Delivering water to Fatunero

Jesuit Mission supports projects that bring water to remote villages in Timor-Lesté [break height="10"] [sub color="#f2664c" class="sub_section"] A Message from the heart [/sub] [content color="#6d6e71"] Please join CEO Helen Forde atop the mountain slope of suco Leorema in Liquiça, Timor-Lesté.[break height="10"]   [content color="#6d6e71"]

Last week, in late May 2019, I saw something unforgettable.

Without your amazing generosity it would never have happened.

Above: A young boy has the honour of opening the tap at the inauguration ceremony.

Clean fresh water arrived for the first time at the remote community of Fatunero in Timor-Lesté. It was the result of your kindness come to life.

I was privileged to be present for the inauguration and blessing of the water system, and shared this experience with Jesuit Mission's Chair, Paul Levins, our Programs Manager Siobhan Jordan, Fr Joaquim Sarmento SJ (Regional Superior of Jesuits in Timor) pictured below presiding at the event, and on his left Fr Erik John Gerilla SJ, (the Executive Director of our partner on the ground Jesuit Social Service) and his team, plus of course the entire village![break height="10"]

On their behalf, thank you for bringing the gift of water.

[break height="10"] [sub color="#f2664c" class="sub_section"] Your faith creating hope [/sub] [content color="#6d6e71"]

For as long as anyone can remember, children in this village have spent hours bringing heavy containers of water from the bottom of the valley up 500m to their families. Now they can spend that time at school.

For their parents, it is a significant milestone. It marks a confident step forward towards hope after the dark times of Portuguese and Indonesian occupation which brought so much misery. Now the 93 households in this community can access water to cook, wash, take showers, water their plants and improve their crops.

The community is so grateful: [quotes]"Thank you to our benefactors and friends who were like small channels of spring water, joining together and supporting us throughout this long journey of making water accessible to the community."[/quotes] [sub color="#f2664c" class="sub_section"][break height="10"][break height="10"] [break height="10"] [break height="10"] Water carried like a baby [/sub]   [content color="#6d6e71"] [break height="10"] A woman representing all the women in the community tenderly carried a full jar of water from the source of the water on the valley floor, more than 500 meters below. She poured the jar into the large holding tank at the top of the hill, symbolically joining the water to its source  and celebrating  the new life in their midst that they are entrusted to nurture and protect. [break height="10"] [sub color="#f2664c" class="sub_section"][break height="10"] [break height="10"]How was this feat achieved? [/sub] [content color="#6d6e71"]

Thanks to the technical expertise supported by our partner, and the hard work of local residents, several small channels of spring water were gathered into one huge tank (donated by a construction company) which serves as a reservoir. Then the water is pumped up 530 meters until it reaches the central tank in the middle of the village.

From the central tank, the water is distributed to ten smaller tanks, meaning it is only footseps, instead of hours, to access water.

All of this was achieved thanks to your kind support.More

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Young girls celebrate the opening and blessing of the Dining and Study Hall   [break height="10"][break height="10"][break height="10"] [break height="10"]Congratulations to all our supporters who have enabled the building of this dining and study hall (left) for oppressed Dalit girls in Tarwa, India.[break height="10"] Every year over 27,000 students (40% girls) are educated in schools established and run by Australian and Indian Jesuits across Hazaribag, India. Since 1951, many Australian Jesuits have served the most disadvantaged and oppressed people in Hazaribag Province in the northeast region of India. [break height="10"] [content color="#6d6e71"]Our commitment to providing education for the most marginalised children in India was key to our foundational mission 66 years ago, and continues to be an ongoing priority for Jesuit Mission today.[break height="10"] In order to redress the stark disparity in socio-economic conditions, the Jesuits made a long-term commitment to work with the most disadvantaged communities – Dalit and Indigenous people (in particular women and children).[break height="10"] Through hard-work and tireless dedication, the Jesuits have built a loving, trusting relationship with many communities across Hazaribag. And, thanks to the generosity and support of our Australian companions, there are now 65 Jesuit schools and two tertiary institutions offering inclusive education to over 27,000 students every year – almost 21,000 of whom are boys and girls from Dalit and Indigenous Tribal groups.[break height="10"] Whilst so many lives and futures have been transformed, there is still wide spread injustice and poverty for Dalit and Indigenous families across the province and so many families living in the margins.[break height="10"] The most extreme challenges are faced by girls born into the Dalit caste. Traditionally, education has been withheld, unavailable or impossible for Dalit girls. Girls experience the highest non-attendance and drop-out rates, as many parents still ask ‘why bother?’. Often a need for girls’ help in the home and in the village outweighs the perceived need for education.[break height="10"] One of Jesuit Mission's projects in Hazaribag has been the construction of a study and dining hall for the girls at St Joseph’s School in Tarwa, which is mostly for Dalits.[break height="20"] [/content] [image_caption]Students from St Joseph's School in Tarwa, India.[/image_caption] More

