|PIC1|March 2 is Lent Fast Day and CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, is calling on Catholics to engage with its Livesimply campaign and share what they have, whether large or small.

Livesimply, launched across England and Wales on National Youth Day last November, is calling on young people to re-examine and simplify their consumer lifestyles and hoarding habits in favour of God-ordained simple and sustainable living in solidarity with poor people.

Salud Relatado in the Philippines is just one of many living according to the Livesimply philosophy. She has learned her farming skills from CAFOD's partner JPIP (Josefina Parish Integrated Programme) in the Philippines, and is now sharing that knowledge with her friends and neighbours.

"Before as farmers we just did very short term planning but I learned how to think for the long term and I found it very helpful," she said.

"I have three vegetable plots. I grow eggplant, alogbati, yam, okra, ginger and squash. I also grow a lot of herbs because I attended the herbal medicine training."

Thanks to that training Salud is now able to grow aloe vera and various herbs for coughs, stomach ache, boils and gastric pain, and the home crops are now bringing in financial benefits.

"The vegetable garden has greatly reduced expenses for food because we've stopped buying vegetables. The herbs mean we don't have to buy medicines because they're very effective."

Now Salud, her family and the whole community can reap the benefits of sustainable living as they work towards a more prosperous future together.

"I also learned about the value of co-operation in the family by each family member having their own responsibilities and by establishing rules among family members and to be sensitive to one another.

"We now have a common plan which prevents quarrels and helps us work together.

"I will continue sharing what I have learned with the people around me. I have a strong belief in God and God said that when we are helped we need to share the blessings and help others.

"If you plant good seeds you reap good rewards. I have a very simple wish that I will live for a long time and that we will be a progressive household."

Young people are at the forefront of the rallying call to "live simply, sustainably and in solidarity", CAFOD said, and the agency hopes the campaign will "galvanise the Catholic community and the wider general public to take personal responsibility for creating change".

By joining in Livesimply young Catholics will contribute towards the creation of a world in which human dignity is respected and the young participants will come away with a greater sense of the impact that their lives have on poor people and the environment.