Breaking the chain of COVID-19 transmission in India
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Thanks to your support, our Jesuit partners in India have established a Community Health Surveillance System to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission among migrant workers, slum and rural communities in six states, including Jharkhand state.
The program commenced in June and focuses on awareness building for infection prevention as well as providing access to critical health services, the provision of emergency healthcare kits and vaccinations.
Over the next few months, the program aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 and offer life-saving support for those people most in need by providing:
• 6,000 vulnerable people infected by COVID-19 with homecare and support services, sanitisers and face masks. [break height=5] • 6,000 healthcare kits with medicines to ease symptoms of COVID. [break height=5] • 6,000 emergency food packages for COVID positive people and those in quarantine. • 12,000 pamphlets and brochures to educate vulnerable communities on COVID-safe behaviour. [break height=5]
COVID has not only brought life to a standstill in India, it has also overwhelmed its healthcare system. In addition, a lack of testing capacity gives a misinformed picture of the humanitarian emergency unfolding there.
The second wave of the pandemic has been catastrophic. Critical oxygen shortages and over 30 million COVID infections sadly means that there is little hope for the most vulnerable people.
However, thanks to your generosity, our partners can support distressed communities in a more coordinated and effective manner, slowing the spread of the virus through containment and transforming the lives of many vulnerable families in the long run.
The Ignatian Year celebrates the 500th anniversary of St Ignatius’ cannonball wound at the battle of Pamplona and his subsequent conversion to commit himself to God’s work. In addition, the 31 July is the feast day of St Ignatius and we invite you to reflect on Fr Andy Bullen's SJ poem Pamplona.
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Fr Quyen Vu SJ at Xavier Jesuit School Cambodia.
In the 70 years since its establishment, Jesuit Mission has carried on the legacy of the first Australian Hazaribag missionaries, who inspired life-changing projects around the world – and paved the way for a new generation of young Jesuits.
One of those men is Australian Jesuit Provincial Fr Quyen Vu SJ, who heeded the call for volunteers in Timor Leste in 2001 after the fledgling nation gained its independence from Indonesia. The challenge of re-establishing an educational system in a country destabilised by decades of occupation and the imposition of a foreign language was immense; textbooks in the occupier’s language of Bahasa Indonesian had been burned, and the country’s education system had to be entirely rebuilt.
[quotes]“The Timorese government had to reach out to the international community to help them."[/quotes]
[quotes_author color="#000"] Fr Quyen [/quotes_author]
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[quotes]“I was able to contribute to the Jesuit education, which was already established [in Timor].” [/quotes]
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Fr Quyen oversaw the establishment of Colégio de Santo Inácio de Loiola (Loyola College), which opened in Kasait, west of Dili, in 2013. Today the school educates over 800 students; and its teaching staff has since been supplemented by Instituto de São João de Brito (ISJB), a teacher-training facility established in 2016 with Jesuit Mission’s ongoing support.
[quotes]“So it's been a great journey… They are still growing, they’re still moving ahead."[/quotes]
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Carrying the missionary baton further still, Fr Quyen moved to Sisophon in north-west Cambodia where, in 2013 and with your generosity, the Jesuits opened Xavier Jesuit School. The school began with only 34 kindergarten students and six staff, however, this year the school logged its 800th enrolment, and next year it will celebrate the graduation of its first Grade 12 cohort. From the six years that Fr Quyen spent there, the school expanded rapidly and continues to encourage rural students to prioritise their education.
Meanwhile, Xavier Jesuit School performs an important function in facilitating the training of Cambodian teachers, whose profession was decimated under the Khmer Rouge regime. Perhaps most importantly, its ethos of sharing knowledge and resources with government-run schools is helping to disperse the benefits of education – and the Hazaribag legacy – further still.
[quotes]“They say our school is a very nice atmosphere, very peaceful, all the kids are doing well. That's a success story already." [/quotes]
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[quotes]“[But] it's a domino effect. That's our mission – to empower the local schools and the local school teachers.”[/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Fr Quyen [/quotes_author]
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Over 3,000 people joined the 30 minute Prayer Vigil, standing (virtually) in solidarity together to pray for healing and peace for the two nations in crisis. Click here to watch.
You brought clean water to the remote village of Biluli
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Biluli is a small, rural village in Timor-Leste. It is located in the middle of the Ermera forest, where the only way in is by travelling roads in very poor condition - especially treacherous during rainy season.
