Punta de Piedras is a poor fishing village on the island of Margarita. Zdenac volunteers, led by Sr. Ljilja, help the little ones: children, families, the elderly. Everyone is in such need, so poor that it is hard for us even to imagine.

We follow Jesus and forget that every person has their dignity and worth, that every human being has the right to sufficient means for a decent life.

Let's open our eyes and look at poverty. We believe that every single person is a son or daughter of God through our Saviour Jesus Christ. Can I then turn my head, not see their needs? Children who have just begun to live are dying. Yes, they are dying because they have no food, no water, no medicine.

Let's open our ears and listen to their cries. Poverty affects their body, soul, their life. Can we remain indifferent to so much misery and wailing of innocent children?

Let’s open our hearts and meet these people. Let’s help them, fix other people’s mistakes, as much as we can. They are human beings too.

Solutions exist and are in our hands. Changes are possible.

The people we help show their gratitude to those who can help. This gratitude reflects the real challenge of “shaping the heart” (Deus Caritas Est, 31, a). No one is at the starting point of the source of recognition and gratitude. It all begins with “God is gracious” as summed up by our Pope Benedict XVI. God is the source and end of all human beings and all our endeavours.

Let's be solidary! Solidarity transcends the subjective feeling of compassion or pity for the poor and becomes an obligation, achieving unity on the path to the common good. We all have an obligation to the poor and we meet them.

Thanks to this encounter we gain a broader awareness of social reality and feel mutual recognition among people. Thanks to such a connection, we can turn this act of cognition into an act of "recognizing" that person, being "grateful" to that person.

We enrich our thinking through "dialogue", social connections, relationships, and empowerment.

Poverty concerns everyone. In order to change the situation, we need to adopt the vision of "Life to the fullest tailored for men." It is the best way to prevent poverty and the best way to fight it is to participate in society by word and deed.

N.M.