Our Mission

To transform lives, by alleviating suffering, restoring dignity and inspiring hope.
To be sensitive and responsive to the needs of poor people through empowerment, advocacy and networking. Enhancing livelihoods and capacity building.

Functions:

To serve as a coordinating office for the socio-pastoral mission of the Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown,
networking, supporting, sharing resources, and streamlining the activities of all major actors involved in the Church’s Mission in the Archdiocese particularly parish groups,
other diocesan organization, religious congregations, and other bodies active in the Archdiocese.

To operate as not-for profit faith-based non-governmental organization in “building capacities and enhancing livelihoods “of the extremely poor (irrespective of religion, race, nationality, gender,
and ethnicity) particularly children, youth, women, and the victims of disasters.

To assist and support capacity development of Archdiocesan pastoral structures/institutions, in the fields of strategic planning/management, on-going training/formation of pastoral agents, finance and investment management; and to assist in fund-raising for the pastoral, spiritual, and evangelization programs of the Archdiocese, the various parishes, and other church institutions operating in the Archdiocese.

Vision:

We work for a peaceful Sierra Leone, with solidarity and justice with no poverty where the access to healthy food, drinking water, medical care, education, justice, employment and decent lodging will be guaranteed for each one of us. A world where all human beings can live in dignity, achieve a holistic development and also where the communities are architects of their own success.

(Luke 4:16‐20) And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” .

Core Values:

Caritas Freetown is Love. - Respect for all. - Dignity Human dignity originates from God and is of God because we are made in God’s own image and likeness (Gn 1:26-27). Human dignity is inalienable – that means it is an essential part of every human being and it’s an intrinsic quality that can never be separated from other essential aspects of the human person. Belief in the dignity of the human person is the foundation of morality. The principle of human dignity is the foundation of all the Catholic social teaching principles. -

Integrity

Caritas Freetown adhere to moral and ethical principles ; soundness of moral character; honesty. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. Proverbs 28:6 -

Humility

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 -

Compassion

Confronted by global poverty and suffering our fundamental response is born in compassion rooted in love. Rooted in Catholic Social Teaching of the Gospel, we make a preferential option for the poor and we take action with dedication to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 -

Hope

Our hope is inspired by Christian faith and the strength and resourcefulness of our partners and the people whom they serve. In the knowledge that all Christian hope is not passive we believe that by working together, a better world can and must be achieved so that all can enjoy fullness of life. -

Equality and Equity

We believe in the intrinsic dignity of every person and that all women and men are equal. We work with all people regardless of race, gender, religion or politics. -

Justice

We believe you cannot make a gift of something a person should already have by right. We work to transform economic, social, political and cultural structures that are opposed to a just society. Caritas Freetown listens to the voice of the silent poor and enables them to speak for themselves and it brings access to justice. -

Solidarity

We work to enhance solidarity with the poor, seeing the world through their eyes, and recognizing the interdependence of the human family. -

Partnership

We uphold the principle of subsidiary to build links between communities across the world, acknowledging that all receive as well as give. We work within and beyond our Catholic family seeking justice to change our world for the better. -

Stewardship

We believe the planet and all its resources are entrusted to humankind and seek to act in an environmentally responsible way as true stewards of creation. -

Accountability and transparency

We recognize the importance of accountability and transparency, which promote responsibility, trust and sustainable development. -

Community involvement and empowerment

We engage deep dialogues with community. We work in, with, for the community and we ensure that they are involved like the architects of their own development. -

Excellence

We believe that excellence, not mere compliance, is the goal of our service. We are not motivated to excellence out of pride but out of a desire to do all things for God’s glory because He cares about our work and wants to be involved in everything we do. We will not be satisfied with mediocrity, but will pursue excellence in all things. This means our truth claims carry with them the challenge of living out that truth in the minutes and hours of our daily life. Thus we will pursue excellence, without arrogance. -

Partnership, funding, networking and synergies