Parishes in Nigeria, Malawi to Benefit from “Coal for Christmas” Feeding Campaign

“Poorest” Parishes in Nigeria and Malawi are set to benefit from the Christmas initiative by the Vulnerable People Project (VPP), a U.S.-based humanitarian agency that seeks to feed the poorest communities in the world.

VPP’s “Coal for Christmas” campaign is set to run through Christmas and into the new year, 2024.

In Nigeria, the humanitarian organization, which exists to promote human dignity and inspire solidarity is working with Fr. Viktor Ekamen who is leading other Priests in the country to rally for donations to go to food and medical care for their parishioners.

In a report shared with ACI Africa, Catholic Priests in the West African country have estimated that an amount as little as $20 can help feed one person through the winter or provide free medical treatment at the Divine Love hospital, a Catholic facility where Fr. Viktor serves.

In Malawi, Catholic Priests are also asking for assistance with food. Their staple food, maize, costs $32 per bag.

Fr. Cosmas Kinley, who is enlisted for monthly financial support from VPP, says that a bag of maize can feed a family of five people a week.

​“This bag of maize can sustain them for a week, taking into account a household that has five people. So, this bag of maize will be used for porridge in the morning, lunch in the afternoon and supper in the evening. This entails that they will be having three meals in a day,” Fr. Cosmas says.

VPP has announced plans to bring “20 million hours of heat and millions of meals to the poorest communities in the world” in its “coal for Christmas” campaign launched on the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6.

The coal as a Christmas gift is an old tradition that was meant to warn misbehaving children that they would not receive Santa’s Christmas presents, but a hot lump of coal in their socks.

According to VPP, coal can be an important gift, especially to vulnerable communities around the world who would appreciate warm households especially during Christmas.

“Americans tend to think that Santa Claus delivers coal only to bad kids. But in vulnerable communities around the world, many families want nothing more for Christmas than coal to keep their homes warm through the winter. That’s why The Vulnerable People Project is launching its third annual Coal for Christmas campaign and beat Santa’s coal-delivery record,” the aid agency says in its report availed to ACI Africa.

In 2022, VPP “Coal for Christmas campaign” focused mainly on the poor in Afghanistan, seeking to provide coal, medicine, and food to former U.S. allies and their widows and orphans.

As one of the only Western NGOs to continue operating in Afghanistan since the disastrous withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2021, over the last two years, VPP has delivered more than 5 million meals and 30 million hours of heat to Afghan people.

In 2023, in addition to Afghanistan, the Coal for Christmas campaign is expanding to serve vulnerable communities all around the world, including Nigeria, Malawi, Mongolia, Pakistan, Gaza, and Ukraine among others. 

In Nigeria, Fr. Viktor has expressed gratitude to VPP for the monthly financial support that Priests in the country receive from the charity organization, saying, “The support that you have been giving us has gone a long way to helping our people.”

He says that Nigeria is in a “critical and terrible” situation that has immersed many people in deep despair.

“The economy is so bad that many people are starving. Many people are sick. Many people are dying,” he says, and adds, “I am working in a hospital and we keep on recording deaths of people who lack money to seek medical support early enough.”

“Our brothers working in parishes are complaining of lack of food because of the harsh economy,” he says.

In his appeal for support in the VPP initiative, the Nigerian Catholic Priest says, “We will be happy if you can support us to help these people in at least getting food this Christmas period. I am also trying to see how I can organize free treatment and distribution of drugs.”

Fr. Cosmas has echoed his Nigerian counterpart’s sentiments, noting that the support he gets from VPP has gone a long way in helping Malawians who were affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy between early February and mid-March this year (2023).

He says that many Malawians lost their lives in the calamity that also destroyed a lot of livelihoods in its wake.

“Malawi is hunger-stricken right now,” Fr. Cosmas says, and adds, “And when the Christians are hunger-stricken, it translates to our suffering as well.”

“But the VPP monthly financial support is helping us a lot. As Priests, we depend on Christians for support. May God bless you for your support,” he further says.