Mission Today issue 16

A CATHOLIC MISSION newsletter ISSUE 16

The World of God's Spirit Visiting Alice Springs I met an elder of the Aboriginal Catholic community. Each day she uses her pension money to provide afternoon tea to more than 20 children in her street who do not have someone to supervise them after school. For some children in difficult family situations, it is their only regular meal each day.

A recent report found that very little of the government money supposedly spent on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people actually made it to the people themselves.

So, how is the Church different? Our work is done by missionaries (who get a living allowance), by local members of the Aboriginal community working mostly as volunteers, and through dedicated Catholic teachers. Other Catholic parishioners also volunteer. The overheads aren’t there, just dedicated Catholics who care about Aboriginal people, listen to them and work with them.

Other indigenous people like the Q'eqchi in Guatemala are the poorest in their societies. They have had their land taken from them in ways we would find totally unacceptable today. The Church is not only with indigenous people, the Church is indigenous people. Faith-filled indigenous leaders are the key to positive change, and they are saying, “we want the support of the Church. Not in the same way as the past; we are the leaders now but we want the Church to be more involved... We need support as it can be very difficult for us.”

The invitation is there this World Mission Month. God has given us this time to proclaim our faith through our words, actions and lives in our own country, and with the world’s indigenous peoples.

Yours in Christ,

Martin Teulan National Director

In this issue: grassroots church sustained in faith

2

no Time to Waste, says sister maureen

8

the archbishop who spoke for the dead

3

A Mission to Save the children of africa

9

Guatemala Country and Church Profiles

4

pRIests left to dry after the flood

10

thamarrurr School

6

St joseph's primary school denman

11

EThiopia update

7

catholic mission's new website

12

GUATEMALA

Grassroots Church Sustained in Faith

Don Pedro and fellow catechists on a home visit pray for a sick man's recovery.

Don Pedro holding The Good News.

For the Mayan civilisation first contact with the Conquistadors’ guns, germs and steel began the precipitous slide into dispossession of lands, persecution, disease and poverty. The brutality of the recent civil war is the latest chapter in 500 years of exploitation and discrimination visited upon the indigenous people of Guatemala.

The social gulf between the descendents of the Spanish and the Mayans is stark. The former, comprising three per cent of the population live in the cities and own 70 per cent of the productive land. They control the nation’s finances, political institutions and military. The Mayans’ descendants, the Q’eqchi people, by contrast form a numerically superior though much neglected underclass. For the most part they are poor subsistence farmers eking a living on marginal mountainous lands.

The Mayans’ living legacy however is everywhere to see. It is as plain as the aquiline nose on Don Pedro Xoi Mucul’s face. His high cheekbones and his black almond-shaped eyes mirror the Mayan deities carved into the PAGE 2

ancient temples. Like tens of thousands of other lay catechists Don Pedro is the embodiment of the Church in Guatemala. He is a catechist in the remote village of Chapin Arriba in the parish of St Mary Pataxte, in Izabal Diocese.

“I am a Q’eqchi man,” Pedro says, “My role is primarily as a missionary to announce the Good News to my people. I am an instrument of the Lord to bring others to salvation.” With fellow ministers Pedro gathers the community together on Sundays for the Celebration of the Word and Holy Communion.

He presides at mid-week services, takes the Eucharist to the sick and dying, and offers prayers of

intercession in the traditional Q’eqchi style known as Mayajak.

“In Chapin Arriba a priest will come to celebrate Mass once a month or six weeks,” Don Pedro says. “The life of the catechist is demanding because you are the presence of the church for people for all the other days of the year.”

Don Pedro and his wife Rutilia Cus Caal have four children and work their own land for a living. Sometimes they hire their labour to large plantations for $8 a day.

Catholic Mission supports Guatemala’s lay catechists through training workshops that include accommodation and meals. Catechumenal materials are also provided and include the New Testament translated into Q’eqchi, are also provided.

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

GUATEMALA

The Archbishop who spoke for the Dead

Natural disaster will unite a nation in acts of heroism and compassion, but the monster of civil war will eat its soul, devouring its sons and daughters. For 36 years this was Guatemala’s story.

