Karachi (AsiaNews) – Caritas Pakistan organised a seminar – One human family: food for all – at Karachi’s Skill Development Centre last Tuesday, 20 October. The aim was to educate people on how to avoid wasting food whilst learning how to cook healthy and safe food to share with the less fortunate and fight world hunger.
After an educational lecture to raise people's awareness about the most pressing aspects of the problem, 12 young women from St Paul’s Parish, together with Caritas staff, offered cooking lessons on how to prepare apple pie and two types of brownies.
The day was part of a project launched in December 2013 by the Catholic Network Humanitarian Aid and Caritas Internationalis to end hunger, which affects 842 million people worldwide.
According Caritas Karachi director Mansha Noor, the basis for real change can only be "the ability to see the face of Christ in those who suffer from hunger. Only by working as one human family in a spirit of compassion and unity can we put an end to this grave injustice since there is plenty of food in the world and yet still so many people go hungry."
"Food is essential to living a life with dignity,” Noor said. “It is also central to the Christian faith, because bread is transformed into the body of Christ."
Catherine Morris led the cooking class to teach economical and hygienic culinary techniques. She also provided tips on how to set up small food-based businesses and boost family income.
"It was very useful,” said Ruth Manzoor, a woman who attended the seminar. “Learning to cook simple and good things for my family will help me save food, not waste it."
"The main purpose of our life is to serve others,” said Aster Yousa, a young woman present at the lecture. “To do that, we need a spirit of humanity, without which we cannot share our bread with others. Today's meeting was a golden opportunity to learn how to do that."