Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Santander (Agenzia Fides) - The Spanish Catholic Association Manos Unidas of Cantabria has just opened its traditional bazaars of solidarity that, for 28 years, has aimed to raise funds for development projects and the elimination of hunger in the Third World. This year the project is targeted to the development and promotion of indigenous women of 10 municipalities of a region of the Indian state of Rajasthan. A wide variety of objects have been put on sale, among these also items of clothing, linens and crafts from Africa and Latin America in addition to the so-called fair trade products. The aid, which over 10 000 people will benefit from, will be targeted to health, education, eradication of illiteracy and discrimination of women and children, facilitating their involvement in civic life. The Congregation of the Prabhudasi Sisters of Ajmer, engaged in this area since 1906, reports that the extreme poverty of the local population and lack of hygiene is total. In this big State, located in northwest India, the sisters encourage programs to eradicate extreme poverty through the promotion of education and health of women and children. The project will also aim to improve reproductive health and maternal and child health, making people aware of AIDS, which in previous years reached 25% of cases. The direct beneficiaries will be 1,800, more than 9 000 that will receive aid indirectly. The money raised during last year’s bazar was allocated to a project for the eradication of poverty and AIDS in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, where the Sisters of the Holy Family, a Polish congregation in the African country since 1970 work. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 16/3/2012)