From 1960 to 1996, civil war characterised the Central American nation of Guatemala as the government-backed military battled an intractable guerrilla movement. This so-called “dirty war” fostered mass killings, assassinations, torture and summary executions. At least 200,000 Guatemalans were killed. In addition, up to 50,000 more vanished into unmarked graves in the jungle.

A precondition of the UN’s negotiated peace in 1996 was to establish a truth and reconciliation forum named the Historical Clarification Commission. Its sombre role was to document war survivor testimonies and tally four decades of human rights abuses. The Catholic Church, which had been a witness to the national calamity, also wanted to contribute to the search for truth and justice.

This cause was very dear to Archbishop Juan Gerardi Conedera. On his authority the Guatemalan Archbishop’s Human Rights Office (ODHAG) was set up. Six hundred trained volunteers were despatched to indigenous communities to gather evidence of human rights abuses. Carried out with due diligence the Church’s report Guatemala: Never Again ran to four volumes. In April 1998 it was submitted on to the UN authority for inclusion in their final report.

Guatemala: Never Again was the breaking of the terrible silence that had held sway of Guatemalans for so long. Its pages documented human rights abuses by both government and insurgents. But its findings were explosive, offering irrefutable evidence that Guatemala’s military had been MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

responsible for 90 per cent of all war atrocities. The vast majority of these heinous acts had been against the indigenous communities.

In publishing the report Archbishop Gerardi knew well that he was also signing his own death warrant. He had previously been the target of death threats and assassination attempts. In 1980, his unprecedented step of withdrawing all pastoral personnel from the Quiché Diocese had been a protest to the killings of his priests, religious and catechists. After reporting his actions to the Pope in Rome he had been refused re-entry into Guatemala and had had to live for four years in exile in Costa Rica.

There is no doubt that Archbishop Gerardi went to his death in a state of grace. He had celebrated Mass on Sunday evening April 27, 1998, two

Archbishop Gerardi’s murder was intended to make the Church cower from its mission it achieved just the opposite. days after Guatemala: Never Again had been presented to the UN and had returned to residence in Guatemala City, one block from the Presidential Palace. The intruders broke in, intent on stealing but one thing: this good man’s life. They battered Archbishop Gerardi to death.

Those murderers were later caught and sentenced in a court of law, but their political masters have never been apprehended. If however Archbishop

Archbishop Gerardi Conedera was brave in life and inspiring in death.

Gerardi’s murder was intended to make the Church cower from its mission it achieved just the opposite.

Today the Human Rights office Gerardi established holds the room of the martyrs where photos of all pastoral workers killed during the war bear witness to the living.

The Office is today a centre for culture, peace and reconciliation, documenting mass graves as they are still being uncovered. Its published findings keep alive the nation’s terrible history to keep faith with its original cause – the discrimination, exploitation and marginalisation of the majority indigenous population.

The anniversary of Archbishop Gerardi’s assassination is today a symbol of the people’s struggle for justice and peace. It serves to remind all who toil for human rights that the followers of Christ, the world’s greatest liberator, will never be silenced.

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GUATEMALA

Country Profile Guatemala is officially known as the ‘República de Guatemala’ and is located in Central America. It is bordered by Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, Belize, the Caribbean, Honduras and El Salvador.

Evidence of human habitation in Guatemala dates back to at least 12,000 BC. For thousands of years Guatemala was central to the Mayan Empire which extended from Honduras to Mexico.

Mayan achievements included the building of large, complex cities, writing, irrigation of crops, invention of a calendar based on astrological observations and the mathematical symbol for zero.

When Spanish explorers arrived in The Americas, they coined it “The New World”. Expeditions into Guatemala began in 1519. Conflict and infectious diseases devastated the native populations. On September 15, 1821, Guatemala officially proclaimed its independence from Spain.

Beyond the bloody domination of the indigenous people throughout the colonial period, Guatemala has experienced bloodshed in the 20th century. The conflict was deeply

coloured by Cold War politics. In 1960 a guerrilla uprising began and a brutal war of attrition between government forces and insurgents ensued for 36 years.

As many as 250,000 Guatemalans died in the ‘dirty war‘ before a 1996 UN-brokered peace accord.

