Media CenterCRS Releases July and August's Photo of the Month

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT
Susan Walters
Catholic Relief Services
410-955-7103
[email protected]

En español

News Photography and Captions for Use by Catholic Media

BALITMORE, MD, July 14, 2016 – This spring, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) created a special photo collection for Catholic media so that editors can use the monthly distribution of high-resolution photos for print and web publications as well as social media. The date of distribution will be the first Tuesday of every month.  The next “CRS photo of the month” will be distributed on Tuesday, September 6, 2016.

Catholic Relief Services is an international humanitarian organization that seeks to end poverty, hunger and disease. We work more than 100 countries and reach more than 100 million people. Our mission is grounded in Catholic values, which call on us to foster compassion and dignity among the world’s most marginalized people.

The work of Catholic Relief Services is documented in a collection of over 124,000 photographs showing the compassion and expertise that CRS brings to people in need around the world.

July 2016

Photo by Philip Laubner/CRS

Making Toys, Improving Lives

Four-year-old Saumu doesn’t play much at home. Her parents are too busy working. So she loves when her sister Rehema, center, takes her to their local childhood development center in Tanga, Tanzania.

There, Saumu plays with other children, sharing homemade toys designed to stimulate minds and promote learning. A third of young children don’t develop to their full potential. Toys can help, but for parents who struggle to feed and clothe their families, toys may not be seen as a priority.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) trains staff at centers like these to hold workshops for parents explaining the importance of play and teaching them how to create safe, age-appropriate toys using ordinary household items like socks, boxes or plastic bottles. While the parents learn, their children do too, playing with others.

The program reaches poor families in Tanzania, Kenya and Malawi. Often in these communities, children also struggle with serious health concerns, so the centers offer medical care and nutrition services.

Saumu, who was born with HIV, is currently recovering from malaria. When she visits her neighborhood center, she visits her doctor. Some days can be hard for Saumu. But her face brightens as she sings along with her friends.

See more photos of Saumu and other children in Tanzania here: Trash to Treasured—Creating Toys to Grow Healthy Kids I CRS.

August 2016

Photo by Philip Laubner/CRS

Reaching the Hidden Needs of Families in Kenya

For many children with disabilities in the slums of Nairobi, playgrounds like this are off limits. Social stigmas dictate that people with disabilities are cursed, products of witchcraft, and often they are ostracized. Most aren’t even issued birth certificates—and without their existence acknowledged, they must live like ghosts, excluded from school and other social services.

But at early childhood development centers like this one, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is helping families emerge from the shadows. Here, for the first time, hurdle races and other activities allow children a chance not only to stretch their minds and bodies, but to socialize.

Children play together as a group—some with disabilities and some without—so that no one is overlooked and everyone learns to respect one another. CRS also teaches center staff and volunteers how to care for children with disabilities and provides “positive parenting” training to families. Support groups are organized for mothers, who are often left alone to care for their children.

The program was developed by CRS, Special Olympics and Adventist Center for Care. It arose when CRS staff in East Africa discovered that too many vulnerable children weren’t receiving the attention needed. Now the program also helps identify children with disabilities and educates parents about the resources available to them.

Learn more about children with disabilities in Kenya here: Meet Kenya’s Special, Invisible Children I CRS.  

To read this release in Spanish, visit here.

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Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, please visit crs.org or crsespanol.org and follow CRS on social media: Facebook, @CatholicRelief, @CRSnews, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.