In such a remote community, the people living in Biluli face enormous barriers to breaking free from poverty. One of the greatest challenges is the lack of clean water. Without access to safe water sources, people - often young children - have had no choice but to walk many hours carrying heavy containers to fetch water from the nearest stream.
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And even then, using the water they carried back came with the risk of catching diseases just from doing the day to day things necessary for survival, like drinking, cooking, and washing.
But then life changed for the 300 residents of Biluli, thanks to your support. Late last year, our local partner Jesuit Social Service (JSS) was able to connect with the village and work together to build a clean water facility in the area. Your generosity helped provide the building equipment, labour, and brain power to make this life-saving water system a reality.
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Children performed a traditional dance for the inauguration ceremony of the water facility.
We are thrilled to share that, as of January this year, the newly installed water source is officially in use. Families from Biluli no longer have to travel long, dangerous journeys to collect water and risk contamination. Instead, they now have a clean, safe source of water in their very own neighbourhood. Thank you for helping this village to overcome poverty and thrive towards a better future with the gift of water.
With the generous support of people like you, we are working to bring new water systems to 13 villages across Timor-Leste. If you’d like to help save lives in even more villages just like Biluli, please donate today. Your gift can bring clean, safe water to the most marginalised communities.
Over 3,000 people joined the 30 minute Prayer Vigil, standing (virtually) in solidarity together to pray for healing and peace for the two nations in crisis. Click here to watch.
Ingabire has joined the digital revolution, trading her skills on the global market, while living in Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. Thanks to her training in the Digital Inclusion Program, supported by you and delivered by our partner Jesuit Refugee Service Malawi, now she is working with clients from around the world.
This innovative program trains participants in marketable digital skills they can use to enter the global online job market, allowing them to generate immediate income, and establish long-term livelihoods.
From trading her skills on global freelancing platforms, she can now provide for herself and her loved ones.
[quotes]“The training I underwent in the Digital Inclusion Program made it possible for me to get a job beyond borders despite my geographic, legal and social status limitations."[/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Ingabire [/quotes_author]
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With 47,000 refugees at the camp, many live below the poverty line and depend on food rations. As job opportunities are extremely limited in the camp and movement is restricted within its borders, working online is a way for refugees to break the cycle of poverty.
Through the program, refugees learn Microsoft Office suite, translation, transcription and high-speed typing. Each participant works to attain digital accreditation to the European computer license standard, while also learning how to navigate freelance platforms to better manage their own small business.
The program is run in collaboration with a Paris-based NGO, with each participant receiving a laptop and guidance from instructors on the ground.
[quotes]“This program is the hard work of people on four continents working together for something good."[/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Australian Jesuit, Fr David Holdcroft, and founder of the Digital Inclusion Program. [/quotes_author]
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Thank you for your generosity in providing refugees like Ingabire with a wonderful opportunity to develop new skills and take agency in her own life.
Click here to watch the Digital Inclusion Webinar with Fr David Holdcroft SJ and project participant Stany Dibwe.
Over 3,000 people joined the 30 minute Prayer Vigil, standing (virtually) in solidarity together to pray for healing and peace for the two nations in crisis. Click here to watch.
Joint Inter-faith Statement on the Crisis in Myanmar
We, Faith-Based communities from around the world, declare our common commitment to stand with the suffering people of Myanmar and call on the country’s military to stop the violence, respect the sanctity of all human life, and work towards a just and lasting peace throughout the country based upon the will of the people.
Since the events of February 01, 2021, we have viewed with deepening concern the mounting humanitarian needs and spiraling disregard for human rights that, as always, impact most heavily our most vulnerable sisters and brothers.
As Faith-Based humanitarian actors, we will not be silent while today in Myanmar:
• children, women, and men are killed and injured due to increasing violence [break height=10]
• food, water, shelter, and access to health care have become urgent needs [break height=10]
• civilians are reportedly used as human shields by security forces dand sexual violence is weaponised [break height=10]
• food insecurity and malnutrition expand exacerbating only further the socioeconomic damage sustained by COVID-19 [break height=10]
• houses of worship are targeted and destroyed while serving as refuge for the elderly and children contrary to international conventions [break height=10]
• health care, education, and supply chains to name a few essential services areseverely disrupted[break height=10]
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We add our voices to that of UN Secretary-General António Guterres as he calls on the country’s military to respect the democratic aspirations of the people while appealing to the international community to respond to the continuing humanitarian tragedy.