Guatemala is rich in unique ecosystems, flora and fauna. Geologically, it teeters across two tectonic plates. This fault has caused major earthquakes that have resulted in the deaths of many thousands of people. In addition, Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, four of which are active: Pacaya, Santiaguito, Fuego and Tacaná.

The population of Guatemala today numbers 13.85 million. Life expectancy for men is 69 years and 73 years for women. The fertility rate per woman is 3.27 children. Seventy per cent of the population are literate. Infectious diseases affecting the population

include typhoid fever, hepatitis A, Dengue fever and malaria.

Around 90 per cent of people have Mayan descent, though nonIndigenous Guatemalans are known as Ladinos. Although Spanish is the official language, it is not universally spoken among the Indigenous peoples. There are 21 languages derived from the Mayan, including Ixil, Kaqchikel, Mam, Quiché and Tzutujil.

The distribution of income in Guatemala remains highly unequal with more than half of the population below the national poverty line.

Guatemala is also among the ten poorest countries in Latin America.

Church Profile

Catholicism in Guatemala began with missionary priests who arrived in the 16th century. Catholicism is the official religion of Guatemala.

About 65 per cent of the population are Catholics, with indigenous people adapting traditional forms of worship into the practice of their faith.

Thirty per cent of Guatemalans are in Protestant denominations with the fastest growing being evangelical churches.

The Church in Guatemala is comprised of 14 dioceses and two vicariates. The Archdiocese of Guatemala is the oldest and takes in the largest urban PAGE 4

population. Guatemala’s most senior bishop is Cardinal Rodlfo Quezada Toruno, who retired in October 2010.

Dioceses: Escuintla, Guatemala (Archdiocese), Huehuetenango, Jalapa, Los Altos, Quetzaltenango-Totonicapán (Archdiocese), Quiché, San Marcos, Santa Rosa de Lima, SololáChimaltenango, SuchitepéquezRetalhuleu, Verapaz, Cobán, Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. Apostolic Vicariates: El Petén and Izabal.

The congegration of faith at Chapin Arriba in Izabal Diocese reflects the deep faith of Guatemala's Q'eqchi people.

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

AUSTRALIA

Thamarrurr School When you think of bilingual schools you might think of countries overseas, in Europe, perhaps, where English is taught as a second language. You might even think of some exclusive and expensive school in Australia. You don’t necessarily think of the Australian Outback.

Wadeye (Wad-Air) is a remote town a few hundred kilometres away from Darwin at the western edge of the Daly River.

A population just over 2,000 people, with seven different languages from 20 different tribes make up the townsfolk. In fact, Wadeye is the largest Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory.

The town itself is totally cut off during the wet season and only accessible by sea or air.

Thamarrurr (Tam–ah–Rrah) School has a dedicated unit to develop educational resources in the dominant Aboriginal language of the town, Murrinh Patha.

Murrinh Patha (Moor–in–Putt–ha) is taught to each and every student. It is the predominant language used in Early Learning Literacy for all students right through to Year 3. English is a language they speak orally until then.

From Year 4, students can only learn Murrinh Patha in Religion class.

Sr Teresa (Tess) Ward OLSH has been teaching at Thamarrurr School for many years and says “It is very

important for the students. They have a right to learn in a language that is their own mother tongue.” English, for them, is not a second language, but a foreign one.

So they begin at school only speaking English, so they can understand it and have a comprehension of what they are saying.

“It is impossible to learn in a language you can’t speak.” Sr Tess says. “You need to understand the meaning of what you’re saying. Educationally and ethically, it is important for the children too. Research tells us that it is important for a child’s development if they are learning in a language that they speak at home.”

Even though they continue to learn Murrinh Patha in Religion classes Sr Tess would like to see the return of both languages taught right through until Year 12, as once was the case, rather than ending at Year 3.

Sr Tess is not afraid to say that she is “Pushing the point, but not having much success. This is doing a great disservice to the children.”

Once, all students were taught Murrinh Patha right through to Year 12, and Sr

Tess says “those former students have significant jobs because they learned right through.” This includes one of the school’s teachers who qualified with a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching.

For now, they at least learn their Religious classes in their native language.

