SUMMER-AUTUMN 2017-18
Changing the world... one friendship at a time Empowering women to earn a crust Faithfully building a stronger Myanmar Tackling malnutrition through community gardening
Empowerment
A message from the National Director Season’s Greetings, As we enter the Holy Season of Christmas and prepare for the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support throughout 2017. Your partnership in our programs for children, communities and Church leaders is crucial in ensuring that those in need— often in the most remote parishes around the world—can receive the care and nourishment essential for a full life as God intends. In this issue of Mission Today, there is an overarching theme of empowerment through innovative education and training programs, with stories from missions in Ethiopia, Uganda and Myanmar. Additionally, there is an update on our work at home in the area of mission formation, including our advocacy for children in detention and our unique and immensely popular international and Indigenous immersions programs. Myanmar will be a key focus for Catholic Mission in 2018. This is a country that received increasing levels of media coverage for the wrong reasons in 2017, but Cardinal Charles Bo has delivered a consistently strong message of hope and peace, and our team around the country is excited to share with you the powerful story of the education reform the Church is leading in remote parts of Myanmar. If you are able, I encourage you to give what you can to support the global work of mission, which is so crucial at this time. Becoming a regular supporter of Catholic Mission is one way to ensure this work can continue efficiently with the greatest impact for those in need. Another is to consider Catholic Mission in your last will and testament. As always, if you would like to know more about supporting Catholic Mission, or if you have any feedback, I welcome you to contact us at any time. Thank you again for partnering with us, and please enjoy this issue of Mission Today. I wish you and your loved ones a safe and blessed Christmas and New Year.
Fr Brian Lucas National Director
In this issue Sharing the Journey together
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Changing the world... one friendship at a time
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Faithfully building a stronger Myanmar
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Tackling malnutrition through community gardening
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Watering the seeds of a strong community
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How farming is helping children in school
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Empowering women to earn a crust
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T: 02 9919 7800 F: 02 8904 0185 E: admin@catholicmission.org.au
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Cover image: A young woman from a vocational training enterprise in Meki, Ethiopia (for more, see page 14) Catholic Mission acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which this magazine was published.
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M i s s i o n To d a y - A C a t h o l i c M i s s i o n M a g a z i n e
Sharing the Journey together Jenny Collins-White
On 27 September 2017, Pope Francis launched the ‘Share the Journey’ campaign, a two-year action urging all people of good will to view those on the move with humanity, to open our hearts and minds and to work towards a shift in thinking. Catholic Mission has been engaged in this work for the last five years, especially encouraging in Australians an understanding of the plight of child asylum seekers and advocating for their protection through the work of the End Child Detention Coalition. The ‘Share the Journey’ campaign provides us with a renewed opportunity to reach out to parishes, schools and community groups through our Youth Envoys, who provide first-hand accounts of the perilous journeys they, and others like them, have made. The End Child Detention Coalition is building a network of alliances across faith and civil society organisations and recently held annual workshops (pictured below) to refine its three-year strategy. Young people, such as Hayat (see inset), who have come to Australia as refugees, provide a vital perspective at these workshops. If you would like more information about the End Child Detention Coalition, booking a Youth Envoy to speak, or about getting active in the ‘Share the Journey’ campaign, please email us at formation@catholicmission.org.au, call our toll-free number 1800 257 296, or visit www.endchilddetentionoz.com
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When Hayat was just eight years old, his father was arrested by the Taliban and never seen again. Nine years later, fearing for his own life, Hayat fled his home in Afghanistan, in search of safety. After traversing several countries, he was eventually detained in Indonesia for a year before being granted an Australian visa. Today, he is a student living in Sydney. He shares his story for the End Child Detention Coalition as a stark reminder of the fate that befalls so many like him who are desperately seeking a safe place to call home. ‘It was one of hardest times in my life. Every morning you wake up and the first thing you see is bars. This gave us all a deep sense of hopelessness every day. Can you imagine what it is like seeing the same walls every hour of every day for a year, in the same room as 42 other people? I had hoped to walk outside of the detention for even five minutes, but I never left my confinement until I was released almost a year later. Getting released and taking a breath of fresh air was for me like being reborn in the world.’
