2016 marks the tenth anniversary of the Candlelight Funds which, while bittersweet, seems a timely moment to reflect on the life-changing impact of these funds. Together you have raised more than £1 million which has helped transform the lives of people and communities living in poverty, helping them build a brighter future. Thank you so much.

CANDLELIGHTNEWS 10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE – 2016/17CANDLELIGHTNEWS 10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE – 2016/17

cafod.org.uk/candlelightCAFOD, Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB

Tel: 020 7095 5348 Fax: 020 7274 9630 Email: candlelight@cafod.org.uk

10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE– 2016/17

FOR THE FAMILIES AND FRIENDS OF THOSE COMMEMORATED BY CANDLELIGHT FUNDS

Suku Maya Tamang received lifesaving help and support after the Nepal earthquakes. Read more inside about how you’re helping people in Nepal look to the future with hope.

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Photos: Shea Bradley/CAFOD, CPT, Elizabeth Funnell/CAFOD, Bikash Khadgi/CAFOD, Kitovu Mobile AIDS Organisation.

The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales and part of Caritas International.

Charity no 1160384 and a company limited by guarantee no 09387398. Printed on paper from well-managed forests.

Thank you for your friendship and support in your loved one’s memory. We hope you

have found some comfort in reading about the different funds and some of the work they make possible. Each Candlelight Fund has a remarkable impact on those living in poverty.

We wanted to make this Candlelight News a real celebration and reflection of how your tributes to someone special help transform the lives of others and will continue to do so. Each fund has its own story and is inspirational in its own way.

We’d love to hear your message of hope and reasons for remembering your loved one through a Candlelight Fund. If you’d like to share a few words or just want to talk about your special someone, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

With love and prayers.

Rachel and Susanna

Rachel Simkin and Susanna Webb

Candlelight Funds team

Prayer

God of our longing

hear our prayers,

protect our dreams,

and listen to our silent hopes.

Deal gently with our pain,

speak to our sadness

and remove the barriers

that imprison our spirit.

Shed your light

where shadows are cast,

that we may feel your warmth

and know your presence.

Give us courage

to hold fast to our vision

that we may build our world

and create our future.

Amen

Annabel Shilson-Thomas/CAFOD

Working and laughing together in LebanonLebanon, population four million, has already welcomed an estimated 1.5 million refugees. The ongoing conflict means there is little prospect of them being able to return home soon. A real concern is the strain on services and lack of opportunities for people to earn a living.

We’re working with Mada Association in the northern region of Akkar, Lebanon, close to the border with Syria, to support both Syrian and Lebanese women as they find ways to provide for their families.

In Fneideq village, women have received training to produce jams, pickles and rose blossom water. Our support is strengthening the cooperative so it can operate independently and generate enough income for the women to provide for their families.

There’s a lot of laughter and the women enjoy working together. Fadwa, the leader of the women’s group, tells us “There are no differences between the Syrians and the Lebanese. Here they are all women together.”

The women are hugely thankful for this opportunity to work and earn a living: Ghoussoun tells us, “It would be disastrous for me if it closed.”

Our daughter, Stephanie, was 22 when she died in Lima. She was spending her gap year working and travelling in South America.

Stephanie had a wide variety of interests; she was creative, enjoyed art, craft, music and cooking. She had an active faith; was involved with the school chaplaincy and a founding member of her church youth group. She helped on the Hallam Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes twice.

An ardent supporter of Fairtrade and justice, Stephanie participated in Justice and Peace marches, supported the Make Poverty History Campaign and firmly believed in enabling people to make their own way out of poverty. She also helped promote CAFOD at school with fellow sixth-formers.

Stephanie travelled to the Galapagos Islands, where she worked on a conservation project. Her love of ecology and conservation developed further at university, where she obtained a 1st class honours degree in biology and had just been awarded a

funded place at Edinburgh for a master’s degree.

