This Lent, you can help families like Lokho’s to get a safety net so they can get through times of crisis and begin to build a better future.
Your support can help families like Lokho’s to rebuild their lives and prepare for a brighter future. By making a monthly gift, you'll be helping even more families to have a safety net.
Lokho and her children
No food. No water. No safety net
Lokho lives in northern Kenya where they faced more than 40 months of drought. Because of the drought her animals died, leaving her with nothing to feed her family.
But the strength of her community became her hope. Despite losing so much, they came together, sharing what little they had to survive.
“My good neighbours have the habit, the tendency, of helping one another. Tender hearts that encourage the value of sharing to survive.” – Lokho
Determined to make a lasting change, Lokho and her neighbours began planting vegetables, seeking new ways to feed their families. But the harsh climate posed challenges. Young crops withered under the scorching sun or were eaten by birds and monkeys.
Their hope led them to reach out to our local partner. Together, they devised a solution to protect the crops – and their future. Lokho and her community were able to create a shade net that would help protect their crops from the harsh climate and animals.
With your support, people like Lokho will have a safety net and prepare for whatever comes.
When you start a monthly gift, you'll reach even more families who want to build a safety net, so they’ll have food on their table today, tomorrow and for good.
What your money could buy
A Net of Hope
A shade net, sturdy enough to shield delicate plants from the blistering sun while allowing every precious drop of rain to reach the soil. This innovative “anti-greenhouse net” became their safety net, helping their community thrive.
Thanks to the generosity of people like you, our local partner was able to show Lokho and her neighbours how to use this tool, keeping their crops and their dreams alive.
With your support, more families can overcome challenges, build resilience, and plant the seeds of hope for generations to come.
FAQs about Lent
Lent is a time of reflection and renewal leading up to the celebration of Easter. It lasts for 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (not including Sundays).
The practice is based on Jesus’ 40 days in the desert where he fasted, prayed and had to face temptation (Luke 4: 1-13).
Many people think of it as a time to ‘give something up’, but actually it is an opportunity to make important changes in our lives. We can spend the time thinking about how we live, whether we have got our priorities right, saying sorry for the things we have done wrong, and preparing to live in a better way. Then we will be ready for the great celebration of Easter.
During Lent, Christians are asked to pray, to fast and to share what they have with people who are poor (almsgiving). In this way they re-connect with God, with themselves, and with their neighbours.
Pope Francis has decreed that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, a holy year which happens every 25 years in the Catholic Church. It is a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation, in which people are invited to come back into right relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation. This year’s theme is Pilgrims of Hope, chosen to promote peacebuilding in a world threatened by climate change and ongoing wars.
In this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis has called on us to “be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind.” By fasting, giving, and praying – especially on CAFOD’s Family Fast Day, Friday 14 March – we can act on Pope Francis’ call to care for our sisters and brothers facing hardship.
Easter in 2025 falls on Sunday 20 April. Good Friday is on Friday 18 April.
Easter moves each year because it is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the spring equinox. Jesus’ death and resurrection took place around the Jewish Passover, which is also calculated on the lunar calendar.
This Lent, CAFOD’s Family Fast Day will be on Friday 14 March. The first Family Fast Day was held by a pioneering group of women in 1960. Read more about what the outcome was of that work. We invite you to get involved with our Family Fast Day this year.
You can buy an Easter card and also lots of lovely Easter treats through CAFOD World Gifts. Look out for: Fantastic Fisherfolk. A perfect Easter gift for your loved ones.
Thanks to a generous donor, every online donation made on Friday 23, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 February can be matched, up to a maximum of £40,000. So an online donation of £2 becomes £4, and a £20 donation becomes £40. All online donations will be matched until the £40,000 is met. We’re very grateful to the donor who has enabled us to fundraise in this way, and double the impact of online donations made over the Fast Day weekend.