This coming Sunday, we enter the second week of Lent. The Gospel passage we will hear at Mass tells the story of Jesus taking three of his friends up on a mountain to pray. His friends saw Jesus as the Messiah. God spoke to them and told them that Jesus was His Son, the Chosen One. The disciples were afraid and didn’t tell anyone what they had seen. Sometimes, when our faith is tested, we are like Jesus’ friends on the mountain. It’s not always easy to share our faith in social circles and we become scared at what people’s reactions might be.

Project Compassion calls us to reach out to others less fortunate and be the hands, hearts, eyes and voices of God in our world as we do good works. Our actions speak louder than our words, and through us, God is made real to those who are suffering.

Caritas Australia, through Project Compassion, calls us to act for justice. This week, we hear the story of Tati from Indonesia. This is her story.

Tati is a Dayak woman, living in a remote forest of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, with her husband and two of her three children.  Her two youngest children go to school nearby while her 19 year old son lives in a rented room close his school 60 kilometres away. The family pays for his living-away-from-home expenses, in addition to providing for school expenses. 

Tati’s Dayak culture is deeply linked to the rainforest and her family has relied on it for sustenance for generations. Over the last few years, communities which depend on the native forests have seen them shrink, along with vital habitats for endangered orangutans, rhinos and tigers.

Caritas Australia, with its partners Caritas Indonesia – KARINA and the Diocesan Caritas are working with local communities to develop alternative sustainable livelihoods, by training them in ecotourism activities.

Before Tati joined the Caritas program, she and her husband mainly earned their income from rubber tapping and raising chickens. Now, Tati has increased her family income ten times over by cooking for tourists and making souvenirs. Her community is also developing a strong financial base so that it can manage its own land. 

Around 600 people have directly benefitted from the program so far – with hopes it can be expanded to other districts. 

“I hope to continue living with fresh air, clear water, protected forest, and to be able to pay for my children’s education and that my grandchildren can still enjoy the forest.”

I encourage you to access stories like Tati’s and other information at www.lent.caritas.org.au. 

Have a blessed week.