Clay Elmhorst, one of eight seminarians from Mundelein Seminary who traveled with CRS Ethiopia as part of the Global Fellows program, shares final thoughts about his journey.
“What am I doing here?” I thought, driving out of the city of Mekelle, Ethiopia. My thoughts were as random as the people we passed on the street. Some were lying on the dirt sidewalk covered in plastic and rags. One woman was holding a baby no more than 6 months old. Most looked as if they hadn’t eaten a hearty meal their entire lives.
The questions I was asking myself—the questions people will ask when I get home—silently haunted me as we drove to Axum. The journey was tiresome as I tried to wrap my mind around everything I was taking in. “Don’t they know how to make gravel around here?” I wondered as we bounced along. All my thoughts about Toyota engineering went out the window as our Land Cruiser stoutly drove over the baseball-sized rocks.
Africa has always been another world to most, and for me, Ethiopia was my crash course. The extreme gaps between the rich and the poor were startling and impossible to ignore. One question kept returning. It just wouldn’t go away: “What can I do?”
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Posted
March 16th, 2010 in
Africa by:
John Lindner |
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A single mother and her daughter receive a cow at a livestock fair in rural Bangladesh. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS
I don’t know a lot about cows, or any livestock for that matter. Working for Catholic Relief Services and visiting the rural people we serve has been an ongoing education for me.
A few weeks ago in Bangladesh, cyclone survivors who have been working to rebuild their lives lined up, vouchers in hand, for a cow fair. The small female cows (would that be heifers?) patiently chewed straw while the beneficiaries talked excitedly about their plans.
“Today I am looking for a red cow. During Cyclone Sidr, my red cow died,” said Parul Begum, a 58-year-old grandmother in a black burqa. “The wind and waves took everything. My house was completely gone. I’ve never seen such a thing in my life.”
During the storm, Parul struggled through chin-high water to get to a police station that was on high ground. “I thought I was going to die.”
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Posted
March 16th, 2010 in
Asia by:
John Lindner |
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March 22 is World Water Day. With two thirds of the earth under water, you might not think we’d need a day to remind us that millions of people don’t have anywhere near enough of it.
On the 22nd, we’ll publish a World Water Day page with stories, video, and other features about the state of water needs. Until then, each day this week, we’re posting one fact about water that you might not be aware of.
Today’s fact: In the U.S., nearly 100% of people have multiple taps and flush toilets inside their homes. In Sub-Saharan Africa, less than 30% have running water and sanitation available.
You can learn more about World Water Day here.
Posted
March 16th, 2010 in
world water day by:
John Lindner |
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March 22 is World Water Day. With two thirds of the earth under water, you might not think we’d need a day to remind us that millions of people don’t have anywhere near enough of it.
On the 22nd, we’ll publish a World Water Day page with stories, video, and other features about the state of water needs. Until then, each day this week, we’re posting one fact about water that you might not be aware of.
Today’s fact: Water has both a physical and spiritual dimension. It is essential for life and all major religions have a spiritual link between faith and water.
You can learn more about World Water Day here.
Posted
March 15th, 2010 in
world water day by:
John Lindner |
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The graduates clap and ululate as each participant receives her certificate. Photo by Melita Sawyer/CRS
Melita Sawyer, Microfinance Technical Advisor at CRS headquarters in Baltimore, recently attended a graduation ceremony in Sudan.
Graduations are a big deal in Sudan. Not that they go unnoticed in the United States, but here in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, graduations mean singing, dancing, showering graduates with congratulations (and sometimes fake snow too) and lots of food—all during the ceremony.
I was really looking forward to attending the graduation ceremony for 150 women who received vocational training through CRS’ Khartoum State Poverty Reduction program, and it far exceeded my expectations. The minute we arrived and heard the all-women’s marching band playing a lively tune, surrounded by graduates happily dancing, I knew that this graduation would be different.
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Posted
March 15th, 2010 in
Africa by:
John Lindner |
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Father Manny Clavijo is a priest at St. Mary’s in the Diocese of Worester, Massachusetts. He recently joined two other priests and eight Mundelein seminarians on a trip to Ethiopia to visit CRS development projects as part of the Global Fellows program. Here he shares his thoughts as the trip came to an end.
Our visit to Ethiopia is coming to a conclusion. We have visited the Missionaries of Charity one last time at their Sidist Kilo home for the destitute and dying in Addis, and now we are packing to return to the USA later tonight.
These few days in Ethiopia have left an indelible mark on all of us. This mark will travel with us back to the States and be our motivation for sharing our story with our families and communities.
We have seen what poverty, global warming, injustice and underdevelopment can do to a human being, to a child of God. All these adverse factors can truly make a child of God believe that he or she is not. But despite the different faces and situations with which suffering makes known its overpowering presence in Ethiopia, there are still signs of hope.
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Posted
March 15th, 2010 in
Africa by:
John Lindner |
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A heavy rain the night before an early morning distribution of emergency shelter kits in Haiti presented a challenge to Niek de Goeij, CRS distribution manager at the Petionville Club. CRS communications officer Liz O’Neill recorded the process, as Niek explains how it unfolds.
Posted
March 15th, 2010 in
Haiti by:
John Lindner |
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CRS staff members reading an opening prayer before a Lenten meal of soup, bread and water at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Photo by David Snyder for CRS
Operation Rice Bowl is not just about putting money in a Rice Bowl during Lent. It combines four equally important components: praying, fasting, learning and giving. The alms are collected in the home or in the parish during Lent as one part of the program. Alms are a part of our Lenten sacrifice that includes praying and fasting. With the help of materials such as the Lenten Calendar, Operation Rice Bowl participants have a daily guide for prayer and fasting in solidarity with the poor. In addition to giving alms, participants also have the opportunity to learn more about the developing world and to deepen their Lenten experience with spiritual reflection.
Posted
March 15th, 2010 in
Lent by:
John Lindner |
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Helen Odong of Uganda lost her husband to rebel fighting in 2000, leaving her alone to care for their seven children. Labor vouchers provided by Catholic Relief Services and our Caritas Gulu partners helped her hire people to clear some of her land three miles from Opit camp, where she now lives. With profits from her small harvest she bought a sow that bore six piglets her family can now eat or sell. Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS
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Photo of the Week is a special feature for this blog, written by Kai Hill. |
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Regional technical advisor for emergencies, Holly Inurreta, is helping with the response to the 8.8 earthquake that rattled Chile on February 27. The following is part of her first-hand account of the response in Chile.
In 1985, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Chile and CRS assisted in that response, 25 years later, I’m seeing firsthand the impact that our work can have over time. Then, much like today, the coast of Chile suffered severe damage. Homes were leveled and people were left sleeping in makeshift camps. With the monetary support of CRS, Caritas Talca designed a model wooden home to respond to the need for shelter. A quarter century later people continue to live in these modest homes, and some have added extra rooms to expand their living space.
It’s summer here, but it was very chilly this morning. In the winter temperatures get below freezing and the rain starts in May. Most of the fallen structures are adobe and when it rains this is going to turn into slushy mud and make things worse. We went to a camp today that was basically a covered basketball court where everyone was staying. One image stuck with me, it was of an elderly woman sitting on a mattress outside flipping through a magazine. That woman and all those people staying in the camp are going to be extremely vulnerable when the temperatures begin to drop. The most important thing we can do in Chile right now is to get people into shelter that is prepared for winter. In a way it is similar to the situation in Haiti, where you are literally racing against time to get people into shelter before the rain starts.
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Posted
March 14th, 2010 in
Chile, LACRO by:
John Lindner |
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