A Worthy Cause

From the Pastor:    A Worthy Cause

       Every once in a while people ask me if I know of any truly good Catholic charities. They have been frustrated by the seemingly endless accounts of money collected by various organizations within the church going to anti-Catholic organizations, misused through fraud, paying for coverups, etc. Besides this faithful parish’s weekly collection, where is a faithful Catholic going to give to God and His Church and His people and not worry about the money being used for immorality? We have a spiritual need to give. We have a moral obligation to give. We all know that. But who really needs the money and who will put it to good use? Today I have a very worthy group of Sisters who have a project which needs funding. I met Sr. Winifrida Daud, STH, years ago when I was the pastor of St. Rita and she was getting an education in administration at St. Leo University. We have kept in touch ever since. She is now the Superior of her Congregation and in charge of their school in Mwanza, Tanzania. I present below a bit of information she recently sent to me. I decided to edit it for length but not for grammar, but this is NOT coming from a Nigerian prince who wants to make you rich!

PROJECT TITLE: PLANTING TREES AND CASSAVA FOR FOOD AND HELPING WOMEN
DEVELOPMENT.

Background information
St Therese Sisters Congregation is committed to evangelization by carrying out spiritual and
community development activities. The sisters work in various parishes, schools, hospitals,
health centers and developments centers in different Dioceses, in three countries: Tanzania,
Kenya and Burundi. The Congregation owns and administers some of these institutions. In order to further their mission of reaching out to the poor, in 2015, the community bought a small land in Nyanguge, Mwanza to start development area, we found that there are many people who not getting enough food due to the climate changes of not getting enough rain. The sisters plan to start the projects that will combat poverty and educate the people the importance of planting trees and cultivating crops which can sustain the dry season.

Problem Statement
Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious threats to sustainable development at Nyanguge. Normally Nyanguge area used to have rain from September to March. For three
years this area got rain in October to January, this year the rain started in November to January.
The dry season is longer than rain season. The people who live there depend on farming. The
main crops are maize, rice and sweet potatoes. The farmers work hard in farming but they end
up on little harvest due to the climate changes.

In assessing the reason of not getting enough rain, we realized that many people cut trees for
firewood without planting other trees. If we are note planting trees that area can endup becoming a desert. The Sisters of St. Therese are planning to start the project of planting trees and cassava faming to guide the people especially women to plant trees in their area to see if that area can have rain. Also the importance of planting crops like cassava which sustain dry season . The sisters are planning to organize the seminars in different groups about planting trees and cassava. We hope through this project and seminar the women and youths will be able to support their families and decrease poverty.

We hope that if the sister will get support from you organization will be able to plant
2,000 trees and 8 acres of cassava at Nyanguge area.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES: •
 To increase the awareness of keeping tree for the future generation
To enhance the importance of planting trees
 To reduce the famine among the people who live there
 To chance the life of women in supporting their family
 To diminish poverty for having sustainable rain season.
 To diminish poverty for having sustainable cassava food project.

[There is a bit more, but you get the picture. If you want more details about how you can help, contact me and I will get you more information. --Father Palka]

With prayers for your holiness,
Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka

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