Letter from Stella in Kenya

Wonderful acts by a CAFOD project:

CAFOD blog

Stella took part in our first Hands On project in Kitui, Kenya. Over two years, hundreds of people in Kitui were supported by more than 1,700 CAFOD supporters to rebuild their community dam and bring water back to the area. Having water nearby means families can irrigate their crops and don‘t have to spend hours walking to and from the river each day.

Thanks to your generous donations, Stella is able to irrigate her farm and grow food for her family.

Dear friends,

I am very grateful to you for giving donations and enabling us to carry out this project.

The project has meant I am able to get a job and manage a small income. With my income I am able to buy seeds for my farm and cement so I can build a strong house. Before there was such a challenge with food that I had to…

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7 Quick Takes: Exam Confidence

7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted by This Ain't the Lyceum. ~1~ Work at things until they’re rote. If revising a certain topic bores you, you're probably at the stage where you understand it. ~2~ Use acronyms, aphorisms, ascriptions. Start associating the names you probably won't remember by themselves with phrases that you'll be able …

Speaking at Mass: telling real stories of real people

CAFOD blog

A CAFOD young leader practices the Lent Fast Day talk

Each Fast Day, hundreds of CAFOD volunteers arrange to speak at Masses about how CAFOD is making a difference overseas. Jed Murphy, a volunteer from the Southwark diocese, is one of these volunteers.  He shares with us how he started volunteering and his top tips for a successful Fast Day talk.

Just over seven years ago I had one of those life-changing moments. I had a day’s annual leave and was lazing on my couch at home. Around me was every conceivable gadget you could think of:  large TV, games console, several tablets & smartphones.  And I thought to myself:  I have all this and yet so many people around the world have nothing.   I could not help but think it wasn’t right.

I felt that something had to change. I had to try and do something to make a difference.

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#IWSG : How Do You Stay Nimble? #writing

How Can the Catholic Church Offer Pastoral Help?

With World Mental Health Day yesterday, I wanted to share this appropriate post from the Catholic blog Jericho Tree, about dignity and how Catholics can help those with mental health issues. (Though, I seem unable to reblog this post, but I still want to share.) A particularly striking thought: "I think it’s due to this …

How Not to Write a Second Draft (by someone who’s just finished one)

So, today I finished the second draft of the Steampunk novel I wrote last July, Horology, and, boy, was it a roller-coaster month of reading through and tweaking. I already knew I was aiming to add 7-thousand words, which was surprisingly easy, judging by the numbers of additions I made. However, my story is far …

Hello, Titles? [Help!]

For some reason, I've lost the titles of a couple of my posts (specifically, the sticky once called 'Favour the Villain' and the TCWT chain post 'Research Fascination') when I made the former sticky and took the sticky off the latter. I've also lost the tags that go with said posts. Oddly enough, this has never happened …