This is Patrick Taulo Chabviaka. He is the new volunteer Campaigns Coordinator in the Leeds Diocese CAFOD Volunteer Centre. Patrick says about himself:
“I come from Malawi which is a land locked tiny country on the South eastern part of Africa. Inspired by my modest upbringing and experience of being born in one of the world’s poorest countries I had a great passion to study international development. I joined the British Army and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Open University. I did several of the assignments for these whilst on my tours of duty in Afghanistan. Since coming to the UK I now have been able to study International Development and now hold an MA in International Development Management (University of Bradford). Patrick lives in South Leeds with his wife and two children (a boy and a girl).
As the CAFOD Campaign Volunteer Coordinator for Leeds diocese his role involves;-
- Building positive relationships with Campaign Volunteers ‘ answering their questions, sharing resources and plans with them, and helping them have confidence to act; reaching out to volunteers who are not in parishes.
- Networking with other- engaging with parish priests to secure permission to campaign in parishes, making connections with other organisations’ activities etc.
- Monitoring and where necessary recording activities happening locally and passing it on to Community Participation Coordinators and the Campaign Team at Romero house.
- Supporting the recruitment and training of volunteers.
Patrick comments “CAFOD is always involved in campaigning on a wide range of issues affecting humanity. At the moment it is heavily involved in climate change campaigning inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical letter ‘Laudato Si’ where the Pope is inviting all Catholics and the world at large to join him to save the planet by living simply and also to live in solidarity with our poorest brothers and sisters.”