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Changing the world... one friendship at a time
As another busy year of immersions comes to a close, Catholic Mission’s specialist team is looking ahead to 2018, with Indigenous immersions in Alice Springs emerging as a key focus for next year. Patrick Fox, the Education Manager of Catholic Mission’s Immersions program, says the past year has been a successful one for the team, as preparations continue for a hectic schedule in 2018. ‘We conducted 28 immersions this year, with over 360 participants from all around Australia,’ he said. ‘We had school and adult groups coming from every corner of Australia; from Hobart, Melbourne, Mt Gambier, Perth, Rockhampton, Bathurst, Sydney and others. One of the strengths of the program is its reach to the vast Church network in Australia and around the world.’ The network of participant groups is extensive, but so is the network of in-country partners who host each immersion. The relationships developed with host partners in Timor-Leste, Cambodia, the Philippines, Zambia, and remote Australia are one of the most critical elements of the program. ‘Catholic Mission has been supporting these communities for years and it is through these relationships that we can offer participants these face-to-face privileged experiences, which is key to the richness of the program,’ says Mr Fox. Again in 2017, the program was a hit with participants, who lauded the transformative benefits of the uniquely tailored immersion experiences. ‘The immersion experience frequently awakens and draws out of students their compassionate orientation to the world,’ says Eammon Pollard, Principal of Mary Mackillop Catholic College in Hobart. ‘[It] achieves in ten days what we hope to achieve over four years.’ The Indigenous immersions, which in 2017 included Alice Springs, Kununurra, Warralong, Palm Island and Lombadina, were equally popular, especially with students. ‘I will take away from this immersion experience what I learnt about
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Aboriginal spirituality and culture in Alice Springs … and the way in which my mind has opened to learning more about this culture,’ said one student. ‘I hope that I can share my experiences and encourage the younger grades, and the people I interact with, to take the opportunity to visit Central Australia and immerse themselves in the culture, history and spirituality,’ said another. Alice Springs will become the primary destination for Australian immersions in 2018, says Mr Fox, with Cambodia and Timor-Leste to host a large proportion of the expected 30 immersion trips. Luke Tobin, Catholic Mission’s Formation Educator, says the immersion experience in Alice Springs, the place of the Arrernte People, is unlike any other. ‘The immersion offers an insight into the Arrernte’s deep spiritual connection to the land, their strength and resilience in dealing with colonisation, and some of the complexities of current issues,’ he says. ‘There are many people and places to experience which highlight examples of courage, persistence, healing and forgiveness as well as being made aware of continual struggles for Arrernte to this day.’ For more information about Catholic Mission Immersions, head to catholicmission.org.au/immersions or call toll-free 1800 257 296.
‘The immersion experience frequently awakens and draws out of students their compassionate orientation to the world. [It] achieves in ten days what we hope to achieve over four years.’ M i s s i o n To d a y - A C a t h o l i c M i s s i o n M a g a z i n e
Myanmar
Faithfully building a stronger Myanmar Joseph La Nu, a young seminarian supported by Catholic Mission’s work with Church leaders in Myanmar, faithfully welcomes the opportunity for peace and reconciliation in his troubled nation. The conflict in Joseph’s village left a deep sadness. Now, with his ordination only a few years away, the young seminarian is looking ahead to a more peaceful future, identifying negotiation and interreligious dialogue as the way forward. Catholic Mission’s support of seminarians like Joseph on their journey to the priesthood, receiving the most comprehensive formation they can, helps build the future leadership of the Church, especially in Myanmar, where the Catholic Church plays an integral role in addressing the challenge of healing a wounded nation, and building hope for a strong future. Joseph knows that the Church can be a significant agent of change, but that he and other future leaders must work together to achieve unity and peace. ‘All faiths must work together to resolve the issues in our country,’ he says. ‘People are longing for pastoral care and support.’ Guided by Philippians 4:13, ‘I can do all this through Him who gives me strength’, Joseph says he would like to be a strong leader for his people, taking education forward in his homeland. His own parish priest and his experience boarding at a local
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Catholic school inspired Joseph in discerning his role as a future Church leader. ‘The priest plays a very important role,’ he says. ‘One example is he can support young people and provide the basic needs to finish their education.’ There is personal motivation for Joseph wanting to bring about change. At the age of eleven, he sadly lost both of his parents amid civil conflict; his elder sister left with the enormous responsibility of raising their family. As a young boy at the time, Joseph could not appreciate the gravity of the situation. The whole country was affected, there was no work, and the healthcare system deteriorated. Now, with ordination nearing, Joseph and his fellow seminarians know how important their role will be in the future to guide, support and work with communities, especially young people. Joseph is particularly passionate about education and is committed to helping young students to finish their schooling and be a part of healing the nation. The Church is on the front foot in Myanmar with regards to education, healthcare and advocacy for peaceful dialogue and reconciliation. Your contribution now strengthens what the Church can do for the people of Myanmar, through its future leaders like Joseph.