We join our prayers with those of Cardinal Archbishop Bo of Yangon when he says: “This needs to stop. Peace is possible; peace is the only way. We make this urgent appeal as a group of faith leaders—not as politicians. We are praying for Peace in this great land of Myanmar and hoping all of us can live as brothers and sisters”.
Signatories:
ADF International
Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd
Congregation of Sisters of Mercy
COREIS Islamic Religious Community Italy
Edmund Rice International
Fondazione Proclade Internazionale ONLUS
Franciscans International
Fundación ALBOAN
Fundación Entreculturas - Fe y Alegría
HIAS
Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea
Institute Sister Mercy Australia and Papua New Guinea
International Catholic Migration Commission
Jesuit Mission Australia
Jesuit Refugee Service
JPIC Commission USG-UISG
Justice Revival
Mercy Foundation
Mercy International Association - Global Action
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
NEW HUMANITY
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team
SJ Around the Bay
Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat, Society of Jesus, Rome
Union for Reform Judaism
Union of Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On 2 June, we hosted an online Prayer Vigil for Myanmar and India with religious and lay leaders from around the world.
Over 3,000 people joined the 30 minute Prayer Vigil, standing (virtually) in solidarity together to pray for healing and peace for the two nations in crisis.
[quotes] “I am deeply moved by the strong response of the global community and thankful to our leaders of the Vigil, for working together to promote such a powerful expression of faith. It’s a long road ahead for our sisters and brothers in Myanmar and India, and we all must extend our support and continue to accompany them through the power of prayer.”[/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission [/quotes_author]
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The
leaders of the Prayer Vigil included:
Fr Tony Moreno SJ,
President of Jesuit Conference Asia Pacific (JCAP),
Fr Quyen Vu SJ, Provincial
of Australia,
Fr Santosh Minj SJ,
Provincial of Hazaribag,
Fr Stany D’Souza SJ,
President of Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA),
Fr Jun Viray SJ,
Provincial of the Philippines,
Sch. P.V. Joseph Buan
Sing SJ, Burmese Jesuit Scholastic based in Rome,
Sr
Britto Madassery SCSC, Snehadeep Holy Cross Residential School, India
Anna O’Halloran, Chair,
Jesuit Mission Maytime Fair Committee,
Gillian Donoghue,
Development Officer of Myanmar Jesuit Mission and,
Niang Mun Ciin (Mun Pi),
Myanmar Jesuit Mission.
As the international
development organisation of the Australian Jesuit Province, Jesuit Mission has
proudly accompanied the marginalised to live full and free lives for 70 years.
Today Jesuit Mission works in 12 countries across Asia and Africa to uphold the innate dignity of people living with the effects of poverty.
Chicken coop and Breakfast program for dormitory students in Timor-Leste
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Thanks to your generosity, 81 students in Railaco,
Timor-Leste no longer attend school on an empty stomach.
Beginning in 2020, a grassroots chicken coop and breakfast program is supporting the healthy development and independence of dormitory students at Jesuit-run secondary school NOSSEF (Escola Secundaria Católica Nossa Senhora de Fátima).
[quotes]“Before we had difficulties with our food since there are 40 of us in the (girls) dormitory. But now we have breakfast every day and we also eat chicken, fish, tempe or tofu for lunch and dinner.”[/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Antegracia, a student of the girls dormitory. [/quotes_author]
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Dormitory students started
the school day without breakfast and would wait until lunch to receive food
from the school canteen. Due to hunger, students found it harder to concentrate
during classes and were more prone to illness.
There were also concerns that the students' limited diet of plain rice and fried bok choy would not address their need for protein or other nutrients and could stunt their physical development.
Juvenido
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Now with the chicken coop and vegetable gardens, students can rear chickens for their eggs and meat, allowing them to prepare healthier food for themselves, without financial concerns.
[quotes]“This program is beneficial to all of us in this dormitory. We started with only a few chickens but now have around one hundred.” [/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Juvenido, a student of the boys dormitory. [/quotes_author]
The recently constructed boys dormitory on the school grounds currently accomodates 41 boys, while the girls’ dormitory, which accommodates 40 girls, is on a nearby property and is supervised by an order of nuns.
