• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
CARE Australia

CARE Australia

It starts with equal

donate
  • Give now
    • Donate monthly
    • Donate now
    • Leave a Gift in Your Will
    • Corporate donations
    • Current appeals
    • Buy a CAREgift
  • Get Involved
    • Partner With Us
    • Careers
    • Fundraise For CARE
    • Walk in her shoes
    • Campaigns
    • Contact us
  • Our Work
    • About us
    • Where the money goes
    • Women and girls
    • Education
    • Health
    • Hunger
    • Where we work

The birth of the CARE Package

by CARE Australia - May 13, 2020
Germany/Iraq/United States of America

75 years ago this month, on 8 May 1945, the unconditional surrender of Germany was announced – marking the ending of the Second World War in Europe. After six exhausting and brutal years, weapons were finally dropped, and much of Europe and Germany was left in ruins.

The Berlin of 1945 is nearly impossible to imagine today. Cities like Mosul in Iraq come to mind, with buildings blown apart by years of bombing. Left, right and centre, every square metre of the city was covered in rubble. 

Image Types

The war in Germany by now lies 75 years in the past. Few grandmothers and grandfathers are left to recount their first-hand experiences of hunger, suffering and destruction. 12 million people from the eastern territories and settlements of the German Reich had become refugees. Almost five million homes had been destroyed or damaged. In Europe and Asia, at least 55 million people had lost their lives. No one in the German civilian population was spared the consequences of this war started by their own, elected leadership.

Standard Caption

In the years that followed, more than 100 million CARE Packages were donated, packed and delivered to Europe. But this act of kindness was most astonishing for the fact it also included their former enemy: an astonishing 10 million CARE Packages were sent to Germany.

The coldest winter

After the surrender, it seemed almost as if nature took its revenge on Germany: following the signing of the armistice, there came drought, famine and one of the coldest winters of the 20th century. Temperatures were below minus 20 degrees Celsius between November 1946 and March 1947. Thousands of Germans starved and froze to death that winter. 

Quote style caption

These selfless, incredible acts of kindness and compassion to complete strangers were a beautiful gesture of reconciliation and support for people who had been considered the enemy just a moment ago.

Mrs. Amazing Shoes

The first CARE Packages

And then, out of nowhere, came an unexpected act of kindness – a ray of hope for a country responsible for years of suffering. It came from men and women of the United States. Despite the many American casualties in World War Two, American citizens didn’t want to turn a blind-eye to the painful suffering they had witnessed in Europe. A group of American welfare organisations banded together to form CARE International – and dedicated themselves to helping those in need by sending CARE Packages to Europe. 

No Image – right aligned

These selfless, incredible acts of kindness and compassion to complete strangers were a beautiful gesture of reconciliation and support for people who had been considered the enemy just a moment ago, and remains a shining example of humanity’s capacity to care for one another.

The Germans themselves could hardly grasp this incredible act of kindness. Ruth Andreas-Friedrich, a woman from Berlin, wrote in her diary on February 18, 1948: “How great and admirable are those who provide their fellow human beings, who are complete strangers to them, with these gifts?” 

Caption using Image Meta Data

RS52101_NER-2018-JE-0473-lpr

DAY 3.08SEPT18. Village: Assaou.Maman Lumiere, or “Mother Light,” is a community-based program to manage malnutrition. The program measures all children in the village under the age of two using a simple Mid-Upper Arm Circumference device that measures the child’s growth. If a child is identified as under-or malnourished, their mothers are invited to participate in the Maman Lumiere program. .The groups are led by community-selected “Mothers of Light,” or mentor moms, who host these daily meetings that double as daily feedings for the children. Eight recipes that introduce simple nutritional infusions to ingredients are introduced through the program. After the two-week period, the mothers take the recipes with them.

