Project Compassion

This Lent, we’re invited to Unite Against Poverty with Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion. This year is especially significant as we celebrate the Jubilee Year - a time of renewal and solidarity.

Project Compassion 2025 shares three stories from around the world. 

Toefuata'iga - (Toy-foo-ah-tah-ing-ah) is a 13-year-old primary school student from Samoa. Samoa may be a country surrounded by water, but access to clean drinking water is scarce in some areas, with many families facing extreme hardship as a result.

Toefuata’iga’s school community struggled without reliable access to clean water, which impacted students’ education and hygiene. Teachers often had to leave the school to fetch water from nearby homes, disrupting lessons and adding strain to the community. When the water ran out at the school. students were sent home which meant they missed out on valuable learning time.

Thanks to the support of Caritas Australia in partnership with Caritas Samoa, Toefuata’iga’s school now has a 10,000 L water tank through a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program. Teachers and students now have access to clean drinking water at their school and are able to focus on education.

“Now that we have the water tank, things are so much better, we can stay at school all day, and I get to spend more time learning and playing with my friends. I’m happy that we don’t have to go home early anymore.” – saidToefuata'iga.

This transformative story is just one example of how Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion creates waves of change around the world. You can support Project Compassion 2025 through the donation boxes sent home with your child last Wednesday and through supporting the fundraising efforts of our classes.