“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King Jr

Searching for an answer to the question raised by Martin Luther King Jr, Caritas Samaritans began their journey of transforming lives through their deeds. Volunteers have been one of the strongest pillars of Caritas India since its inception. It is through the timely support of volunteers, Caritas as an organisation has been able to continue its journey of reaching the unreached for the past 58 years. Today as Caritas India is a proud holder of over 25000 volunteers. Volunteers at Caritas India are called Caritas Samaritans and as an organisation each of the Caritas Samaritan is at the heart of the organisation.

Volunteerism is not just an act of charity but a way of living and spreading this network is important to make volunteering a household term. To build a strong volunteer network, recognising the efforts of volunteers and thanking them plays a pivotal role. To mark the recognition of these volunteers on the support that they have given in building communities in the new normal, Caritas India awards its volunteers during the annual event for volunteers “VOLUNESIA” – is that moment that moment when you forget you’re volunteering to help change lives, because it’s changing yours. As the name rightly says each of the awardee selected have experienced “Volunesia” moment in their life, which resulted in the great service they rendered throughout the year.  

Volunesia 2020 received nominations from across the country for categories namely Humanitarian Aid Disaster Risk Reduction (HADRR) – Ambassador of Resilience; Climate Adaptive Agriculture and Food Security – Life Jacket Awards; Health & Nutrition – Poshan Award; Migration & Anti Human Trafficking – Hope Award; Child Rights – Bal Shurakshak Award, Environment – Stewardship Awards, Women Empowerment – Chain Breakers; 2020 Special – Caritas COVID Warrior Award. Based on the nominations received the jury selected the below list of awardees:

North Zone

1. HADRR – Mr Abdul, Saharanpur, UP,
2. CAAFS – Mr Nandlal Mahji, Sheikhpur, Bihar
3. Health & Nutrition – Ms. Pooja Sen, Ajmer, Rajasthan,
4. Child Rights – Ms. Manisha, Bahraich, UP ,
5. Environment – Puja Kumari, Patna, Bihar
6. Women Empowerment – Poonam, Haridwar, Uttarakhand,
7. Caritas COVID Samaritan – Dinesh Gill, Jhansi UP

East Zone

1. Women Empowerment – Smt. Santhosh Kare, Raipur, Chhattisgarh
2. Caritas COVID Samaritan – Mr. Somarsai, Ambikapur Chhattisgarh

West Zone

1. HADRR – Ms. Leela william Pereira,Vasai, Maharashtra
2. Caritas COVID Samaritan – Mr. Jerry James, Khadki Maharashtra

South Zone

1. Health & Nutrition – Ms. Victoria Elizabeth, Hyderbad- Andhra Telengana
2. Anti-Human Trafficking & Migration – Mr. Aneesh M, Kerala, Punnalur
3. Child Rights – Ms. Shydhabeegom S, Kerala, Punnalur
4. Women Empowerment – Ms. Jaya Davis, Kerala Ernakulam
5. Caritas COVID Samaritan – Mr. Emmanuel M J, Chertala Kerala & Ms. Divya Praneetha, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

North East Zone

1. Climate Adaptive Agriculture and Food Security – Mr. Biju, Assam
2. Environment – Ms. Patiently Sumer, Meghalaya
3. Caritas COVID Samaritan – Mr. Johny Syntem, Samatan Meghalaya

Along with the array of awardees among Caritas Samaritans, special volunteer recognition was also given to Ms Manisha, for her act of volunteering which she renders by being a mother for 10 abandoned children. She herself facing the struggles of being a transgender, took up this mission at very young age and has been an inspiration for all volunteers. Her story enriched the volunteering journey of each Samaritan.

The program concluded with Ms Jannabi Das, star Caritas Samaritan joining live and sharing her act of volunteering of gifting her first original song to Caritas India, to create a pool of funds to reach out to the affected during a natural disaster.

The RAHAM donation link will be live on Caritas India website on 25^th December 2020.