This October, Catholic Mission is celebrating World Mission Month and would like to invite you to walk hand-in-hand with the Church of Ethiopia and the local communities, towards providing life-changing opportunities to those most in need.
Pope Francis, in his 2022 World Mission Sunday Message, invites everyone to answer the call to be missionary, sharing that “Mission is carried out together, not individually…”.
Together, we are answering the call of Christ to be missionaries and have the opportunity to build brighter futures for communities in need around the world.
By supporting projects at a grassroots level and working closely with local communities, we aim to find sustainable solutions to bring hope to those in most need.
This year, Catholic Mission’s mission development programs in Ethiopia aim to address malnutrition, the lack of access to education for young children, and the vulnerable position of women in society.
“The grassroots approach has a significant sustainable impact because it tries to address the core of the issues, rather than offering a quick fix. We work in solidarity with communities, they are active participants and claim ownership over the projects to make them meet their needs. Therefore, our aim is to support the communities in accessing the right tools so they can break away from the cycle of poverty and injustice they are embedded in.” says James Loneragan, Program Officer at Catholic Mission.
Indeed, in the rural area of Emdibir, Ethiopia, 70 percent of the families struggle to put food on their tables due to inequitable local economic dynamics, which create a lack of access to land and employment, a cycle reinforced by a drought that has severely impacted rural areas of the country.
By supporting the local community to build a goat rearing centre, Catholic Mission is helping families to sustain themselves in the future. The resources produced through the Centre will directly help to fight malnutrition, a phenomenon that contributes to 50 percent of child deaths. A project led directly on the ground by Fr Habte, a local priest, who dedicates his work to raising the local community out of poverty by creating employment, providing sustainable food resources, and bringing hope.
On the Ethiopian ground, Catholic Mission is also involved in projects to support education and women empowerment.
We can all take action to help the most in need and answer the call to be missionaries.
To learn more about the projects, Catholic Mission is currently supporting visit catholicmission.org.au/worldmissionmonth