Faith Matters - Helping People Help Themselves - 50 years of Kolping International

‘The needs of the times will teach you what to do.’ Some 160 years later, Aldoph Kolping’s personal motto still inspires the work of the social services association that bears his name. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany, Kolping International is committed to promoting social justice worldwide. The aim of this Catholic organization is to encourage and support social justice, particularly in Latin America, Africa and Asia. At the heart of the association’s work are the groups called Kolping families. Most of them cooperate with Kolping families in Germany or other European partners. Their method is to ‘help people help themselves’, with a main focus on vocational training, agricultural development and micro-financing programs. The history of the Kolping families in Kenya and India illustrates the various facets of Kolping International’s work.