Caritas
Caritas is an organization that helps the poor.
It is a Catholic Agency for
International Aid and Development. (caritas, 2015) Caritas help thousands of people;
they provide clean water, food, information on how they can improve where they
live by learning the rights they have and much more. Sometimes it can be a goat
that gives them milk and cheese, seeds to grow food so they don’t have to buy
it. They also help children to start school and provide donations such as school
supplies. As well as all of those things Caritas gets donations from many
countries all around the world just to help the less fortunate. They help many
poor countries around the world and live by the value that everyone should be equal
around the world; it doesn’t matter what colour skin we have, religion or any
disabilities - we are all equal.
Caritas started in Germany in 1897. The word Caritas means love and compassion. It began because the awareness of global human needs was growing rapidly (Caritas, 2015). Caritas started in Australia in 1964 and many people are happy to support this cause that helps the poor and needy. Caritas is working in many places around the world. Some of these places donate and some receive the donations. Some of the places they work in include: Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bolivia, South Africa, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Peru and Vietnam and many more (Caritas, 2015). Caritas works in over 30 places around the world. They have chosen these places because there is great need by the people who live there. They usually work in countries that are poor and have low education, poor medical support or political turmoil. Their mandate is to , (Caritas, 2015) support people to help themselves out of poverty, hunger and injustice. Caritas Australia works to bring relief and aid to people whose lives have been devastated by natural disaster or conflict. (Caritas, 2015) Caritas have been helping many global issues these include the health of families and individuals, education, Food Security and Agriculture, Indigenous Rights, Water and Sanitation, Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Justice, Peacebuilding, Disability, HIV and AIDS Women and Emergencies. (caritas, 2015) They have different approaches to each of these areas. For example with the issue of Health they educate the people about what are some healthy foods to eat because people are getting diabetes. Millions of people suffer from health issues caused by infections, poor living conditions and a lack of access to basic health services. Caritas Australia works with communities to provide education on health issues, and facilitate provision of healthcare services. REF They also help people who are unable to get the medical treatment they need if they have a disease, which occurs often to people in third world countries. Many get diseased because they don’t get access to clean water and don’t have a clean environment making them vulnerable to the diseases around them. An example of this happening is in Peru where there is a maternal and infant program which gives health education for the pregnant and infant and hygiene education to keep children and babies healthy (Caritas, 2015). Another issue is the Education of all children of all ages. Today 130 million children are illiterate, 75 percent of secondary school aged children in sub-Saharan Africa are not in school and 774 million adults don’t have basic literacy skills. (Caritas, 2015) Many families are too busy trying to get enough money to live and survive and don’t think about the education to their children. A human right is to have free primary education yet many countries still charge for it. It is also very dangerous in some countries for children to travel from the school and back and another issue is that children will be taught mainly by teachers that haven’t been educated themselves (Caritas, 2015). Caritas have been trying to fix these problems by providing teacher training, supplying school uniforms that help attendance, setting up schools and training mothers in various work areas so that their children don’t have to beg to get money. Caritas Australia has developed a program the emphasises the point of training and has taught them teacher and keep going to school and how that can effect in the future (Caritas, 2015). This program is taken place in Peru. |