If you’ve seen excited children walking with buckets of water this week, you’ll know that Lent is here and that Caritas’ annual Project Compassion has begun.

As is now tradition in Sandhurst, the Diocesan launch of Project Compassion took place at Hargreaves Street Mall, Bendigo on Shrove Tuesday (17 February), turning an ordinary morning into a lively, thoughtful celebration.

The voices of school students echoed through the Mall, while pancakes sizzled on a nearby barbecue – the sights, sounds and aroma beckoning passersby to pause and find out what all the ‘fuss’ was about.

Older students offered Mall goers free pancakes, a conversation starter, carrying the stories of the many people and communities Project Compassion supports; a simple act of hospitality, advocating for a more just world.

This year, the theme for Project Compassion is “Unite Against Poverty”. And that’s exactly what schools and parishes in our Diocese and across the country are doing as they carry water, flip pancakes, watch videos and pray for those who live in vulnerable communities. Participating in Project Compassion activities stirs gratitude in us for the abundance in our lives and tunes our sense of responsibility to help others who live without the same privileges.

This year, Project Compassion focuses on four key stories:

Sisilia, a 13-year-old in Tanzania, whose education was disrupted by the need to walk long distances for water.

Monoranjon, a farmer in Bangladesh working hard to protect his crops from climate-related floods and storms by learning climate-resilient farming techniques and new ways to diversify his income.

Manaini, in Fiji, a mother striving to provide food for her family who, with the help of Caritas Australia’s partner FRIEND, is learning food processing and gardening skills, and creating new income opportunities to support her children’s education.

Ahmad, a Caritas Jerusalem employee and emergency response worker in Gaza, who has endured displacement and personal loss alongside the communities he serves.

Videos featuring these people can be accessed from the Caritas Australia website.

Your donation to Project Compassion can help support families like Manaini’s to start their own backyard garden, train people in financial literacy and provide solar floodlights to help keep families, especially those with children, safe and secure at night.  Or, your donation can help farmers like Monoranjon restore water sources and promote tree planting to improve irrigation, drinking water and biodiversity, or support peer-to-peer training in agriculture, aquaculture, handicrafts and small busines, for example.

If you would like to learn more about how you and your parish can support the projects of Project Compassion, download the ‘Parish Booklet’, which includes handy checklists, reflections, prayers and fundraising tips and, of course, a prayer. Even if you are unable to participate in Project Compassion activities this year, you can always pray.  A quiet, powerful work of compassion.