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The Change Report

A Caritas Australia report about the change your generosity has helped create - Spring 2024 edition

By Caritas Australia

July 2^nd, 2025

Thank You

My name is Kirsten Sayers, and it is my honour to represent Caritas Australia as its new Interim Chief Executive Officer.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge the former CEO Kirsty Robertson for her dedication to Caritas Australia over the past five years. She guided the organisation through a global pandemic and a time that saw many emerging and escalating challenges globally.

Thank you to Kirsty for all your contributions in advancing the mission of Caritas Australia and supporting vulnerable communities here, and across the world.

I join Caritas Australia with many years of experience in the international aid and development sector as a CEO, Board Director and international lawyer, as well as holding senior diplomatic appointments. I have taken leave as a Caritas Australia Board Director to take on this position, and I am humbled to be here and so thankful to serve such a wonderful organisation.

Through my work over the years, I have become acutely aware of the inequalities that women face. Despite how far we have come, women and girls are still disproportionally impacted by poverty, food insecurity, climate change, gender-based violence and have limited access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities.

Caritas Australia’s annual Women for the World campaign gives us an opportunity to tackle these inequalities so that every woman and girl can have a brighter future.

With your support, we have worked with our partners for more than 60 years to create a more just world where women and girls can thrive and exercise their strength, resilience and determination.

Last year alone, your generosity helped support 6,137 women to assume leadership roles, 11,396 women gain access to financial services and 41,371 people participate in sessions on gender issues and women’s rights.

This edition is dedicated to all women and celebrates their achievements. We share with you the story of Memory – whom you might remember from Project Compassion 2024.

We also bring you stories from First Australian communities and the work of our partner Grassroots Action Palmerston, news of the renovation of the Lemakot Health Centre in Papua New Guinea, and an emergency update from Sudan.

On behalf of everyone at Caritas Australia, I would like to thank you for your generosity and for supporting women and girls across the world, and hope that you enjoy this edition.

In solidarity,

Kirsten Sayers

Interim Chief Executive Officer, Caritas Australia

Aunties at Grassroots Action Palmerston lead the way in healing intergenerational trauma

At Caritas Australia, we work closely with our partners to support First Australian people access employment opportunities, heal from intergenerational trauma and to continue to share their culture.

Thanks to your unwavering generosity, the Aunties at Grassroots Action Palmerston (GAP) are leading the way in healing intergenerational trauma through the Grassroots Youth Engagement program (GYE).

“GYE gives opportunities to kids who ordinarily wouldn’t have them. We do social emotional wellbeing and employment pathways for kids that ordinarily wouldn’t get the chance to work,” says GAP’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Serena Dalton.

GYE works collaboratively with local community members, businesses and government to create positive outcomes in key areas that young people have identified as important to them.

The program actively responds to the significant challenges that Indigenous young people face and connects them with employment opportunities that help build their skills and confidence. This is paired with activities and mentorship to strengthen connection to culture.

"A lot of people have a misconstrued idea or understanding of what generational trauma is. Generational trauma is still happening today," said GAP’s General Manager, Kat Lee.

“The misplacement of families, the removal of families, has flowed onto the youth that we deal with today. That’s why there is so many cases of incarceration. There are a lot of special needs or sensory issues going on that no one has diagnosed. But at the root, they are just kids. They just want someone to love them and respect them.”

All of this is supported by the kindness of people like you and by the enduring love and commitment of the GAP Aunties, who created a home away from home called Aunty’s Place. Their HQ is a residential property complete with a kitchen, living room, and sensory areas.

“When they come to Aunty’s Place and they deal with GAP, they’re such different kids. They just want to be kids and they see that they all have potential. We can see the change that we bring to them whilst they’re attending our programs,” says Operation Manager, Jody Mummery.

When asked what works for the young people GAP serves, founder and CEO Serena Dalton said, “Respect is on the top of the list, because they don’t get that often. Love because what kid doesn’t want to be loved and understood. Helping them find who they are in a world of chaos is essential.”

Serena described the program participants as some of the most “loving, loyal, and respectful” kids she has ever worked with. “I couldn’t be prouder of the women that I work with, the other Aunties. I couldn’t be prouder of the kids that come to the program,” she adds.

Your support helps provide women like Memory with education

You might remember Memory from Project Compassion earlier this year. Memory, 27, grew up in the Mwanza district in southern Malawi, with her parents and her four siblings.Her parents are subsistence farmers who depend on their crops for survival.

As the eldest child in her family, Memory encountered numerous challenges in her daily life. She had to support her family with domestic chores such as farming, carrying water, cooking and cleaning, and taking care of younger siblings, alongside her own education efforts.

Economic opportunities for girls in Malawi are constrained by high levels of early school leavers and women typically tend to work in lower paying jobs or have no source of income.

