On Saturday 10 September, thousands of people in Sydney will enter the gates of Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview for the return of the Jesuit Mission Bazaar.
The Jesuit Mission Bazaar has been held at Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview since 1952, raising funds to support the many educational and social outreach programs of Jesuit Mission overseas.
“For over 70 years this wonderful tradition of fundraising has supported marginalised communities around the world. I am delighted to be able to welcome you all back again to this year’s Bazaar,” said Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission.
After an absence of two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Bazaar will be back in full swing with rides, amusements and games for children of all ages as well as music, a huge array of food outlets stalls, plants, a second hand book stall, cakes and confectionery, raffles and lots more.
All proceeds from the day go directly towards supporting at-risk communities across over 14 countries in Asia and Africa, including Cambodia, Timor-Leste, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malawi and more.
[break height=20]
“Our thanks go out to Saint Ignatius' College Riverview for generously hosting, to all the stall holders for their tireless efforts, to our friends from St Aloysius’ College, Kincoppal-Rose Bay and Loreto Kirribilli, parishes, members of the Jesuit community and our wonderful supporters,” said Maree Meagher, Jesuit Mission Bazaar Committee Chair.
Your attendance at the Bazaar will help fund life-changing teaching and education programs; provide essential services to refugees displaced by conflict; provide healthcare and livelihood training to vulnerable communities and provide emergency relief to those most affected by disasters.
You are invited to the Jesuit Mission Bazaar on Saturday 10 September at Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview.
When: 9:00am – 5:00pm Saturday 10 September 2022 Where: Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview, Tambourine Bay Rd, Lane Cove NSW 2066
Those people unable to attend the Bazaar can support vulnerable communities by purchasing a ticket in Jesuit Mission’s annual raffle at www.jesuitmission.org.au/raffle
For Kee Awi, a student at the Jesuit-run Campion Institute in Yangon, Myanmar, learning English is breaking her family out of the cycle of poverty.
“I need to learn English to make my dreams possible. That’s why I’m attending Campion Institute, and I hope that I can make opportunities for my life, my family, and my country,” she said.
Due to decades of violence and oppression, many young people in Myanmar are not able to receive a quality education and lack employable skills.
Recently a combination of the violent military coup and COVID-19 has left devastating impacts on the country, forcing vulnerable ethnic minority groups into desperate living conditions.
“Nobody in my family has an income. I quit my job due to security concerns and we can’t go to our own home anymore,” she said.
After fleeing their village to nearby safe zones, conflict continues to be right around the corner, prompting Kee Awi to move to Yangon to learn English, for the sake of her family.
“I have two younger brothers and one younger sister who are under 18, and they would be students of high school and elementary if the situation in my country was more stable. Now they are missing out on an education,” she said.
With a focus on service and social justice, the Campion Institute teaches students of all ethnicities and religions, while exemplifying Ignatian values.
Thanks to your compassionate support, the Campion Institute teaches young people English language skills and critical thinking to enable them to become future leaders and to transform their communities.
Let us join together in the Prayer of Radical Transformation written by Fr Michael Hansen SJ, National Director of the First Spiritual Exercises Program.
Thanks to your generosity, another 650 people in Timor-Leste now have access to clean water!
Despite heavy rain, fog, a muddy and dangerous road, our project partner Jesuit Social Service (JSS) Timor-Leste, recently inaugurated a new water facility in Maubisse.
This water facility benefits three villages (over 230 households) in Hatufahe, Sarlala and Urahou. JSS provided the water pump and organised the local communities to work together and complete the facility themselves.
After the inauguration of the new water facility, JSS also distributed school and hygienic materials to the local kindergarten and primary schools.
The Timor-Leste Water Project constructs new water supply systems in rural communities in Ermera and Liquica to ensure access to clean and safe water.
Clean, safe drinking water has been piped to many remote and mountainous communities so far which has provided direct and daily benefits to over 3,000 people.
The project includes a maintenance training component to ensure the infrastructure remains viable and to provide a variety of community development projects.
In Timor-Leste approximately a quarter of the population has little or no access to water and 40% live below the poverty line.
The burden of collecting water often falls to children, who have to walk up to five hours each day, carrying heavy containers of water.
For many children, this means they miss out on receiving an education.