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"A poor man can only thank you. Building a hut is beyond my means. But I see this small gift from good hearted people."

[/sub_title] [content color="#6d6e71"]This is the story of U Sein Aye, recipient of a new home in the Thingangyun Slum in Yangon, Myanmar. The family are shown standing in front of the humble home that has vastly improved their standard of living.[break height="10"] Husband U Sein Aye (48) and wife Daw Nanmu (52) are flower sellers. On a good day they carry home 5 or 6 dollars ( 8,000 myanmar kyats). With this, they need to feed and support themselves and and their three children.[break height="10"]The family live in a "smelly stench of an area". To access their dilapidated house, they pick their way carefully across a bridge of broken wood. The house is so crowded children have to be rationed space to study and sleep. No one has any privacy. The house started leaning, and was threatening to fall at any time. The house was unsafe but the family had no alternative.[break height="10"]Then the family was chosen for shelter program, sponsored by your kind donations. They are one of more than 500 families that have been helped in this way. Thousands more live in these conditions. Amidst the squalor, the shelter program provides some solace and hope to those who suffer this distress and indignity.[break height="10"] [quotes]“A poor man can only thank you. Building a hut is beyond my means. But I see this small gift from good hearted people. May they know when the day is done and our hands and limbs are paining we now have place to rest and close our eyes for a sleep. My family members are exuberant and profusely happy. Our children can have a small space to study. All these were once our wild dreams, but now we have this simple house and that is the reality to be thankful for.”[/quotes][break height="10"] [image_caption] U Sein Aye's family in front of their new two storey house. [/image_caption][break height="10"]More

[sub_title color="#f2664c"][break height="30"]Jesuit Mission supports the work of the System of Rice Intensification in Cambodia (SRI). [break height="30"] Poor rural farmers in Cambodia are suddenly able to triple their rice yields. A new method which is astonishingly simple and effective is being taught. It’s a low-cost method of growing rice that doesn’t require any special seed or fertiliser. Jesuit Mission's partner not only teaches farmers this SRI method, they also accompany them every step of the way.[break height="10"]   [break height="10"]To read more about this project, please click here.More

