ONE Magazine June 2018

one

June 2018

God • World • Human Family • Church

A Brighter Future in Armenia In India, A Refuge for Women Ukraine’s Sisters Do More With Less Starting Over in Ethiopia

one COVER STORY

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A Source of Light Children with disabilities find help and hope in Armenia text by Gayane Abrahamyan with photographs by Nazik Armenakyan

FEATURES

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Giving 200 Percent Sisters in Ukraine do more with less text by Mark Raczkiewycz with photographs by Ivan Chernichkin

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This, Our Exile In Ethiopia, the church helps exiles text by Emeline Wuilbercq with photographs by Petterik Wiggers

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A Refuge to Mend and Grow Bethany Sisters help abandoned women in Kerala text by Anubha George with photographs by Meenakshi Soman

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A Letter From Lebanon

by Angela Bourudjian

DEPARTMENTS

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Connections to CNEWA’s world Focus on the world of CNEWA

by John E. Kozar

tA woman who lost most of her family in flight faces an uncertain future at Mai-Aini refugee camp.

OUR WEBSITE onemagazinehome.org OUR BLOG cnewablog.org

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION CATHOLIC NEAR EAST WELFARE ASSOCIATION

Volume 44 NUMBER 2

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You’re the heart and soul of kindness throughout CNEWA’s world 32 Front: Svetlana Hovhannisyan, a mother in Armenia, holds her youngest son.

Back: A young woman has taken refuge at Adi-Harush refugee camp.

Photo Credits Front cover, pages 3 (upper left), 18-20, 23-25, Nazik Armenakyan; pages 2, 12-13, 15-17, back cover, Petterik Wiggers; page 3 (top), CNS photo/ Paul Haring; pages 3 (upper right), 26, 28-31, Meenakshi Soman; pages 3 (lower left), 34, Tamara Abdul Hadi; pages 3 (lower right), 6-11, Ivan Chernichkin; pages 3 (far right), 4, 22, 35, Michael J.L. La Civita; pages 5, 14, CNEWA; pages 32-33, Heather Dito; pages 36-37, 39, John E. Kozar/CNEWA. Publisher Msgr. John E. Kozar Editorial Staff Paul Grillo Deacon Greg Kandra Michael J.L. La Civita Elias Mallon, S.A., Ph.D. J.D. Conor Mauro Timothy McCarthy

6 ONE is published quarterly. ISSN: 1552-2016 CNEWA Founded by the Holy Father, CNEWA shares the love of Christ with the churches and peoples of the East. CNEWA works for, through and with the Eastern Catholic churches to identify needs and implement reasonable solutions.

CNEWA connects you to your brothers and sisters in need. Together, we build up the church, affirm human dignity, alleviate poverty, encourage dialogue — and inspire hope.

Thank you for reaching out to young and old in more than a dozen countries Please share our web address with family and friends via email, Facebook and Twitter

Officers Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Chair and Treasurer Msgr. John E. Kozar, Secretary Editorial Office 1011 First Avenue, New York, NY 10022-4195 1-212-826-1480 www.cnewa.org ©2018 Catholic Near East Welfare Association.

All rights reserved. Member of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada.

In the United States: www.cnewa.org In Canada: www.cnewa.ca

connections

to CNEWA’s world

Journey to Lebanon Cardinal Timothy Dolan, CNEWA’s chair, made a pastoral visit to Lebanon in April. He was joined by CNEWA board members Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver and Bishop Emeritus William Murphy of Rockville Centre.

It was an opportunity for the leadership of CNEWA to see firsthand how this special agency of the Holy See accompanies the local churches on the ground — and get a personal glimpse at what CNEWA’s generous benefactors are making possible.

The prelates called on the Good Shepherd Sisters, who run a clinic and social service center in eastern Beirut serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as the local poor.

They met with Armenian Syrian refugee mothers at the Karagheusian Center in the Beirut neighborhood of Bourj Hammoud. In the city of Zahleh, overlooking the Bekaa Valley, the delegation met with Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop John Darwich, B.S., who took them to meet Muslim and Christian Syrian refugee families under his care, living in camps or substandard housing.

The board members celebrated the Eucharist with grade school students and seminarians, and paid courtesy calls to patriarchs and other church leaders, as well as the president of the Lebanese Republic, Michel Aoun.

The many people the cardinal and his colleagues met were gratified and humbled by the cardinal’s presence — and the feeling was mutual.

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“There’s a lot of suffering here, the tears of refugees and the memories of war,” he said in a video report shortly before he left Lebanon. “But there’s also hope, confidence, joy and life! God bless Lebanon, God bless America, and God bless the Catholic Near East Welfare Association!”

You can see exclusive videos with highlights of the cardinal’s trip on our website at: cnewablog.org/web/ journeylebanon

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CNEWA Project Praised A leading Catholic philanthropic organization — Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, or FADICA — released a report in May citing some of the most innovative and successful programs of the Catholic community around the world helping to confront the global refugee crisis.

One of CNEWA’s own programs, the Mother of Mercy Clinic, run by the Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena in Zerqa, Jordan, was praised for being “inspiring and impactful” and hailed as one of 64 “innovative

OUR WEBSITE onemagazinehome.org OUR BLOG cnewablog.org and solutions-oriented Catholic ministries globally that are accompanying and aiding refugees and migrants.”

Supporting Youth in Ethiopia In May, more than 260 Catholic university students from southern Ethiopia gathered in Soddo, south of the capital of Addis Ababa, in preparation for a special assembly of the Synod of Bishops focusing on young people, to be held this autumn in Rome. CNEWA helped fund and organize the Soddo gathering, which included discussions and workshops on discernment, vocations, needs of different chaplaincies and hopes for the future.

In an email from the gathering, CNEWA’s regional director for Ethiopia, Argaw Fantu, wrote, “for the minority Catholics in Ethiopia, such occasions are very meaningful. … How wonderful to spend time and to share with them, listening to their challenges and hopes. … What energetic young people!”

Grateful in Jordan In May, a young visitor stopped by CNEWA’s offices in Amman, Jordan: a 2-month-old infant girl named Mariam, who had received medical care thanks to CNEWA’s support and assistance.

Mariam was born to refugee parents, but she was soon diagnosed with a hole in her heart.

CNEWA arranged for further treatment at the Italian Hospital, administered by the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, and she is now in good health. Her parents visited CNEWA to express their gratitude to CNEWA and to our family of donors who make all these things possible.

“What we do is not just a matter of providing food or milk or health care,” writes CNEWA’s projects coordinator in Amman, Doris Theodori. “It is a matter of love — as Jesus commanded us: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ ” Sewing in the Slums Teaching skills to women in Sagar, India — such as tailoring and dressmaking — has helped to lift hundreds of women and their families out of grinding poverty, writes CNEWA’s regional director in India, M.L. Thomas. After they complete their training, women are able to apply for local jobs and support their families.

