The Caritas Philippines expanded its "Alay Kapwa Fund Campaign" to bring seven legacy programs to support and maintain social action initiatives relating to peace advocacy, democratic governance, ecology, sustainable agriculture, children's rights, disaster management, and other development projects.
(Photo from Caritas Philippines)
With its tagline, "This is what we can share. This is our Alay Kapwa," the Alay Kapwa flagship program of Caritas Philippines is expanding on the aspirations and ambitions of Filipinos to as many families and communities to empower beneficiaries to become changemakers themselves.
Caritas Philippines' Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo is calling for donations, saying that "sharing that at least P42 equals to P 500 a year" even if the amount is not much it can help to save the lives of the Filipinos.
In a statement by Caritas Philippines, it said that every program is intended to bring holistic development to underserved areas by providing those communities with the support and help they need to rise beyond the cycle of poverty.
The seven legacy programs of “Alay Kapwa” and their advocacies include “Alay Kapwa Para sa Karunungan” which is an education and training of the young members of the family; “Alay Kapwa Para sa Kalusugan” which provides local communities with livelihood and social entrepreneurial projects to combat hunger; and “Alay Kapwa Para sa Kabuhayan” which addresses the family's livelihood and food security needs.
Other advocacies include “Alay Kapwa Para sa Kasanayan” which aims to educate and organize the church's social action teams; “Alay Kapwa Para sa Katugunan sa Kalamidad” which provides emergency response and rehabilitation from calamities; “Alay Kapwa Para sa Kalikasan” which aims to educate about protecting the environment; and “Alay Kapwa Para sa Katarungan at Kapayapaan” which strives for the genuine development and social transformation of communities.
Overall, the expanded program emphasized the chance for individuals to close the gap between those "who have access to material resources and those who have none" by having the opportunity to live a decent life and strive and work for a brighter future. (Rhowen Del Rosario)