Recoding the future of camp-bound refugees

"My life before was very tough. I had no activity that could help me generate any income. My family and I were really suffering," says Joseph, a participant in the Pathfinder Digital Inclusion Program, Malawi.

"Now my life has changed completely. With the money that I earn online, I can cover our daily needs."

Joseph, 24, is one of 56,000 people living in the Dzaleka camp in Malawi. Life in Dzaleka is extremely challenging for our sisters and brothers. Resettlement takes an average of 21-26 years, and during those long years, movement is restricted with very limited opportunity to leave the camp to earn a livelihood. As a result, many people live in poverty, forced to rely on food rations to survive.

To help create income streams for camp-bound refugees, our local partner Jesuit Refugee Service Malawi runs the Pathfinder Digital Inclusion Program.

With the kind support of people like you, this innovative program trains over 400 participants each year in marketable digital skills.

Comprehensive courses empower students to compete in the global online job market and earn valuable income from freelancing and remote work.

Joseph first became involved in the program in 2021, and has become a top-earning freelancer, consistently making enough money to support himself and his family.

Over the last three years, Joseph has worked hard to hone his skills and expand his online services, frequently engaging other community members to work on projects.

"I receive contracts in Data Management with Artificial Intelligence companies that require native people who can speak local languages. I hire people to work with me, and the money I pay them helps my community to live a better life," he explains.

As graduates like Joseph harness their skills and uplift their community, there is a new feeling of hope for the future within the confines of the Dzaleka camp.

"With Digital Inclusion, all our dreams become true," he says.

Reflections Summer #634

This month's eNews stories are part of our Reflections Summer publication #634.

Click here to read the latest edition of Reflections to see how your compassion is empowering lives around the world.

Until recently, 9-year-old Kabir lived in a silent world. He was unable to hear, speak or socialise, and couldn’t look after himself like other children his age.

Kabir, who is autistic, lives in a small village in Karnataka Province in southwest India. He belongs to an Indigenous tribal group, Vaddar, which suffers ongoing discrimination. Living with autism, Kabir was pushed even further into the margins.

Without intervention, he was facing a future with very limited opportunities.

But, with the compassionate support of people like you, our local partners North Karnataka Jesuits and Loyola Vikasa Kendra (LVK), have launched a Sustainable Development project that’s helping marginalised Indigenous people – like Kabir – realise their full potential.

This three-year project is fostering social inclusion in a range of ways, including Jesuit run tuition centres that offer early intervention training and workshops on disability and inclusion for health and pre-school workers.

For Kabir, the support he's received has been life-changing.

Kabir is now learning to speak and, thanks to a scholarship, he’s attending school for the first time.

At the special-needs school he attends in Mundgod, Kabir and his peers receive the guided support they need to thrive.

For Kabir, who’ll continue at the school until Year 10, tutors are helping him to socialise, develop his basic literacy and improve his communication and living skills. Although still a little shy, he is an eager learner and, during his time at the school, will build the skills he needs to become independent and self-reliant in future.

This inspiring project also empowers village leaders to become effective advocates for their communities, working towards more sustainable development and bringing hope and opportunity to Indigenous people living with discrimination.

Reflections Summer #634

This month's eNews stories are part of our Reflections Summer publication #634.

Click here to read the latest edition of Reflections to see how your compassion is empowering lives around the world.

Bikaun is a widow who lives with her children and grandchildren in a village in the Dili Municipality of Timor-Leste. Until recently, the family's living conditions made it challenging to maintain good hygiene and sanitation.

Reflections Summer #634

This month's eNews stories are part of our Reflections Summer publication #634.

Click here to read the latest edition of Reflections to see how your compassion is empowering lives around the world.

With over four million people displaced from the escalating political crisis in Myanmar, our sisters and brothers there are seeking new ways to build a better, more just society. Jesuit Mission has long stood in solidarity with the people of Myanmar, and we continue to pray for strength, hope, and healing in this time of deep struggle.

For those who aspire to lead Myanmar into an era of peace and hope, the Myanmar Leadership Institute (MLI), run by our local partner Myanmar Jesuit Region, offers courses that provide a new vision of leadership built on social justice, critical thinking and compassion.

Your compassionate generosity is helping MLI educate over 500 students every year from all walks of life. These leaders-in-training study a well-designed curriculum that includes nation building, ethical principles, social inclusion, leadership and strategic thinking.

Sister Margaret, who oversees a kindergarten in Yangon, was nominated by her parish to participate in an MLI ‘Religious Life and Leadership Skills’ workshop. The workshop, which includes a mix of exercises, activities and group discussions, empowers participants like Sister Margaret with leadership techniques that help them make a meaningful contribution in their individual workplaces and the community beyond.

"Before the program, I was not sure how to guide my teachers. Now I understand how to create a positive learning environment,” Sister Margaret says.

"I've also learned that to be a good facilitator it means to work with local people and know how to approach the local leaders."

MLI alumni like Sister Margaret are already proving to be inspiring, creative leaders who are actively building a more peaceful and harmonious society in Myanmar.

For supporters like you, Sister Margaret has this heartfelt message:

Reflections Summer #634

This month's eNews stories are part of our Reflections Summer publication #634.

Click here to read the latest edition of Reflections to see how your compassion is empowering lives around the world.

"We never had clean water since the time of our parents and grandparents," says Leocardia, one of the 204 residents from a small village in Dili, Timor-Leste.

For decades, the locals have had to seek out water. With no clean sources available, they’d risk drinking slightly salty water from a source on a nearby hill. Often vulnerable families would be forced to choose between buying clean water or paying for food or education.

