Hello friends!
I’ve been meaning to say something more often, but between my job and the Charity, it’s hard to even get home before dinner time…But today, I’ll try to give you an update on what has been happening with
“People Helping People”. This year we have a few more families onour care.
Once again, impossible situations where in some cases, people are genuinely makingan effort, and in other cases, it is clear that we are dealing with people whose deep psychological difficulties make it extremely hard for them to manage even the most basic responsibilities, despite their best efforts. This reminds me of a time when I was asking for sponsors for a charity event, and the owner of a company told me that he didn’t give out money, but he had job positions to fill, so I could just send the people we help to him. I asked him then if I should send the schizophrenic guy who doesn’t even have state help for his medication, and for obvious reasons couldn’t hold a job for long, or maybe the 64-year-old widow who was fighting depression, had a stroke and the medical board refused to give her an early retirement. The man stared at me speechless. I thanked him for his time, and left.
It’s true we sometimes help people that are having a temporary setback that we can help get them back on the right track, but unfortunately, the cases that we “can’t get rid of”, are families with deeper issues than money, food or bills.
Some time ago, a friend of mine had some personal issues. They were not very serious issues but were enough for him to lose sleep, and feel profoundly disturbed. When we talked about it, he looked at me, and said “I can’t even imagine how people who live in poverty can survive mentally”. To me, the answer is obvious – they don’t.
That is why one of the most important aspects of the charity for Father Bernardino, wasn’t exactly the money part. Of course, money helps in dealing with the most urgent matters, but for him, the most important part was to make these families feel seen, supported, understood and not alone.
As Father Bernardino said, “we want to teach them how to fish, but sometimes, before we begin, we need to fish for them, cook the fish, clean the bones, and feed them. When the journey to healing starts, then we teach them how to fish.”
Either way, our Charity desperately needs conditions to be able to deal with whomever needs our help. And in that regard, all of you have been an amazing help in this heartfelt project. It would truly be impossible to continue the mission that Father Bernardino inspired us to pursue if it was not for you.
As you are aware, we have an amazing fund-raising team, and we have several events along the year to complement our funding, but one of the most important ways that we fund the charity, is the weekly English Mass donations. Of course, we prefer the monthly transfers that some of you do, but these weekly contributions make a huge difference…So, it was a bit unexpected when we lost that support
for two months due to the Chapel being temporarily closed.
So please, if you can, check our bank information at the bottom of this page, and give us a hand. We are still fishing, cooking the fish, cleaning the bones, and feeding these families.
And we are still helping them to learn how to fish for themselves.
Alexandre Silva
TRANSFER TO BANK ACCOUNT
IN MADEIRA:
ACCOUNT NAME:
Associacao Gente Ajudando Gente
BANK: Banco Santander Totta
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0003 4938 1759020
IBAN: PT50 0018 0003 49381759020 94
SWIFT: TOTAPTPL
NIB: 0018 0003 49381759020 94
Bank Address:
Caminho de Santa Quiteria 46A,
9020-119, Funchal
Madeira, Portugal.
>> DONATIONS FROM THE UK:
ACCOUNT NAME: Sinead Moynihan
BANK: Lloyds Bank
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 02461743
BRANCH: Univ. of Cambridge
SORT CODE: 30-13-55
IBAN: GB05 LOYD 3013 5502 4617 43
BIC: LOYDGB21035
The funds will then be transferred to Madeira.
Any questions or concerns about transferring to
this account, please contact Sinead Moynihan
at: sineadmoynihan7@icloud.com
– – Alexandre Silva (alex.lupus@gm
