CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales

What Lit Your Flame?

Archbishop Oscar Romero by Equipo Maiz
Archbishop of San Salvador and human rights campaigner Oscar Romero (b.1917, murdered March 1980). During the 1980s, El Salvador was ravaged by civil war which in 1992 was ended with a United Nations-brokered peace agreement. [Equipo Maiz]

As we mark our 50th anniversary at CAFOD, it is a time to reflect on what we have achieved, and how we have fulfilled our mission, both as an organisation and as individuals. In that spirit of reflection, we are asking all staff, volunteers, supporters and other friends of CAFOD to look back over their lives and recall the moment when they were first drawn into the fight against poverty and injustice.

So please share with us your stories. Whatever age we are, whatever background we come from, and however different our stories are, we are united by our fire for justice. To tell us what lit your flame, please email: flame@cafod.org.uk or leave your own story on our blog or on our facebook page .

Pascale Palmer's story (CAFOD Media Team):

“In 1965 my family moved to Zambia to help set up a World Bank-funded school post independence. During their time as French teachers at Lundazi Secondary School my father made great friends with a priest from the Lumezi White Fathers Mission. Every spring Father Roy would hire a tractor and help the local smallholder farmers seed their fields, sometimes working for 24 hours at a stretch. His dedication to the local community, with hands-on hard work, and the school and hospital he helped run at the Mission, and his great good humour, made up tales I heard again and again throughout my childhood. It was Father Roy’s commitment that inspired my dad to convert to Catholicism, and it was the many stories of Father Roy that made me think that to help others in just one of the ways that he had done would be a good thing.”


the stories so far

What lit your flame: Helen's story

Helen Moseley (CAFOD Diocesan Team, Birmingham): “I was at university attending a talk by a man call

What lit your flame: Rob's story

Today we call it empowerment. Rob Rees (Pan-Africa Advocacy Team): “I first went to work in Africa a

What lit your flame: Harriet's story

It was the amazing work of Ruth and others that opened my eyes and inspired me to follow a career in

What lit your flame: your stories

“Throughout my childhood, my mother would tell me to be grateful for all the things I had that

50 years of CAFOD: What lit your flame?

During this anniversary year, CAFOD would like to hear from its volunteers and supporters who are wi

What lit your flame: Susy's story

Susy Brouard (CAFOD Theology Team): “As I studied languages at university, I spent my third ye

What lit your flame: Adam's story

In the quiet times INGOs are working in the background, bringing about the incremental changes that

What lit your flame: Sarah's story

It could so easily have been us Sarah E. Hagger-Holt (CAFOD Campaigns Team): “My mother’s fami

What lit your flame: Damian's story

Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student. While it should not matter, I would like to mention that

take action

Give

For every £1 given to our Give it up! Lent Appeal today, the Government will donate another £1 – doubling your gift and changing even more lives.

Let waters flow and wash away injustice

Pray

884 million people do not have access to clean, safe water. Pray with us this Lent that waters may flow and injustice may be washed away.

Act

Help us turn the tide on water poverty. Join our Thirst for change campaign and ensure world leaders hear our call: taps and toilets for all.

join our networks
Published on 06/01/2012, last updated on 17/01/2012

I would like to give:

£35 £45 £60
other amount

Please support our vital work around the world - your money really makes a difference

sign-up for e-news

All the latest news from CAFOD and new ways you can get involved. Sign up now

Privacy statement
just one world blog