Bangladesh: Catholic Church, Caritas Bangladesh distribute clothes to poor
Caritas Bangladesh, the social action arm of the Catholic Church, distributed clothes to thousands of people who were suffering from the cold spell that hit the country recently.
The Caritas Dinajpur regional office reported that it was also able to distribute a total of 1,500 blankets among 1,081 poor people while the Dinajpur Catholic Diocese distributed another thousand blankets.
A total of 3,500 blankets have been distributed by Caritas in three regions in the Dinajpur, Rajshahi, and Sylhet areas of the country.
“During this cold weather, the poor people, especially the older ones, suffer much, and Caritas Bangladesh stands beside these people,” said Ronjon John Paul Rozario, regional director of Caritas Dinajpur.
He told Radio Veritas Asia that older people use blankets not only to cover their bodies but to keep their grandchildren from the cold.
“Thus they protect the young children and have a good relationship with them,” said the priest, adding that people it is a way of sharing good memories with the next generation.
“I shall give this blanket to my mother. She is very old and I cannot provide her with any comfort. With this blanket, she can sleep well now,” said Abu Bakker Siddique, a 16-year-old boy.
Abu Bakker works as a motorcycle mechanic and earns 25 takas a day.
During the month of January, the cold northern wind becomes active in various parts of the country, preventing people in rural areas to go to work.
The winter spell has also caused a surge in colds and other sickness.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.