“The program, supported by CNEWA, has also provided a platform for the sisters and priests of the local SyroMalabar Catholic eparchy to meet the parents personally and provide

counseling,” Mr. Thomas writes.

“The parents and teachers also met together in groups, which has helped them understand the value of education for their children and encourage them to go to school.”

Some 83 children have since enrolled in government schools, he continues, as the “children showed great interest and enthusiasm to learn. The project not only helped the children to learn, but also reduced their stress and depression.”

Only on the Web

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There is more to discover about CNEWA’s world online: • Join CNEWA President Msgr. John E. Kozar in a powerful video on how the CNEWA family witnesses the Gospel through its programs and projects at onemagazinehome.org/ web/evangelization • Read how a group of sisters is bringing hope to orphans in Eritrea — and discover how CNEWA is making a difference in many other lives in our new blog feature, “Stories From the Field.” www.cnewablog.org/web/fieldstories • See exclusive videos and read inspiring accounts of Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s Journey to Lebanon at www.cnewablog.org/web/journeylebanon

THESE AND MUCH MORE CAN BE FOUND AT CNEWA.ORG FOR DAILY UPDATES, CHECK OUT CNEWA’S BLOG, ONE-TO-ONE AT CNEWABLOG.ORG

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Accompanying the Church

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Giving

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Percent In a changing world, sisters in Ukraine do more with less

by Mark Raczkiewycz with photographs by Ivan Chernichkin

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Sister Martyna of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate teaches in Zbarazh, outside Lviv.

n Lviv, Easter celebrations ring through the streets, heralded from afar by the joyous singing of the liturgy. Between centuriesold monoliths of Habsburg-era architecture, apricot trees bloom in the city center, blanketed with tiny white blossoms. Lilac bushes complete the palette with clusters of purple flowers.

Taken together, the sights and sounds of Bright Week — a term used for the first week of Easter in the churches of the Byzantine tradition — convey a sense of respite after more than 40 days of fasting during Great Lent.

This tranquility suffuses the convent of the Sisters of St. Basil the Great all the more strongly, its spiritual peace augmented by the silence of absence. Many of the community’s 33 sisters are currently visiting other sisters in Ukraine as part of an exchange program with other religious houses to the east, where the Basilian Sisters — the

nation’s largest Greek Catholic community of women religious — are now present.

“And yes, they’re probably savoring shish kebabs right about now,” says Provincial Superior Mother Danyila Vynnyk, 39.

However, whether working in Lviv in western Ukraine — home to the majority of Ukraine’s Greek Catholics — or picnicking farther afield, the sisters can always be counted on to attend dutifully to their charism.

As if on cue, Sister Teofana Kaminska returns just in time for the afternoon liturgy.

On a typical day, the young woman awakens at 5:45 a.m. After the morning liturgy, breakfast and private prayer, she completes household duties and leaves to attend class.

Enrolled at the Ukrainian Catholic University, the country’s only Catholic institution of higher learning, Sister Teofana currently

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The CNEWA Connection t Sisters of the Order of St. Basil play with kindergartners in Lviv. u Basilian Sisters celebrate the Divine Liturgy with locals in their convent in the village of Berehy near Lviv.

Since the restoration of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine with the unraveling of the Soviet Union, CNEWA has worked diligently to encourage vocations and foster the faith.

CNEWA has supported the studies of young men and women through the Ukrainian Catholic University, helping in the formation of future priests, religious and lay catechetical leaders. We have also provided funds to support, in particular, the formation of the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great — the Basilian Sisters — and the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate.

Through these efforts and so many others — such as helping in the construction of chapels and churches, and offering prayerful spiritual support to eparchies and seminaries — we are nurturing a church that is continuing to grow. As one young priest told us last year, “the church isn’t to satisfy one’s personal needs — it’s about developing spiritually and building a community together.”

To help this community develop, call: 1-800-442-6392 (United States) or 1-866-322-4441 (Canada). studies to be a social worker. The 28-year-old also holds a law degree from a university in IvanoFrankivsk, located in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains.

Her varied skillset supports the principal charism of the order: to help socially vulnerable children. Instruments of the Basilian Sisters’ work include a primary school and two day care centers.

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The sisters also assist physicians at hospitals.

Sister Teofana has been close to women religious all her life. From an early age, guided by the example of others, she felt called to a life of service as a sister.

“The choice was difficult,” she says, comparing it to a train juncture. “The monastery is my rail; that’s my path. I have the strength

to carry my weight and do what God wants.”

To enter into religious life as a Basilian, Mother Danyila says, this sense of purpose is key.

“A step in the monastic life is a radical step. It requires courage to know that one belongs to God.” Inspired by this strength of conviction, women religious are going to great lengths to serve and uplift the people of Ukraine through an extraordinary period of war and economic and social unrest.

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hile estimates vary regarding the size of Ukraine’s largely Orthodox population — which is complicated by competing and partisan jurisdictions and the whereabouts of many internally displaced people — a recent poll by the Kiev-based Razumkov Center suggests that of those people living in areas of the country controlled by the government in Kiev, 9.4 percent identify as Ukrainian Greek Catholic. Just a fraction of Greek Catholic women have entered religious life; there are about 850 sisters belonging to a number of congregations of women, including 187 Basilian sisters.

Even as they seek to expand geographically, the rate of new vocations has been in decline for years. Currently, it stands at less than half the rate of 20 years ago, says Mother Danyila.

“The average age of a sister is 40 years,” she says. If the trend holds, she says, there will not be enough new sisters to replace those who will have died.

Times have changed since 1991, when Ukraine gained independence

amid the U.S.S.R.’s disintegration.

At that time, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church experienced a renaissance. Monasteries swelled with postulants eagerly proclaiming their faith.

“Values have changed,” Mother Danyila says. “There’s [growing] consumerism and individualism, both of which emphasize focusing on the self.”

Demographic shifts also play a role, to say nothing of the troubled economy that has been spurring them.

Recently, more Ukrainians have left the country seeking work elsewhere — particularly since last year, when the European Union approved visa-free travel for citizens of Ukraine to E.U. member nations.

By some estimates, the number of those who have left may exceed four million people, or nearly onefifth of the workforce. This results in broken families, with children deprived of one or even both parents, when grandparents are available to see to their rearing.

Coupled with historically low birth rates since the 1990’s, these factors have led to a shrinking pool of candidates choosing monastic life.

Sister Nataliya Melnyk, head of the council of superiors of women religious, says the “rebuilding stage” of the early 90’s offered a chance to forge an impressive network, consisting of 21 communities of women religious and their various institutions. But before long, these “new challenges” emerged in full.

“People still have the calling,” she says, “but more are afraid to make the final decision. There are more possibilities and choices in life.”

People — especially young people — often do not know which choices will bring them happiness, she adds.