‘All faiths must work together to resolve the issues in our country ... People are longing for pastoral care and support.’
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Seminarians at St Joseph’s Major Seminary in Yangon, Myanmar engage in an intense game of caneball, one of the most popular pastimes among young men in the country. 6
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M i s s i o n To d a y - A C a t h o l i c M i s s i o n M a g a z i n e
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Tackling malnutrition
through community gardening
Catholic Mission’s Christmas Appeal in 2017 goes to the heart of Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Hawassa. There, the Sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary are helping to overcome widespread malnutrition to create strong and healthy families through their Bushulo Health Centre and an innovative sustainable community gardening project.
Ethiopia The appeal, which raises funds for children’s projects in Ethiopia and around the world, features Yennesh, a mother whose two young children, Girma and Yesh (pictured, left, with younger sister Birtukam), were suffering from the acute malnutrition which is widespread in their hometown and throughout Ethiopia. With her husband Markos often away for weeks doing any farming work he can, Yennesh was left with little money to pay the high fees demanded by many of the medical clinics in the region. Thankfully, she found critical support through the Bushulo Health Centre, run by Sister Anna Kim and the Sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. ‘Looking back, I can see now that God has answered my prayers,’ says a relieved Yennesh. ‘Sister Anna and the Sisters have given me and my children so much practical support and love.’ Today, Girma and Yesh have improved in their health and nutrition thanks to the centre, but Yennesh knows that at any time she can access whatever urgent care she may need for herself or her children. Catholic Mission, through the generosity of its supporters, provides essential resources for the Bushulo Health Centre, which ensures that undernourished children and their families can receive free emergency food and medical provisions when they arrive at the centre. Sister Anna first came to the centre more than ten years ago, and since then it has been her dream to transform it
into a regional mother and child specialty centre, to address the high rates of local mother and child mortality and complications during childbirth. She and the Sisters also understand the need for long-term preventative programs for families with children experiencing repeated malnourishment, due to a lack of green vegetables and other nutritious food. With that in mind, last year they established the Bushulo Community Garden project. Women from the local community are brought together to support each other and to learn how to grow leafy green vegetables. Over 40 families, including Yennesh and Markos, have successfully completed the project, with only one of those families still requiring ongoing medical support for their child. The initative allows both women and men to learn similar growing and harvesting skills to ensure their families can have a sustainable and healthy future, but it requires support to continue so successfully. Catholic Mission is calling on its supporters over the Holy Season to help sustain the Bushulo Community Garden and ensure children and their families in Ethiopia can receive the vital health and nutrition support they need. Keep an eye out for the appeal throughout Christmas and the New Year, and please give generously. To support this appeal, please visit catholicmission.org.au/Ethiopia or phone toll-free 1800 257 296.
‘Looking back, I can see now that God has answered my prayers. Sister Anna and the Sisters have given me and my children so much practical support and love.’
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Watering the seeds of a strong community
Bishop Paul Ssemogerere says his diocese of Kasana-Luweero in central Uganda was established 20 years ago with inspiration from a single Gospel verse. ‘The first bishop of this diocese, Bishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, came with a vision that the life of the diocese may grow, and grow abundantly; he was quoting from John 10:10.’ Today, with many challenges facing the people of the diocese, particularly in terms of education, it is the support of Catholic Mission that upholds that vision and ensures vulnerable children can have a full life.