“From their point of view, the child’s development is better when they are learning in the language they speak at home,” says National Director of Catholic Mission, Mr Martin Teulan, “They learn spoken English before they begin literacy in English which gives the students a context to understanding. From then they are learning their Religious studies in Murrinh Patha which speaks to their heart, their spirituality in a way that English cannot.”

Catholic Mission supports Mission in Australia, through the Home Mission Fund and around the world.

This World Mission Month we focus on Indigenous people of Australia and Guatemala. “We are many people speaking many languages that express one faith,” says Mr Teulan.

Teaching the Murrinh Patha language throughout a student’s school years is a strong indicator of future educational and career success, says Sr Tess Ward pictured above (right) with one of the teachers, Francella Bunduk (left).

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

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THE HORN OF AFRICA

ETHIOPIA UPDATE:

Africa’s Recurring Tragedy of Famine

Distribution of Famix high nutrition supplement in Bushulo Clinic.

Thousands of malnourished women and children arriving daily in the overcrowded Dadaab refugee camp in Northern Kenya highlights the plight of 11 million people in the Horn of Africa caught in the grip of the worst drought in 60 years.

“The warring armies in Somalia are exacerbating an already dire ecological situation,” says Catholic Mission’s National Director, Martin Teulan. He is describing the escalating humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa.

“Intractable drought preceded war,” says Mr Teulan, “The people fleeing into Northern Kenya and Ethiopia are crossing a drought-ravaged country that will not support life.”

Catholic Mission’s Ethiopian Director is Father Angelo Antolini. As Episcopal Vicar, Fr Angelo’s responsibility includes 100,000 square kilometres in the Afdar region of Ethiopian Somali.

In an email received from Ethiopia, Fr Angelo Antolini asks the Australian Church for prayers to bring aid to the millions who are drought affected in the Horn of Africa.

“As Episcopal Vicar, my responsibility includes the 100,000 square kilometres Afdar region in Ethiopian Somali which is very arid, very affected by the drought,” writes Fr Angelo. “The arid areas of Ogaden (Ethiopian Somali), Northern Kenya, all Somalia and Eritrea PAGE 6

are suffering because of the recurrent drought. The need is for [humanitarian] intervention.”

schooling, orphanages, neo-natal and post-natal care for nursing mothers.”

Travelling the 800 kilometres to Hargelle in Ethiopian Somali is difficult because of the incursions of Somali Liberation Front fighters.

It is about saving a generation of African children from starvation

“The journey to the area is risky and costly but it is for the benefit of the poorest (people) in the most politically unstable part of the globe. My thanks go out to the Church in Australia for keeping us in your prayers.”

Catholic Mission is the only Catholic organisation with global works specifically dedicated to children.

Over four years Australian donors have provided more than $747,000 AUD to fund critical children’s programs in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

“The recurring drought puts at risk the most vulnerable members of the community: nursing mothers, babies and infants,” says Mr Teulan.

“Today in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Kenya Catholic Mission is funding children feeding programs, medical programs,

The United Nations states that the rate of malnutrition among refugee children in the camps in Northern Kenya and Ethiopia has reached figures which have never previously been recorded.

“The question for the future of the Horn of Africa has gone beyond the expression ‘food security’. It is more serious,” Says Mr Teulan, “It is about saving a generation of African children from starvation.”

Mr Teulan appealed to the Australian Church to pray for the health of Africa’s children. “And we ask you to give your support to our children’s programs in the Horn of Africa as they are playing their part in helping children living through the worst drought in memory survive to adulthood.”

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

THE HORN OF AFRICA

No Time to Waste says Sister Maureen “We really appeal for direct help,” is the message Sister Maureen Elliott implores of Catholic Mission supporters to supply a critical feeding program operating from a clinic in south-eastern Ethiopia in a zone declared ‘in famine and emergency’ by the United Nations.

The Franciscan Missionary Sister works at the Bushulo Health Centre in Hawassa Vicariate, Ethiopia. The Bushulo Centre is the equivalent of a district hospital. It is one of 13 regional clinics provided by the Church in Hawassa Vicariate.

