Young Catholics in Indonesia diocese distribute aid to most affected by pandemic

Young Catholics in the Diocese of Bandung in Indonesia have started a relief distribution project to help families in communities most affected by the pandemic.

"Many of our parishioners are affected by the pandemic because they lost their work," said Aria Aristokra, a 19-year-old student at Padjajaran University in Bandung.

Aristokra, a member of the youth ministry in Bandung's St. Michael parish, said the young people were inspired by the “spirit of five loaves and one fish” in the Gospel.

The St. Michael Parish is located in the middle of a traditional market in the heart of the city in West Java, about 240 km from Jakarta.

The diocese has a population of about 97,793 Catholics among the more than 30 million people in the area. 

Aristokra said the current project is that fourth of its kind "and we are very enthusiastic to carry out this activity because of the positive response from many of our donors."

He said the donors, who provided food and cash, were inspired by the initiative of the young people.

The young people in return distribute the "goody bags" that contain rice, sugar, salt, tea, milk, sardines, soy sauce, biscuits, cooking oil, masks and hand sanitizers to those most in need.

At least 800 beneficiaries have already received the relief goods in the previous rounds of the project.

“During the first and second activities, our beneficiaries were poor people in the market area, and most of them were Muslims,” said Aristokra.

About 50 young people are currently participating in the activity that targets to collect about US$3,500 to help at least 200 families.

Vionita Rachman, a 19-year-old food technology engineering student, said she feels "proud as a young person to be involved in helping our brothers and sisters who are in need."

"The activity shows that we as young people are not always the ones being helped but we can also help and share the love with others,” she said.

She said the activity is also an opportunity for young people to reunite and to work together.

“Our biggest challenge is that we cannot meet in person to discuss and collect donations,” said Rachman.

“The distribution of donations has also become a problem,” she said, adding that they use motorcycle taxis to deliver the donations.

"We, as young Catholics, are grateful that during a pandemic we were able to help others in need,” she said.

She said the activity "teaches us to share."

“Maybe what we donate is not much ... but the biggest thing we give is love because that's actually what our brothers and sisters need the most,” she told Radio Veritas Asia.

"We want them to know that there are still many people who care about each other during this pandemic," she said.

Rachman said the members of the group "don't hesitate to ask for help because we are children of God and we must help each other.” - Emiliana Saptaningsih / RVA News