Your kind support has helped make a vital change. Thanks to you, our partner Jesuit Social Service Timor-Leste has worked alongside community members to bring clean water to over 6,524 people since 2018.

Women and children no longer face the exhausting daily task of walking one to two kilometres to find water.

"This year, our children will focus only on their studies rather than taking buckets to fetch water from other places,” says Floriano, the project's Community Coordinator.

Reflections Summer #634

This month's eNews stories are part of our Reflections Summer publication #634.

Click here to read the latest edition of Reflections to see how your compassion is empowering lives around the world.

Typhoon Yagi, one of the strongest storms to hit Southeast Asia in decades, brought severe flooding and landslides, especially to Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos.

Tragically, hundreds of lives were lost, thousands of people displaced and countless homes, schools and businesses were destroyed. Many people across the region were left struggling to access food and clean water.

Assisted by our Emergency Action Fund, our local Jesuit partners in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos worked with people of all faiths to deliver essential relief to those in urgent need.

"I witnessed how the Catholic and Buddhist faiths met, as persons of goodwill to love and serve the neediest flood-affected displaced persons. I was truly touched by how faith moves mountains to serve all without any discrimination, with compassion," said Fr Girish Santiago SJ, Regional Superior of Myanmar.

Lebanon Emergency - Sheltering Hope

Generous contributions to the Emergency Action Fund have also helped our local partner, Jesuit Refugee Service Lebanon, with the support of Middle East & North Africa (JRS MENA), provide urgent relief to over 12,000 displaced people in southern Lebanon.

As the crisis in the Middle East continues, airstrikes have forced many families in southern Lebanon to flee their homes. Alongside these locals, already vulnerable migrant workers and Syrian refugees have also been displaced.

With a harsh winter fast approaching, JRS Lebanon has provided much needed food, hygiene kits and winter essentials to over 6,000 families by December, reaching an additional 1,000 per week.

At the Jesuit Church of St Joseph, the Arrupe Migrant Centre has been fitted out with beds and mattresses, in order to provide a safe haven for migrants and refugees who have been turned away from other shelters.

Additionally, JRS MENA is offering protection and psychological support for vulnerable people and families – especially children – dealing with the trauma of conflict and displacement.

Reflections Summer #634

This month's eNews stories are part of our Reflections Summer publication #634.

Click here to read the latest edition of Reflections to see how your compassion is empowering lives around the world.

"I would like to thank the Karuna Battambang Organisation (KBO) for supporting me and the members of my community. Thank you for instructing us to become farmers that are connected with nature and helping us to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers, which is better for the health of my family and community."

These are the words of Mrs Houv Narin, a 34-year-old mother of two, who lives in a small village in a rural area of Battambang province, Cambodia.

Before attending the Community Development Program run by our local partner KBO, Mrs Narin and her husband could not make a sustainable living from their small subsistence farm. Instead, they had to travel great distances to make a livelihood from fishing.

The work was hard, after paying for travel and living expenses, the couple had little left over to support their two children. Both parents also felt very unhappy about being away from their children for extended periods of time and worried about their education.

Thanks to the support of people like you, Mrs Narin had the opportunity to change the future of her family.

She joined the Community Development Program, where farmers are empowered to form self-help cooperatives that receive training in eco-friendly farming methods. These include the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a technique that requires fewer seeds, less water, and no chemicals.

Mrs Narin is one of the 600 rural farmers who has participated in the program and now utilises the SRI method to grow more food with reduced exposure to harmful chemicals and fertilisers. Farmers receive some income to kick-start other sustainable farming activities and establish a savings plan which in turn supports a circular economy within their villages.

These days Mrs Narin and her family are thriving, with both children attending school and being cared for by their loving parents who no longer need to travel to make a living.

Reflections Summer #634

This month's eNews stories are part of our Reflections Summer publication #634.

Click here to read the latest edition of Reflections to see how your compassion is empowering lives around the world.

125 years ago, the first Jesuits arrived in Timor-Leste. Now, the Jesuits continue to serve the most vulnerable there, bringing hope and opportunity.

Michael Musgrave, St Canice's parishioner and champion fundraiser for our neighbours in Timor-Leste, reflects on his latest visit to the Jesuit projects, including the Food Security project.

"While in Dili, I spent a fascinating day in the field with Timorese Jesuit Fr Júlio Sousa SJ, Director of Jesuit Social Services. We are accompanied by Elsa Pinto, a Timorese university graduate from Melbourne, who oversees their Food Security Program initiated only three years ago.  Before this was introduced, farmers would simply scatter seed over the earth and wait. Now, the size of cabbages and cauliflower growing in raised beds in fenced-off plots is testament to the success of this program. The challenge ahead is how to scale up a very successful pilot program and help more farmers to earn a living...

I’ve always enjoyed my interaction with the Jesuits at the Mission. They share their highs and lows freely and that openness inspires me to get on board to better understand what’s moving them. I aim to align my talents and passions with theirs and lend a hand in any way I can...

I must be very careful not to give the impression that we are the givers, and they are the takers. We are simply good neighbours, doing as good neighbours do," says Michael. 

Click here to read Michael's account of his recent trip to Timor-Leste. [External link to Australian Jesuits website]

Pictured above is Michael with Bartolomeu and his family, whose lives have been transformed by participating in the Food Security Project, run by our partner Jesuit Social Service Timor-Leste. To learn more and support other families learn sustainable agricultural techniques to overcome malnutrition and extreme poverty in Timor-Leste, read our Christmas appeal.