Visiting a water project in a nearby community to learn more about the process.

by Carrie Flemming, Donor Relations Coordinator

In Spring 2020 we announced that water was flowing to homes in the communities of Las Lomas, Las Minas and Los Alas, El Salvador, as a result of our first water project in partnership with SHARE El Salvador. You can find more information about this project, and our celebration video, here.

One year later, we are pleased to report that our second El Salvador project is now underway. Also a partnership with SHARE El Salvador and patterned after the first project, this endeavour will bring clean, secure water to five communities, serving 123 families or 560 people.

Using the successful example of the original project as their guide, the communities of Cumbres del Gramal, San Antonio, El Giron, La Cruz and Centro La Palma are creating their water committees, organizing work teams, and signing agreements with the required local government agencies. The hope is that drilling for the new well will start in the coming months, setting the rest of the physical construction in motion.

Meanwhile, the large educational component of this project is already well underway. Workshops focusing on sanitation, recycling, responsible water usage, creation of home gardens, as well as nutrition and hygiene are being organized and held. Local women have already taken part in workshops to learn about healthy edible plants, and those used for medicine. They have also received seeds and plants to start their own home gardens. Others had been to visit completed water projects to learn more about them, including how to care for the pumps, and how the systems are installed in homes.

We are excited to share further updates on this project as it progresses.

We are committed to water projects and other initiatives to support climate change. Please visit our website to learn more and how you can support these efforts.

More Charity Alive – April 2021

Contemplating Our Chapter Statement

This month's theme encourages us to take a deeper look at our Chapter Statement and who inspires us.

From Violent to Violet – a Way to Protest

Sister Cathy sews squares for the Violet Protest -- a project that aims to let American congressmen and congresswomen know that so many people support the core values of compassion, compromise, and country over corporate influence.

Book Review: A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind by Harriet A. Washington

In her 2019 book A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind, medical ethicist and writer Harriet A. Washington sheds light on the higher rates of environmental poisoning in communities of colour in the United States that have led to a decrease in IQ and an increase of health concerns, behavioural issues, and even crime.

Reflections of Mary Catherine Ceriani

Excerpt from the memorial reading presented at the funeral recently of a dear friend of the Sisters of Charity, Mary Ceriani

Spring brings hope of water flowing to more families in El Salvador

One year later, we are pleased to report that our second El Salvador project is now underway.

From the Archives

Inspiring Sister -- Sister Mary Emmanuel Sullivan, whose decades of work have laid a valuable foundation for Sisters of Charity – Halifax Congregational Archives.

Charity Alive – February 2021

Reflections on our Chapter Statement

Sisters Anne Harvey, Mary Beth Moore, Judith Park and Margaret Coppenrath reflect on the Chapter Statement that shapes the vision of our Congregation for the next six years.

A Post-Pandemic Church: Prophetic Possibilities

The 2020 Chapter call to “…embrace our own vulnerability, trust the presence of the Spirit …and commit ourselves to …care for one another…” had special meaning for me because it came in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as I was completing my third book on healing the Church from the wounds of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.