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Uganda
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‘I came with a vision to continue the growth and water the seeds that had been planted.’ The Diocese of Kasana-Luweero was founded at the end of 1996, having previously been a part of the Kampala Archdiocese. Its establishment, says Bishop Paul, was a blessing for the people—not just the Catholic community—who had endured years of destructive civil war. ‘This diocese had suffered civil war for many years which brought in the current government. Because of the war, a lot was destroyed; structures were destroyed, people’s morality had been destroyed, anything that had life had been destroyed,’ he recalls. ‘The coming of the Church was a blessing, we had a revived education system, and people were encouraged to see God as a loving and defending God.’ Education was seen as the key to moving forward. In taking the reins from his predecessor, Bishop Paul saw a great challenge. ‘When I came in over eight years ago, I looked at the work that had been done and thought, “What am I going to do?” so I came with a vision to continue the growth and water the seeds that had been planted.’ He decided there was one clear starting point. ‘The first thing I thought would help the people was a foundation of education. So, we have tried to make sure each parish has a primary and secondary school.’ That goal has seen the construction and repair of schools in the diocese and the development of a project to enhance the education of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The multifaceted project focuses on the empowerment of orphans and other vulnerable children by providing scholastic and economic support (see story on page 12). Across 12 primary schools in the diocese, over 270 orphans and vulnerable children have been provided with material to support their early education, including books and stationery. The
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children have also been supplied with essential toilet and sanitary facilities, which has led to increased attendance rates. While the children benefit from practical educational support, the diocese has also put in place training programs for caretakers and animators—over 280 of them. The aim of the training, says Bishop Paul, is to ensure that the vulnerable children enrolled in diocesan school programs are cared for by dedicated staff who understand their duty towards the children. It also boosts the project’s sustainability and continuity. The tuition fees for orphans and vulnerable children, which are provided by the program at the respective schools thanks to Catholic Mission, go towards administrative fees and the costs of meals, ensuring children can be healthy, focused, and performing at their best in school. There is still much to be done in a diocese where social issues such as domestic violence, poor sexual and reproductive health, and rising school drop-out rates are prevalent. ‘My dream as a bishop is to have a good nursery school so we can start with the children from scratch, not only to teach them about classroom work but also about societal, Church and cultural values,’ says Bishop Paul. ‘We are very grateful for Catholic Mission,’ he continues. ‘It is quite a blessing that we have been helped and we are grateful to the Australian people for their generosity. We have to ensure the assistance given to us to help others is put to good use.’
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How farming is helping children in school In Kasana-Luweero, 60 kilometres north of Uganda’s capital Kampala, two issues stand out to Bishop Paul Ssemogerere above all else. One is education, the other food security. Both, if addressed and managed in a sustainable way, can contribute to efforts to alleviate poverty, which is also prevalent in the region and has led to what Bishop Paul describes as a “nomadic” lifestyle for some. The soil is rich, however, and Bishop Paul says he is excited about the potential for Kasana-Luweero to become the region’s “food basket”, with demand coming from the city to the south, and neighbouring South Sudan and Kenya. Perhaps the greatest beneficiaries of sustainable agriculture and farming in the diocese, says Bishop Paul, are its children.
