KUALA LUMPUR — Caritas Malaysia is the office for the promotion of the social mission of the Catholic Church of Malaysia. It consists of the Caritas/Human Development offices of all nine dioceses in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. On Monday, June 7, Caritas Malaysia organised a Zoom meeting with the diocesan offices. The purpose of the meeting was to:
a. exchange what we are doing and to learn from one another
b. share information and contacts of organisations we have worked with;
c. assess if there is a need for help or training.
Need to coordinate and organise
There are many ministries and groups in the Church which are serving different communities but there is a lack of coordination.
Hence, there is a need to organise ourselves. Many of the attendees agreed that they have moved from chaos during first MCO to being more organised during the subsequent MCOs.
Due to the 10km radius imposed by the government, diocesan offices and parishes are working with the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) to collect and deliver aid.
Strengthen parish structures
Many agreed that not all efforts need to be initiated at diocesan level. Parishes have been given funds to help them in their outreach.
All parishes must have structures for community outreach.
It is important for Caritas Diocesan Offices to establish and maintain communication channels for aid and support with the parishes.
For instance, in Sabah, they are doing a survey to find out the impact of COVID on the people, to better respond to it.
Participation in SHAPE projects (for disaster relief work)
Caritas Malaysia shared that the SHAPE projects organised by Caritas Asia and Caritas Europe is open for staff and volunteers of Caritas Malaysia
There are four training groups:
1) Regional Emergency Support Mechanism,
2) Online Platform,
3) Community Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning,
4) Community of Practice.
SHAPE Project Committee
This project will build capacity of staff and volunteers on disaster and relief response and in turn they will become resource persons for the dioceses.
Communication channels
Many acknowledge the poor information system in the Church.
There is a need to have more resource material and personnel for those in other language groups. The offices need to talk with those affected.
There needs to be more platforms for sharing. One suggestions is to use the Tuesday chat session with Caritas Malaysia national office to share knowledge and experiences among dioceses.
Mental health support and resources
Staff and volunteers need knowledge on screening and referring those with mental health issues to healthcare professionals. They also need to know first aid in mental health to take care of themselves and those around them. They need to be given training and mental health support. They are urged to use the materials and resource persons of the various mental health ministries in their respective dioceses. Official letters for travel Many also find it difficult to travel (inter district) as official letters for travel are requested by authorities during roadblocks. Below are some other areas which the dioceses are involved in.
Source: Caritas Malaysia
Collaborate with non-governmental organisations
Penang Diocese
In the Diocese of Penang, Caritas Penang/Penang Office of Human Development (POHD) have been collaborating with non-governmental organisations and parishes.
From MCO 1.0 through to just before MCO 3.0, we have been distributing food aid packages and helping those experiencing domestic violence and depression, said Caritas Penang/POHD Chairman, Fr Joachim Robert.
“During MCO 1.0, distribution of food aid packages was mostly centralised. However, due to the stricter SOPs and 10km radius, it was easier to work with the parishes and empower the Zones and BECs.
“Parishes were also given an allocation of RM2,000 each to help those in need in their area.”
They are also helping homes and orphanages which are facing a shortage of food, diapers etc as donations have dropped. “Many parishes have taken up this call by getting their Zones and BECs to engage with the lonely, depressed, the poor etc.
“We have also previously worked with Tesco here in Penang where we settled on a set of goods which we would pay for online and Tesco would then pack that for our volunteers to pick up and distribute to those in need,” he added.
Malacca Johore Diocese
By Gwen Manickam
Caritas Malacca Johore Diocese of Human Development (MJDOHD) has set up a centralised COVID response system to help cater to the mounting needs of those affected financially by the multiple lockdowns.
Director of MJDOHD, Hugh Dason said the project to identify the poor and needy within the Malacca Johore Diocese kicked off during the first Movement Control Order (MCO) .
“Every time there is a lockdown, unskilled workers lose income. With churches closed, many people do not know who to see or where to get help from, so MJDOHD created an online registration form,” said Hugh.
This information was shared across social media platforms, welcoming the needy to apply for aid. MJDOHD then disseminates the information to the relevant parishes whereby the Parish Office of Human Development Ministry and the Society of St Vincent De Paul follow up and do the needful.