Most critically in need is the Dhaddiim Health Centre in the ‘SNNPR’ (Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Region), says Sr Maureen. It is located in the famine declared area that borders Somalia and North Western Kenya.

“Dhaddiim Health Clinic concentrates on feeding programs for malnourished nursing mothers and their children.

More than 28,500 people are served by the clinic each year,” says Sr Maureen.

Women and children coming to the

clinic are starving. “They meet the criteria of malnourished through weight and measurement,” says Sr Maureen.

Your donation will get to the people that are most in need. – Sr Maureen The humanitarian need is urgent, says Sr Maureen. “Millions of lives hang in the balance. We are one family, as one world. The global community must intervene now.”

Sister Maureen Elliott, FMM

But the view on the ground is heartbreaking, she says. “There’s still so much that’s needed on the healthcare and medicine side. We really appeal for direct help.

All donations received by Catholic Mission for the Horn of Africa are being directly transferred to the region to resupply the Health clinics, including Dhaddim, Ethiopia.

I can assure anyone who gives to alleviate this crisis your donation will get to the people that are most in need.”

Thousands receive health care every year at one of the health clinics in Ethiopia.

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

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THE HORN OF AFRICA

A Mission to Save Pope Benedict XVI has urged the world to action over the plight of 12.4 million starving people in the Horn of Africa.

“We must not be indifferent to the tragedy of the hungry and the thirsty,” the Pope told the audience at his weekly Angelus prayer in early August.

Compassion and fraternity are needed by vulnerable populations afflicted by famine, war and “the lack of stable institutions,” The Pope said.

The necessity of Catholics to provide material aid in this famine in Christ’s name was as clear as the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

“Jesus reminds us of our responsibility—to do everything we can to help those who are hungry and thirsty.

Ado refugee camp. Catholic Mission supports feeding programs run by 13 Catholic health clinics, notably in Bushulo, Fullasa and Dhaddiim in the Vicariate of Hawassa. Of these the highest priorities are supporting the feeding programs in the Fullasa and Dhaddiim clinics, both of which are in famine-declared areas of the Vicariate.

“It is an immense task. Let us not forget to open our hands and our hearts to come to the aid of those who need it,” said the Pope.

In the life of a clinic there are many stories bearing witness to Christ’s presence. The images on the following page are taken from Catholic health clinics in Haaro Wato, Galcha, Dongora and Fullasa. Each clinic runs feeding programs for malnourished women and children.

The four countries most affected are Somalia, Kenya, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia alone 4.6 million people are dependent on food aid to stay alive, including 120,000 in the Dollo

The calorie-rich concentrate ‘Famix’ is supplemented by enriched biscuits, sugar, oil and milk. A clinic will see over 900 people a day with many diseases caused by malnutrition.

A life affirming call to serve Catholic health clinics in Ethiopia save tens of thousands of lives annually, with many people walking long distances to use their services. Their reputation for medical excellence belies a lack of government hospitals in regional areas.

Pictured above is Sr Adelaide–a trained midwife– checks the welfare of a new born baby at the Haaro Wato Clinic.

Feeding programs operate from all the Catholic health clinics in Ethiopia. At the clinic at Fullasa, pictured above, a man and woman carry a sack of Famix home to feed their extended family.

At Arramo, Sr Clara poses with a group of participants from a personal hygiene workshop.

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MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

THE HORN OF AFRICA

the Children of Africa

A group of young adults taking part in a workshop on marriage instruction conducted by Sr Romuald.

People waiting in front of Dongor Clinic as a new patient on stretcher is admitted for treatment.

The value of your dollar in Ethiopia

Food - per day (lunch and dinner)

$1.97

One loaf of bread

11¢

One egg

5¢

100 kg maize (1 quintal)

$56.25

100 kg tief (1 quintal)

$67.50

Medication (starts at)

$2.80

Education supplies for 1 year (1 student)

$11.25

1 pair of trousers

$14

T-shirt

$5.60

Dress

$11.25

One month's salary for average $22.50 worker

The health of women and children is assessed at Haaro Wato Clinic.

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

Clinics provide free health care in rural areas where no services exist.

Jesus reminds us of our responsibility—to do everything we can to help those who are hungry and – Pope Benedict XVI thirsty

The wheat flour in the store room of Haaro Wato Clinic.