Lively, beautiful and friendly, Stephanie’s friends, family and colleagues spoke of her kindness and generosity of spirit. Her large smile gave joy and comfort to so many. She was a much-valued, caring and loyal friend, willing to listen, discrete and supportive.

In celebrating Stephanie’s short but vibrant life, we wanted to maintain those passions she held. By setting up a Candlelight Fund, her work continues. CAFOD’s ethos of helping those less fortunate to help

themselves and retain their dignity as well as the importance it places on caring for the environment resonated with Stephanie.

This year would have been Stephanie’s 31st birthday, so we decided to hold an afternoon tea in her memory, which she would have loved. Her friends, our friends and many people from our church came, raising an amazing £920 for her Candlelight Fund.

We still miss Stephanie dreadfully and always will. But it helps us, in our grief, to know that others will benefit because of her.

Today, 3.2 million children around the world are living with HIV. Ninety-one per cent live in Sub-Saharan

Africa. Our partner, Kitovu Mobile AIDS Organisation in Uganda, runs a peer support group for children living with, or affected by, HIV.

The young people in the group share experiences, support each other, receive counselling and learn skills to make things they can sell. They lead activities to help children understand HIV care and prevention and their rights.

Betty is 11 and has lived with her grandmother since her parents

died. The group helped Betty cope with the changes in her life; “they like me and do not stigmatise me.”

Groups like these help empower young people to make informed choices and create a brighter future.

“So far, we’ve raised £1,600 so theday was a great success. Myfavourite moment was when Iphoned my niece, Annabelle, to tellher we were at the top. She asked:‘Because you are so high up, are youwaving to Mark?’ In our own way,I think we were.”

Planning to fundraise for yourCandlelight Fund? We can help withtips, extra materials and support.

Gone but neverforgotten

his year, we said goodbye to twosupporters who had set up

Candlelight Funds - Frances Swannand Pauline Mackey. We are blessedto have called them our friends.Please remember Frances, Paulineand their families in your prayers.

Prayer

Christ our light,Your love burns in our heartsAnd builds in us a thirst for justice.

Jesus, light of the world,You taught us how to reach out toothers,

Open our earsTo the stories that beg to be heard.

You who are light and warmth,Banish the darknessAnd bring us hope.

Jesus, light of life,Enfold us all with your loveAnd incline our hearts

To the leadingOf your healing spirit.

Amen

Written by Matthew Dear and Susy Brouard

Family with amountain to climb

ifteen relatives of Mark Gilbertspent August bank holiday

conquering Snowdon to raise moneyfor his Candlelight Fund - set upfollowing his death from musculardystrophy. Mark’s cousin, StephanieSmith, reports back.

“Some of us really struggled. Westopped often to catch our breathand find inner strength. But all thetime we kept in mind how braveMark had been. Knowing whatchallenges he’d faced helped uskeep going.

“When we saw the summit we werealmost in tears. I handed out medalsI had bought for everyone and,after a short break, we began thedescent. That evening, we shareda curry and toasted our greatachievement.

“During the journey home, I couldn’thelp but think of Mark’s wonderfullife; and of his parents, Fran and Jim,and his sister, Katy. Because ofMark’s disability, they climbed amountain of their own every daywith grace, love and an unswervingdetermination, even when the pathwas tough.

Dates foryour diaryMemorial Masses: Each November,some of our diocesan officesarrange local remembrance servicesto give thanks for those who were apart of our work but are no longerwith us.

All those commemorated by aCandlelight Fund are included in aBook of Remembrance, blessed bythe celebrant at each service.

For more information, or to see ifthere is a mass near you, please callSusanna on 020 7095 5348, or emailcandlelight@cafod.org.uk

Pope Paul VI Memorial Lecture:Baroness Shirley Williams of Crosbytackles capitalism, Catholicism andcommunity in our globalised world.

Nov 27, Emmanuel Centre, London

Tickets: £6 (lecture only) or £12(lecture and reception).