[sub_title color="#f2664c"] There's no antidote but hope because there's precious little evidence of constructive action or any progress to sustain mental and emotional health. [/sub_title] [content color="#6d6e71"]By Father Michael Kelly SJ, the English-language publisher of La Croix International and La Civilta Cattolica.[break height="10"] Some days I feel like a people trafficker, though I'm not making a zack out of the trafficking. Other days I see myself as a latter-day Oskar Schindler. But mostly I just feel trapped along with the 1000 refugees and asylum seekers I'm doing my not-very-successful best to get the hell out of an open prison called Bangkok.[break height="10"] Their key features are well known — there are between five and six thousand men, women and children living as 'urban' refugees and asylum seekers (who don't have status as refugees conferred by the UNHCR); they are escapees of state-permitted persecution, from Pakistan, South Sudan, Iran, parts of Africa, even Vietnam — the tribal Montagnards collaborated with the Americans during the Vietnam War, and the Communist Vietnamese government won't forgive or forget that.[break height="10"] They aren't to be confused with the tens of thousands of tribal people from Myanmar who have been in camps along the Thai/Myanmar border for decades. Most don't want resettlement in a third country but to return to their own once the conflicts that drove them out are settled.[break height="10"] The Bangkok-based group live in neatly cared-for derelict conditions; they are prevented from working by Thai Immigration authorities; they spend most of their lives behind locked doors in tiny five-by-six metre 'apartments' that have one bed that often sleeps five or six people. Many of the children have no opportunity for schooling and sit at home all day watching movies on mobile phones.[break height="10"] They have a tiny toilet/bathroom area to satisfy the needs of all occupants; meals are prepared on a gas stove that is worked on a small veranda; a fan is all there is to bring relief from the tropical heat. And they venture out of their lodgings — which remain locked to keep visiting police at bay — only at night or when they know the circling police are unlikely to meet them on the streets or in shops. So far, so predictable.[break height="10"][/content] [quotes]“When I was even more innocent and unworldly than I am now, I was introduced to an author who wrote the best books of Christian spirituality I have ever read and contemplated. Sebastian Moore was an English Benedictine who died at 97 in 2014.”[/quotes] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"]The first book of his that I read was No Exit which appeared in 1970 and seems to no longer be available. In it, he drew on his encyclopaedic knowledge of English literature (he studied at Cambridge under the controversial F. R. Leavis), existential philosophy (Jean-Paul Sartre had a book with the same title) and the mystics, especially Ignatius Loyola and John of the Cross.[break height="10"] In tightly written, short and almost poetic chapters he addressed, as he did in later books, what happens to you when you hit the wall and have no exit from some very unpalatable experiences. His constant focus is on experience and looking for the one 'in whose light, we see light — Christ'.[break height="10"] Moore's genius is in bringing to his readers that thing which only few writers have ever done and not many Christians seem to understand — what the Gospel of John portrays as Jesus' moment of glorification: his crucifixion. Without a deep sense of paradox, Christianity is unintelligible. Irony must be a Jewish invention if Jesus' message is anything to go by.[break height="10"] Irony and paradox as portrayed by Moore are the only things that sustain me here in Bangkok. They suggest hope. Otherwise it's just one more instance of innocent and unmerited suffering following another: predatory abuse and extortion from the Thai police; UNHCR officials who neither listen nor understand; mindless bureaucrats in the NGOs who are allegedly dedicated to serving the needs of the refugees but in reality just treat individuals as statistics.[break height="10"] It's a world infected by fear, and the fears are fed by paranoid gossip that do the rounds in the community very rapidly. There's no antidote but hope because there's precious little evidence of constructive action or any progress to sustain mental and emotional health. [break height="10"][/content] [quotes]It breaks the refugees' hearts when they aren't believed by the UN officials. These officials then deny them their natural rights or any due process, and falsify their narratives because the refugees have inadequate English (the only language the UN will use) to explain why returning to their homeland would be suicidal. [/quotes] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"]They fail the UNHCR tests even when they present documentary evidence of the enduring fatwa against them that would mean death if they went home. And why? Because, surprise, surprise, the document is written in Urdu, not English. The UN won't consider it till it's in English, and the asylum seekers don't have the money to pay for its certified translation.[break height="10"] It breaks the refugees' hearts when their children or old people are ill and they have no money to call on the resources of a medical system that is among the best in Asia.[break height="10"] It breaks the refugees' hearts when families are separated because some members are caught by the local immigration police and imprisoned indefinitely — without any due process or sentencing — in a process that makes the actions of Donald Trump's border police in breaking up families coming into the USA from Mexico look a commonplace.[break height="10"] Even those with refugee status accorded by the UNHCR wait years — most now between five and eight years — for any government to take an interest in their resettlement. The Americans who created most of the refugee messes in the world are particularly tardy.[break height="10"] About two thirds of the people I know have been rejected in their claim for refugee status.[break height="10"] Even if all those with refugee status get resettled, there will still be thousands here in Bangkok with nowhere to go — no refugee status to be claimed by countries resettling them, and terrified to return to their home country for fear that they will be killed: Christian converts from Islam with known identities; victims of Pakistan's murderous blasphemy laws; even gays whose sexual orientation means death in many places still.[break height="10"] Back to Sebastien Moore and No Exit. Or, more accurately, back to my knees. I ask myself from time to time should I just own up to the refugees and asylum seekers and tell them I agree with Thomas Hobbs that life is 'nasty, brutish and short'? Sometimes I feel like it.[break height="10"] But as my friend, John Menadue, wrote recently in his blog, Pearls and Irritations, reminding us of something Graham Greene said ages ago: 'The only unforgiveable sin is despair,' which in traditional Catholic terms is the 'sin against the holy Spirit'.[break height="10"] Tempted as I am to commit that sin, I refuse. But where does that leave me and the asylum seekers and refugees in my community? Just waiting and listening at the foot of the Cross, sure of nothing more than that God didn't just look and lament what he saw. He did something about it. The Resurrection.[break height="10"] [break height="20"][/content] [image_caption] A Pakistani Christian asylum seeker husband and wife hold hands at a market in Bangkok. (Photo by Tibor Krausz/ucanews.com). [/image_caption][break height="10"] [content color="#6d6e71"]Click here to read the heartbreaking story of one of the 700 Pakistani asylum seekers helped by Father Michael Kelly SJ in Bangkok. "A Pakistani Catholic on a Sticky Wicket" explains how "Khalid Samuels" was forced to flee after rescuing his sister from her kidnapper.[break height="20"] [sub_title color="#f2664c"][break height="30"]Jesuit Mission supports the work of Fr Michael Kelly SJ in Thailand. To help, click here[break height="10"][break height="30"][/content]More