Fullasa Clinic: Little Sisters of the Poor speaking with relatives of patients who have to stay overnight.

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PAKISTAN

Priests Left to Dry After the Flood

© 2010 DFID (UK Department of International Development) http://flic.kr/dfid

One year after the torrential flood, hundreds of thousands still live under canvas. For Father Nadeem, who lives between two great rivers, Jesus is his companion and guide. The flood swept away his motorbike but a borrowed bicycle takes him where he needs to go.

The monsoonal days have returned to Pakistan and the air is muggy with the expectant rain. Father Mario Rodrigues, Catholic Mission's National Director for Pakistan, is touring the parishes which were worst affected by last year’s floods. A year after the floods he and a team of volunteers from Karachi have been distributing food hampers to poor families.

From one end of Pakistan to the other, the country they travel through is mud splattered and waterlogged. Yet Fr Mario marvels at the resilience of the common people. Wheat farmers who lost their crops have adapted to this abundance of water and planted out paddies of rice. The green shoots are showing above the water.

“In some places the assistance of NGOs and Government has seen houses rebuilt,” he says. For so many though he knows the flood is a debt burden they can’t afford. “People have taken out big loans for their houses and crops they they’ll be paying back for PAGE 10

many years.” It’s estimated that flood reconstruction will top $10 billion AUD. Father Mario says the priority in parishes has been repairing damaged churches. But the shock was seeing how miserably the priests are living, he says. “My stay with Father Nadeem at St Monica’s parish in Muzaffargarh district illustrates the situation of all.

‘Where do you sleep?’ I asked him. ‘On the floor,’ he said.

His village is on the strip of land between the Chenab and Indus rivers.

Everything was submerged.

“This humble and saintly man greeted me with great fraternity. His positive spirit hadn’t deserted him even though the house was a wreck.”

“His furniture, refrigerator and airconditioner had been carried away by the flood and all the electrical wiring in the house hanging down,

In 2010 CM forwarded $76,707 AUD to Pakistan via the National Director for flood reconstruction. destroyed. He handed me a piece of cardboard to use as a fan. ‘Where do you sleep?’ I asked him. ‘On the floor,’ he said.”

Fr Nadeem was sanguine in the face of Fr Mario’s alarm at his circumstances.

“He has a deep Marian devotion and used a motorbike to get about on pastoral visits, pray for the sick and hold rosaries in parishioners’ houses.

The flood took the motorbike and now he makes do with a borrowed bicycle.

“Father Nadeem wouldn’t dream of putting himself before his parishioners who are themselves poor with their own troubles. But I am very concerned for all the priests who are in this situation. They put themselves last. But God’s people need them to stay healthy and happy. They need our support.

“I would love to send you a photo of Father Nadeem but I lost my camera in the flood! Please hold these good men in your prayers.

God Bless you all, Father Mario.”

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

St Joseph's Primary School Denman

Mission Day

On Tuesday 9th August the Saint Joseph’s School community in the Maitland diocese held their Mission Day. "The message we wanted to deliver to our children is that All Children Are Sacred."

The teachers at the school sent us their story and photographs.

"Many children in other countries have a very different life to that of the students of St Joseph's. Our school of 76 students and staff walk a round trip of two kilometres to the local wetlands where primary students collected water and infants students collected firewood to use later in the day for our outdoor barbecue."

"Our two main aims were to give our students an insight into what children in third world countries may carry out on a daily basis to ensure that the families’ basic needs are met. Our other aim was to raise money for Catholic Mission to do our bit and to show our community that we believe All Children Are Sacred."

Once back at school we used our firewood (not water) to set up a barbecue and with the help of the teachers and mums we made and cooked a simple meal of Johnny Cakes for the classes to share.

One of the teachers from St Joseph's School collecting water.

To conclude our day a Catholic Mission volunteer spoke to us about projects that Catholic Mission assists with in Peru and Guatemala.

Students gather firewood.

Students simulate the life of children in developing countries.

MISSION TODAY A Catholic Mission Newsletter

A parent and her son ready to walk back to school with their bucket of water.

PAGE 11

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