North Wales Winter 2012 North Wales is ‘Hungry for Change’ Witnesses to the light Tystion i’r goleuni Jesus, our guide, Iesu, ein harweinydd You show us the path of goodness and love, Rwyt ti’n dangos i ni lwybr daioni a chariad, And call us to follow in your way. ac yn ein galw i ddilyn dy ffordd. Help us to make changes to our own lives Helpa ni i newid ein bywydau ni’n hunain So we may embody our faith. fel y gallwn ymgorffori dy ffydd. Fill us with the courage to speak out and take Llanw ni gyda’r dewrder i lefaru a gweithredu Action so peace and justice reign across the Fel bod heddwch a chyfiawnder yn teyrnasu dros y ddaear. earth. Cynnal ni wrth i ni adeiladu byd sy’n adlewyrchu dy deyr- Support us as we build a world that reflects your nas, byd o lawnder, tegwch a ffydd. kingdom, a world of plenty, fairness and faith. Ysbrydola ni i fod yn dystion i’r goleuni, Inspire us to be witnesses to the light, i adnewyddu dy Eglwys a’i phobl, To renew your Church and its people, er mwyn i bawb, yn y Flwyddyn hon o Ffydd, So that in this Year of Faith, wybod ein bod yn ddisgyblion i Ti All people may know ac y bydd goleuni dy wirionedd That we are your disciples yn disgleirio trwyddom ni. And the light of your truth Amen May shine through us. Helen Moriarty/CAFOD CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales. UK reg. Charity no. 285776 Contents Page From the Desk 3 ‘Tax Dodging Hurts the Poor’ 4 CAFOD’s Great Generation 5 Peace One Day 6 Letter from America 7 Schools Volunteer 8 Dogellau College 9 Potato Day 10 Memorial Mass 11 Hungry for Change 12 Pantasaph Day 13 Fundraising for CAFOD 14 Chris Coyle runs for CAFOD 15 Feedback on ‘Thirst for Change’ 16 Live Simply Award 17 Reflection 18 Volunteering with CAFOD 19 Dates for your diary 20 From the desk Croeso! Welcome to the Winter edition our North Wales Newsletter. Message from Katja Jewell, Diocesan Manager: A special year of celebrating Cafod's 50 anniversary comes to an end. In January some of our volunteers went to join the Bishops and many Priests and hundreds of supporters from all over England and Wales in a truly moving mass in Westminster Cathedral. Chris Bain commented: “ Bishop John Arnold’s sermon struck at the heart of what CAFOD is about and what our supporters have helped us achieve over the past 50 years. The day reaffirmed for me and I hope for the entire CAFOD community, that we are part of an organisation that lives out Gospel values every day as we reach out to the poorest people wherever they may be, alleviating suffering and tackling injustice wherever we encounter it.” In May, Chris Bain our director, addressed over a hundred supporters on our annual Supporters day in Pantasaph. Chris was delighted to see so many young people participating in the different activities, like the Liturgical dance from St. Bridgid's school in Denbigh, Pupils from Ven Edward Morgan making golden heart and singing along the stations of the cross Pantasaph day and our annual youth event 'Potato day' in October in Noddfa are central parts in our annual calendar. It's very uplifting to get facebook messages from young supporters to enquire about our next events. Please do stay in touch with us, apart from our regular newsletters, we have a blog, facebook, and now also a twitter account . And we always want to hear from you: so why don't you join in the 50th Anniversary celebrations: what lit your flame? cafod.org.uk/whatlityourflame Have a blessed Christmas And a happy and healthy 2013, Katja And a message from Anne Fegan, Diocesan Officer: Hello, I’m Anne and I have recently moved to Wales from Edinburgh to take the role of diocesan officer, having previously worked as a youth worker. I am excited to be joining CAFOD in the year that it celebrates its 50th Birthday, and launches its latest campaign: ‘Hungry for Change’, which asks why nearly one billion people still do not have enough to eat despite no shortage of food being produced. I have had a great few months visiting local schools, and meeting CAFOD supporters and volunteers. 