The Wave: In December, worldleaders meet in Copenhagen forhistoric climate change talks. Join usto give them a send-off they can’tignore: a human wave flowingthrough London for Climate Justice.

Dec 5, Westminster, Londoncafod.org.uk/copenhagen

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For more information on anything in thenewsletter, please call me on 020 7095 5348or email candlelight@cafod.org.ukGod bless,Susanna, Candlelight Funds team

CAFOD is the official overseas development and relief agency of the Catholic Churchin England and Wales and a member of Caritas International. Registered charity no. 285776

We hope you enjoyed readingabout those whose lives havebeen changed by our CandlelightFunds scheme – both overseasand closer to home.

Each fund has its own story and isinspirational in its own way. We would love tohear your experiences and fundraising ideas,and see your photos. Thank you for makingCandlelight Funds so special.

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Printed on 100% recycled paper.

By creating a CAFOD Candlelight Fund in memory of someone special, you can celebrate theirlife and touch thousands more through the support you give to our work overseas

Photos by Bridget Burrows, Marcella Haddad, Simon Rawles, Islamic Relief, Annie Bungeroth

cafod.org.uk/candlelight

Continuing Stephanie’s legacy by Jenny and Graham Allen

Creating a brighter future through peer support groups

Stephanie while travelling, and friends and family celebrating her birthday with a party in her memory

I am in school and I don’t look any different from others

Your tributes saving thousands of lives

CANDLELIGHTNEWS 10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE – 2016/17 CANDLELIGHTNEWS 10TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE – 2016/17

he Nepal earthquakes in April and May 2015 caused major

damage and had a catastrophic impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, a quarter of whom already lived in extreme poverty. More than half a million people lost their homes, possessions and their means of making a living.

Along with Caritas partners, we responded immediately to the crisis - travelling to provide aid to some of the most remote and marginalised communities. Now we are continuing to stand alongside families and communities as they rebuild.

Finding precious treasures

When the first earthquake struck, Rama and her husband lost their entire supply of grains and oil. Four goats and a pregnant cow were also killed during the quake. The family were desperate to recover at least some of their possessions.

After three days of digging through rubble, they uncovered their prized calf Gajali and with him came a little hope.

Since then, the cow has grown to be strong and healthy, and Rama has received seeds from our partners so she can grow enough food to feed her family and begin to restock her grain store.

Hope for the future

Sharada’s family had lived in Chandani Mandan for 30 generations. When the family’s house was destroyed by the earthquake, Sharada was pregnant. “I was afraid for my unborn son,” she tells us.

With Caritas Nepal, we provided the family with food, crucial household items such as buckets, water purifier, soap and a temporary shelter.

Ten days after the earthquake, Sushant was safely born. Sharada

hopes that he will grow strong, enjoy school and study hard to become a doctor or an engineer. Sushant has been a symbol of hope and is treasured by all his large extended family.

Sharada is grateful for the money given by CAFOD supporters in England and Wales. “Thank you for your support,” she tells us. “We have shelters now, all from you.”

While the recovery process is long, Father Pius Perumana from Caritas Nepal tells us that “the Nepali people are very resilient, even though they were going through tremendous suffering. They said ‘OK, this has happened, but God has saved us. Let us thank the Lord and move ahead.’ That spirit brings a lot of hope.”

Hope amid the rubbleFrancis’ lifetime love of flying by Anne and Michael Simmonds

“My dream to own a piece of my own land came true”

Sharada aged 25 and her son Sushant, born days after the earthquake

Father Pius Perumana, Caritas Nepal

Let us thank the Lord and move ahead

Remembering Norman David Smith, 1923-2008I met my late husband when we were both post-war students at University College London. David was a natural linguist. His degree was in German and Dutch, but he was also fluent in French.

David began his career as a teacher, but thanks to an introduction from an old friend, he changed to translating theology for a Catholic publishers.