Most
of the students’ parents are subsistence farmers from remote villages and it is
not easy for them to support their children’s education.
Without
the dormitories, these students would not be able to
attend school as their villages are many hours travel away on mountainous
roads.
Some of the girls at the dormitory and Sister Olga Oliveira, SPC, who is in charge of the girls’ dormitory in Railaco.
The Jesuit-run Secondary School, NOSSEF,
provides schooling for 380 students from Year 10 to Year 12. Over the last few
years the school has remarkably achieved a 100% pass rate in the National exams
for Year 12 with many students going on to tertiary study.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, this year NOSSEF divided its students into two groups, where Group A studies at home for a week and Group B attends classes at school for a week. When a wave of COVID cases emerged in April, the school was closed temporarily, however, it is now open with all staff and students required to wear a mask, sanitise regularly and maintain a safe distance.
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[quotes] “I would like to thank the donors for their generosity in supporting us in Railaco. We will do our best to be good students and we ask for your prayers so that we may have a brighter future to serve this country and the church." [/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Antegracia [/quotes_author]
As Jesuit Mission
celebrates its 70th anniversary, long time supporter Joy Anderson reflects on
her life-changing trips visiting the Jesuits in Hazaribag, India in the 1970s.
When Joy Anderson booked a trip to India in 1972, she couldn’t
have anticipated the mind-enlarging experiences that lay in wait, and the
lifelong impact the journey would have on herself and her young family.
“We went to [the travel agent] and he said, 'Why do you want to go to India? Nobody goes to India’,” she recalls almost five decades later.
“I said, ‘Well, we're going’.”
And so Joy set off with her late husband, Peter – a St Ignatius’ College Riverview old boy and then-president of the Old Ignatian’s Union – for what would be the first of many visits to the subcontinent. The seed for that initial journey had been sown by the Australian Jesuit community with whom the couple were friendly; the Australian Province had established Hazaribag mission to provide education and healthcare to rural and indigenous communities in Jharkhand Province in 1951 - 70 years ago this year.
Returning
missionaries had “painted the most wonderful word pictures” when describing to
Joy and Peter the place, its people and the important work being undertaken there.
One such project supported by the Jesuits was the series of eye clinics (or eye camps) run by the Hazaribag Lions Club; Peter, a highly respected Sydney ophthalmologist, had precisely the skills doctors in Hazaribag were so desperately lacking. But when the couple received a telegram from the Hazaribag Province asking them to visit, he was less easily convinced than Joy of the wisdom of such an incursion.
“Peter said, ‘I cannot go into another country and say, ‘Here, I'm going to work. You just don't do that. You've got to be invited’.”
But he was swayed by the wise and prophetic words of Fr Phil Crotty SJ (1932-2021), one of the earliest Australian missionaries to Hazaribag, who was on a visit back home.
“We were down in the Jesuit Mission office [in Sydney] and Peter was unsure about going to such a foreign country. Phil looked at him and said, ‘You know, Peter, you will get much more out of it than you think. And you'd be giving more.”
Thus
encouraged, the couple set off for a country which – true to Fr Phil’s astute
counsel – would reciprocate their benevolence more than they could possibly
have imagined.
“There were all these Indian doctors, of all faiths and backgrounds, who were working together voluntarily. So, you know, suddenly your eyes were opened,” she says. “Peter participated in quite a few of the eye camps and he said, ‘Oh, you feel you're a real doctor, doing this kind of work’.”
On
subsequent visits, Peter took along with him donor eyes, preserved in dry ice, on
which local doctors could practice and perfect the relatively new,
sight-restoring technique of corneal grafting. Joy, meanwhile, immersed herself
in the community, learning about life – and death – from an entirely foreign
perspective. She relates with sagacity the story of the wife of a deputy
headmaster who had fallen ill and died, and whose body had to be preserved in
preparation for burial.
“They called Peter and he was trying to do mouth-to-mouth on her, [but] she died. We had to go and get ice from everywhere [to preserve the body]. They were saying, ‘We're so sorry you are seeing this’. I said, ‘This is part of life. This is an experience.’ I thought… it was just what they live with all the time. Oh, I can't describe what it was like, it just enriched our lives so much.”
The visits also gave Peter insight into the immense impact
Australian benefactors could exert on less advantaged, far-distant communities.