[sub_title color="#f2664c"] Fr Jinhyuk SJ shares his experiences in Cambodia on St Ignatius Feast Day, 2018. [/sub_title] [content color="#6d6e71"]In 2005 I was sent to work in Cambodia. As you know, the long period of civil war left landmines all over the countryside. This tragic legacy left a total of 64,662 persons (as of 2017) died and physically challenged/ emotionally scarred. I was assigned to a vocational training center for these victims of landmines and also polio at a place called Banteay Prieb. One encounter in which I never forget is an encounter with one girl who came to ask me to dress her wound. When, sitting directly in front of me, she showed me the wound of her amputated leg, I was overwhelmed at seeing her scar so closely. Although the foot was missing, the nerve system which connected it with rest of her leg seemed to be still alive.[break height="10"] Then, one day, at prayer during my annual retreat, I was contemplating the scene of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet. In my contemplation, all of a sudden, the vivid image of a foot appeared. Then, one after another, there appeared the legs of other amputees in the center, the shabby prosthetic foot of a man who was the chief welder, and the sculpture teacher’s amputated legs. I recalled in my heart the stories of people who tried to commit suicide after having stepped on a landmine.[break height="10"] Then, in my prayer, I asked Jesus to wash their wounds by washing their feet one by one. But, I realised that there was no foot to be washed! I could not help bursting into tears. It was so painful and heart rending for me to realise the reality of these people. For the first time, their wounds and suffering entered deeply into my heart.[break height="10"] This experience changed my way of seeing and relating to the reality before me in the center. Having gazed on the wounds that they showed me, I came to realize three things clearly.[break height="10"] First, I saw how wounds can become a channel of light and hope while losing their power of death. (This power of death prevents us from living as who we are). In general, those who come for training at the center are very vulnerable, wounded in body and soul. There were people who never gone outside their homes before coming to the center due, not only to difficulty of mobility but also to the social stigma attached to being disabled. (Cambodians tend to believe that those who became the disabled have bad Karma. Therefore, in general, their disability tended to be perceived as more personal problem rather than socio-political problem. This kind of mindset can marginalize the disabled and make the disabled the poorest of the poor in Cambodia.) Many suffered from low self-esteem, despair, and sense of loss. When they came to stay for one or two years in the center, they encountered there a community of people with similar stories. The common sense of vulnerability provided a safe environment. They did not need to hide their wounded bodies and souls. They were able to be there as they were. It was really consoling to see the shining face of people who had begun to accept themselves. Composed as it was of the vulnerable, despite the occasional conflict and difficulty, the community was filled with a spirit of healing. Many people regained a hope in which was long dormant in them. They found an inner fountain of life through sharing their joys, sorrows, hopes, challenges, and difficulties. In and through their life in community they were able to celebrate being alive and to recognize and accept their dignity as human persons. One episode in particular showed how they drew strength together.[break height="10"] Inspired by the FIFA World Cup 2006, one day, we played a soccer game. During the game, one man kicked the prosthetic leg of another student instead of the ball. The person who did the kicking felt pain because the leg was so hard. But the kicked one felt no pain since his leg was an artificial. This incident made everyone present laugh and laugh. Every time they bumped each other, similar incidents happened—incidents only possible games played by those who have artificial legs or are compelled to limp. Their weaknesses and limitations were not the cause of feeling let down. Such moments made them a source rather of joy. Like a ray of light, joy came when we celebrated our weaknesses and we laughed a lot, accepting together our mistakes with great humor. For me, this joy was like a taste of heaven and an experience of the kingdom of God, which united us as one.[break height="10"][/content] [quotes]“In this way, I saw how the divine Spirit can transform our wounds into the channel of light and hope in a community that makes room for weakness and vulnerability. In this inclusive community, hope becomes contagious by encountering those who radiate hope in and despite their suffering.”[/quotes] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"]Second, the wounds of these people invited me to confront my fears and my anxiety about self-worth, which I was tempted to suppress rather than accept. Their sense of loss, their struggles to accept themselves, and their bursts of despair touched the equivalent in me. While they were being healed and experienced their precious dignity, I sensed deeply that I was privileged to be their partners and companions on a healing journey. Seeing and listening to their wounds, weaknesses, and hopes for the new life, I saw myself in them. They showed me the truth of who I am through their becoming who they are.[break height="10"] Third, usually, wounds become our center of attention. I learned that if I gazed only on my own wounds, I could be trapped by the power of death. However, gazing upon wounds of others can help me to connect with the wounds of Christ, our risen Lord, over whom death no longer has power. So I learned that Christian mission should begin by fixing its gaze upon the wounds of Christ in order to be in partnership with his healing mission for the transformation of a broken world. In due course, I realized that the wounded, vulnerable, and poor people are very powerful to the extent that they have power to transform me into more authentic person. They led me to encounter with Jesus through their presence. They have helped me to grow in compassion, hope, self-understanding and freedom for service. Christ sets people free. Working through the wounded people in the center, Christ helped me to join in the journey of liberation! Through allowing the wounded Christ to wash my feet, I have learned that God opens my eyes to see Christ in others more clearly.[break height="10"] After the ordination, I was sent to back to Cambodia Mission. I worked in the rural parish communities of Kampong Thom Province, which belongs to the prefecture of Battambang. Under the leadership of Msgr, Kike Figaredo SJ, we have been trying to live ‘our vocation to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society’.[i] In his encyclical letter of The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis explains the meaning of Jesus’ word, “You yourselves give them something to eat!” (Mark 6:7) ‘It means working to eliminate the structural cause of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor and doing ‘small daily acts of solidarity in meeting their real needs’.[ii] Education is one of the most effective ways to respond to Jesus’ invitation. That is why we have participated, directly and indirectly, in the education of local children and youth.[break height="10"] The parishes run hostels for boy and girl students, and three kindergartens. In order to share a healthy food with them, we cultivated rice together in organic ways. One day, I went to see the rice field in its golden color whether it was ready for harvesting. Suddenly I felt curious about how many grains one seed of rice can bear. So I began to count the number of grain. I was surprised to find that only from one of stems, there were more than 100 grains. For the first time I realized the enormous potential of one tiny seed. While I was astonished and struck by the potential of one seed, a face of one student flashed into my mind. (His father was unemployed and had to sell his land due to false accusation by the authority. Due to over-fishing and dam-projects in the upper Mekong river area and climate change, a small fisherman like his father could not promise him further education.) Affected by this family circumstance, this student was depressed about his future. In order to forget this reality, he did something inappropriate. So I was absorbed in some problems of this student at that time.[break height="10"] Later on, I realized that I had become blind to the great potential of this student since I narrowed down my focus to rest only on some of his weaknesses. The little seed enabled me to realize the importance of how I see. I thought myself, ‘Now, my eyes can recognize the amazing capacity of a little seed. How about recognizing the potential of the person with whom I live?’ It was another turning point for me. The tiny rice seed awakened me to find a way of becoming a person who lives in hope. I learned that to live in hope is to live with eyes that recognize the potential of a person including oneself. In other words, it is to see oneself and others in the eyes of Jesus who nurtures our potential rather than weaknesses and failures. This helped me to have a more helpful dialogue with the student, empowering both him and me as a result. In that sense, I believe that education is a way of empowering all of us to reach full potential in life.[break height="10"] In order for the seed to grow and bear fruits, there are so many factors involved. Most of all, continuous attention and caring! There is a saying that rice grows by hearing the footsteps of a farmer. As it is with this saying, to live in hope is to allow the seed to be provided with soil, wind, sunshine, water, fertilizer, and micro-organisms, and to be nurtured. It is to be patient and humble. It is to remind of us that we are under loving care of a great farmer, our God. Humble seeds are light. They can be scattered easily.[break height="10"] I believe that each of us here is a seed of hope and a seed of the Kingdom of God. We are carriers of this seed of hope. We grow together when we hear the footstep of the real farmer, our God. When we continue to embrace each other in the way we see the potential of a tiny seed, we know that we can give ourselves to nurture communities of solidarity, compassion, and sharing, which can fulfill our most genuine need of being connected.[break height="10"] Today I witness the vivid expressions of faith, hope, and love that come from your desire to respond to ‘our call to be an instruments of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society’.[break height="10"] Let us imagine the joy of Christ, his joy at your reflecting his light by recalling the miracle of multiplication of loaves and fishes through your offerings. You may want to hear how your spirit of generosity and actions of solidarity bear fruit in persons whom you may never met in person.[break height="10"] I would like to dare to say that I am the one of the persons who has been nurtured by your shared love and hope. Also I came here with all those whom you chose to become your friends. I am really grateful for your sincere solidarity of hope and friendship.  Som Or Kun! (Thank you in Khmer). [break height="20"][/content] [image_caption] Fr Jinhyuk SJ presents these words to a gathering on St Ignatius Feast Day, 2018. [/image_caption]   [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="30"]If you’d like to read more about Jesuit Mission's work in Cambodia click here[break height="10"][break height="30"][/content]More