David translated works of theology from German, French and Dutch, and became very enthusiastic about the works he felt privileged to read. We both took a great interest in the theology of liberation, and set up a Third World group in our local parish. Through the Catholic Institute for International Relations, we connected with a parish in Peru.

David loved hill walking and we spent many a holiday in the Pennines, or in mountain ranges in France and Germany. A gifted amateur actor and a skilled musician, David also performed in local concerts.

On retirement, we moved to Skipton, where we spent fourteen happy years walking in the Dales, before moving to East Anglia to be closer to our family, all of whom had settled in the south.

Sadly, the last two years of David’s life were shadowed by dementia. A short illness then took him at the age of 85 – a merciful release for both of us. For all his gifts, he was a modest man and very kind. He had a lovely innocence and a quirky sense of humour. I am grateful for the 68 years we spent together and for our children and grandchildren.

Joan Smith

Guided by his faith and compassion, my father dearly wished to see social fairness and justice, and deplored the inequalities of wealth and resource allocation. His Candlelight Fund allows me to support CAFOD’s essential work for justice in his memory.Peter, David’s son

Maria do Carmo Lacerda (pictured right) from the community of João Canuto, Pará, northern Brazil, has lived for ten years under the constant threat of eviction. Throughout this time, our Church partner, the Pastoral Land Commission in Xinguara (CPT), has provided legal support and training on how to access her rights and work the land.

Maria shares, “I was scared that I would have nothing to eat when our struggle for our land began. But CPT never abandoned us. They led many meetings to strengthen our community’s organisation.”

With training from CPT, Maria’s community began diversifying their crops and the women learnt more about their basic human rights.

Maria explains that CPT’s lawyer, Father Henri “defended us in court and managed to prove that part of the farm was public land.” In 2015 legal land tenure was finally granted to the 150 families living in João Canuto. She says: “My dream to own a plot of my own land, after so many years, came true. Without CPT’s support we would never have got here.”

Domingos Alves da Silva, from the community of Perpetuo Socorro, Pará, was also supported by CPT: “In our effort to own our land I have been threatened, but we still

continue our struggle. Through CPT we gained land tenure of 18 plots of land. We sell pumpkin and cassava to the National Food Supply Company. CPT is our strong right arm and has always helped us here, both legally and personally.”

Despite an incredibly violent context, biased judges, and the neglect of land reform by the Brazilian government, in the last four years, CPT has helped 962 families gain legal land tenure, made possible thanks to your support. This represents security, a safe place to call home, a means to feed their families and to generate an income – giving them the freedom to plan for their future.

Francis Simmonds was only 2 when he came running in from the garden saying, “Mummy! Mummy! There’s an airport in the sky!” I stepped outside and looked up and there was an airship right above our heads and very low!

From then on, Francis wanted to fly. After school, he did various jobs to earn money for flying lessons and upon becoming a pilot, he reflected, “It’s wonderful being paid for doing what you love.”

Growing up, Francis was always happy to share and supported his five siblings with anything he could. Many of his fellow pilots have recounted how he helped them with problems and that he was a cheerful person to work with. When flying somewhere new he would always suggest how to fill the time until they had to fly the owner back.

In July 2015, Francis had eight

hours to fill in Perugia, Italy, so he went to Assisi. We got a phone call from Francis asking what we’d like a picture of. I replied, “The Basilica of

St Francis!” and within an hour we had a beautiful photo by email. Francis had visited Assisi with his Dad when he was ten.

Francis died in an accident while flying to Scotland later that year, on 3 October, coincidentally the same day St Francis died in 1226. It has never been fully explained.

He leaves behind his wife, Laura, and eight-year-old son, Joseph, who like his Dad is crazy about aircraft. Please remember us all in your prayers.

As Francis was always helping other people, ourselves included, we thought it appropriate to set up a Candlelight Fund in his memory, to continue his example of helping others in need.

Your tributes saving thousands of lives Your tributes saving thousands of lives

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