We would like to thank all our supporters for their valued and ongoing support this year. As our office will be closed from 24 December and reopening on 11 January, we leave you with a video Christmas message from our CEO Helen Forde and our friends at Xavier Learning Community in Thailand. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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Thanks to your support, five-year-old Rami from Siem Reap Cambodia has bravely overcome life threatening heart surgery.
From an early age Rami had developed a growth disorder which left her physically stunted and often too breathless to play.
“One day she fell down because she just did not have the strength to run anymore. We sent the parents back to the doctor to ask if anything could be done,” - Sr Denise Coghlan RSM, Director of Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia and project partner of Jesuit Mission.
Rami and her then pregnant mother spent three weeks in hospital, where Rami received her heart surgery that was made possible from blood donations from her community.
Thanks to your generosity, her hospital expenses were covered, allowing her family to ensure Rami’s safe recovery.
For many years, Rami’s family have been a beneficiary of the Jesuit Mission supported Promoting Reconciliation through Reflection program in Cambodia, which assists the quality of life of 5,000 marginalised youth through income-generating grants, mobility devices as well as providing mental and physical health support.
Rami’s mother Lakena was born with a physical disability in her leg and met Rami’s father Jett from working in the program in Siem Reap.
This Christmas her family has even more to celebrate, as Rami joyfully welcomes a new baby sister.
“Now Rami is running around our Centre, playing with her sister, the puppy and even being naughty. Thank you Jesuit Mission for being part of this little miracle,” - Sr Denise.
[break height="10"]Posted 24 November 2020
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The COVID-19 pandemic is no obstacle for determined Xavier Jesuit School students in Cambodia, who eagerly ride great distances in rain, hail or shine to their campus after six months of school closure.
With your support, staff and students have overcome immense challenges of remote learning, when the Cambodian government imposed heavy restrictions on community life in March in order to control the spread of COVID-19.
“With the help of mobile phones we have been able to teach classes remotely and deliver worksheets to those who live far away,” - Father Jinhyuk Park SJ, Director at Xavier Jesuit School and project partner of Jesuit Mission Australia.
Founded in 2015 by Jesuit Service Cambodia, the school is committed to provide affordable, quality education to students from Sisophon, one of the poorest provinces in the country.
This year however, students of vulnerable families fell into deeper levels of poverty and hunger, as casual employment opportunities disappeared with people being forced to stay inside.
Some families were forced to reduce the number of meals they have per day, as they simply did not have enough food and became dependant on your financial support.
“We supported families through income-generating activities such as mask production and distributed 100 emergency packages for the most vulnerable families” - said Father Jinhyuk.
Combined with the challenge of the pandemic, torrential rain in October brought severe flooding, spoiling rice fields, damaging the livelihoods of many Khmer villagers and bringing areas of the school underwater.
However, the students continue to demonstrate their resilience, by prioritising education and even playing in the flood waters.
“It is fantastic news to hear how the school has responded and to see that the students continue to flourish. It seems that no pandemic or flood can slow these students down,” -Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission.
You can provide a child with access to a quality education, by purchasing a bicycle for them from Jesuit Mission’s Gifts for Change program.
With each gift purchased, you will receive a card to share with your loved one.
Browse Gifts for Change [break height="20"]Posted 24 November 2020
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In late 2020, Jesuits in Central Vietnam responded to a flood crisis that uprooted the lives of thousands of people.
After many days of irregular, torrential rain, six successive typhoons combined with the discharge of water from nine hydroelectric dams, thousands of vulnerable families were left stranded in the provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam, with no access to food, water or shelter.
Jesuit priests, nuns, Buddhist monks and local governors collaborated in creating a relief program for flood victims that provided 20 tons of rice and emergency assistance to 2,000 vulnerable families.
Pastoral halls of 40 parishes were used to distribute 2,000 packs of food supplies and drinking water. Financial support was also distributed to repair 500 damaged houses.
With the floods decimating over 300,000 hectares of rice and fruit plantations, and killing 50,000 domestic animals the Jesuits provided seedlings and livestock to restore the livelihoods of the most vulnerable.
Posted 24 November 2020
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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, students from poor families in Cambodia like Kanya are at high risk of dropping out of school.
Our Xavier Jesuit School program is working to make sure these students are able to stay on the path to a brighter future.
Kanya is a scholarship student at Xavier Jesuit School, located in one of the poorest provinces in Cambodia.
Like many schools around the world, Xavier Jesuit School was forced to close its doors in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant, for over six months, the school’s 700 primary and secondary students had to return home and continue their learning remotely.
The school’s 54 scholarship students – young people from marginalised families living in remote villages across Cambodia – were the hardest hit.
Many students like Kanya have returned home to find their families fighting for survival.
