Members of the Waraynon Association, a lay Catholic association of Filipino migrants in Macau, load food kits to support impoverished people. (Photo: Jornal O-Clairm)
Filipino migrant Catholics in Macau have lent their hands to feed hundreds of impoverished people who were hit hard due to a recent upsurge in Covid-19 pandemic and consequent strict restrictions.
The Waraynon Association, a lay Catholic association of Filipino migrants founded last year, has offered food kits to about 500 non-resident workers in the city, Portuguese-language Catholic weekly Jornal O-Clarim reported.
The association drew funds from members of the Catholic Church and local benefactors and managed to help those in dire need of help.
“This collaboration was only possible thanks to the support of several generous donors. Without them, this sharing would not have been possible,” Janette Waray, the leader of the association, told Jornal O-Clarim
“This month is the most critical period for many workers, as many have only just returned to work after having been without a salary for more than a month,” she added.
The association has also distributed financial aid from the funds collected from its benefactors.
“All the help we can offer, we offer. We distribute food baskets and some basic necessities, but also small amounts of money to our members who have been without work and without receiving aid all this time,” Janette said.
The Waraynon Association was formed on April 4, 2021, to bring together Filipino migrant Catholics, who make up about 4.6 percent of Macau’s estimated 700,000 residents.
The name is derived from the Waray, a subgroup of the Bisaya people who form the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines.
Before delving into food and financial assistance for the impoverished people, the group has also helped many with the repatriation process as they sought to return home when the authorities put Macau under strict pandemic regulations.
Apart from the Waraynon Association, Caritas Macau has been also been at the forefront to support needy people in Macau.
Earlier in May, the Social Affairs Bureau of Macau selected Caritas to execute the program that aims to help about 1,500 individuals who were laid off on the island for several reasons including the coronavirus pandemic.
The city was relatively unscathed in earlier bouts of the pandemic since early 2020. However, it was hit hard by the worst outbreak in June this year, forcing strict lockdowns and mass testing across the island.
The restrictions were eased on Aug. 2.
Macau, a Portuguese colony from 1557 to 1999, is known as one of the wealthiest cities in Asia for its thriving gaming and gambling industry. But, due to the impacts of the pandemic, the city has seen a sharp rise in unemployment.
Since March, the unemployment rate in Macau increased to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent in February, according to Trading Economics.
Macau is now a special administrative region of China. The island city has some 30,000 Catholics in nine parishes.
