SW News: Catholic Mission, the Australian Branch of the Pontifical Mission Society, has come out with its annual Christmas appeal to bring aid to suffering masses in third-world nations. This year, it focuses on providing essential healthcare to babies and children in Malawi in Africa. The impoverished nation is reeling from malaria and other treatable illnesses apart from severe malnutrition.
More than half of the country’s population is below the poverty line and don’t have access to healthcare, education, food, and clean water. Catholic Mission’s national director, Fr. Brian Lucas, said that this year’s Christmas appeal will help provide children with medical care. “Babies and children face the real danger of death from preventable illnesses such as malaria and malnutrition in communities like Lisanjala. There is still a great need to bring health and life for children this Christmas and to help provide medicine and care for those in need,” Fr. Lucas said.
In the rural areas in the country, local people are forced to lead a hand-to-mouth existence. Many of the families depend on subsistence farming to make ends meet. When they fall sick many of them have to travel on foot for several hours to reach a clinic. In such a scenario, it is the Catholic Church that provides a lifeline to people in the hinterlands when it comes to healthcare and education.