need to do a lot of weeding.

Yet in many farming communities there is no short supply of labour and hence for village subsistence and low level surplus village economies, it is perfect.

Sandya Manickham Caritas Australia’s Humanitarian team Program Coordinator said the best part of her most recent monitoring visit was the fact that

they could see the drastic improvement brought by the program.

“It is a model project. The practical nature of the training meant you could see people learning about these new techniques and theories and then putting them into practice and almost immediately the people involved can see the huge increase in productivity.”

The SRI has been successfully trialed around the world including in India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Madagascar and elsewhere in Indonesia as you can see in the story on Laz Harfa from page 4.

“People who are promoting this rice intensification method are often also promoting organic farming practices as the majority of these communities cannot afford expensive fertilisers and other inputs such as non-hybrid seeds. In this way you are improving the sustainability of the farm by increasing output, keeping expensive inputs low and using surplus labour, ” Dr Anda said.

The livelihood program is embedded with local partners Pansu who are involved in delivering the rice growing training.

A key impediment to increasing growth in these rural communities has been the lack of access to local markets. Hence the program has also extended to assisting communities to form and operate cooperatives. The formation of buying groups has increased the selling power of the local community, giving them better access to markets where they can sell their surplus. The establishment of these community co- ops has also promoted recognition of the communities to Government where they are now much more aware of their rights and the requirements of their respective governments to service these rights.

“Personally I like this kind of project. It is just win, win, win. Farmers are getting a sustainable outcome – they aren’t getting a house or anything but they are getting a dramatic improvement to their livelihood. And the farmers, families and communities are responsible for the improvements they make themselves. They can choose if they want a new house or to improve their children’s access to school and hopefully their health, all as a result of sustainable improvements to their nutrition and to their income generation,” Dr Anda said.

“This is much more focused on long term development outcomes rather than short term asset replacement.

“There are really long term outcomes for this project so in terms of recovering from the tragedy that was the tsunami and the 30 year conflict and having sustainable improvements you need that longer time frame and we have got it here.

“I think that the key to good rehabilitation is allowing yourself the time to do quite long term interventions to make real changes to people’s livelihoods.

“These people are going to go from not growing enough food to feed themselves to having a decent income generating surplus.

“It is one of the best examples of food security that I have seen. You talk to the people with the house and the boat and they have also had a dramatic life improvement but to me this development work is really exciting because the cost is low and you are providing skills and new understandings for long term and lasting development,” Dr Anda said.

CARITAS NEWS

BLUEPRINT FOR A better world: the Millennium Development Goals and you was first hosted by the Diocese of Bunbury and presented by Caritas Australia in partnership with AusAID (The Australian Government Agency for International Development). Filling much of the hall of the South

West Italian Club, the exhibition told the stories of Caritas Australia’s local partners through photographs, art work and multi-media; many of whom are now being buffeted between the global financial and food crises.

The Millennium Development Goals are an internationally recognised

eight step action plan for halving world poverty, which include improving access to primary education, promoting food security and curtailing the rates of child and maternal mortality.

Hamish Hall, a year six student from Our Lady of Lourdes, Dardanup, was one of the hundreds of students from local schools who visited the exhibition. Despite finding the hunger map ‘devastating’; a map which colour-coded countries struggling with poverty and hunger, he remained ultimately hopeful. “Everybody should just try to do their bit.”

CARITAS NEWS

The exhibition then travelled north through the South West’s winter squalls to the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle Campus. The launch was attended by Prof The Hon Kim Beazley, NDU Vice Chancellor Celia Hammond and Caritas CEO Jack de Groot.

Mr de Groot maintained the exhibition is more timely than ever. “The world’s poor are caught in a trap with the economic slowdown slashing their income, the food crisis imperilling their day-to-day existence and climatic changes further destabilising lives and economies… The Millennium

Development Goals are the blueprint to address these issues, in partnership with communities from the developing world,” he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Mr Beazley at the exhibition’s launch in Fremantle. In his opening remarks he stated, “This is not fundraising, this is consciousness raising. Getting an understanding into the general community about what… Caritas and the Australian Government do. How broad their mandate is, associated as it is now with the MDGs; how tough their task and how valuable the outcomes.”

The recent 2009 MDG progress report illustrates that the world has made significant progress. North Africa is a particular success and appears on target to meet six of the goals. In South and South East Asia there has also been significant progress. Yet in sub-Saharan Africa and in our own backyard of the Pacific, without considerable attention none of the MDGs will be achieved.

“This is not fundraising, this is consciousness

raising. Getting an understanding into the

general community about what… Caritas

and the Australian Government do.”

CARITAS NEWS

DURING CARITAS AUSTRALIA’S Project Compassion Lenten appeal this year, students from St Patrick’s Primary School Nanango sat down to watch the story of Teopista, a subsistence farmer from Uganda. They didn’t stay seated for long.

So inspired were the students by Teopista’s story and the work of Caritas in providing her with training in effective and environmentally friendly agricultural practices, students decided they wanted to do more than donate. They wanted to Be More, to stand in solidarity with the people of Uganda.

Enter the ‘wombat warblers’, 23 group five students and their teacher Mr Bill Mulcahy. Taking their name both from the school’s unofficial and globetrotting mascot, ‘Russel the wombat’ and referring to the student’s engagement with the world through conversation, the group threw themselves into learning everything they could about Uganda.

As a class they ‘googled’ for statistics and read through Caritas’ additional resources; together they watched short documentaries on the sustainable agricultural project and talked to Caritas staff in Brisbane.