Statistics have shown that for every 100 girls who start their education, only three will finish. Twenty-seven will leave because their families are unable to afford school fees, 16 will leave due to early pregnancy and 27 will leave due to child marriage.

“When I was in primary school, I went to school barefooted because my parents didn’t have money to buy shoes for me. But I told myself I can’t stop going to school because this is the only way I can get a better life,” added Memory.

Having to support her family meant that her education was hanging by a thread. Memory feared that she would be stuck in an endless cycle of poverty and meet the same fate as so many other women in Malawi. But thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, Caritas Australia worked closely with our local partner Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) to bring the A+ program to Memory’s village.

After being identified by local leaders in her village as a capable candidate for a vocational skills course, Memory was referred to a technical college near the city of Blantyre with support of our partner. The A+ program helped her with tuition and boarding fees, thus she decided to pursue vocational training in carpentry to support herself, her family and prove to her community that women can work in male-dominated industries.

Memory graduated with an advanced certificate in Carpentry and Joinery. With the knowledge and skills acquired, she secured a job as a carpenter at one of the largest hydroelectric power companies in Malawi. She has become the very first female carpenter in her village and a trailblazer for other girls and young women wanting to pursue a career in a male-dominated industry.

Thank you for standing with determined women like Memory.

About the A+ Program

Since 2016, through the support of generous people like you, the A+ program has helped 7,397 families (33,287 people) across Malawi and 3,428 families (16,454 people) in the remote Karatu district of Tanzania. With the work of our partners Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) and the Diocese of Mbulu Development Department (DMDD), the program has helped rural communities improve their food security, access to water and sanitation, boost women’s education and income generation, and strengthen child protection.

The program’s new phase, the A+ Successor program, has already began and will help a further 10,184 families (56,096 people) over the next four years across Malawi and 3,993 families (19,967 people) in Tanzania. The program will have a strong focus on school children and maternal health clinics, disaster risk reduction, as well as improving food security and women’s livelihood in vulnerable rural communities. The program will directly benefit girls and women and help reduce climate change impact locally and across the globe.

Maria's story

Maria lives in a village in Tanzania that experienced long-term food and water insecurity, and she struggled to feed her young family daily. With your generous help, Maria joined the A+ Program where she learned sustainable farming techniques, entrepreneurship, literacy and numeracy, gender awareness, environmental protection, and hygiene and sanitation.

Your support also helped upgrade the drinking water systems in Maria’s village so that they no longer have to walk long distances to access safe and clean water. This helped boost food production, and Maria and her husband are now producing enough crops to feed their family and to sell, which has increased their income.

Loema's story

Gender inequality, traditional social hierarchies and cultural norms are strong barriers that deter women in vulnerable communities in Tanzania from completing their education. Your support helped Loema, 69, join classes and gain an education through the A+ Program. She had a dream of receiving education since when she was a young girl, but the school was very far from her parents’ home, so she was unable to realise her dreams.

Her determination remained strong throughout her life, and thanks to your generosity, she turned her dream into a goal, and from a goal into her reality. Loema found out about adult classes in her village and joined as soon as she saw the opportunity to gain an education. Despite being one of the oldest people in the class, she persevered and she completed her studies on reading and counting.

Oliva's story

Growing up in Tanzania, Oliva did not have the opportunity to attend school. As an adult, her small business suffered and customers took advantage of her inability to read, write and count. Oliva started attending classes through the A+ Program, supported by Caritas Australia and our local partner Diocese of Mbulu Development Department (DMDD). With your help, Oliva was able to enrol in literacy and numeracy classes. She has since graduated and her business is now thriving. She is also using her newfound skills to teach other people in her village how to read and write.

Sudan’s severe humanitarian crisis

Sudan is currently experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world with civil conflict and famine spreading through the nation. The impact on innocent civilians in and across the African nation has been severe, and shows no sign of improving in the short term.

Civil conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in the African nation in April 2023, marking the start of a brutal power struggle.

Violence has escalated dramatically, plunging the nation into chaos. In the first 12 months of the conflict, nearly 14,000 people lost their lives, and over 4 million people were displaced within Sudan. An additional one million people have fled to neighbouring countries, including Chad and South Sudan, further destabilising the region.

Major damage to essential infrastructure has also disrupted access to food, water, and health services, leaving an estimated 25 million people in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Sudan, which has traditionally been refuge to those fleeing conflicts in neighbouring countries, is now unable to meet the basic needs of its own population. Resources that were already stretched thin have been pushed to the brink, leading to one of the most severe hunger crises in recent history.

To make matters worse, and as recently as August this year, the United Nations (UN) declared famine in parts of Northern Darfur, where families face malnutrition, starvation, and death. Famine is declared when one in five households severely lacks food and people begin dying of hunger.