[sub_title color="#f2664c"] This Craft Group found a special way to help poor and vulnerable people around the world. [/sub_title] [content color="#6d6e71"]It warms our hearts to see local community groups combine their social activities with meaningful purpose. We’ve been very thankful to have the lovely members of the St Ignatius Parish Craft Group in Norwood support us with their generosity.[break height="10"] The St Ignatius Parish Craft Group started out to bring people together over a nice cup of coffee. Now, these go-getters aged mostly in their 70s and 80s meet every week without fail and have helped communities around the world through their talents, compassion and enthusiasm.[break height="10"] Julie Tranfa, the organiser of the Craft Group explained to us how the gatherings took off - “Initially we planned to meet once a month, but then the women asked for once a week. The group was so productive, we thought, “What can we do with all these crafts we’ve created?”” So the group started to sell their craft works and donate the money raised. At first, they chose to donate to local causes, and then they started to look for other groups in need around the world – including Jesuit Mission.[break height="10"] Six years on, the Craft Group of 12-16 ladies (and 1 man!) continue to meet every week to create beautiful crafts like knitted nativity sets and embroidery to sell in the parish a few times a year. Julie described to us how wonderful it’s been to see friendships grow through the Craft Group. [break height="10"][/content] [quotes]“We’re there for companionship and friendship. It’s a very nourishing environment; they come to be with others, with the bonus of being there for others… It’s a receiving and giving experience. Receiving from being there together in the group, and giving to the wider community.”[/quotes] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"]This year the group’s aspirations are growing as they plan to branch out of their parish and set up craft stalls at local markets.[break height="10"] What a blessing this vibrant group are to Jesuit Mission and to the vulnerable communities we’re able to help with their support.[break height="10"] We’d like to say a big thank you to the St Ignatius Parish Craft Group in Norwood for using their talents and friendships to support communities both local and abroad![break height="20"][/content] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="30"]If you’d like to start up a fundraising group of your own, we would love for you to get in touch with us on (02) 8918 4109 or engagement@jesuitmission.org.au. [break height="10"] Or find out more about community fundraising events for Jesuit Mission >[break height="30"][/content]More