This experience informed his role as president of the Indian Bazaar Committee,
a position he held for 25 years after his appointment shortly after returning
from that first visit to India. Under his guidance, the committee was
responsible for running Jesuit Mission’s annual Indian Bazaar at Riverview, one
of the largest fundraising events for the Hazaribag mission.
“We saw different things on different visits, so you saw where the money was going,” says Joy. “That made Peter realise and appreciate the [Australian] people more, what they were doing. They are the salt of the earth, the people that work for the mission, they really are.”
And the wisdom acquired on those visits infiltrated Joy’s
life in other, more subtle ways.
“On my first trip, I thought, ‘When I come back through Singapore I'm going to get a long rope of pearls, that’s where I'll get it’. When I got to Singapore that was the last thing in the world I needed. Everything goes into place.”
Apart
from one of their sons, none of the couple’s seven children have visited India;
but while growing up they all absorbed the stories their parents brought back
with them, Joy says.
Those expansive, edifying experiences might not have happened if not for the sage advice of the late Fr Phil Crotty SJ (1932-2021) almost 50 years ago, and Joy’s own determination – despite the travel agent’s demurral – to set out for that foreign land. When Peter died six years ago, aged 88, memories of the couple’s travels in Hazaribag came rushing forth.
“They're lovely memories, they're very enriching memories, it made a tremendous difference to our lives,” says Joy, who turned 89 this year.
“And that's why we asked Fr Phil to do Peter's [funeral] mass: because he was the one that really talked Peter into going.”
Jesuit Mission invites you to attend an online
Prayer Vigil for Myanmar and India on Wednesday 2 June at 6:00pm AEST.
Leading the Vigil is Fr Tony Moreno SJ, President of Jesuit Conference Asia Pacific (JCAP), Fr Quyen Vu SJ, Australian Provincial, Fr Santosh Minj SJ, Provincial of Hazaribag Jesuits, Fr Stany D’Souza SJ, President of Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA), Fr Jun Viray SJ, Provincial of the Philippines, and Sch. P.V. Joseph Buan Sing SJ, a Burmese Jesuit Scholastic based in Rome, Sr Britto, Holy Cross Sister (India), Anna O’Halloran, Chair, Jesuit Mission Maytime Fair Committee, Gillian Donoghue, Development Officer of Myanmar Jesuit Mission and Niang Mun Ciin (Mun Pi), who works with Myanmar Jesuit Mission.
The 30 minute Vigil is an opportunity for the global
Jesuit community and beyond to join together in solidarity and support our
sisters and brothers in crisis overseas.
In
Myanmar the violent military coup has thrown the country into immense political
unrest, resulting in the deaths of over 700 peaceful protestors since February.
Efforts to control
the spread of the virus have crumbled, with many hospitals shut down or taken
over by the military.
In India the second wave of the pandemic is catastrophic. Critical oxygen shortages and over 24 million COVID infections sadly means that there is little hope for vulnerable communities. In our Australian-founded mission in Hazaribag, four Hazaribag Jesuits have died and more than 15 Hazaribag Jesuits have been hospitalised with COVID. However, the number of deaths and those hospitalised is changing daily.
[quotes]“As we continue providing emergency relief and support to those in Myanmar and India, it is ultimately through the power of united prayer that we can all stand together and work towards restoring lasting peace and the gift of healing." [/quotes]
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[quotes_author color="#000"] Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission [/quotes_author]
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Register Now
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Jesuit Mission hosted an online Prayer Vigil for Myanmar and India on Wednesday 2 June.
Thousands of people from around the globe gathered together virtually in prayer for our brothers and sisters.
Leading the Vigil was Fr Tony Moreno SJ, President of Jesuit Conference Asia Pacific (JCAP), Fr Quyen Vu SJ, Australian Provincial, Fr Santosh Minj SJ, Provincial of Hazaribag Jesuits, Fr Stany D’Souza SJ, President of Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA), Fr Jun Viray SJ, Provincial of the Philippines and Sch. P.V. Joseph Buan Sing SJ, a Burmese Jesuit Scholastic based in Rome, Anna O’Halloran, Chair, Jesuit Mission Maytime Fair Committee, Sr Britto, Holy Cross Sister (India), Gillian Donoghue, Development Officer of Myanmar Jesuit Mission, Niang Mun Ciin (Mun Pi), who works with Myanmar Jesuit Mission.
