Catholic Identity and Mission 

Third  Sunday of Lent

                                                                    12th March                                       

Priscilla's Story

Priscilla lives with her husband Charles and two of their grandchildren, Obry (8) and Jayden (7) in the Hwange region, in northwest Zimbabwe.  

In Hwange, the impacts of climate change such as unpredictable rainfall, drought, poor quality soils and high temperatures have made it much harder to grow enough food to eat. With almost half of the population living in extreme poverty, on less than $2.15/day1, buying food is not an option, leaving many families at risk of extreme hunger.  

During times of intense drought and food shortages, Priscilla had to commute to the town centre and wait in long queues to collect food.  “It was stressful because we didn't know what to give our children because there was nothing to give them,” Priscilla said.  

Lack of food was also having an impact on children attending school. Women and girls in particular were spending most of their time going out to look for food to feed their families.  

“Life was very difficult,” explained Priscilla. “The challenges we faced included walking long distances to fetch water from the borehole so that we can water our gardens, bathe, wash our clothes and utensils. The manual pumping of the borehole was cumbersome for some of us who have grown old.” 

In 2019, Priscilla joined the Zimbabwe Integrated Community Development Program, run by Caritas Australia’s partner organisation, Caritas Hwange. Through the program, Priscilla and her community learnt conservation farming. This involves not disturbing the soil too much, using lots of soil cover (mulch) to help retain water and learning about growing a variety of drought-resistant crops which require less water to grow.  

Priscilla was able to produce a bumper harvest in her first year of practising conservation farming. She has grown millet, sorghum, and maize. And, with her new-found knowledge, Priscilla has helped train and support other farmers in her community to learn conservation farming techniques to produce better yields too. 

Together, we can help vulnerable communities face their challenges today and build a better tomorrow For All Future Generations.  

You can donate through Project Compassion donation boxes and envelopes available from your parish, by visiting caritas.org.au/project-compassion, or contributing to the Project Compassion Boxes provided last week.