For a huge number of vulnerable families, the pandemic has brought crushing poverty – taking away jobs and livelihoods.
People already living day to day have been pushed further into the margins, and students returning home are compelled to put aside their studies to help support their family.
When Kanya returned home, at first she attended her Year 9 Zoom classes. Then, she disappeared.
Concerned, Kanya’s teachers did not rest until they were able to contact her. When they finally reached Kanya by phone, she revealed that a prolonged drought affected her parent’s crops, leaving the family in heavy debt.
With no options left, Kanya’s mother and sister were forced to find work as cleaners at a construction site 520 km from their village.
“Kanya told us she had been in Kampong Saom helping her mum to pay the debts and her mobile phone had been broken, so she couldn’t join her classes,” Fr Jinhyuk from Xavier Jesuit School reported. “Kanya was devastated with her situation.”
However, the team from the School was there to support Kanya every step of the way. As Kanya cried rivers of tears, they encouraged her to speak openly with her mother about her desire to remain in school.
Thankfully, Kanya’s mother gave her blessing, and Kanya returned to school.
Funded by the generous support of our donors, the Xavier Jesuit School has been providing:
Find out more about the school program.
Kanya's story appeared in our Christmas Appeal 2020.
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Madonna, published by the Australian Jesuits, has accompanied Australians in their daily prayer and spiritual growth for more than 120 years. It is more than a magazine. It is a community. Jesuit Mission Australia has long been an important part of that community.
Despite a great love for the publication by those who read it, subscriber numbers have fallen to the point that print publication is no longer sustainable. The Jesuit Communication team are working to turn this around.
While those who know Madonna love it - there are many in the community who are not familiar with the publication.
If you are a subscriber, we invite you to help keep Madonna alive by recommending it to family and friends, buying a gift subscription or two or donating one to someone on the margins.
If you are not a subscriber, we invite you to consider subscribing.
For more about Madonna, how to subscribe, purchase a gift subscription or donate a subscription visit Madonna .
[break height="10"]Posted 27 October 2020
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Your support is helping us adapt our projects to meet the areas of greatest need amidst the impacts of COVID-19.
Refugees and people seeking asylum in Angola, Africa have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Restrictions have left many households without access to basic essentials, like food and hygiene materials, or the means to support their families.
To meet immediate needs, our partner, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Southern Africa, purchased and distributed food packages containing oil, maize meal, salt, and rice, plus hygiene packs for 318 refugee families in the Lunda Norte province.
Back in March, we started a project with JRS Southern Africa, providing livelihoods skills training in pastry-making and culinary skills to 100 refugees living in Lovua Refugee Settlement. But the training had to stop after just a few weeks when the government declared emergency restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19.
To help vulnerable people continue to develop new skills and become financially independent—while keeping safe—the focus of the training shifted to making face masks. This also gave community members access to affordable masks for protection from the virus. JRS Southern Africa recruited 30 seamstresses who had recently completed the Jesuit Mission funded vocational skills training program. They were tasked with making 20,000 masks and, so far, they’ve already produced 10,120 masks!
Thank you for your support to continue reaching the people in greatest need!
“Last year, I benefited from cutting and sewing training in which I learned new techniques. This year, the project team chose me to be the group trainer…and gave us the challenge of sewing homemade masks. We were given pieces of cloth, thread, and the model for masks. We started sewing 50 to 60 masks a day. As sales went up, I got a lot of income which greatly improved my economic situation.” - Kally Kasawu, sewing group trainer
[break height="10"]Posted 27 October 2020
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With the help of supporters, our partner, Myanmar Jesuit Mission (MJM), is on the ground getting vital food to where it’s needed most.
As cases of COVID-19 rise at an alarming rate in Myanmar, the severe shortage of food is devastating communities. With borders closed and the economy collapsed, factories have shut down and supplies have dried up.
Over 70% of the population depend on day labour jobs to feed their families but, with movement restrictions, they have been unable to work. And home quarantine in slum areas is incredibly difficult when five people are sheltered in one room.
MJM is working around the clock to get lifesaving food supplies to families in desperate need. They have made food distributions to four slum areas in Yangon, Taunggyi, and in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Myitkyina. Each distribution has reached 500 or more households – supporting almost 15,000 people in total.
As well as providing food, MJM is supporting quarantine centres by supplying masks to keep around 3,000 people safe from the spread of the coronavirus.
““Safety and solidarity” is our motto at this time. We are revising our plan for six months of emergency response, with food and livelihood support in a few places.”- Fr Mark Raper SJ, Myanmar Jesuit Mission
Supporters like you can make a huge difference for people living in the slums of Myanmar without enough food to survive. A $200 gift can provide a family with essential supplies, like food, for six months.