“This year, we have drawn in more people from our community to help with the project,” said Hugh.
In addition to funds coming from the public and the parish ministries, Caritas gives grants to these frontliners (14 SSVP conferences in the diocese and six POHD ministries) to help sustain the escalating needs of this project. Other frontliners who may apply for financial aid are BECs. As part of intentionally living our faith, BECs are encouraged to help under the “neighbour help neighbour” project.
Growing your own food initiative for the B40 group
Sibu Diocese
Eta Ting, the Director of Caritas Sibu, explained that food is the common denominator for all.
She shared that the Diocese of Sibu is planning a sustainable “grow your own food” project among B40 called Grow Our Greens (GOG) Project: 2021. The project will start in Sibu town near the cathedral.
“We have been doing food distribution since the first lockdown in March 18, 2020. We should be working towards sustainable food subsistence for daily consumption,” she said.
Eta then shared on the principle of sustainability — to teach people to plant vegetables instead of giving them vegetables (food).
When they grow their own greens (vegetables) to be selfsustainable, it is primarily for their own daily consumption but it can also be for sale depending on their intention and space.
Caritas Sibu plans to teach and train them to plant the vegetables and be responsible eco-friendly stewards to care for creation and for protection of our Mother Earth and future generations.
They can also share seeds and green plants and other items after harvesting as eco-gifting. It can be like a Pass It On project to the next stakeholder.
This would then be a journey of Eco-gifting in love, solidarity, sustainability, protection, interconnectedness, interdependence and co-existence of humanity with nature, living in fraternity and solidarity.
“Every stakeholder should be a proud owner testifying that the GOG Project is a sustainable narrative, she added.
Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese
Teo Kar Im, Director of the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development (AOHD) said that some parishes have set up food banks in their parishes.
“AOHD basically coordinates with all the parishes and helps to fill in wherever necessary. For example, there was a need for 100 bags of rice, we helped to supply them,” she further explained.
Communicate care and concern directly
Miri Diocese
The Diocese of Miri reached out to several longhouses and showed their care and concern by communicating directly with the community.
In the beginning, the volunteers were afraid to engage with community members as they feared contracting the virus.
Miri Caritas Director, Fr Sylvester Ngau Juk explained how during the recent floods, with the help of a middle man, he was able to send food aid to the affected longhouses.
However, by taking the necessary precautions, they are now more prepared to help the community.
Fr Sylvester said that there are many ministries of social concerns/services in the diocese. He is hoping to unite all these under one umbrella.
At the moment, he is in the midst of forming his diocesan team. First on the agenda, will be ensuring that every parish has a Caritas team.
Catholics and Muslims working together to help the underprivileged
By Bernard Anthony
KAMPUNG PANDAN — The Parish Ministry of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (PMEIA) of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Jalan Peel, in collaboration with Persatuan Inspirasi Mualaf Malaysia in Kampung Pandan, held two joint projects to bring joy to some underprivileged families in Kampung Pandan, before the start of MCO 3.0.
According to Dr Florence John, the coordinator of PMEIA, the first joint project with the Muslim group was for “Aidil Fitri Gift of Love 2021”, held on April 24 that benefited thirty B40 Muslim families in Kampung Pandan area. “
Both groups gave household rations comprising 11 food items amounting to total 600kgs, with each family receiving 20kgs each.”
Florence added that our team of 10 members with three members from the Muslim group came there with the foodstuffs packed into 30 bags, then broke into smaller groups of three each to hand over the foodstuffs to the assigned homes whilst adhering to the SOPs.
The second joint project with the same Muslim group was held on May 31 and benefited 50 families in Pangsapuri Pandamas 2, Blok F.
The ‘project of love’ touched the hearts of recipients where 50 bags of rice, totalling 500kg were distributed.
The PMEIA members were glad to have worked with Persatuan Inspirasi Mualaf Malaysia in these two joint projects that certainly brought some cheer to the 80 families during these uncertain times. It is heartwarming to see Malaysians united together in doing our part to reach out to those in need while the country is battling the pandemic.
Florence said parish priest Fr Edwin Peter always encourages the PMEIA members to engage with peoples of other faiths to create mutual understanding and unity amongst all Malaysians.
