«The Caritas of Almaty is trying to give shape to a dream of Bishop José Luis Mumbiela: to be able to set up a home health care service for elderly people in our diocese, thanks to Caritas. We have asked some Italian organizations to start the training regarding Kazakh volunteers who can take care of social and health care. We hope, therefore, that the conference in Calcutta can give us the opportunity to establish collaborations or useful contacts to start the project.»
This is what Fr. Guido Trezzani, head of Caritas of the diocese of Almaty and Caritas Kazakhstan told Agenzia Fides, who was in Calcutta, India, to participate in the series of conferences organized from 8 to 12 February 8-12, 2019, for the celebrations of the XXVII World Day of the Sick.
In addition to the field of care for the elderly, work continues in Kazakhstan on the project to establish a community of care for addictions. In this regard, Fr. Trezzani said: «The Kazakh Bishops are trying to find the ideal location: it has to be a well-connected place with the whole nation, but at the same time it should have specific characteristics regarding the inclusion of community members in the surrounding society. Once the place is identified, we will have to seek the cooperation of local authorities. Given the size of the project and the large size of Kazakhstan, it is likely that the process is quite long, but we hope to have answers as soon as possible.»
The project related to the world of drug addiction was announced by Caritas Kazakh last November when, after a meeting of the Episcopal Conference, the need arose to meet the needs of people involved in addictions related to alcohol and drugs, creating a special service center, recovery, and rehabilitation. The desire – is linked to the need to «face a problem of considerable size: often, in fact, the support offered by state or private structures is inadequate. People suffering from addiction, after a short pause, fall back into the previous condition.»