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gainst a backdrop of changing needs, convents have had to do more with

less. For the Basilian Sisters in Lviv, sustaining activities include cultivating fruit and vegetables outside the city, and producing herbal teas.

Across town, Sister Yustyna Holubets of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate holds down two jobs.

The highly educated sister works as a geneticist specializing in

prenatal and palliative care to ease life-threatening pregnancies. She is also a psychologist. And she has also studied biological ethics in Rome.

Her community’s charism focuses on pastoral work and youth outreach.

“We are hospitable,” says Provincial Superior Mother Myroslava Yakhyments. “We serve where we are needed most.”

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One of the community’s 15 sisters who entered religious life in the Soviet era, she joined at age 15.

During that time, the government suppressed the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, forcing priests and religious to operate in secret.

Elected superior only ten months ago, Mother Myroslava says her community’s 112 sisters started working with children deprived of parental care in 1991, amid economic transition.

The sisters established a day care center for early development. And in 2013, they founded an orphanage called Home of Hope. With assistance from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, these institutions receive support from the Bridge of Hope project, which serves some 76 children across a dozen facilities — as well as many in government-run orphanages.

Mother Myroslava says the sisters provide comprehensive child care.

“We assist spiritually, as well as providing food and clothing and school supplies.”

Sisters from the Monastery of Holy Transfiguration in Berehy carry a large bag of sugar.

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She describes one such case: A toddler who lived his first three years in a prison, where he was born to an incarcerated mother.

“He wasn’t socialized; he couldn’t talk,” the superior recollects. “The sisters had to do everything. Now he is 7 years old and attends school.”

The Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate face the same longterm membership concerns as the Basilian Sisters, though Mother Myroslava focuses more on the logistics of the present.

“Our number one problem is financial. We’re not a commercial enterprise, so we’re always in search of benefactors,” she says.

Sister Andrea Yakynets, who teaches at the Ukrainian Catholic University, spots the silver lining of these limitations. “This motivates us to do new things, to plan ahead, to mobilize and do things better.” Above all, it demands one eye on the future — focusing on long-term benefits, rather than “one-off activities.”

Yet working with children carries different challenges than it did 25 years ago.

Mother Myroslava contrasts today’s children’s greater intellectual independence

with the more relaxed values of present society.

“They cancel each other out,” she says. “Children were easier to talk to; now we need new approaches and methodologies. They may be smarter, but they’re less interested in spiritual values, how to talk, to converse, to build human relations, even to shake hands.”

She adds that today’s youngsters quickly become dependent on smartphones.

“They don’t want to read a book,” she laments, joking that if parents once complained that their children never come home, now they complain that they never go outside and play.

The sisters are taking a hard look internally at how to reverse some of these trends.

“The world is changing fast and much relies on us,” says Sister Nataliya. “We need to offer something new. Yet how do we convey this?”

In particular, she says, there exists a certain stigma that likens joining a monastic order to a prison sentence. Thus, the sisters must work to improve messaging and introduce themselves in a different light.

“Those who know us better see that we are not a closed society,” she says. “We want to talk about serving the Lord as a blessing — that it’s one of the best things to happen in life.”

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s youth outreach has expanded throughout the network of Ukraine’s women religious, the sisters realize needs exceed their capabilities.

“There are too few of us,” says Sister Nataliya. “The more work we do, the more challenges appear.”

To compensate for the shortage of personnel, women religious have been enlisting help from the secular community — training people to either augment services or take them up independently under their guidance.

“This demands more time from us, more preparation,” she says.

“Obviously, this leads to fatigue or burnout, so this forces us to prioritize. This isn’t easy to do.”

For example, she says, if catechism is taught in one village, a neighboring hamlet will invariably ask for the same service.

In time, parish priests and sisters will outsource this to trained students.

In more dire situations, says Sister Nataliya, “certain services must be suspended because of burnout; otherwise we’ll lose more human resources.”

To avoid work duplication and unnecessary mistakes, weekly informational sessions are held where groups of 20 to 30 sisters can share their experiences on what works and what does not in their communities.

They also routinely bring in instructors to raise their qualification levels.

“This saves resources and time,” the head of the council of superiors says. “There’s enough work to go around for everyone — there’s no competition.”

Show Ukraine’s devoted sisters that their mission still matters Please help today www.ukrainecnewa.org

Some communities only have three or four sisters left. There are those communities that emerged from the underground, but struggled to attract new members.

That certain communities of religious women will eventually cease to exist, Sister Nataliya regards as inevitable.

“This is the life of the church, some will naturally disappear.”

Looking back at the church’s storied history, she says there are “hills and valleys in good and bad times.” Yet in the end, they accept what God has laid before them.

“Monastic life is a house of worship,” she says, citing only two certainties: “prayer and service.”

Although the sisters would prefer to concentrate on the prayer component more, they realize they are needed.

Sister Nataliya says that to persevere, sisters must assert themselves at 200 percent: “100 percent on their capabilities, and 100 percent of God’s.”

For now, doing more with less is the norm, and the sisters are making do with the multitudinous talents and dedication of their members.

Or as Mother Danyila says: “It’s about quality, not quantity.”

Yet, hope remains that the numbers will improve. Sister Nataliya points to a new generation of children growing up with catechism at school, community centers and church grounds — as with Sister Teofana.

This exposure could convince more to choose a monastic life.

“It will be very interesting to see what comes of this generation.”

Mark Raczkiewycz is editor at large for the Kyiv Post in Ukraine. His work has appeared in the The Financial Times, The Irish Times and Jane’s Intelligence, among other places.

MARK RACZKIEWYCZ OFFERS ANOTHER LOOK AT THE SISTERS OF UKRAINE ON OUR BLOG, ONE-TO-ONE:

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cnewablog.org/web/ ukrainesisters AND THERE’S EVEN MORE IN AN EXCLUSIVE VIDEO AT:

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onemagazinehome.org/ web/ukrainesisters

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Care for Marginalized

this, our exile In Ethiopia’s camps, the church helps refugees waiting for a better life

by Emeline Wuilbercq with photographs by petterik wiggers

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Editor’s Note: For their safety, all the residents of the Ethiopian camps are identified only by their first names.

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ith her hair tucked under a scarf, Netsanet busily brews coffee. It takes time to prepare the traditional beverage of the Horn of Africa, and customers are already arriving.

In the shady courtyard of her sheet metal and straw house, she has set up a café where her compatriots from the Mai-Aini camp in northern Ethiopia come to sip coffee, take their breakfast or just chat with this generous woman in her 30’s.

Despite her smile, her heart is full of painful memories of the world she left behind.

“It was horrible, but when you are far away, you forget these things,” she says. In this refugee camp, there are thousands of people such as Netsanet. They left their former lives, their relatives — sometimes even putting them in danger — and fled the country they love.

“My native city is beautiful, the weather is nice,” she continues nostalgically. “Here it is very hot, it makes my children sick.”

