Takes place on Friday 3 October 2025
In Southern Ethiopia, the climate crisis is threatening lives. Once, rains fell reliably, fields were green, and water was close by. Now, the seasons are unpredictable, and long droughts are forcing women like Waré to walk for hours each day — even while pregnant — just to find water for drinking, washing, and livestock. “It was very traumatising,” Waré says. “When I was pregnant, I had to go fetch water in the mountains. Sometimes I felt so weak I could fall down, so I worried about my child.”
Yet, Waré refused to give up. Guided by her own faith and uniting with her neighbours, she took action. With support from CAFOD and local water expert Abbiott, they built an underground water tank to collect and store every precious drop of rain. Now, over 300 families have safe, clean water just a few steps from their homes.
This is the Gospel in action: love made real through compassion, courage, and community. As Catholics, we are called to be stewards of creation and stand alongside our sisters and brothers affected by climate change. Your prayers and generosity make this transformation possible. But many more communities still walk miles for water.
Pope Leo urges us to recognise those experiencing poverty as “witnesses to steadfast hope, precisely because they embody it in the midst of uncertainty, poverty, instability and marginalisation.Can you help at this Family Fast Day? please give what you can so more families can access clean water, stay healthy, because a better world needs all of us.
Donate today at cafod.org.uk/envelope or call 0303 303 3030.
Angela Powell, CAFOD community participation co-ordinator Hallam