. We watched as Moms and kids learned and tasted the various recipes under a tree

Mother: Zeinabou Labo, 40.Daughter: Shoukuriya, 1 year 3 mos.Zeinabou was born here in (XXXX). She is now 40 and married to a farmer. She introduces us to her daughter, Shoukouriya, whose bright eyes are now listless as she looks at the world around her. Shoukouriya has been sick for two weeks. She has been to the clinic in the village, and on to a more central clinic elsewhere. .She wears the red ankle bracelet that indicates she has had a diagnosis of acute malnutrition, but we don’t need to see the anklet to know that this little girl is in danger of becoming stunted, which means low height for age, which generally occurs before age two, with irreversible effects. Stunted children suffer permanent disability and impaired cognitive function. For stunted children, it is already too late. .Her mother says that even traditional medicines have not had an effect on Shoukouriya. .Shoukouriya has had a heavy cough since she was born. At one year and nine months, Shoukouriya used to speak baby words, but now she does not speak. Her mother says she used to be happy and smile, but now she is somber. She used to run and play with her siblings, but now she is too weak to even crawl. .Her seven brothers and sisters miss playing with her, they were used to her running with them and wish they could have that back. . Background .“Situated in the Sahel region of West Africa, Niger has contended with the effects of climate change for years. For the last several years, rain has been scarce, but people planted their crops anyway. Drought prevented much of them from reaching maturity before the rainy season came. When it did, it washed away what the people here were counting on: food through the next planting season” -M.K. Wilson – CARE CARE has worked through out Niger for three decades and is trying to help communities through a variety of programs. “Stunting, or low height for age, is caused by long-term insufficient nutrient intake and frequent infections. Stunting generally occurs before age two, and effects are largely irreversible. These include delayed motor development, impaired cognitive function and poor school performance. Nearly one third of children under five in the developing world are stunted. Wasting, or low weight for height, is a strong predictor of mortality among children under five. It is usually the result of acute significant food shortage and/or disease. There are 24 developing countries with wasting rates of 10 per cent or more, indicating a serious problem urgently requiring a response.” – UNICEF 2007 Photos by Josh Estey/CARE

Sliders

Unfortunately, history does tend to repeat itself. But it also provides us with the opportunity to repeat the good and kind things done by those before us. Let us not turn a blind eye to the misery and suffering of others. Let’s instead try to give that same ray of light that emerged out of nowhere into the darkness of 1945.

Standard Slider: Best used with images that make up a sequence

Draft up plan and distribute tasks.

Gather timber and supplies.

Cut and assemble materials into place.

75 Years Later

Unfortunately, history does tend to repeat itself. But it also provides us with the opportunity to repeat the good and kind things done by those before us. Let us not turn a blind eye to the misery and suffering of others. Let’s instead try to give that same ray of light that emerged out of nowhere into the darkness of 1945.

Variable Width Sides: Best used when combining landscape & portrait images (people and places)

There’s a CARE package needed in so many parts of the world right now. And we are in a position to donate it.

. Let’s instead try to give that same ray of light that emerged out of nowhere into the darkness of 1945.

Hard work? You betcha!

There’s a CARE package needed in so many parts of the world right now. And we are in a position to donate it.

75 Years Later

Unfortunately, history does tend to repeat itself. But it also provides us with the opportunity to repeat the good and kind things done by those before us. Let us not turn a blind eye to the misery and suffering of others. Let’s instead try to give that same ray of light that emerged out of nowhere into the darkness of 1945.

Fade Slides: Best used for a diverse range of images.

There’s a CARE package needed in so many parts of the world right now. And we are in a position to donate it.

. Let’s instead try to give that same ray of light that emerged out of nowhere into the darkness of 1945.

There’s a CARE package needed in so many parts of the world right now. And we are in a position to donate it.

Read more about our amaz-balls work!

Sign up to our newsletter

Stay up to date with our news, programs and appeals.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

We put women and girls at the heart of our work. CARE Australia is a leading international aid organisation that works around the globe to save lives and defeat poverty.

We put women and girls at the heart of our work.

Donate Now
  • Donate
  • Corporate donations
  • Leave a Gift in Your Will
  • CAREgifts
Icon for Facebook Icon for Twitter Icon for Instagram

CARE Australia is a leading international aid organisation that works around the globe to save lives and defeat poverty.

Privacy Policy | CARE Australia © 2020 Copyright. All rights reserved. ABN 46 003 380 890.