Community Engagement
Through community engagement we aim to build meaningful partnerships and relationships with local communities. Maintaining a compassionate presence and walking in solidarity with those with whom we live and work is fundamental to Edmund Rice Mission. This allows trust to be built and equal relationships to form. It enables us to gain a deeper understanding of the reality of the challenges faced by those living in poverty. Our presence in local areas acts as a catalyst among the people so that they may realise their own power and resilience, By identifying sustainable solutions to local problems they seek to transform their own lives.
We strive not only for a transformation of the lives of those people living in poverty, but also, by journeying together, we are ultimately opening ourselves to being transformed in our way of living and thinking. Through such mutual transformation, together we have the opportunity to enrich all our lives and become a unified force for global change.
In 2015/16, Edmund Rice Development provided €195,024 in funding to 12 community engagement projects in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, reaching 15,565 beneficiaries.