Trόcaire appeals to people of Mayo to support annual Lenten campaign

Trócaire launched its annual Lenten campaign today, with an appeal to the people of Mayo for support.

This year’s Trócaire Box tells the story of one Malawian family who are struggling to survive after extreme storms and weather conditions.

CEO, Caoimhe de Barra, thanked the people of the county for their continuing generosity, saying they have been ‘unstinting in their support’ and explained the difference that support makes ‘cannot be underestimated’.

The world's most vulnerable continue to pay the price for the global climate crisis. 

Unchecked, climate change is set to push up to 132 million people into poverty over the next ten years.

The devastating impacts of climate change are no longer predictions, ‘they are reality’ said Trócaire.

2023 provided a stark picture of climate breakdown. From devastating wildfires in Greece, Hawaii and Canada, to a crippling food crisis in the Horn of Africa, extreme weather events are becoming more and more common.

The CEO said this Lenten campaign is focusing on ‘a shocking scandal’ in Malawi, where ‘climate change has become increasingly dangerous and unpredictable, causing devastating flooding and droughts in already-vulnerable communities’.

“Repeated cyclones and weather extremes have left nearly 2.3 million people with limited access to food and more than 3.8 million (20 percent of the population) facing critical food insecurity” she added.

Ms de Barra and Trócaire are ‘asking the people of Mayo to donate to help families in Malawi, and others like them across the world, to build a more secure future’.

Trόcaire has, and continues to, change the lives of millions of people around the world, and its annual Lenten campaign sees the ‘iconic Trócaire Box displayed in thousands of schools, churches and homes all over Mayo in the build-up to Easter’.

Malita with her 12-year-old twins, Patricia and Patrick

Malita’s story

Living in a small homestead in southern Malawi, Malita, mother of six children, and her 12-year-old twins Patricia and Patrick feature on the front of the 2024 Trócaire box. Their story is unfortunately one that’s typical in Malawi, as they struggle every day with the many problems that water, both too much and too little, causes the family. 

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Malita was already struggling to support her family before the burden of increased droughts and floods. 

Trócaire’s work in Malawi is focused on supporting communities, particularly women like Malita, to adapt their livelihoods to cope with the impact of climate change and ensuring families can continue to survive when faced with the extremes of too much water when storms and cyclones hit and too little water in times of drought. 

Working with partners throughout Malawi, Trócaire’s programmes support communities to access safe water through the construction of water supply schemes; to sustainably manage their natural resources through agroforestry, soil and water conservation; to increase their access to food through supporting training in improved climate resilient agricultural practises and facilitating access to seeds and planting materials; and to support women’s empowerment by providing training and support to female community leaders. 

Trócaire and partners also advocate to and coordinate with the Government to ensure that the work is contributing to national efforts to address the impacts of climate change. Trócaire’s emergency humanitarian response programmes also enable the team and partners to act quickly and effectively when devastating and record-breaking cyclones like Freddy in 2023 hit Malawi and put lives and livelihoods at risk.

Find out more about the Lenten appeal and how to donate on the Trócaire website.