The annual international Charity Forum was held in Warsaw, bringing together donors, partners, experts and staff from Caritas Poland. Discussions focused on the challenges facing humanitarian aid, including food assistance in Poland and development aid for the Global South.
A festival of goodness
The participants were welcomed by Fr Janusz Majda, Director of Caritas Poland.
“First and foremost, I would like to thank our donors, partners and friends for standing with us every day and supporting the work we do,” he said.
Fr Majda noted that, thanks to the generosity of its supporters, the Charity Forum had become, in essence, a festival of goodness.
A fading sense of community
Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz was the Forum’s guest of honour. In his address, he pointed out that people are living longer, but the number of those in need of care continues to grow. At the same time, Poland is facing a demographic crisis: around 220,000 children are born each year, while 450,000 people die.
He observed that modern civilisation is becoming increasingly individualistic, with a diminishing sense of community. As a result, many people focus solely on themselves and fail to notice those in need.
“The social teaching of the Church is unequivocal: if someone is in extreme need, they have the right to take what they need from the common good, and this is not theft. It is their right,” he said.
The Cardinal thanked Caritas’ donors and partners, emphasising that “Caritas does a great deal of good, but above all thanks to you.”
Nepal: preparing for natural disasters
The next speakers were Monsignor Silas Bogati, President of Caritas Nepal and Apostolic Administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal, and Pragya Maharian, a Caritas project coordinator. They shared their experiences of the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal in 2015, claiming nearly 9,000 lives.
They stressed the importance of preparing both rescue teams and local communities for natural disasters. Caritas Nepal has been organising regular training sessions for 11 years, and local emergency response committees have been established.
Although Nepal has a population of around 29 million, only approximately 10,000 of whom are Catholic, Caritas Nepal has provided substantial assistance, working in cooperation with organisations including Caritas Poland.
Family to Family
Considerable attention was devoted to Caritas Poland’s highly successful Family to Family programme.
The initiative was launched in 2016 in response to Pope Francis’ appeal to support victims of the conflict in Syria.
“Since then, we have supported 60,000 families and provided funding to 2,000 micro-enterprises,” said Magda Janiszewska, an international projects expert at Caritas Poland. “The total value of the assistance has exceeded PLN 130 million.
“We currently support families in four countries: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Ukraine. Ten years on, we are helping thousands of families in cooperation with more than 1,500 parishes across Poland, as well as individual donors.”
Two forms of assistance, one goal
The programme offers two forms of assistance, but both pursue the same objective: helping people regain their independence and live with dignity.
The first is direct cash assistance. Families receive money every month and decide for themselves how best to spend it.
The second involves supporting micro-enterprises. Of the more than 1,000 small businesses established through the programme, 86% are still operating. These include car repair workshops, grocery stores, bakeries and beauty salons.
In many cases, a micro-enterprise is established, gradually expands and eventually begins employing local people.
Janiszewska emphasised that the benefits extend beyond business owners and their families.
“This not only supports micro-entrepreneurs and their families, but also helps rebuild local communities, as is the case in the West Bank, which I visited recently,” she said.
The Forum concluded with a concert by Polish singer Krystyna Prońko.
By Family News Service / Piotr Kowalczuk