An experience sharing session was organised by the University of Macau’s (UM) Centre for Macau Studies (CMS) and Caritas Macau yesterday titled “At the Front Line of the Community against the Epidemic: Caritas Macau’s Experience in Coping with COVID-19”, the public university said in a statement.
The statement noted that during the on-campus event, members of Caritas Macau, which included representatives of five service units, discussed the organisation’s pandemic prevention strategy and temporary accommodation and assistance to people stranded in Macau, among others.
The service units were Caritas-Life Hope Hotline of Macau, Complexo de Serviços de Apoio Ao Cidadão Sénior Retribuição, Brilho da Vida Elderly Centre, Casa Corcel, and WelAnser Centre.
According to the statement, CMS Director Agnes Lam Iok Fong underlined that Caritas Macau was at the forefront of social services when the city’s COVID-19 situation was uncertain, assisting people who needed help during the most difficult times and that their experience was worth sharing and learning from.
The statement added that Lam expressed hope that the sharing session, where attendees got first-hand information on frontline social services in Macau during the pandemic, would “inspire the UM members to expand their research and contribute to the community with their academic work”.
Meanwhile, Caritas Macau Secretary-general Paul Pun Chi Meng said that as a social service organisation, Caritas Macau’s priority at the time was “to maintain its existing services in a way that did not increase the burden of the community and to help those in need as much as possible”.
According to the statement, the organisation and the general public have overcome many challenges and gained valuable experience together over the last three years, adding that members of the organisation have strengthened their crisis response and interdisciplinary collaboration skills, which will help them face different uncertain situations in the future.
This handout photo provided yesterday shows Caritas Macau Secretary-General Paul Pun Chi Meng (first row, fourth from right) and CMS Director Agnes Lam Iok Fong (first row, third from right), posing for a group photo with attendees and representatives.
