Caritas Samaritan on the journey of Social Transformation

“My approach towards handling a problem changed post becoming a Caritas Samaritan”

-Maheshwar Das, Caritas Samaritan

Education is above all, and it is a moral duty for each learned person to share the knowledge they have in order to make this world a better place. Vaishali district of Bihar is counted among one of the economically weaker districts of Bihar. Among the villages in the district, there exist such villages who are deprived of basic amenities of food, clothing, cleanliness, and education. The district also faces heavy floods due to waterlogging and flash floods. Mr. Maheshwar Das, a Caritas Samaritan and a resident of the Vaishali district, took up the task of igniting a ray of hope among the residents of the district.

Prior to being associated with Caritas India as a volunteer, he was worried about the indefinite problems around him. This led to an increased frustration level and no proper solution to their geographical and societal problems. He shares that the volunteer training provided by Caritas India transformed his perspective and approach towards the problems the villagers were facing. He decided to solve the root cause of the problem instead of trying to solve the problem itself. He began by conducting various awareness programs in Vaishali district of Bihar. The awareness program was a mixed bag of motivation, inspiration, and information. Information was focussed on various educational schemes, government schemes, and disaster management techniques. Motivation and inspirations were focussed on rehabilitating the youth from drug abuse. Mr. Maheshwar post-training by Caritas India formed a core team of eight members and is conducting similar awareness programs in 18 villages. He began his volunteering mission with conducting sessions only for men and currently he conducts sessions for women, youth and children too.

Caritas Samaritans are people and teams committed to engage in favour of people in situations of vulnerability and social exclusion and who work and encourage their group, using a liberating methodology. Caritas India believes its volunteers are people who work in a joint effort; coexist in solidarity, seeking unity, respecting and valuing differences; dialogue and goodwill. They are prophetic people committed and engaged in changing the culture of dominion and the unjust structures of society. Volunteers act as a driving force as animators of the process of organisation and mobilisation towards social transformation.