ALL the pennies, shillings, pounds and euro dropped into Trocaire
boxes over almost four decades have added up to more than €250m for
poverty-stricken regions.
This year, the face of little Digna (5)
-- meaning 'dignity' -- from the impoverished community of La
Confianza, in north Honduras, will be seen in thousands of homes in Ireland.
The
agency's director, Justin Kilcullen, said the charity hopes to raise
more than €10m during the Lenten campaign as people have continued to
support it "through recession and bad times".
He said the need
was still as strong as ever, as the number of people dying each day from
poverty -- around 50,000 people -- would fill the Aviva Stadium.
The
Lenten campaign got under way on Ash Wednesday, March 9, and the
proceeds will be used to help communities in 27 countries.
Mr
Kilcullen has just returned from La Confianza in Honduras, where
communities are being tortured and attacked by private security employed
by landlords to take their small plots.
The charity has helped 62,000
families get legal title to their land in the region.
"In December, little Digna and her family were held at gunpoint and threatened," he said.
Digna
Portilla Amador lives with her brother Umberto (8), mother Carmen and
her farming father Carlos Umberto Portilla in a wooden shack with no
running water.
More information is available online at www.trocaire.org