Christian Aid Week launched in Belfast Cathedral
Christian Aid Week (12–18 May) has been launched in Belfast Cathedral.
This year the focus is the charity’s work in Sierra Leone, a country on the coast of West Africa about the size of Ireland . Scarred by a long and bloody civil war (1991–2002), and the worst Ebola outbreak in history (2014–2016), Sierra Leoneans are now battling to rebuild healthcare. People hope to bring their country from the painful shadow of death, to a new era of health and life.
Launching the Appeal, Dean Stephen Forde said:
“We recognise that issues around pregnancy and loss affect families here, too. The Chapel of the Holy Spirit at Belfast Cathedral is home to the ‘Remember our Child’ Books of Remembrance. These books hold the names of infants who have died in Northern Ireland in and around the time of their birth. They also remember the families who forever hold precious a child who was loaned for only a brief period of time. It is in such a place that we remember the mothers and infants of Sierra Leone, the west African country where mothers are least likely to survive childbirth. It is the country where today and every day, ten women will die in childbirth. This year the money raised during Christian Aid Week will help our partners in Sierra Leone to improve maternity provision to make childbirth safer for mums and babies.”
Find out more about the 2019 Christian Aid Appeal here.
Pictured above, Christian Aid Ireland CEO Rosamond Bennett with Dean Forde and the Book of Remembrance.