2013 is set to be a busy year as the Hungry for Change campaign builds momentum, and I look forward to further opportunities to meet and work with CAFOD supporters in the new year. Anne CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales. UK reg. Charity no. 285776 3 Tax Dodging Hurts the Poor CAFOD’s vision and mission statement calls for the world to be transformed so that everyone can have a fair and equal access to the most basic of human rights. Blessed John Paul II said that: “everyone can make some contribution, no matter how small it may seem”. And so, in working to ensure that people in the poorest areas across the world are able to have access to these basic needs, everyone must be accountable. It is for this reason that ‘Christian Aid’ and ‘Church Action on Poverty’ have travelled across Britain and Ireland with a simple message: “tax dodging hurts the poor”. When a large corporate organisation avoids paying tax this means that it is the poorest people in that country, those on the margins of society, are the ones who suffer the most. It means that money, which should have been available to fund hospitals, schools and other infrastructure is not available. So when the ‘tax bus’ stopped at Glyndwr University in Wrexham in September, the CAFOD North Wales team were one of the many different groups to show their support, telling large corporations who avoid paying tax that they must recognise their role in working to ensure that the world’s resources are more evenly distributed, so that no one is without an education, food or basic human needs. Congratulations Zoe and Dom Lavery A few years ago my colleague Zoe Lavery (nee Jones), who came originally from the parish of St Anne’s in Wrexham, went to visit CAFOD’s partners in Northern Kenya. James Girmes Galgallo, our colleague, showed her the work they did with the communities in the Deserts in Northern Kenya. Two tribes were competing for the scarce resources of water and food in a barren land. One of the pictures stuck particularly in my mind is that of a heavily pregnant young woman, lying in a simple hut with corrugated iron roof. Hardly the place were we dream to deliver our babies, and probably closer to the reality of Mary in the stable than our hospitals here in the West. Zoe and Dom, just had their first child, Isaac Bede Iau, born on the day of the launch of CAFOD’s new food campaign, where CAFOD supporters urge the government to change the reality of 870 000 000 people in the world who go to bed hungry every day. James Girmes Galgaloo explained to the pupils he met on the visit in North Wales, that his names stands for chubby baby, born in the afternoon. How worried must have been his mother, how to feed him, how to keep him chubby. Sometimes statistics are hard to grasp, yet all babies, may they be born into a world of plenty or scarcities have mothers (and fathers) who have dreams for their children, to reach their full potentials, to be healthy, happy and Katja with baby Isaac chubby. Congratulations Zoe and Dom. CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales. UK reg. Charity no. 285776 4 CAFOD’s ‘Great Generation’ At a ‘Make Poverty History’ gathering in London Nelson Mandela famously said: “Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” Martha Barnes is one of CAFOD’s ‘Great Generation’. From school presentations, office work, campaign launches and much more, Martha has done it all. “The reason I’m so involved in CAFOD is definitely down to my mum because, for as long as I can remember, she has been organising and baking for CAFOD coffee mornings in my church (or “cadoff” coffee mornings, as it used to be when I was so young I couldn’t say CAFOD properly). I have done so many things for CAFOD before (like fundraising cake sales, and helping out at events), I can’t remember them all, but I can fairly say, thanks mainly to my mum, I’ve had a very active role in helping CAFOD. At the end of July, I worked in CAFOD’s Wrexham office, with diocesan manager Katja Jewell. In school, we are permitted one week of work experience, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn more about the organisation.” Not only did Martha work in the office she also gave a presentation at Blessed Edward Jones’ High School, and taught the students a game which originates from a slum called Korogocho in Kenya, where there is a sports society called St John’s that CAFOD supports. The activity is a game of handball with various twists that means it isn’t only a fun game, but also a way of learning about the poverty in Korogocho. Reflecting on her week with CAFOD Martha said: “I would definitely love to do something like this again, which I’m sure I’ll be able to, and I’m so grateful to CAFOD’s Katja for giving me the opportunity to try it in the first place!” There are many more ways what you too can be part of CAFOD’s Great Generation’.