Her reasons for leaving are simple and are far from unique.

Ethiopia hosts the second-largest number of refugees in the African continent, sheltering more than 900,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers, according to United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees (UNHCR). They mainly come from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan, according to Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), the Ethiopian government’s counterpart of UNHCR, whose mandate is to receive and assist refugees and asylum seekers. Those from north of Ethiopia are sheltered in four The Adi-Harush refugee camp shelters some 12,000 people.

camps around the town of Shire, in the northern region of Tigray.

And they keep on coming.

“There is an average of 120 people who cross the Ethiopian border daily [in this way], up to 410 per day,” explains Mohammed Mitike, ARRA program head in Shire.

“More than 70 percent are young and more than 10 percent are unaccompanied and separated children. Out of the 180,000 registered refugees, only 40,000 are registered for food distribution.”

Some of these people may settle in the biggest town of the region, Mekele, or in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital where there are many urban refugees. Many others continue the road to exile, through Sudan and the dangerous Libyan route. Some dare the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea, where more than 3,000 migrants died in 2017.

“Secondary movements are a big challenge,” Mr. Mitike adds. In the camps, huge billboards show people blindfolded to highlight the danger of illegal immigration.

Netsanet knows the danger only too well. In 2013, Netsanet’s first husband, who had found refuge in Libya, asked his wife for money to pay smugglers to help him leave.

He attempted to cross the Mediterranean and drowned.

Netsanet eventually remarried — but her second husband also met a tragic fate.

Though he did not attempt the crossing, he was deemed too impertinent in the eyes of the authorities. When he dared to complain about the unjust demolition of their home, security forces took him to prison.

“They thought he was part of the opposition,” Netsanet adds. Two days later, her husband’s body was brought back home.

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The CNEWA Connection t Refugees at Adi-Harush celebrate a wedding liturgy. y Residents socialize in Mai-Aini refugee camp.

For decades, CNEWA has accompanied Ethiopia’s Christian communities, feeding the hungry during periods of devastating drought and famine and nourishing those who thirst for peace during times of conflict and hardship.

Our regional director in Addis Ababa, Argaw Fantu, has described our work among those who have sought refuge there. “International organizations, such as the UNHCR, are responding to the largest physical needs of refugees,” he says. “The church, however, focuses on those needs that are not being met — the spiritual and psychosocial needs of the people in the camps.”

Since 2014, CNEWA has been collaborating with the Jesuit Refugee Service in responding to the psychosocial needs of refugees in the camps.

“CNEWA has also been working with the pastoral wing of the Adigrat Eparchy to assist refugees in their faith journey during times of hopelessness,” Mr. Fantu continues.

“Hope can be regained through focusing on prayer during hard times; reading and sharing Bible verses together, being closer to sacramental services. But all these services can’t be provided by one or two priests alone. They trained catechists to assist them.”

CNEWA subsidizes this training and supports this important mission — helping to bring the people dignity, encouragement and hope.

To assist us in this effort, call: 1-800-442-6392 (United States) or 1-866-322-4441 (Canada).

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After the death of her second husband, Netsanet decided to leave at all costs.

“I became mad, I didn’t want to stay,” she explains. She needed to give her two children, now 12 and 4, a better life than what they knew.

Netsanet tried three times to cross the border but she was spotted twice because her baby was crying.

The third time, she gave him sleeping pills — a desperate act she regrets today because she believes it is what now causes him to cry so frequently in the café.

At times, Netsanet considers leaving the camp, trying to make her way illegally into Sudan, but the danger holds her back. The memory of what happened to her first husband is still there. She is also afraid of all the stories she has heard of human trafficking and trade in contraband. In 2017, a CNN documentary chronicled the fate awaiting many who flee and end up in Libya, where some are sold in slave markets.

So, Netsanet waits.

To follow her daily journey, and the journey of thousands of others like her, is to encounter a world of frustrating delays, heartbreak and homesickness.

But it is also to encounter a world where the church has been a healing balm — a source of prayer and possibility, and where people have also managed to hold on to that most elusive of qualities: hope.

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27-year-old musician named Robel is a compatriot of Netsanet trying to make the best of his life in exile. He knows many people who are bored in the camps. They would like to leave but are discouraged. Others have

managed to do it before him, either legally or illegally. Some friends have resettled in the West and have sent him money to set up his business in the Adi-Harush camp, about 11 miles from Mai-Aini.

He first opened a humble hair salon and then bought a small house to launch “Robi Video Center,” where residents of the camp can reload their phones for 2 birrs, the Ethiopian currency, and collect film on their flash drive.

“Everybody knows me here,” he says with a teasing little smile. No wonder: He is the only one in AdiHarush camp who has crossed the border to his native land three times.

The first time came when he was a minor. “The Red Cross took me,” he explains.

The second time, he wanted to flee the compulsory military service that had been established in 1995.

He managed to escape and crossed the border again. He was then convinced by a friend in the camp to go to Sudan. They were kidnapped there and taken back.

“They sent us to an underground prison,” he continues. For a year, he did not see the light of day, and says he was tortured. “Then, for six months,” he says, “we were responsible for preparing the rations of 20,000 soldiers.”

Currently, he wants to settle in for a while with his girlfriend and her 14-year-old son.

“I’m happy like that,” he says. His life is now in the camp. But for how long?

There are nearly 12,000 people living in this camp run by UNHCR and ARRA. In the afternoon, they try to stay out of the blinding sun.

The main street where the children play is littered with small shops, restaurants, cafés and a youth center. A few steps away from Robel’s shop, dozens of youngsters watch a football game. Host communities also cross the camp to return home. They usually sell water and charcoal to the people in the camp.

“We are trying to create links between both groups,” said Biniam Asefa, acting project director of Jesuit Refugee Service (J.R.S.) in this northern Ethiopian location.

But, he adds, there are tensions — particularly on the topic of

“When hopelessness is looming, these classes and services give them hope to dream for tomorrow.”

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“ faith is making our life a little bit easier."

Eritrea, and the disputed border territory that 20 years ago sparked a brutal war. The bloody conflict left an estimated 100,000 dead and more than a million displaced.

Though the violence has halted, a cold standoff persists — a state described in both countries as “no war, no peace.”

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bout 60 miles from MaiAini, another camp called Badme houses refugees.

Here, some of the children have never seen their homeland. A wellknown joke in the camps gives them a nickname: “Tecno,” the

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name of the Chinese manufacturer that assembles mobile phones in the country. “It’s because these children were assembled here,” explains a social worker.

Some other children are called “Touch,” because they only touched their country briefly before fleeing it with their parents.

Despite the sameness, the tedium, and the insufferable heat, the people in the camps are finding opportunities to develop new skills and think about a brighter future.

Some humanitarian organizations are taking care of the basic needs of the families. Other groups, such as

Children play outdoors in the Adi-Harush camp.