Thanks to your compassionate support and the generosity of the South Australian collective-giving group, Pilgrims 100, children in these villages can focus on their studies.
In addition, these local communities can wash, bathe, grow fruit and vegetables, raise livestock and earn an income, with clean water right from their doorstep.
Fr Júlio Sousa SJ, Director of JSS Timor-Leste, blessing the new water facility.
Let us join together in the Prayer of Radical Transformation written by Fr Michael Hansen SJ, National Director of the First Spiritual Exercises Program.
This month’s eNews coincides with the feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola on 31 July.
St Ignatius discerned a call to religious life, leaving his desire for fame and glory as a military leader behind to found, together with a small group of companions, the Society of Jesus, thus beginning their almost five-hundred-year commitment to walk with the marginalised.
To mark the end of the Ignatian Year (2021-2022), the annual ‘Ignatian Camino’—a pilgrimage for young adults, took place from 26 June to 3 July.
Led by Fr Sacha Bermudez-Goldman SJ and Danusia Kaska, the group of 15 young adults partnered with Jesuit Mission by signing up for our new supporter event One Foot Raised.
One Foot Raised challenges participants to walk and raise funds for Jesuit Mission’s overseas projects using a peer-to-peer online platform.
From following in the footsteps of the first Australian Jesuits, the group drove to South Australia and then walked 125km over six days (an average of 21km/day) from Gawler to Sevenhill, where they collectively raised over $2,400 for Jesuit Mission.
“The group walked together as a faith community, enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation, reflected on daily themes and engaged in rich liturgies and sharing at the end of each day,” said Fr Sacha.
St Ignatius himself described the ideal leader as living with ‘one foot raised’, moving always into new lands and new cultures, ready to step forward and respond to human need and suffering in the world.
We walk because Ignatius walked, we walk because Jesuit Missionaries walk alongside the marginalised and we walk because many children in Jesuit Mission supported schools walk long distances each day to gain a quality education.
Your participation in One Foot Raised can provide hope and opportunity to communities in desperate need. Walk in solidarity with the vulnerable communities we serve, who walk great distances to access education, water and healthcare.
If you would still like to donate or participate in One Foot Raised, sign up at onefootraised.org.au
Let us join together in the Prayer of Radical Transformation written by Fr Michael Hansen SJ, National Director of the First Spiritual Exercises Program.
On the evening of Friday 27th May, 2022 Pilgrims 100 members and friends gathered at Inparrila, Adelaide to reconnect and be provided an update on their funded project for 2021-Providing clean and safe water supply for rural communities in Timor-Leste.
The Chair of the Pilgrims 100 Committee welcomed everyone. Special thanks also to Fr Peter Hosking who gave a very moving account of his time in East Timor around their independence and Father Chris Jenkins for all his support and how over $150,000 had been raised in the last 2 years to support Jesuit Mission projects.
Elizabeth Boylan Pilgrims 100 committee member introduced our guest speaker Bill Smith. Bill ave a powerful insight into his work as deputy co-prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) bringing to trial those most responsible for the war crimes committed under the Khmer Rougue regime between 1975-1979. Bill’s talk was entitled- Changing lives by not turning away.
This was followed Jesuit Mission CEO Helen Forde, who provided a detailed update on the incredible impact Pilgrims 100 funding is having on the rural communities of Timor Leste through their “Safe water supply project” in which six water tanks have been installed.
In partnership with Jesuit Social Service- Timor-Leste (JSS-TL), the communities of Ainaro, Ermera and Liquica have successfully constructed a spring reservoir and spring catchment, installed water pumps, storage tanks and distribution pipelines benefiting over 600 people in each village (of which 30% are children).
Click here for Fr Julio Sosa SJ's video thanking Pilgrims 100 members.
You can help Jesuit Mission to walk beside our most marginalised brothers and sisters by signing up for our new supporter event, One Foot Raised.
One Foot Raised challenges you to walk and raise funds for our projects overseas using a peer-to-peer online platform.
Sign up as a school, parish, with a group of friends or you can set your own pace as an individual, with the option to walk for one day, one week or spread it out over the month of July, coinciding with St Ignatius Day on 31 July.