In the course of their research students were shocked to hear that children their age would walk as far as six kilometres for water in Uganda, while they just had to turn a tap. And at the end of the long journey for Ugandan children the water may not have even been safe to drink.

It was in this haunting fact, which stood out amongst all the information they had collected, that students came up with the idea for something they could do. The wombat warblers would walk alongside the students and children of Uganda; not for water but for a better world.

As part of Caritas Australia’s first Be More weekend 7-9 August 2009, a weekend during which over 3500 people from across Australia gathered in their local communities to take action to ‘be just, be green, be more’, the wombat warblers organised a 24 hour walkathon to raise funds for Caritas Australia. Starting at noon on Saturday 8 August and walking till 6pm, students rested with a night of activities and a camp out before commencing walking again at 6am on the Sunday till noon.

Mr Mulcahy explained, “It’s not about pity, it’s about action. It’s more

than just throwing five dollars in. That’s why the walking is important. It’s compassion in action.”

It’s a message that is getting through to the students. Braedon, a 12 year old wombat warbler notes, “If you just give money, you might be just feeling sorry for them. But we’re trying to live like them.”

Such expressions of solidarity exemplify Caritas Australia’s approach to community engagement, where fundraising is always coupled with education, and action is about solidarity rather than pity.

“We’re trying to fundraise while giving kids a hands-on experience. It’s experiential learning,” said Mr Mulcahy.

However this serious cause doesn’t stop the kids from having a good time. Eleven year old wombat warbler Courtney says, “Its fun. We get to do different things to help people.”

Bill credits the success of the wombat warblers to Caritas Australia’s Be More Challenge.

“The Be More Challenge has given us a framework for our activities. Without the support of Caritas, both from Sydney and Brisbane, we mightn’t have come up with this idea,” said Bill.

UPDATE

CARITAS NEWS

CARITAS AUSTRALIA HAS welcomed additional funding from AusAID to target water and sanitation projects in a bid to cut the toll of water borne diseases. Following the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe in December 2008 over 3,000 deaths have been reported. Caritas will initiate projects in the hard hit districts of Kadoma, Makonde and Zvimba, bolstering existing projects that are yet to specifically address water provision and sanitation in the area.

A sum of $460,000AUD will be delivered through our partners working in these three districts, to improve infrastructure by replacing old water pump stations, building latrines and rehabilitating boreholes; and increase people’s capacity by improving water testing practices and mobilising community groups to share sound hygienic practices.

THE RATE OF diabetes in Indigenous communities is rampant. Indigenous Australian are up to 15 times more likely to contract diabetes than other Australians.

Caritas Australia has been involved since the beginning of the Unity of First People’s Australia (UFPA) diabetes management and care program that is continuing to have enormous success in the Kimberley region of WA.

The program involves a partnership between the UFPA and encourages community members to assume ownership of their health and hence ensure the program’s sustainability. These changes are encouraged by UFPA carers, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, who respect the social and cultural realities of Aboriginal community life.

Primarily the UFPA diabetes program is about changing behaviour. Eating more healthily and providing education and access to healthy alternatives encourages people to choose a better alternative.

As a result positive knowledge, attitude and behaviour relating to food, nutrition, exercise and disease are now widely recognised as occurring in the community. Significant improvements in weight control and pathology test results greatly reduce the risk of community members subsequently developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. These achievements have attracted international interest as an innovative program for Indigenous people as reported in international scientific journals and presentations

WHILE THE VIOLENT conflict in the north of Sri Lanka reached its bloody conclusion, the needs of those affected remains critical. Over 285,000 people remain displaced and are now living in Government controlled camps, where conditions are basic. Serious concerns exist regarding security, poor sanitation and access to clean drinking water.

As the social arm of the Catholic Church, Caritas Sri Lanka, with the support of Caritas Australia, has been able to maintain an ongoing presence before, during and after the conflict.

Staff and volunteers are continuing to work inside the camps, offering protection and assisting the many traumatised.

With food and water at critically low levels, Caritas Sri Lanka is providing food and medical assistance to 59,510 in Mannar and Vavuniya and 11,755 in Jaffna, while 9,376 people have received cooking water and 1,288 children have benefited from pre-school activities.

Indigenous diabetes management success

at major international paediatric conferences.

Development of a comprehensive diabetes education program for young people with diabetes is improving the recipients health and their life expectancy. Important too, are considerable savings on hospital treatments as well as a reduction in transport costs to Perth for emergency treatment. Additionally, the social and emotional costs which have been avoided by the parents not needing to go to Perth for such a disruptive period are difficult to account for, but are a great benefit to remote communities.

The Western Australian Government have recognised the importance of the seed funding that has been provided by Caritas Australia for the UFPA diabetes management and care program and have this year increased their commitment to $500,000 over four years.

Jo Thompson, Australian Indigenous Program Coordinator for Caritas said: “Whilst the great work of UFPA and the community involved must take much

of the credit for these incredible results, Caritas Australia had the courage and vision to stick with this innovative program when funding was difficult to find.

“The focus of this program being community run and community owned is crucial to its success and the Australian Government should be adopting these lessons in its approach to Indigenous issues across the board and particularly in regard to the NT intervention.”

CARITAS NEWS

Your details

Credit card option

Direct debit option

Yes, I will become a and donate monthly…

Become a online www.caritas.org.au/hopegiver

youThe complexities of why people

are poor are immense... today

www.caritas.org.au/hopegiver

can make adifference

What you can do