J.R.S., are also giving them psychosocial support or offering children recreational activities in the afternoon after school, such as traditional dance, music and drawing. This helps free up the parents to start their own businesses, and imagine a future beyond the daily boredom of the camp — boredom that can lead some to try and flee, putting their lives at risk.

Importantly, many in Badme also find solace in faith, and significant support is being provided through

the church. The parish priest of Shire, Abba Ghiday of the Ge’ez (Ethiopian) Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat — ministers to many in the camps, assisted by 14 trained catechists.

“These people regularly animate the daily faith journey of the refugees,” says Argaw Fantu, the regional director for CNEWA in Ethiopia. He says catechists are available to lead community prayers, teach classes for young people preparing to receive the sacraments, and conduct Bible lessons, among other things.

The priest and catechists are helping meet needs others cannot.

“Psychosocial and spiritual needs are the most important concerns that humanitarian organizations are not able to support, for various reasons,” Mr. Fantu explains.

“Especially when it comes to assisting them in their faith journey during such very challenging moments. When hopelessness is looming, these classes and services give them hope to dream for tomorrow,” he says.

“As a Catholic, I am happy to serve my people on behalf of the church,” says one of the catechists who requested anonymity.

“Faith is a major thing. Without praying, we cannot manage our life. We are restricted here; there is not enough food, not enough water, we can’t work, we can’t move from place to place.

“Faith is making our life a little bit easier.”

Also making life a little bit easier are “livelihood programs,” according to the social workers of J.R.S. One beneficiary of such a program is a 26-year-old mother named Abrehet, who receives a modest salary for sewing sanitary pads and diapers in the camp.

“It is satisfying to get paid for what you do,” she says with a shy smile.

She has been living here for the past eight years with her family.

Offer families adrift in Ethiopia a haven inside your heart Please help today www.ethiopiacnewa.org

“I don’t have the money to leave the camp. If I had, I would try my best, but it’s a risk to go outside.”

In an effort to convince people not to flee illegally, Ethiopia recently launched a comprehensive refugee response plan that is part of the Global Compact on Refugees.

This ambitious plan was conceived by the United Nations in 2016 to promote self-reliance. Indeed, the government of Ethiopia is planning to stop its “encampment policy” in the next ten years. As a result, refugees will be integrated into society by granting work permits and legal documents so they may be hired within Ethiopia — especially in its industrial parks that are central to foreign investors.

“It can be a good opportunity to help ourselves,” Abrehet explains in her tiny house. “We don’t really know the situation outside the camp, though.”

Her husband, Abrahale, left the camp for the first time recently for training. He earns 700 birr per month as a social worker — roughly $25 — for helping J.R.S. Despite the boredom and tedium of life in the camp, he is reluctant to leave. “I have a family, I can’t give them up,” Abrahale, 35, says. But this situation is stressful.

“I’m fed up,” he says in front of his wife and elder daughter.

“I become hopeless waiting for this resettlement.”

Many in the camp are looking forward to getting the famous letter they call “Congra,” for “congratulations.”

When they receive it, that means they are eligible to resettle in the West, and can leave soon. They dream of the day that letter arrives — and dream, too, of a better life somewhere, somehow. All they want is the chance.

But for now, all they can do is wait.

And pray. And hope.

“I’ll work anywhere where I can find a good job,” Abrahal says.

Emeline Wuilbercq is a French journalist based in Addis Ababa, where she serves as a correspondent for the African edition of Le Monde.

Her work has appeared in Jeune Afrique and The Guardian, among other publications.

THERE’S MORE ON THE PLIGHT OF ERITREANS IN ETHIOPIA ON OUR BLOG, ONE-TO-ONE:

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Care for Marginalized

A Source of Light Children with disabilities find help and hope in Armenia

by Gayane Abrahamyan with photographs by Nazik Armenakyan

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or 15-year-old Artyom Hovhannisyan, every movement is a victory. Confined to a wheelchair in a city without ramps, the boy depends on his mother to carry him from place to place.

Even at home, he has very limited space to maneuver; in fact, their dwelling barely warrants “home.”

Artyom’s mother, Svetlana, rears her five sons alone in a wooden cabin — a temporary structure erected following the devastating earthquake of December 1988.

What was to be temporary, however, has become permanent, and stands badly in need of repair.

The floor and ceiling have been rotting for years. Holes in the faded walls have been papered over with the boys’ drawings, diplomas and various certificates.

When she smiles, the lines on her face reveal years of concerns — years spent tending a small plot of land to try and feed her children while living on a monthly pension of about $90.

Around her cabin, about six miles from Gyumri, the second-largest city in Armenia after its capital of A volunteer assists a young visitor at the Emili Aregak Center in Gyumri, Armenia.

Yerevan, temporary settlements dot the landscape — a collection of small iron and wooden buildings erected nearly 30 years ago to shelter the suddenly homeless. Over the years, their inhabitants have left the settlement, moving to new buildings in the city. Now, only Ms. Hovhannisyan and her five sons remain. The eldest, 18 years old, will soon leave to join the army, adding another source of concern as Armenia’s army remains on guard.

But for now, Ms. Hovhannisyan finds solace and a sense of order by tending the earth. She has cleaned the stones from the garden and neatly organized them near a fence.

She has planted trees, tilled the soil and sowed flowers.

“I am not afraid of work,” she says. “I will do everything. But when my eldest son will be called to the army, I don’t know what I’m going to do, because he is my only help with Artyom.”

Every time she mentions his name, she fights back tears.

Caring for her son takes a toll, as Ms. Hovhannisyan has developed many problems with her spine and her veins. But a hope shines in her eyes when she watches, smiling, as Artyom plays with younger children.

They laugh, and Artyom manages to catch a ball thrown by a 3-yearold and toss it back. To his mother, it is another small victory.

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Artyom has cerebral palsy. He has been confined to bed for a year.

His world is measured by what he can see from his small window in his room: The neatly tended yard, his mother working the garden, the game being played by his younger brothers.

“I understand everyone,” Artyom says. “I know it is difficult for them.

My mom and brothers suffer a lot.”

But Artyom’s eyes radiate kindness and patience, not anger or frustration. He is not even angry with the father who left them because, as with so many of his generation, he believed it unacceptable to have a “sick” child.

Artyom does not want to talk about that part of his life. He prefers

participated in pottery classes.

I have many good friends who help me.”

The center has changed Artyom’s life. The view beyond his window is now wider, brighter and full of hope.

“It is so good here. Everyone is joyful, everyone is nice and I love them a lot.”

Fittingly, the center’s very name is rich with meaning. “Emili” refers to Emili Nakhbarau, a major benefactor who spent much of her life confined to a wheelchair because of a car accident. And the word “aregak” means “sun” in Armenian. When people speak of the center, they cannot help but speak of the center as a place of

Public attitudes toward disabled people have scarcely changed since the Soviet era, with many Armenians believing that disabilities of all kinds are a source of shame. Social discrimination and marginalization are widespread.