To help vulnerable people overcome hardship during the pandemic, please support our local partners, such as Myanmar Jesuit Mission, through our Emergency Action Fund
DONATE [break height="50"]Posted 27 October 2020
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The power of a bridge for connecting communities and making everyday life safer.
For the seven villages located along the edges of the river between Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey Provinces in Cambodia, it was once a dangerous climb down a slippery slope to the water each day for vital things like bathing and washing clothes. And it was difficult for people to cross the river to the other side – which meant work opportunities were limited and children often missed out on school.
With the generous funding of a supporter, we’ve been working on the construction of a cable suspension bridge, sixty metres in length, across the river to safely connect the 7,000 people living across both sides.
On 4th October, the bridge officially opened to the public, named “Bridge of Happiness!” This bridge is a way of strengthening friendship between people on different sides of the river. It opened the day after the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assis - when Pope Francis issued the Papal Encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” on fraternity and social friendship.
The bridge area has become a happy place where people gather. They can safely walk down the stairs to wash their clothes and bathe. Children and teachers can access schools across the river. And the church can extend outreach services to support more villages.
Posted 27 October 2020
Jesuit Mission Australia and the Australian Jesuits have joined an international group of church groups supporting Fr. Stan Swamy, an 83 year old Jesuit arrested in Ranchi now in jail for doing what he’s done for decades – supporting indigenous tribal people being victimised.
In a campaign entitled “Stand with Stan”, the Jesuit groups and organisations want to throw a bright light on the injustice being done to Fr. Stan Swamy and those he serves.
“Fr Stan Swamy has been peacefully supporting the protection of rights of the Adivasi people in India for the past 15 years, in keeping with his religious vows, our Jesuit tradition and the constitution of India,” said Fr Brian McCoy SJ, Provincial of Australian Jesuit Province.
For more than 12 months, Fr. Stan has been harassed by police for the support he lends to the Adivasis (Aboriginal people) in Ranchi, a city in India’s north east, not far from the region where some 50 Australians have served Hindus, Muslims along with Christian and non-Christian tribals over the last 70 years.
The 83 year old Jesuit activist has been charged with fostering division by collaborating with Maoist rebels and was moved to detention in Mumbai, a city on India’s east coast. This work in support of the rights of the indigenous, non-Hindu tribals or “Adivasi” people in and around Ranchi is work that the Australians and others have done for decades and still do.
Fr. Stan, a human rights defender has been in Bagaicha, a Jesuit-run Social Action Centre, for the past 15 years. Like Jesuit Mission’s Uplift support program that empowers Dalits, his work has been primarily with the Dalit Indigenous community, defending and protecting their rights as enshrined in the Constitution of India.
“We at Jesuit Mission are outraged by the arrest and detainment of Fr. Stan Swamy, an incredible man who has devoted his life to serving Jharkhand’s most vulnerable people,” said Helen Forde, CEO of Jesuit Mission.
This is not Fr. Stan’s first brush with Government security forces. His room was raided twice, once on Aug. 28, 2018 and again on June 12, 2019. Then he was questioned for more than 15 hours over five days in July - August 2020.
“As Jesuits involved in education, caring and defending the rights of the poor and vulnerable all over the world, we stand in solidarity with Fr. Swamy and other human rights defenders in India, strongly condemn his arrest and demand his immediate release,” said Fr. Brian.
In a video posted hours before his arrest, Fr. Swamy said that the federal agency combating terror activities — the National Investigation Agency (NIA) — had interrogated him for 15 hours and "Now they want me to go to Mumbai, which I have said that I won't go," he said in the video, citing his advanced age and the pandemic as reasons for his preference to have further questioning through video conferencing.
However, he was arrested and taken to Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state. A special NIA court in that city remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days on October 9.
In Hazaribag town, the base for Australian Jesuits in India, local Jesuits Frs. Maria Louis and Christopher Kujur organised a silent protest, with many lined up to protest on the side of a main road in a 2 km chain.
“We got very good support for this demonstration from all the religious priests, sisters (very many) and brothers and other lay persons," Fr. Bob Slattery SJ reported. The Australian Jesuits have been in Hazaribag since the 1950s.
“The demonstration was from 4.15 p.m. to 4.45 p.m.,” Fr. Slattery reported. “Of course I doubt very much that our government will listen to our plea to release Fr. Stan. More and more we are under a dictatorship.”
Fr. Stan’s case is linked to the Bhima-Koregaon area in Maharashtra state, where a violent clash occurred on January 1, 2018, in which one person was killed and several others injured.
Following investigations, police alleged some nine activists, including Fr. Stan, conspired to organize the violence and have links with the banned Maoists group. Fr. Stan denies the charges.
Written by Michael Kelly SJ, writer for Jesuit Mission.
Posted 16 October 2020
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