Aid to the Church in Need increases aid for youth in troubled regions
This summer, Aid to the Church in Need will support nearly 400 camps and classes. Most of this financial assistance will go to Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of young people from countries in crisis, including Syria, Egypt, Armenia, Ukraine, and Lebanon, will take part in camps and summer courses funded by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) this year.
More than half of these courses will be in Syria. After more than a decade of war and, consequently, an unstable economy. ACN will help 45,574 young people participate in 273 summer camps, which aim to recover their stamina and heal their wounds. The participants are Christians from churches in different cities, such as Homs, Aleppo, Lattakia, Tartous, Jazeera, Hama, and Damascus. Through these projects, the local churches hope to strengthen the bodies and souls of children and teens who have suffered the worst of violence and war.
This year, ACN has released additional funds for summer camps in regions affected by the recent earthquake, including Lattakia, Hama, and Aleppo.
The summer camps often take place as part of the offering of Christian scouting groups; other supported groups are spiritual fraternities, catechesis groups, and Christian youth clubs.
The country with the second-most participants and camps is Lebanon. Since the devastating explosion in the Port of Beirut in August 2020, ACN has massively increased its involvement in the country. A total of 106 ACN-funded summer camps are planned nationwide, for the benefit of 18,855 young Lebanese people.
“During the last meeting of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO), the Holy Father thanked us for supporting the young people of the Eastern Churches. He encouraged us to listen to the dreams they carry in their hearts, saying that young people want to be protagonists of the common good, which should be the ‘compass’ of social action,” said Marco Mencaglia, director of projects for Aid to the Church in Need International.
“The Pope has asked young people to be sentinels of peace for everyone, prophets who dream and proclaim a world that is different and no longer divided. At ACN, we have massively increased our commitment to the young people in these countries. We want to be an active part of their future,” Mencaglia added.
At ACN, there is a long tradition of support for summer camps and courses, such as camps for Christians in Jordan, Palestine, and Israel.
Additionally, ACN will support four initiatives in Egypt this year: three organized by the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate, including one for orphans and young people with special needs, and one for Sudanese and Egyptian young people, which is organized by the Salesian-run Youth and Refugee Center.
These summer courses are also important to many young people outside of the Middle East, such as in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Cuba, Lithuania, and Armenia, where ACN has committed to several initiatives.
And the sad reality of the state of Eastern Europe, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, merits special attention, too. ACN will fund five camps in Ukraine, as well as summer camps for young Ukrainian refugees in Hungary and Estonia.
Aid to the Church in Need is contributing more than one million dollars to 66 projects in 13 countries, resulting in hundreds of courses and camps between June and September.
—Maria Lozano