Even among survivors of the 1988 earthquake in the Shirak region of northwestern Armenia, disabilities are considered a punishment and a curse. As a result, many keep their children hidden at home.

Ovsanna Torosyan, whose 20-year-old son Edward has cerebral palsy, tells much the same story.

“Until now, I rarely took him out in his wheelchair,” she explains. “You would not see people in wheelchairs on the streets — all were hidden.

For many, life in Armenia is brutal, with nearly a third living in poverty. to talk about a nearby center that has become a source of friendship — friends he would never have dreamed about just a few years ago.

The Emili Aregak Center, established near Gyumri by Caritas Armenia, the charitable arm of the Armenian Catholic Church, has been Artyom’s beacon of joy.

Inside the glass-covered building, everybody is busy — they sing in one of the rooms, play in another, do exercises in a third, hold discussions in the fourth. Alive and vibrant, this unique space offers children and young adults with special needs and physical challenges room to move and room to live with sun and space in abundance.

“Everything is interesting here,” Artyom says happily. “I have Svetlana Hovhannisyan lives in a cabin outside of Gyumri with her five sons.

possibility and healing — and a source of light.

M

any in Armenia face brutal circumstances. Some 29 percent of its population lives in poverty. Most of those with disabilities are unemployed — 92 percent, according to a 2013 joint study of international agencies.

Government programs can help, but they are accessible to only a few; among other issues, transportation is limited and buildings remain largely inaccessible to the disabled.

The country’s educational system has limits, too. While education is nominally open to all, schools are not equipped to handle special needs; they lack specialists, ramps or books in Braille. Thus, most children with special needs stay behind with their caregivers.

Specialized facilities, such as the Emili Aregak Center, are few.

“I used to take Edward to swimming therapy, which is very important. But then I heard that parents were complaining that my son with disabilities should not be swimming with their other children.”

Such attitudes — and words expressing their hatred, their sorrow, their dissatisfaction — become a source of constant stress for the child as well as the parent, she adds.

“No matter how much time passes, you can’t overcome this pain.”

Ms. Torosyan has been bringing Edward to the center for years, even before the construction of the current facility.

“We were a bit skeptical, but decided to come to the center,” she says. “Back then, Edward was 7 years old. He couldn’t say a word. But soon after attending the center, he started to talk.

Now he speaks so well. In the

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The CNEWA Connection Thomas Varghese of CNEWA and Anahit Mkhoyan of Caritas, pictured in 2013, visit the construction site of the Emili Aregak Center.

T

For generations, Armenians have struggled to recover from disasters natural and man-made. They have survived genocide and a devastating earthquake in 1988 that left tens of thousands homeless and impoverished.

CNEWA, working with the Armenian Catholic Ordinariate and collaborating closely with Caritas Armenia, has sought to help survivors of these tragedies — and their descendants — reclaim their dignity, strengthen their resolve and find hope. This includes assisting those with special needs who face enormous physical and economic challenges.

In 2013, thanks to our benefactors, CNEWA pledged funds to Caritas Armenia to help build what was described as “a center for disability and inclusion,” a place in which all areas could be wheelchair accessible and create a sense of community to “become a lively meeting place for youth.” That vision was realized with the construction of the Emili Aregak Center. That center is changing lives, thanks to you.

To learn how you can do more in Armenia, call: 1-800-442-6392 (United States) or 1-866-322-4441 (Canada). beginning, he was not independent.

He couldn’t feed himself. The volunteers at the center would do everything.

“But thanks to their devoted efforts, my Edward learned to eat on his own. This is a great achievement.”

Ms. Torosyan wipes tears from her eyes.

“I cry every day,” she says. “My only comfort is this center. Every 22

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day I bless those who have established this center. The staff is so caring, kind and professional.”

She adds that the center’s work goes beyond therapeutic and technical activities. “They also ensure our leisure time,” she says.

“Numerous activities, excursions, walking tours give great inspiration to us. We are so grateful that they give this happiness to so many kids, so many parents.”

amara Vanoyan, who coordinates activities at the center, recalls that when it first opened — at first occupying a small two-story house — they would work with just ten people a day. Now the center’s staff serves between 30 and 35 children and young adults every day, with nearly 100 people enrolled in total.

In 2015, it moved to a larger building to offer more services in an open and sunny space. Here, students take part in a variety of activities and are able to receive professional help, bathe and eat a nourishing meal.

“The new building enabled us to provide large-scale services,” Ms. Vanoyan says, such as physical, musical and speech therapy, as well as psychological care.

“In the beginning, with limited facilities, we didn’t have the means for early intervention,” she says, referring to programs and services geared toward infants and toddlers with disabilities. “But now we can do more.

“The goal of early intervention is to ensure the children attend kindergarten, get to school on time, makes friends and are present in society. It’s an opportunity to help them be as independent as possible.

“Now that we can do this, the center has become something essential, like air and water,” Ms. Vanoyan says.

Social workers engage with families to identify and address problems, as well.

In cold months, they pay gas fees for families struggling to make ends meet. They also provide food or transportation for some families, and work with parents or guardians to offer counseling and other necessary support.

Clergy of Armenia’s Apostolic and Catholic churches give regular talks, too, which helps to connect the children to the church — a major force in a nation that first adopted Christianity in the year 301.

Special attention is paid to the protection of children’s rights, and to ensure they receive proper schooling.

“We don’t teach children here, as we believe they should get their education at general schools,” says Tigranuhi Hakobyan, who directs the center for Caritas Armenia.

“Our main task is to integrate children into society.”

This can prove to be a challenge, with many of the children and young adults living with parents or caregivers who are still burdened with a sense of shame over the stigma of disability.

F

or 20-year-old Suren Avdalyan, the center has been transformative. Suren, a student at Faculty of Law at Shirak State University, has been involved with the center since its establishment. Suren suffers from cervical palsy — a spinal condition that affects the mobility of his limbs.

Thanks to physical therapy, he can now walk.

He credits the center and its staff with giving him more than just mobility. It has also given him confidence.

“You get insecurities along with your disability,” he explains.

“Even a minor difference in this town catches the eye. People show their attitude with their facial expressions and words.

“I wasn’t afraid of it; I was only frustrated,” he adds.

“The first important step is to overcome the insecurities.

Previously, I would be shy and not go out. Now I walk in town with a walking stick,” he says with pride.

Let Armenia’s children know they have a safe place to grow Please help today www.armeniacnewa.org

Suren has become a volunteer at the center, and has established Easy Life, a nongovernmental organization that tries to improve living conditions by customizing the apartments for people with disabilities.

“There is a challenge,” he says.

“Here at the center, accessible facilities help children to become independent — able, for example, to use the bathroom on their own.

But then they leave and they face the inconveniences of their own homes.”

