In addressing today’s global realities, resources raised by the CRS Collection help make possible the following:

* Much needed humanitarian aid and outreach programs to people, especially children, suffering loss of security or income in the face of desperate conflict in places like Israel and Palestine, Sudan, and other war-torn nations

* Hundreds of emergency relief, refugee resettlement, and disaster assistance programs all over the world

* A voice for the voiceless through legislative efforts on behalf of the poor and marginalized

* Advocacy to ensure that the U.S. government’s global programs better reflect the values and priorities of the Catholic community

* A call for debt relief for the poorest countries struggling to develop

* A wide range of legal immigration services to newcomers to our nation

I invite you to prayerfully consider ways that you might personally use your gifts in support of the CRS Collection. As vitally important as it is to secure the necessary financial resources to give aid to a suffering humanity, it is equally imperative to address the root causes of global injustices.

* Commit to becoming knowledgeable about the issues and policies that contribute to the dire conditions that this annual appeal seeks to alleviate.

* Raise your voice with elected officials and other government policymakers to bring justice and hope where little exists.

* In your parish or community, lead efforts to increase awareness and action on behalf of the victims of global crises.

May you be richly blessed for your faithfulness to the Gospel call to see the person of Jesus among all members of our worldwide human family and to minister to their every need. For true stories about people who were helped through the Catholic Relief Services Collection, please continue to review the information below.

MOST REV. WILLIAM S. SKYLSTAD
Bishop of Spokane
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Who Does The Catholic Relief Services Collection Help?
The following are actual stories illustrating the positive impact that contributions to the Catholic Relief Services Collection are having in people’s lives.

Open Arms: Fleeing Terror and Finding Hope, Friendship
For Sediqa Abdul-Shakur and her seven children, refuge in the United States has meant not only protection from killing by the Taliban, but friendships that forge understanding. The family had to flee Afghanistan when the Taliban killed Sediqa’s brother and her husband was targeted and disappeared. They lived as refugees – the children unable to go to school – first in Pakistan, then Kyzyrgistan, Russia. After four years they were admitted to the United States as refugees, resettling in Louisville, KY with very little English and the typical fears that refugees bring to a strange land. The family was welcomed and supported, financially and emotionally, by MRS partner Catholic Charities and is adjusting well, surrounded by new friends and building new lives.

On the Right Path: Orphan Channels Self-Help into Helping Others
Though quick to smile, Eddy Lupiya wears much of his quiet burden in the small wrinkles already creeping into the corner of his eyes. At 17, he has borne more than many should bear in a lifetime, but he has also decided to channel that pain into something positive.

In the Northwestern Province of Zambia, AIDS has left a deep scar in rural communities like Eddy’s town of Solwezi. In a country where the United Nations estimates 16.5 percent of the population is infected with the HIV virus, skyrocketing numbers of children are facing the loss of one or both of their parents, left to be raised by grandparents, aunts, or in Eddy’s case, an impoverished mother and a stepfather who refuses to support him with any financial assistance. His is an all too familiar story across much of Africa. For many, a childhood spent in the absence of loving and supporting parents can lead to many long-term problems – poverty, crime, and hopelessness.

Motivated to succeed where so many others have failed, Eddy found direction through a unique program aimed at empowering a generation of Africa’s orphans with a knowledge of their rights and responsibilities as children and individuals. Through the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program run by the Diocese of Solwezi and supported by Catholic Relief Services, Eddy met many others who are living with the loss of one or both of their parents. Perhaps more importantly, he met volunteer counselors trained in a variety of counseling and psychosocial support activities – counselors who encouraged him to continue on his path of self-betterment.

Now a member of the OVC program, which reaches out with care and support to more than 2,250 children, Eddy works with other young orphans to encourage them to succeed, even as he himself still struggles daily with the poverty and lack of support that many orphans must deal with.

“When I graduate [secondary school] I want to develop the psychosocial program further, so I can help my friends,” Eddy said, reflecting the courage and selflessness that has marked his young life thus far. “My plan is that I want to teach others about my life, to tell them about my problems, because I understand.”

Courage Beyond Measure: Torture Survivor Receives Asylum in the U.S.
On July 2, 2000, Liberian security forces, with orders from the abusive President Charles Taylor, came looking for Mr. James B. Unable to find him, they beat and raped his wife, who was six months pregnant with their second child, and beat his father. His wife miscarried, and both she and his father died of their injuries.

Mr. B was marked for death due to his long-time student activism, labor organizing, and role as a government minister outspoken against President Taylor’s dictatorial rule. He witnessed graft and corruption at the highest levels of government and had the courage to speak out. He said he knew of the danger, “but as the leader of the workers’ group, I had to speak, so people would know about our plight.” Mr. B. was detained for two weeks, and taken out three times a day for interrogation and torture, including beatings with whips, batons and rifle butts. During his two weeks in prison, eight of his cellmates died from the beatings. He was released after a Catholic human rights group took on his case. Mr. B. contacted his father, who warned him to flee the country, saying that Taylor’s men had been looking for him. Days later, the soldiers returned and attacked Mr. B.’s father and his wife. After months in hiding, he fled Liberia.

With the help of an attorney from the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), Mr. B. obtained political asylum in the United States. He is one of up to 25,000 political asylees granted status and safety in the United States each year as an example of our country’s principle of affirming human rights here and abroad.

Mr. B. now lives safely in the United States, working in a clerical position and receiving help from CLINIC again to immigrate his 7-year-old daughter and 18-year-old son. Speaking of his long journey toward asylum, Mr. B. said, “My CLINIC attorney is the first person in the United States who worked for me without asking for a dime. I just wanted to tell my story, and she listened.”

Sadly, stories similar to these are all too familiar and get played out in every region of the world. Through the resources of the Catholic Relief Services Collection, the Catholic Church is able to answer the Gospel call to act in solidarity with and offer help to many of the victims of injustice and oppression. For in them we are encountering Jesus in disguise.

The Catholic Relief Services Collection
3211 4th Street, N.E.
Washington DC 20017-1194
(202) 541-3000
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