FidesCo
FidesCo is an international Catholic development aid organization that was founded in 1981 by the Emmanuel Catholic Community after a meeting with African bishops in the Vatican .
The name is made up of the Latin fides ( faith ) and "Co" as an abbreviation for "cooperatio" ( working together ). The self-declared task of Fidesco is to fight poverty and hopelessness and to give those in need the chance to develop in body, soul and spirit. The religion or ethnic and cultural backgrounds of the people should play a subordinate role. Fidesco sends volunteers all over the world who put their skills in the service of the poor and provide social and / or humanitarian aid in development projects.
Origin and development
In 1980, following the family synod in the Vatican, a group of West African bishops asked that lay people be sent to Africa as volunteers. You should work there in development projects and set a sign of hope through your service. In the same year this request was granted and a family was sent on a medical mission to what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). In 1981 FidesCo was founded by the Emmanuel Community after meeting African bishops in the Vatican. Since it was founded over 30 years ago, over 1000 volunteers have helped through "FidesCo" in projects in over 40 countries around the world. The specialty is that the volunteers use their professional skills to contribute to projects for one or two years, either under the direction of FidesCo itself or by the local partners. It is primarily about helping people to help themselves. In 1999 FidesCo had 90 active volunteers. Since 2007, two groups of volunteers have been sent out every year - in spring and summer - in 2010 to 21 different countries. In 2013 there are around 160 FidesCo volunteers working all over the world.
organization structure
FidesCo is made up of volunteer and full-time employees:
- At the FidesCo headquarters in Paris, a team of ten employees takes care of all international activities. The tasks range from the search and training of volunteers to the procurement of financial resources. An important task of the team is to monitor the political situation in developing countries.
- The national committees and their staff are responsible for finding volunteers and funding the missions.
- The international council oversees the national committees. The basis is the summary of the ethical principles of FidesCo, the so-called FidesCo Code of Ethics . Council members also include FidesCo officials for Asia, America and Africa.
- The country correspondents look after all volunteers who work in a specific region or country. They have extensive knowledge of the respective location and of the projects. The correspondents are in close contact with the project managers and the volunteers. At least once a year they get an idea of the status of the projects and visit their volunteers.
- The project managers report on the projects for which FidesCo is responsible for the management.
Experts from a wide range of disciplines support FidesCo in training the volunteers during the meetings before and after the missions.
The organization works u. a. works with embassies, government agencies, local partners and other non-governmental organizations and is funded on a donation basis.
Branches
There are currently branches in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Australia, Poland, Portugal, the USA and Great Britain.