That is why Suren has decided to help the families of these children at the center — among them, Edward Torosyan and his family.

The NGO has built an accessible bathroom in their cabin, and added ramps.

Easy Life has done an enormous amount in a short period of time.

However, the young man regrets that NGOs are born of necessity, usually because of shortfalls on the

part of the state. He hopes that one day the government will do its part.

A

rmenian children with special needs — especially those reared in poverty — feel they are a burden: Their needs prevent their parents from working. Some are even rejected outright; often, their fathers just walk away.

“My husband could not accept having a disabled child,” says Anahit Avdalyan, Suren’s mother.

“He would always ask why it should have been like this. However, children should be accepted as God’s gift and not as a problem,” she says.

“The husband’s role is vital.

Unfortunately, in my family it didn’t work out. I was left alone, but together with my three girls, I managed to overcome our circumstances,” she says.

“Humans can endure everything in life, if the family stands together.”

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The Emili Aregak Center provides personalized support and resources for young people with disabilities in and near Gyumri.

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“It is so good here.

Everyone is joyful, everyone is nice and I love them a lot.”

Ms. Avdalyan is fully engaged her son’s life, and even works as a cook at the center.

“It is difficult to choose the main menu,” she says. “Children have different dietary needs. There are children with chewing disabilities, children with autism who don’t like everything. We take into account the children’s wish.”

Ovsanna Torosyan jokes that her son enjoys the meals in the center more than the ones cooked at home.

“This center is a bright light for us,” Ms. Torosyan says.

“Now, we have become a big family, we are close to each other.

We have the same problems, which makes interaction easier. The warmth of Aregak has brought all of us together,” she says, grinning.

However, the children’s futures remain unclear. Armenia has begun efforts to connect those with special needs to the labor market, but there remains much work to do.

“Growing up, children have no place to go,” explains Tamara Vanoyan, “but we have done so much and can’t let them forget that.

We try as much as possible to give them skills so that they can use those in the future.”

There is need for similar centers in other towns of the region.

According to official data, in Shirak alone there are more than 19,544 registered persons with some sort of disability, including 753 children.

Many either cannot go to school, or are educated at home. This is one reason why the center in Gyumri is such a bright light — even sharing its message of hope through outreach.

“We celebrate all holidays together,” Edward Torosyan says.

“We hold auctions before holidays, make and sell handmade items and help poor families,” he says.

“We have nice days together. One of the kids here even went to Germany. They invited us, but I said I wouldn’t leave my church or Gyumri. I love my country, my home, my ‘Aregak.’ ” Gayane Abrahamyan’s reporting has appeared in The Atlantic, EurasiaNet and ArmeniaNow.

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Responding to Human Needs

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A Refuge to Mend and Grow How the Bethany Sisters help forgotten and abandoned women in Kerala

by Anubha George with photographs by Meenakshi Soman

B

y all appearances, Devi, a mother of three, lived happily in a good home surrounded by her loving husband, two sons and a daughter. But beneath the calm surface, all was not well. The first outward sign came when she stopped combing her hair, leaving it unkempt for days. Soon, her behavior reflected her disheveled hair; she became more mercurial and aggressive, prone to explosions of uncontrolled rage — even violence.

Distraught, her family felt frightened and powerless to help.

Through a relative, her husband learned about a center in northern Kerala run by the Bethany Sisters that helps women experiencing psychological problems.

He decided to place his faith in these women religious.

The Trippadam Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center for Women received Devi into a warm environment, offering compassion and a broad range of professional care. The sisters fed her, befriended her and helped her integrate into the life of the center, encouraging her to participate in activities and pitching in with chores. Her family visited her regularly.

A woman participates in an outdoor prayer session at the Trippadam Center for Women.

Once her health improved, the psychiatrist gave her the all clear to return home. Her husband came to pick her up, and today she is doing well.

“This is what we aim to do here,” says Sister Tabitha, the administrator of the center that cares for women, noting that “some of them are abandoned by their families.”

Others, such as Devi, are simply brought here to convalesce for a time, she says.

“We’re here to help those who have nowhere else to go,” says Sister Tabitha. “This is our service to Jesus.”

Based in the quaint little hill town of Sultan Bathery in Kerala’s Wayanad district, the Trippadam (Malayalam for “the feet of Christ”) Center began in 2001 as a facility for single mothers and their children, as well as older women without a home. In 2013, it undertook a shift in focus, becoming a place where women with mental health problems can stay.

“Their families bring them here and leave them in our care,” Sister Tabitha says of the five sisters who, together with a few health care professionals, care for about 50 residents.

“Everyone needs love and care; someone to look after them. Some of the residents have children, a

husband, extended family, but no one wants them. Their families have disowned and abandoned them.”

On an early evening in May, amid jackfruit season in Kerala, women help themselves to the huge jackfruits hanging from a large tree on the center’s property.

“We harvested quite a few,” Sister Tabitha says, the fragrance of the ripe fruit hanging heavy in the air.

“That’s what our women have been doing today. Cutting and chopping jackfruit is an art and it takes absolutely ages.” But, she says, the activity also gives focus to hand and mind.

That precisely is what the routine of the center is about. “The women here need discipline; they need their day to have structure and they need to know how their time is going to be filled,” she explains.

The residents wake up at 5:30, when the sisters bring them coffee in bed. They go to the chapel for prayer and meditation, followed by the Divine Liturgy. After breakfast, they collaborate on various tasks — such as cleaning the house, working in the garden, tending to the cattle and cooking.

After lunch, they nap or otherwise relax. They gather again for evening prayer before supper, and finally retire to bed at 9.

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“Prayer is a great cure; it is uplifting, it gives hope to the heart.”

While a majority of residents is Christian, the center hosts Hindu and Muslim women as well. The sisters do not proselytize, but nevertheless invite all the women to pray together as a way to foster an inclusive environment.

“Everyone joins in to pray to God. It is his miracle that we are alive.”

Through their love and dedication, the sisters work to ensure these women at the margins of society are never truly abandoned.

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he Congregation of the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ, known colloquially as the Bethany Sisters, is a community of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Founded in 1925

by Servant of God Mar Ivanios, the first metropolitan archbishop of the

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Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, the Bethany Sisters lay emphasis on liturgical life, prayer and contemplation.

“One of the charisms of our congregation is the empowerment of women,” Sister Tabitha says.

In Kerala alone, there are 828 Bethany Sisters and 22 novices across the southwestern state of the Indian subcontinent. However, the sisters are present around the world, with activities extending from Asia to Europe, the Americas to Africa. Despite the challenges of distance, the leadership of the sisters keeps abreast of their apostolates. Of the Trippadam Center, Sister Tabitha notes, “we have a board, mother provincial and four councilors who get together every few months to see how we are doing.

“Most of our [center’s] residents are women from the north of Kerala because that is where we are

Residents gather for prayer and group discussion in the outdoor spaces of the center.

geographically,” she says. “But some women also come from neighboring Tamil Nadu,” she says — such as Saroja Devi. Following the death of her husband, the 45-year-old had battled depression.