[break height=20]
St Ignatius himself described the ideal leader as living with "one foot raised" - moving always into new lands and new cultures, ready to step forward and respond to human need and suffering in the world.
Your participation in One Foot Raised can provide hope and opportunity to communities in desperate need. You’ll be walking in solidarity with the vulnerable communities we serve, who walk great distances to access education, water and healthcare.
All proceeds from One Foot Raised go directly towards supporting at-risk communities in over 10 countries in Asia and Africa, including Cambodia, Timor-Leste, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malawi and more.
Every dollar you raise can make an enormous difference:
- $100 can provide a week’s supply of food and water for a refugee family.
- $250 can fund a child’s school fees in a village for one year.
Set your goal for a walking distance that works for you, get ready to blaze your own trail and help change lives by walking with the marginalised!
It’s easy to sign up, take on the One Foot Raised challenge now.
This month’s eNews coincides with World Refugee Day on 20 June. Together let's acknowledge the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.
Thanks to your support, the Jesuits have supported 50,000 refugees since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Alla, a mother of two from Central Ukraine, came to Romania at the beginning of March to escape the conflict in her home country.
“In my city we had bombs, shootings, nothing was normal. Now my husband is in Ukraine, he’s a volunteer helping people,” she said.
Forced to leave her husband behind, Alla and her children fled to Romania and arrived at the doorstep of our partner Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Romania.
“My husband and I talk online every day, but it’s very difficult because my children haven’t seen him for a long time. They are tired of this,” she said.
Thanks to your compassion, JRS Romania was able to offer her family food, shelter, and the opportunity to take control of their lives once again.
Remarkably, soon after receiving immediate support, Alla signed up as a volunteer at JRS so that she could support her fellow Ukrainian citizens in need.
“I talk with women like me, who are in a new country alone, with children, and I try to help them. With the JRS volunteer team I feel like I’m part of a big family,” she said.
It is moving to see that the Jesuit family continues to welcome and empower resilient people like Alla.
JRS Romania is already preparing the next phase to help facilitate the integration of Ukrainian refugees in the country.
A network of 60 Ukraine teachers will soon be employed to provide educational activities in eight schools, spanning from kindergarten to secondary education.
If you would like to support refugees fleeing the crisis in Ukraine, you can donate here.
Located in Southern Shan State in central Myanmar, St Aloysius Gonzaga Institute of Higher Studies (SAG) welcomes students from all religions and ethnic groups, especially from marginal communities, fostering opportunities through education.
For 21-year-old Kyal, now studying English as a scholarship student at SAG in Taunggyi, your compassion and generosity is transforming her future and the future of her community.
“This program helps me to have a better life, one where I know I can achieve my goals and dreams. In the future, I want to get a good job, I want to teach English to children. I want to support my family, especially my mum,” she said.
For over twenty years SAG has been providing young people from vulnerable backgrounds with the training they need to become teachers, social workers and compassionate leaders.
With these skills, graduates can go out into their home regions as teachers to improve access to education, rebuild communities and bring opportunity to the entire country of Myanmar.
“Receiving the scholarship and joining SAG has inspired me to do something helpful for our society,” said Kyal.
Your support of young students such as Kyal provides a beacon of hope in one of Myanmar’s most challenging periods.
Since the violent military coup in early 2021, Kyal and many of her family members have been displaced from their home. It has been a difficult journey for Kyal and her six siblings, who lost their father in 2009 and have since been cared for by their mother.
The legacy of ongoing conflict in Myanmar has left the country’s youth adrift with many lacking employable skills.
However, SAG offers a life changing opportunity for students like Kyal, developing her confidence, enabling her to develop new skills and giving her the capacity to help lift her community out of the cycle of inter-generational poverty.
Sadly, Fr Tony Ryan passed away on 5 June 2022 at Nazareth House, Camberwell in Melbourne, aged 82 years.
He was missioned to Hazaribag, India, in 1963 and spent most of his life serving as a missionary there. Many of his roles were in finance and treasury, providing invaluable support to Jesuit and other Catholic institutions.
His funeral Mass was celebrated at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hawthorn on 15 June. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.
Click here to read the eulogy from Fr Tony Ryan SJ's funeral given by Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission.
Click here to read the Homily from Fr Tony Ryan SJ's funeral given by Fr Brendan Byrne SJ.
