Caritas Taiwan – the Commission for Social Development – was founded in 1969 and is mandated by the Chinese Regional Bishops Conference to help people at the national level and abroad. Taiwan has a dynamic economy, from low-technology goods to higher–value manufacturing and exports, mainly in electronics and computers. Caritas Taiwan works with people living in challenging conditions, who do not feel the benefit of this prosperity.
Caritas Taiwan emergency relief and rehabilitation services provides help to those living in areas that are hit by natural calamities. The agency collaborates with local parishes in China to provide supplies in the form of food, clothing and medicine to victims of the massive earthquake in China and provided rehabilitation services to the areas affected by Typhoon Morakot in 2009.
Caritas Taiwan provides assistance to the local people in the different rural areas in China to help them develop their poor communities. The projects include construction of roads, school buildings and libraries, water system for irrigation and organising public health education seminars. Summer camps are also organised for children living with HIV/AIDS and for those children whose parents migrated in bigger cities to find better sources of living.
Caritas Taiwan special concern for the youth provides services to reach the poorest children to bring them the opportunity of education by subsidizing the tuition fees of more than 1,000 school children whose families can barely afford to pay. The subsidy also includes the salaries of school teachers to meet the needs of the schools and to educate the children.
Caritas Twain also renders services to the Overseas Contract Workers and other nationals in Taiwan through its migrant desk. The programme for the migrants are as follows: information and education in different areas of Taipei diocese, empowerment, repatriation assistance, case management counseling, visits to the detention centre, referrals, lobbying and advocacy for the cause of the migrant workers especially for the revision of the Household Service Act for the caregivers/domestic workers.
Caritas Twain main office in Taipei City employs 11 staff to carry out their social services and activities.
Caritas Taiwan works in partnership with the world-wide network of Caritas Internationalis, such as Caritas Mongolia, Caritas Korea, and a project involving Caritas Hong Kong and Caritas Macau to organise spiritual exercises for those working in social services.
Credited: caritas.org