The levels of displacement across the nation are indeed staggering. The UN has called Sudan’s situation the “largest displacement crisis in the world,” with about 16 percent of the population being forced out of their homes. Economic conditions have also deteriorated rapidly, with the country’s GDP projected to fall by more than 15 percent in 2023.

Inflation has skyrocketed above 300 percent, decimating

the value of the Sudanese pound and making basic goods

unaffordable for most people.

Despite the scale of the crisis, the alarming rate of political upheaval and disasters happening around the world in recent times has meant that the international community has not given enough focus to the crisis in Sudan. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the 2024 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan has sought over $3 billion in aid but is only 5.8 percent funded. Without significant international intervention, the situation will worsen.

In June 2024, the Australian Government announced a $29 million aid package for the region, with $13 million specifically allocated to assist the vulnerable communities displaced by the crisis.

The ongoing violence has resulted in widespread destruction of infrastructure, further complicating efforts to deliver aid. Food, water, and healthcare services have become increasingly scarce.

The situation, which began as sporadic fighting, has escalated into a catastrophe involving war crimes, famine, and a displacement crisis on an unprecedented scale.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) continue to work tirelessly on the ground in Sudan and neighbouring countries to provide essential aid to those in need.

We are currently supporting our partners CAFOD and the Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) to deliver crucial support to displaced communities.

Since the outbreak of violence, Caritas Australia’s partners have distributed food at 17 gathering points for internally displaced people, and have also provided multi-purpose cash assistance, access to clean water, and hygiene services.

With your generous support, our partners can also help provide shelter for internally displaced people and refugees and offer direct support for the needs of displaced individuals in Sudan and surrounding countries. Every donation helps; even the smallest amount can make a life-changing difference.

The international community must urgently step up its efforts to bring peace and deliver the massive humanitarian intervention needed to alleviate the suffering in Sudan.

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How your support helped provide a new roof for healthcare centre in Lemakot

The Lemakot Health Center is located on the east coast of New Ireland. The centre was first established as an aid post in 1912 and has a long history of delivering healthcare to people in the province. By the 1970s, under the stewardship of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, it became the Sacred Heart Health Centre.

Beyond a few paint jobs, the last maintenance work done to the facility took place in 1987. According to Father Aminio Justyn of the Kavieng Diocese, they had been writing proposals for renovation and maintenance since 2000, but nothing fruitful had come out of that effort. That is until earlier this year, where thanks to your generosity, our partners Catholic Church Health Services were able to replace the facility’s roof.

In Papua New Guinea, rural health centres face a enormous amount of challenges in addressing work of this magnitude. Over 90 percent of people in the Pacific nation live in rural areas and use local health centres like the one in Lemakot.

The government in Papua New Guinea largely funds health centres in urban and more regional areas. Additionally, the cost of supplies in Papua New Guinea is high, with record inflation reducing purchasing power for everybody, especially for those on low incomes in rural areas.

“Papua New Guinea has a very high mortality rate because of the many challenges that affect the healthcare services in a health centre like Lemakot. We would like to provide quality and very safe delivery or childbirth for our people,“ said Dr Anthanius Kari from Catholic Church Health Services.

“However, circumstances where the resources become a challenge, such as old equipment and lack of running water in the health facility, can all contribute to the ongoing high mortality rate.”

“Women deliver in very challenging circumstances, even though they are in a health centre. Old and malfunctioning equipment can affect the way we deliver our health services. These can improve through the support of donor partners and through the support of the Government and the Church to be able to deliver quality and efficient care to our people,” he added.

The work done to the Lemakot Health Centre was incredibly overdue. The rusty roof was full of holes, creating serious impediments to the delivery of adequate healthcare to patients.

Prior to the instalment of the new roof, rainwater leaking into treatment rooms and equipment storage areas were evidently a hygiene concern. Nurses having to manage buckets of water and fight to keep areas dry for patients was also a clear source of frustration, and a poor use of their skills. However, the condition of that roof held up other fundamental improvements to the health centre. It had no running water because harnessing rainwater from the roof to fill water tanks was not an option. Not only would the water have been rusty, but most of it would never have reached gutters for catchment, as most of it would often end up inside the buildings. To make matters worse, without watertight buildings, a safe electricity supply was not possible.

“We are happy to say that through the work of Caritas Australia and the funding that has come through, and the support of the Catholic Health Services and the Kavieng Diocese, we have been able to fix the roofs of the health centre,” said Dr Kari.

Now, safe drinking water can be collected from the rain into the tank and be used for the health centre staff and patients.

Dr Kari Athanasius

Thanks to your support and the work of our partners, the new roof has been firmly installed, sealing the building – which had also been newly repainted. As a result, several water tanks are now in operation, and there are no electrical hazards.

As always, we are immensely grateful for your ongoing generosity and for your commitment to helping us fulfil our mission.On behalf of everyone at Caritas Australia, we hope that you enjoyed this spring edition of The Change Report.

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