We see a world in crisis today, from the raging pandemic to mounting poverty, social upheaval, mental health crises, immigration, climate change, and the overall trampling of human rights. These global crises require global responses.

To be up to the task, a new approach, a new style of decision-making is needed, one that has something essential at its core: care for others.

“#DaretoCare” is the hashtag motto of a global campaign launched last summer to promote civic engagement, protection of the most vulnerable, care for the planet, support for institutions, cities, and neighborhoods.

Spearheaded by the young people of the Focolare, small and large-scale actions are paving the way for more fraternal relations and leading to community-wide projects.

This campaign is actually the result of a three-stage process. The first phase is to learn, then to act, and lastly, to share. To meet the need for a cultural preparation, lessons have been recorded by experts in politics, law, communication, economics, and ecology.

This interdisciplinary approach expounds on how fraternity responds to the question of “Why care?” Caring comes from an understanding of another person as neighbor, a brother or sister sharing our common home. So fraternity is not only the motivating force; it’s a method of action.

Since that launch, the campaign has been documenting experiences and initiatives of people worldwide, young and old, who are taking up the challenge.

In Portugal, children are planting trees to replace woodlands destroyed in the terrible forest fires of 2018.

In Italy, in collaboration with the Community of Sant’Egidio, volunteers are serving meals to the homeless, and in Burkina Faso, they’re helping to sew face masks.

A teen think tank from Heidelberg, Germany, has a platform to enable student voices to be heard in the decision-making process regarding school policies, especially during these COVID times.

Other youth leaders are taking courses of the “Together for a New Africa” organization to explore fraternity as a guiding principle to fight corruption.

The choice of action is as varied as the contexts in which people find themselves. For example, Natalia Teguhputri, who works in Melbourne, founded the Waterjars movement in 2015. By championing the needs of the poor in her hometown in Indonesia, she was able to provide over $230,000 in aid and grants. In addition, after a trip to her village in 2017, she financed enough money to build two water tanks and 40 bathrooms.

“In this commitment, we have realized that helping people who are disadvantaged requires a fundamental step: standing next to them and walking together,” she shared.

In the eastern part of El Salvador lives Elizabeth Granados, 28. Remembering how she used to walk two and a half hours to school, she decided to commit herself to improve the living conditions of neighboring children and youth. She began meeting with them to read a Gospel passage to practice each month, welcoming all, including those from organized criminal gangs.

Together with her brother, she began to lay rocks along one of the dirt roads in their region. More and more members of the community caught their enthusiasm and joined in the work.

“For us, it wasn’t only about paving the roads; it was to create the idea that by working together, we can improve our own community,” she said.

In the Middle East, Samer Sfeir, a Lebanese entrepreneur, launched ProAbled (from PROfessionally Able) “to show that a change of mentality is possible.” ProAbled is the main project born from shareQ, an NGO that supports social projects in Lebanon. ProAbled.com is an online platform to support people with financial difficulties or disabilities and help them integrate into the world of work and society.

“Since 2012, more than 750 people have received training, and more than 300 persons have been hired in new jobs,” he said.

These and many other good practices will be compiled and presented to the European Union in its Brussels headquarters come May 2021 as the culminating proposal for an institutional change in addressing the needs of so many throughout the world.

The path paved is wide open.

Chiara Catipon

(Living City, USA)