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M i s s i o n To d a y - A C a t h o l i c M i s s i o n M a g a z i n e
Uganda ‘The people of this diocese are not rich and not well educated,’ says Bishop Paul. ‘The key is education—education for the young ones but also formation for the adults. What we need is to teach people to grow food because this diocese can be a food basket. ‘We think as a diocese we can develop Kasana-Luweero as a place where people can come from different areas and learn and get educated in matters of agriculture, animal raising, and growing food and coffee.’ Bishop Paul Ssemogerere began his mission of leading the Kasana-Luweero diocese over eight years ago. He came with a vision to continue the strong growth that was started by his predecessor, Bishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, the first bishop of the diocese. Education was and still is a priority, but Bishop Paul also identified a need to develop sustainable practices in agriculture, such is the potential of the land and the people who live on it. ‘The market is there for good food; we need to teach people to use the land they are on,’ he says. So began a program of economic empowerment, benefiting not only those who can gain skills and experience to profit from the fertile land at their disposal, but also the most vulnerable young people of the diocese. The farm directly sustains the educational support program for orphans and vulnerable children (see story on page 10), which was established by Bishop Paul and the Diocese of Kasana-Luweero and supported by Catholic Mission. The farm, which contains a full piggery of 50 pigs, three acres of banana plantation and three acres of maize, is in
its infancy but is already changing lives. ‘The project is in its first year, but it’s quite a promising project,’ says Father Jude Masembe, the program manager. ‘Because a good number of people in the area have been offered employment and a chance to earn money. ‘Importantly, they can also take home what they learn and apply the skills in their own places.’ While it may be parents and older members of the diocese that benefit from the practical component of the agriculture school now, the income generated from the activities of the farm goes straight into the education support element of the program, ensuring children are direct beneficiaries of the success of the adult participants. Father Jude says this is crucial for the future of the community. ‘Bearing in mind that education is the key in the transformation of society, the diocese has put special emphasis on the education of the children, especially orphans and vulnerable children who would otherwise be left out of school. With your support of this project, the children are able to receive an education so that in the future they can be the agents of this transformation.’ Sister Mary Sylvia Nassozi, who is the coordinator of the scholarship support and economic empowerment program, is very positive about the prospects of the project. ‘I’m happy that this project has started’, she says. ‘I know that it is going to be a source of income and sustainability for our program. I know that many children and the community around here are going to learn from this project.’
‘Bearing in mind that education is the key in the transformation of society, the diocese has put special emphasis on the education of the children, especially orphans and vulnerable children who would otherwise be left out of school.’ Play video
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Empowering women to earn a crust
In February 2017, dozens of students, with their families and friends in tow, turned the Kidist Mariam Pastoral Centre for Women in Meki, Ethiopia, into a hive of activity. The occasion? The very first graduation ceremony for the centre and for 40 women who had completed its vocational training courses. It was a landmark moment for the Kidist Mariam Pastoral Centre and for the women; a clear indication of the progressive steps the Church and the community are taking towards gender equality in the region.
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Ethiopia
‘In this centre we have young girls, some of whom have been to the Middle East, looking for greener pastures, but found themselves in great difficulty; abused in a sort of modern slavery. As a Church, we cannot close our eyes to this.’
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The Kidist Mariam Pastoral Centre for Women was opened in February 2016 by the Community of St Paul, based in Meki, two and a half hours south of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. According to the project leader, María José Morales from the Community of St Paul, it was established to address an imbalance in gender equality in the local area. ‘It is a region where women are often marginalised, and their human rights seldom taken into consideration,’ she says. ‘Not having an adequate formal education hinders them from securing dignified jobs. Many of them are dedicated solely to the care of their children, depending mainly on the income of their husbands to provide for their daily needs, and their lack of tertiary training makes it almost impossible for them and their families to escape the ardent poverty in which they live.’ Bishop Abraham Desta of Meki says the centre is important in addressing poverty, which is the biggest issue in the region. ‘As a Church, I see that we really must focus firstly on education and to give people skills and vocational training so they can find jobs or create their own,’ he says. The Kidist Mariam Pastoral Centre, which is supported by Catholic Mission, offers professional training courses, such as painting, tailoring, food preparation and hairdressing, to young women of Meki who have not been able to complete their studies. ‘In this centre we have young girls, some of whom have been to the Middle East, looking for greener pastures, but found themselves in great difficulty; abused in a sort of modern slavery, ‘ says Bishop Abraham. ‘As a Church we cannot close our eyes to this.’
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Looking ahead, it is anticipated that approximately 240 women per year will acquire skills in one of the key vocational training areas. Each course curriculum lasts six months, or one semester, with students attending morning or afternoon classes depending on their circumstances. Advanced second-level courses in food preparation and tailoring opened up in the second semester of the inaugural year, while from mid-2017, second-level courses for hairdressing became available to students. Today, all 40 of those students who graduated back in February have found gainful employment in their specialist fields. Three have become teachers at the centre, while half of the cohort have created their own jobs in the community or are running cooperatives out of the Kidist Mariam Pastoral Centre, producing school uniforms for young local families. Bishop Abraham says the support from Australia is essential to the success of the program. ‘The Church needs people from all over to be united in solidarity,’ he says. ‘There is need and we must look into that need and see what we can do together.’
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