| Diocesan News

Alexandra Claire Causton, one of the two CRS speakers visiting San Antonio, is head of programs for CRS Pakistan and has lived and worked around the world. Fair-haired with blue eyes, she was raised by American and French parents in Paris, France, later moving to the United States for university and graduate studies, where she earned her master’s from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, studying international economics and development.

While living in Caracas, Venezuela, as a child, her awareness of the vast gap between the well-off and the poor there spurred her interest in social justice issues. She continued to pursue this interest during her high school years and, later, living in Houston, Texas, focused on immigration issues in the United States as well.

Her co-presenter, Quhramaan (last name omitted on request), her dark eyes and hair framed by a draped headscarf typical of the Middle East, is a CRS program manager for the Self Help Groups/Extremely Vulnerable Individuals program. She is an Afghan refugee who has lived in Pakistan since the age of 8, when her family fled the turmoil in their native land, and is currently working on her Ph.D. in economics and management at Balochistan University for Information Technology and Management Sciences in Pakistan.

She too knew from an early age that she wanted to do something to relieve the horrors and suffering she had witnessed as a child.

Both women offered a personal look, through a humanitarian lens, at what CRS is doing in Pakistan, a perspective different from the typical media reports on that far-off nation bordering India, China, Iran and Afghanistan.

Causton began by offering some background on Pakistan, a country of 165 million people (larger than Texas), rich in cultures and civilizations and a “cross roads of activity.” Its towering peaks in the north include K2, the world’s second highest peak, while its arid southern regions hold barren deserts and recurring droughts. Its nine different languages and five different ethnic groups bespeak the country’s large cultural and ethnic diversity.

Poverty looms large here, with 66 million of Pakistan’s people (one third of the population) estimated to be living on less than a dollar a day. On the United Nations’ human development index it ranks 134th out of 177 countries, 177 being the poorest.

“When CRS works in a country,” said Causton, “it studies the context, analyzes what the needs and priorities are and tries to determine where we can have a long-term impact.” One of the pervasive issues in Pakistan is its strong caste system, one of “haves” and “have-nots.” “There are people who can simply not own the land,” she said, “and so they tend to be in a more vulnerable position.”

There is also the issue of HIV/AIDS which, while not extremely prevalent, is becoming more of a problem, with those infected being shunned by their families and society. A recurrent problem is Pakistan’s proneness to cyclical natural disasters - earthquakes, droughts and monsoons with subsequent flooding. Causton herself was sent to the country following the disastrous earthquake there in October 2005 which killed 74,000 and displaced three million more.

Lastly, there is the refugee factor, with three million Afghan refugees currently residing in Pakistan, an immigration which began 30 years ago.

Causton noted that CRS has been working in Pakistan since 1947, following its partition into a Muslim state from predominantly Hindu India, making it one of CRS’s longest-standing programs. Its programs there include water and sanitation, education and emergency relief, as well as work with Afghan refugees and people living with HIV/AIDS. Currently, a staff of 230 works out of five offices, two just recently opened in response to the earthquake.

While CRS normally partners abroad with Caritas (the international Catholic relief, development and social service agency) and local dioceses, Caritas did not previously have a presence in the earthquake-affected area of Pakistan, so CRS has been the one to help them set up operations there.

“Like people everywhere,” Causton said, “Pakistanis really want a few key things, one of them being a dignified place to call home.” CRS has been working, she noted, to help those affected by the earthquake to recover as quickly as possible, regaining shelter or a decent home. “So we try to provide them adequate materials for them to recover quickly,” she said, “but also to have a decent place that they could call home and that would be safe if there were any other earthquake activities.” About 20,000 families have been provided with shelter kits.

CRS also focuses on ensuring people have a means to support their families, with a range of ...