Goan project wins award for work with at-risk young people
By Kielce Gussie
On Sunday, May 25, the 2024-2025 edition of the international prize, "Francis of Assisi and Carlo Acutis, for an economy of fraternity," was awarded to the project “HOPE” in the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi.
H.O.P.E.
The project “HOPE” means “Healing, Opportunities, Protection, and Empowerment” and is based in Goa, India. It grew out of an initiative by the local Caritas, which had led the helpline program called “Childline.” This program is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of at-risk children, particularly from the poorest and most neglected villages.
In 2023, the Goan government assumed control of the program. When critical inconsistencies emerged, seven young people—all already involved in Caritas Goa’s work for deaf-blind individuals—worked together to present a project addressing these issues.
And with that, Project HOPE was born. Its goal: to support at-risk young people—over the age of 18—and victims or survivors of abuse, some of whom are deaf-blind. For example, there is a call center where young people can call in for help and support.
The project also offers specialized training dedicated to creating eco-friendly, handcrafted products, such as toilet paper rolls, soap, handmade items, and biodegradable packaging, including customized eco-friendly hospitality kits designed according to the demand.
These products have already been successful, as one of the most well-known hotel chains, Taj Hotels, stocks, markets, and sells Project Hope’s products.
More than a four-letter word
Fr. Sanford Rodrigues of the Archdiocese of Goa received the award in Assisi, and thanked the some 1,000 young people who will benefit from the �50,000 prize. Winners also received a scarf with an image of St. Francis removing his clothes as a sign of renouncing the material world.
Fr. Rodrigues explained how the word “hope” is more than just a word. “It is a movement to give hope to the vulnerable through a new economy of fraternity, involving the business world to support an ecosystem that builds a future of dignity and independence,” he explained.
The priest stressed that Project HOPE’s training for entrepreneurship “ensures that young people do not remain in abusive environments simply because they lack the means to live independently from their abusers or oppressors.”
What comes next?
Fr. Rodrigues shared that the prize will help create an international community of fraternity and of “change-makers,” with a WhatsApp group where information will be shared about training and management development.
“We receive this prize not to keep it, but to be its stewards,” he described, adding the Project’s wish is that “every act of healing, every life uplifted, and every effort of fraternity through this mission” will spread hope throughout the world.
A hope for our region
The President of the Region in Goa pointed out that receiving this prize symbolizes a gesture of hope for Goa, as Project HOPE tells the story of “social innovation that does not stop at the despair of poverty but looks with hope at turning an apparently unsolvable problem into an opportunity for sustainable and integral development, work, and growth."
Others also reacted to Project HOPE receiving the award. Cardinal Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Daman and the seventh Patriarch of the East Indies, shared a message on the occasion of the award ceremony, expressing his joy at the news.
The bishop of Assisi, Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino, explained the importance of the prize, stressing that “charity can become greater, more efficient, and truer when it becomes political charity,” adding that this prize sets an example of how to do this.
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