Project Compassion Lenten Appeal
Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things, with great love.
Teresa of Calcutta
For All Future Generations
Project Compassion is the Caritas Australia annual Lenten fund raising and awareness raising appeal. With Project Compassion, millions of Australians come together in support of the world's poor to help end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity. Project Compassion brings thousands of supporters together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world.
The Project Compassion theme, "For All Future Generations", reminds us that the good we do today extends to impact the lives of generations to come. Support for Project Compassion is helping empower our world’s most vulnerable communities to grow stronger and share their strength with their communities to lift themselves out of poverty.
Together, we can all help to break the cycle of poverty and injustice.
Please take home a Project Compassion box and/or a set of donation envelopes and support Caritas Australia this Lenten season.
You can donate through the parish boxes and envelopes, or by visiting the Caritas link below.
Caritas Project Compassion Lenten appeal
Envelopes and boxes are available at the back of our churches.
Ronita's Story
After the birth of her children, 22-year-old Ronita was at risk of having to leave school permanently. But with the support of Caritas Australia partners in the Philippines, she resumed her studies and now has a job to support her family.
Ronita lives in a barangay (native Filipino term for a local district), in Quezon City, the Philippines. She lives with her husband Lean and their two children, Egzy Grey who is three years old and Clark who is five. Ronita’s husband works seven days a week in waste disposal, from 3am to 9pm each day. It is exhausting, laborious work, made harder by the very hot climate. Despite this, Ronita and her husband are only able to rent a small brick room (measuring around 10 square metres).
Growing up, Ronita’s family faced many difficulties. She grew up with her mum, who worked three jobs because Ronita’s father had left the family. Ronita has two brothers who married young and never finished school.
It’s very hard for me to go to regular school because my classmates bullied me because my shirt is too old and getting yellowish. The teachers need to stand up for us, but they don't. They just laugh with the bullies at me.
Ronita
Ronita left school when she became pregnant as a teenager. She was at risk of never returning to the education system when she had her first child, Clark, at 17.
With the support of Caritas, Ronita was given a second chance to complete her studies after she heard about the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ), the Caritas Australia local partner in the Philippines. Through the FCJ’s Alternative Learning System (ALS) program, Ronita was able to re-enrol in her studies, and continue learning in a safe and flexible environment – even with the arrival of her second child, Egzy Grey.
After completing the ALS class, Ronita attended senior high school. Despite the difficulties, Ronita persevered with her studies. Often, she wouldn’t get enough sleep as she had to take care of her children and study into the early hours of the morning, even skipping lunch at school as she was unable to afford it.
Ronita has now completed her final high school exams and secured a job at a call centre, which required a Grade 12 Senior High School Diploma. She hopes to earn enough income to continue her studies and support her family.
“One day I hope I will be a school teacher, just like Ma'am Jen and Ma'am Grace (her former teachers at FCJ),” Ronita said. “I feel hopeful for the future. Now it's not impossible for me to achieve my dream. Thank you for that.”