In particular, Catholic followers in the province this year have built 137 houses for the poor, valued at 5.48 billion VND; dug 346 wells worth 2.247 billion VND for helping those with fresh water shortages; and constructed 25 rural bridges costing 3.120 billion VND.

Nhan Ai (Compassion) Sponsoring Center located in Ca Mau City has been taking care of 65 children with disabilities and orphans, with an annual budget of over 700 million VND.

Regarding practical activities for supporting and promoting education in 2020, Catholic communities in Ca Mau provided scholarships for 964 pupils and students from the primary education to the university level, and presented 414 bicycles to students from disadvantaged families, worth 703 million VND.

In 2020, each of 470 people with disadvantages and regardless of religious backgrounds, including lonely elderly and those with disabilities, was presented with 10kg of rice from local Catholics’ contributions with an estimated value of 517 million VND in total.

Through the office of Can Tho Diocese, Catholic communities in Ca Mau also donated over 338 million VND for sending relief supplies to people severely affected by floods in Central Region in 2020.

Catholic people in the province this year also made a contributing value of over 133 million VND for running the charity kitchen at Ca Mau Hospital, and presented 100 million VND for heart surgeries of two patients at the hospital.

In addition, local Catholic communities have also presented necessities, including rice, noodle, blankets, mosquito nets and cash, to disadvantaged people irrespective of religious backgrounds in localities on occasion of Christmas, Easter, and Lunar New Year in 2020.

Ca Mau province is currently home to over 32,000 Catholic people, with 24 parishes, three registered places for group activities and eight congregations.

PTT