[sub_title color="#f2664c"]Mary’s retirement hasn’t turned out quite as she first expected – and she is thrilled about it.[/sub_title] [content color="#6d6e71"] Retirement is often thought of as a time to relax, slow down and enjoy life. But then there are some very special and kind-hearted people like Mary who see this as something a little different. She considered it a time to give back to people in need. [break height="10"] Growing up in the Sydney suburb of Neutral Bay, Mary was always aware of Jesuit Mission in her community. She vividly remembers Jesuit Mission’s annual fundraising event, the Indian Bazaar, held at St Ignatius’ College, Riverview. “As a small child, it was very exciting,” recalled Mary, “I visited the Indian Bazaar on and off many times over the years and became reacquainted with it as an adult – it’s a wonderful event.”[break height="10"] After retiring from a career in education administration in 2007, Mary decided she’d like to get to know more about Jesuit Mission and generously volunteered to help at our head office in North Sydney. Nine years later Mary is a dear and valued member of our volunteer team. She comes in one day a week to cheerfully assist us with office administration, and each year she works as part of the committee that ensures the success of our Indian Bazaar. On top of all this, she often helps us out with extra days as a committed ‘jack of all trades’ who’s willing to lend a hand wherever needed.[break height="10"] Mary laughed when we spoke to her about how special she is to us -“I’ve had a great time! The staff at Jesuit Mission are wonderful. Everyone is welcoming and happy – it’s a small office and such a happy place to work.”[break height="10"] Kind volunteers like Mary help Jesuit Mission keep administration costs down, so our funds can go where they’re needed most for poor and vulnerable communities. Our volunteers are a vibrant and vital part of our Jesuit Mission community.[break height="10"] We simply couldn’t do the work we do without volunteers like Mary. Thank you, Mary![break height="20"][/content] [quotes]“I’ve grown close to the other volunteers. It’s a great social outlet and I’ve made great friends among the volunteers. I can’t imagine retiring again – from Jesuit Mission!”[/quotes] [quotes_author color="#000"]- Mary[/quotes_author] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"][/content] [image_caption] Mary (centre) with fellow volunteers at the Maytime Fair. [/image_caption] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"]If you’re interested in volunteering for Jesuit Mission just like Mary, we’d love to hear from you. Helping hands are always needed at events and in our office.[break height="10"] Find out more about volunteer opportunities with Jesuit Mission >[break height="30"] [/content]More

