The spirit of Christmas giving takes many forms and one popular option for Australian families is responding to Christmas Appeals and supporting those in need.
For Catholics, Christmas is a season of celebration, rejoicing in the gift of Jesus Christ to the world and following his teachings of kindness, generosity, and love.
Caritas Australia’s Christmas Appeal is a way to spread joy and love to those in need this holiday season, such as Rohingya refugees living in Cox's Bazar.Â
Sakhina's story
The Rohingya refugee crisis is a humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in Myanmar and neighbouring countries, particularly Bangladesh, over several decades, but came to a head in 2017 when the crisis escalated sharply as the result of a military crackdown.Â
Widowed many years prior to this, Sakhina was left with the sole responsibility for her children. In 2017, she was forced to flee with them to Bangladesh. She recalls shots being fired into her home and having to escape by going under the house and crawling away. Â
Too many people died in our neighbourhood. I couldn’t bear it and moved away from there in the morning... The bullets were pouring down. More turmoil. 10 to 12 days before that I had stopped eating.
Sakhina hid for ten days with no food, before being able to flee to the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Her family were forced to drink from an unclean river to survive.Â
The refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, where many Rohingyas like Sakhina sought shelter, is the largest and one of the most densely populated refugee settlements in the world. The conditions in these camps are characterised by overcrowding, limited access to clean water and sanitation, high rates of fire outbreaks and inadequate healthcare.
Sakhina remarked that she is always worried about the safety of her family, particularly her daughter Noor, who lives with a disability and heavily relies on Sakhina as a primary caregiver to survive.Â
Sakhina with her daughter Noor and Rehena from Caritas Bangladesh. Photo: Caritas Bangladesh
Caritas Bangladesh provides food, shelter, water, sanitation, healthcare and counselling to the displaced people living in the camp. Given the restrictions on movement of the people in the camp, there is no way of accessing or acquiring any of this without support.
When Sakhina arrived at the camp, she attended hygiene sessions run by Caritas Bangladesh. Caritas Bangladesh also installed railings and a ramp so that she could access a nearby latrine outside their home.
WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) programs significantly improve the safety and hygiene of its participants, decreasing the risk of health conditions like cholera and scabies. Latrines are particularly important as they reduce the contamination of groundwater, and the risks associated with open defecation.
Caritas Bangladesh, working in conjunction with partners, provides latrines, soap, hygiene training, garbage disposal, and better access to clean water for participants in the districts it serves.
Embrace the spirit of the season with a donation to our Christmas Appeal
As time goes on, and new crises emerge such as the war in Gaza and the Ukraine, the plight of Rohingya refugees increasingly becomes a forgotten crisis. Caritas Australia’s Christmas Appeal is a meaningful way to extend the blessings and goodwill of the season through a donation that will change lives and spread joy to people like Sakhina and her family.
Your donation to Caritas Australia’s Christmas Appeal funds valuable global projects that support communities in need across the Pacific, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Whether big or small, when you donate to Caritas Australia's Christmas Appeal you join a community of compassionate individuals dedicated to creating a positive impact and building a brighter future for all.
We cannot do any of this without you. This season, help us help others by donating to the Christmas Appeal and giving the gift of compassion.
