Our 50th anniversary year is a time to reflect on what we have achieved, and how we have fulfilled our mission, both as an organisation and as individuals.
In that spirit of reflection, we are asking volunteers, supporters and other friends of CAFOD to look back over their lives, recall the moment when they were first drawn into the fight against poverty and injustice, and share those stories with others.
For many of us, it was a news broadcast, a photo, a speech or a great individual who first inspired us. For some, it was a film, book or a story from the Bible. And for others, it was the personal experience of taking a trip abroad or seeing the kindness of others first hand. The events, experiences and people which have inspired us are as diverse as we are, but we can recognise in each others’ testimonies common bonds: the awakening of compassion for others; and the discovery of a world outside our own.
Dermot O’Leary, supporter and TV presenter, writes:
“I would have been 11, just starting secondary school at the time of the Ethiopian famine of 1984/85. There was Live Aid coming up and CAFOD was appealing in the school at the same time. I just remember feeling terribly guilty when I saw the CAFOD posters in the school corridors showing what was happening in Ethiopia. For a safe suburban lower middle class white boy, it was quite a scary thing to look at, and it made me start thinking about what was happening out there, but also what we could do to help.”
Chris Bain, Director, writes:
“For me there were two strong influences. The first was my mother, herself a migrant from southern Europe, who stood up to racists in our street protesting at black families living in neighbouring houses. This was in the late ‘60s just after Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech and was at huge personal cost as previous friends shunned her. If my mother’s action moulded my values then a speech given by a South African Dominican, Picton Mbatha OP, at a Catholic society Mass during my university days really set my flame alight. He talked of life under apartheid, of poverty in his parish in the townships, a quarter of the children dying before they were five and of members of his family being imprisoned. It was the first time I heard someone say: “And the worst thing you can do after this talk is nothing!” It led to me taking development economics options in my degree, becoming an activist for Third World First, and volunteering for VSO after leaving university. That was many years ago, but each time I visit our programmes today, my thirst for justice and fairness is renewed. And talking to CAFOD staff and volunteers, they will always say the same. We remember what first lit our flame, but looking around us at the poverty, suffering and injustice still facing millions of our brothers and sisters around the world, and the vital role the Church plays in helping them, that flame burns brighter than ever.”
So please share with us your stories, and let us share them with the wider community of CAFOD supporters and partners throughout the world. Whatever age we are, whatever background we come from, and however different our stories are, we are united by our fire for justice. So let us share that fire, and celebrate our unity. To tell us what lit your flame, visit our blog or leave a comment below.
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Tags: Brentwood, CAFOD Brentwood, diocese of brentwood, social justice, volunteering