[sub_title color="#f2664c"] Pore Ghale is a 40 year old Nepalese man, who Kep and the Jesuit Prison Ministry team recently helped return home after being in the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok. [/sub_title] [content color="#6d6e71"] Before his time in immigration detention, Pore had spent 15 years in a Thai prison, during which time Kep and the team helped him keep body and spirit together.[break height="10"] Pore’s story is unique, but his hardship is common among those in Thai prisons. Growing up in a remote village in Nepal, Pore lived in extreme poverty. He lost his father when he was just 6 years old and his mother at 17.[break height="10"] When Pore’s mother passed away he moved to Kathmandu and got married, but he couldn’t earn enough money to support his wife and newborn daughter. Without options and desperate to claw his way out of entrenched poverty he was inadvertently drawn into the transport of illegal goods by his brother-in-law in Thailand. He was caught, charged and sentenced to 15 years in a Thai prison, far from his home, his wife and his tiny daughter. Pore couldn’t eat or sleep for worrying about his family – he’d only wanted to provide for them and now they would have to survive without him.[break height="10"] Almost all the prisoners Kep and her team visit have stories that echo Pore’s. Without basic human rights, desperate for opportunity to provide for their families, men and women living in extreme poverty are very vulnerable.[break height="10"] Kep and the Jesuit Prison Ministry in Thailand offered Pore support, and helped him write to his wife and form a connection with his growing daughter. Pore never asked anything of Kep except that she help his daughter get an education so she could escape a life of poverty.[break height="10"] Thanks to the generosity of donors, Pore’s daughter Muna was able to go to school in Nepal while Pore was imprisoned, and is now a thriving, well-educated 16 year old.[break height="10"] When Pore was finally released from prison, he wasn’t yet free. He was immediately transported to the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok because he didn’t have the appropriate papers for Thailand. Pore feared he would never return home or see his daughter again. He feared he’d have to live in the appalling conditions in Detention where he shared an unventilated 8 x 20m room with 130 men, who had been known to sleep in shifts because of the lack of floor space.[break height="10"] Thankfully, Kep was once again there to offer kindness and support and she helped Pore organise visas for his return to Nepal and arranged his air ticket home.[break height="10"] Pore’s dream then came true when he was reunited with his family in Nepal, and he and his daughter Muna are now getting to know each other after such a long, difficult separation.[break height="10"] Pore expressed his joy at being home and sent thanks to Jesuit Mission supporters in Australia:[break height="10"][/content] [quotes] “I am thankful to you all for helping me stand in front of my daughter as a proud father. I will do hard work. I wish to dedicate this life in the hands of God. I promise to become a better person … I was lost and alone as a young man, but I found the best helping hands. I consider myself lucky for having found them."[/quotes] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"][/content] [image_caption]Pore was finally able to reunite with his daughter Muna in Nepal.[/image_caption] [content color="#6d6e71"][break height="20"][/content] [call_action_button color="#6d6e71" link="/our-impact/" background="#ffd04c"]READ MORE[/call_action_button] [button_action link="/donate/" text="DONATE" background="#f2664c" color="#ffffff"]More