The annual Trócaire Lenten Campaign, Ireland’s largest fundraiser began on Ash Wednesday, 14 February. This year, funds raised by Trócaire will be used to support over two million of the world poorest and most vulnerable people around the world.
Featured on this year’s Trócaire box is seven-year-old Kumba, from Sierra Leone. This week marks the six month anniversary of the devastating mudslide that destroyed her home and killed over 1,000 people in the area of Freetown where she lives. Only one fifth of Kumba’s community survived the mudslide.
Launching the Lenten campaign, Eamonn Meehan, Trócaire’s executive Director warned that growing numbers of people are being trapped in humanitarian crises.
“At the age of just seven, Kumba has already survived an Ebola outbreak that killed 4,000 people and a mudslide that killed 1,000 people,” he said. “Her young life has been spent in an almost constant state of crisis. Tragically, she is far from alone. A seven-year-old in Syria has never known peace; a seven-year-old in Gaza has survived two separate wars; a seven-year-old in South Sudan has experienced both famine and civil war in their short life.
“The Lenten campaign comes at a time when conflict in many parts of the world has left millions of people at risk of famine and disease.”
“The work Trócaire does promoting human rights, women’s empowerment and access to resources such as land and water is key to building strong and peaceful societies. That work is powered by our annual Lenten appeal. We will use donations to our campaign to support over two million of the poorest and most vulnerable people around the world this year.”
“We are incredibly grateful for the support we receive from parishes, schools and families all over Ireland, without whom this work would not be possible” said Eamonn Meehan.
For more information about Trócaire’s 2018 Lenten campaign, please visit www.trocaire.org.
