St. Thomas the Apostle parishioner’s work helps women and children in the most remote places (Women’s History Month)

For 15 years, Michele Gilfillan, VP of Institutional Donor Engagement and Advancement at Catholic Relief Services, has made sure that those who give to the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic Church are aligned with those women and children who receive the Church’s help. 

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) works in 122 countries with 1,735 local partners to help more than 255 million improve their lives. The agency partners with the local church and the government to create local-run, self-sustaining programs to aid some of the poorest communities in the world. During Lent, the agency runs its Rice Bowl fundraiser as one of the three tenets of the season — prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. 

As a leading international humanitarian agency since 1943, Catholic Relief Services goes “where we are called—to the most remote places, to achieve the greatest impact, alongside the world’s most vulnerable people,” according to its website.  

“Social justice is important to me and part of my faith,” Gilfillan said. “There are so many needs in the world, and I love working for an organization that puts faith into action.” 

In late February, Gilfillan, a St. Thomas the Apostle parishioner, was in Sierra Leone to witness firsthand the good work the Catholic Church and its partners are doing there related to nutrition, health care, the environment, and helping women and mothers.  

Sixty percent of the population lives below the national poverty line and in hard-to-reach rural areas. After the end of the civil war in 2002, Sierra Leone was hit by an Ebola virus outbreak from 2014 to 2016, which was followed by a devastating mudslide that killed over 1,000 people in 2017. For 60 years, Catholic Relief Services have aided the most vulnerable affected by disease, hunger, high infant mortality rate, and climate change in the West African country. 

“I was honored to witness how donor funding meets the needs of vulnerable communities and to see the work of my colleagues executing the programs,” Gilfillan said. 

“The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, and he exalts.” — Samuel 2:7 

Over 2.7 million people die from Malaria each year, with nine out of 10 being children under the age of 5. In Sierra Leone, where malaria is rampant, Catholic Relief Services partners with other international not-for-profits on a mosquito netting distribution program as well as a seasonal medication program for pregnant women and children under the age of 5. As CRS has done in many countries, the agency has also worked with the government to train Sierra Leone women to become community health workers so they can make home visits and lead community health workshops.  

“Women are local and are trusted resources to help with prenatal care and advise on early development milestones,” Gilfillan said. 

As formal financial institutions are not available to the world’s poorest people, who need access to financial services, Sierra Leone through CRS is piloting a Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) program. SILC allows community members to form groups, pool their savings, and make loans to each other.  

“It helps women to build up savings, protect their resources, invest in their families and their children’s education, and invest in their communities,” Gilfillan said.  

For years, the agency has provided in-school meals.  

“One of the bishops there recalled that he was part of the program as a child. He told us that meal was usually the only meal of the day,” Gilfillan said. 

One of the most recent projects was the launch of the Western Area Peninsula Water Fund in January, the result of a partnership between Catholic Relief Services and The Nature Conservancy in cooperation with various local and national partners. The $20 million initiative will ensure a healthy watershed for Greater Freetown and a reliable supply of clean water for all upstream and downstream users. The fund will ensure the water resources are protected and managed in a way that is good for the environment and the people who depend on them. 

“The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” — Luke 6:40 

CRS’ strategy “In their own hands” looks to the evolving needs and opportunities of the people they serve and their local institutions. CRS seeks to be a trusted, compassionate, and reliable partner to the communities they serve. Its commitments to delivering results are never made in isolation, according to its website. The organization also seeks to create programs to hand over to local leaders, said Gilfillan.  

When visiting Kenya, Gilfillan saw how CRS educates pregnant women and mothers on prenatal care and early childhood development, helps provide access to clean water and sanitation, and strengthens child protection and justice systems, Gilfillan said. 

Back-to-back Hurricanes Eta and Iota have made a vulnerable population even more so in El Salvador. When visiting here, Gilfillan saw how CRS and local partners work with families to improve farming systems. CRS also teaches peace and works for reconciliation in communities hurt by violence in this country, Gilfillan said.  

She has also traveled to Zambia, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso, where CRS works with the local governments to help communities. 

“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” — Proverbs 31:25 

CRS trains women with skills to better sustain their families while helping their communities.  

Evita Tiro Wada lives in Indonesia within the Ring of Fire, where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are common. Climate-related disasters such as cyclones also threaten the islands and are becoming more frequent and destructive. After meeting many challenges to her garden, which she grew for food and income, participated in a Catholic Relief Services’ program on sustainable gardening. She also joined a disaster preparedness group that created a system to warn people to evacuate. This group also identified evacuation routes, assembly points, and resources residents could use during a crisis. 

In El Salvador, Sandra Amaya’s husband, a farmer, has faced long droughts and unpredictable rains that have reduced his harvests and income for the family. When Sandra heard about CRS’ chicken farming project, she enrolled in the training and learned how to prepare food for chickens, build a safe coup for housing them, and vaccinate and take care of them if they get sick.  

In Uganda, Florence learned new farming methods through CRS training so she and her husband could provide food for their family. She is now training her neighbors to grow more successful crops to feed their families.  

‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.’ — Proverbs 31:8-9 

Gilfillan suggests three ways to help: First, pray for those displaced by conflict or climate change; second, aid the ongoing advocacy work done in the U.S. through local chapters for adults and high school students; and, lastly, donate to CRS. 

The Church is currently holding its annual Lenten program, CRS Rice Bowl, with the money going toward hunger and poverty alleviation programs in countries where CRS operates. However, 25% of those funds stay in the diocese where they are collected. CRS Rice Bowl grants are given to local organizations that prioritize ending hunger and poverty in their communities. 

“The practices of Lent – prayer, fasting, almsgiving – strengthen our love and connection with God, and CRS Rice Bowl allows us to do the same with our global family,” said Beth Martin, CRS director of Formation and Mobilization. 

To donate to CRS’ Rice Bowl or to purchase chickens, a goat, or farming training for a family click here.