After a few months at the center, her condition improved and she made strides in coping with her loss. Eventually, her mother-in-law took her back home.

“But not all stories end positively,” the sister says.

Left at the center by her parents, Tanuja behaved aggressively toward others. On her first night, she sat on the window ledge, dangled her legs out past the guard and spent the whole night in the same spot. She kept imagining that someone was coming her way.

“Everyone needs love and care, someone to look after them.”

Sister Darsana chats with residents while completing her rounds.

For about two weeks, she kept to herself, refusing all participation.

Finally, her parents took her back home.

Then Lincy arrived. Her husband brought her to the center because she was violent and would physically abuse him. On two occasions while at the center, she let the water run in the bathroom, flooding the building.

Other residents have broken the bathroom door.

“Most of [the residents] are abandoned here for life,” Sister Tabitha says. “Reasons are mostly social; their younger siblings can’t get married if people find out there’s mental illness in the family.

Sometimes families just don’t know how to handle them. A mental health problem is seen as a stigma; often women are blamed and

beaten by their family members.

But it’s not their fault.”

Some women have also been victims of sexual violence.

“Quite a few of the women in here have been through the trauma of sexual assault,” says Bethany Sister Christopher. “Some of them don’t have the right words to express themselves. It’s with time and understanding that we unfold what they’re trying to tell us.

Keeping them safe is our number one priority.”

Sister Christopher recalls one of the women at the center was so traumatized that she wouldn’t use the bathroom for days. “It took a lot of cajoling, a lot of care and understanding to get her to talk to us. She improved once she was able to confide in us.”

O

nce a woman is offered a place in the center, the sisters reach out to her

family members to urge them to arrange for a psychiatric evaluation.

This provides a foundation for future treatment, access to prescription medications if needed, and helps the family become involved in the clinical and healing processes.

Some families become involved, and visit the women while in the center. Others fail to respond and cut off the patient as soon as she is received by the sisters.

“It’s a sad situation,” Sister Christopher says. Yet, she adds, no matter what else happens “we give our women security and a feeling of community.”

After they enter residency, the sisters arrange for their regular care.

“We take them to see the doctor once a month,” Sister Tabitha says.

“There’s also a female counselor who visits once a week.” The local ayurvedic (or traditional Indian medicine) hospital treats them

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The CNEWA Connection CNEWA has long supported the ministries and communities of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara churches, India’s dynamic Eastern Catholic churches. One of the Syro-Malankara congregations we are proud to accompany is the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ, commonly called the Bethany Sisters, who were founded — as one sister put it — “to follow Christ in an Indian way.”

For nearly 90 years we have journeyed with this community of women as they follow Jesus, caring for the poor, the outcast, the orphaned and the abandoned. Join CNEWA in continuing this vital work of the church that gives hope and restores dignity to so many.

Call: 1-800-442-6392 (United States) or 1-866-322-4441 (Canada).

for other physical ailments, such as backache or other minor complaints.

A local governmental teacher comes in to give classes in English.

The sisters also encourage residents to engage in artistic activities, such as dance and music.

“We work with them by encouraging dialogue — by congratulating them if they’ve done something good,” Sister Tabitha says. “They need to feel special; they need to feel they have a place in the world, too, that they’re appreciated. That’s what they lack.”

Spread over five acres of land, the Trippadam Center buzzes with activity. “There’s enough to keep the women here occupied,” Sister Tabitha says.

“We grow tapioca, yam, ginger, coffee and coconut,” she says, in addition to the jackfruit the women were enjoying earlier.

Moreover, the government’s agriculture center nearby has given the center a greenhouse, and provides seeds. “Cauliflower, beans, tomatoes — just enough to keep us going,” she says.

“That is actually perfect for us.

The women love doing it because it’s a precise task.”

She adds: “We also raise chickens and cattle.”

While the center grows much of its own food, local donors also contribute.

“When there’s a wedding in a family here — say, a resident’s sibling gets married — they send us food, too. That’s always a welcome change.”

Such donations also follow from Kerala’s custom of sharing breakfast and/or lunch on death anniversaries.

However, not all activities need occur on the center’s grounds.

“Some donors offer us a mini The Bethany Sisters foster a warm, inclusive and supportive atmosphere for the women in their care.

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bus so we can take the women out sightseeing.”

These various donations, and the relationship with the broader community they illustrate, are a regular part of day-to-day operation of the center. It helps the sisters to secure various basics — whether clothes, bedsheets and soap, or even free medicines from the local government-run hospital. Thus, the sisters can devote their time fully to their charges.

But oftentimes, the women are not content to merely receive care, and use experience from their previous jobs at the center. Sister Tabitha greets one such woman, named Asha — a former nurse who had suffered a nervous breakdown.

“Her family felt her brother couldn’t get married because of her condition. They left her here,” Sister Tabitha says. “Now she helps out as a nurse.”

A

t 5:45, women at the center have gathered outside for evening prayer. There is a slight chill in the air, and it looks like it may rain. Up a few steep stairs and across the lawn, they sit and pray in the outdoor chapel.

“We praise the Lord together. It is because of Christ’s mercy that we have shelter and safety. He gives us the strength to carry on and help those in need,” Sister Tabitha says.

By their strength, they have endured much, but carrying on is key. Going around the center, basic amenities are often stretched thin.

“Most women come from families that aren’t financially sound. So they can’t help us with money,” Sister Darsana says. “All the monetary help we get from the provincial office is used up in maintaining the center. There’s never enough to get the extra work done.”

Nevertheless, centers such as this one have an important role to

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play — not only in Kerala, but India broadly.

“All around the country there are women with mental health problems.

Women here are counseled and encouraged in their tasks — no matter how small,” Sister Darsana says.

As the sun sets on this May evening in Sultan Bathery, the residents at the Trippadam Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center for Women finish their prayers in the garden and head indoors. Sister Darsana leads them inside.

“Sometimes we are full of hope that things will get better for women here. But in our hearts we know that some of them will be with us until their last breath,” she says.

“We need help to provide better care and facilities for them. We have to give them more comfort, more warmth and more shelter.

“We know Christ is here with us and he will help us.”

Anubha George is a former BBC editor and writes on Kerala culture.

Based in Cochin, her work has been published in Scroll.in, The Good Men Project among others. She also teaches journalism at India’s leading media schools.

ANUBHA GEORGE HAS WRITTEN MORE ON THE MINISTRY OF THE BETHANY SISTERS ON OUR BLOG, ONE-TO-ONE:

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Accompanying the Church

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A letter from

Lebanon

by Angella Bourudjian

The stories of those fleeing turmoil in the Middle East — first-person accounts of people from all walks of life, lay and religious — help chronicle the volatile times in which we live. How do these suddenly homeless people cope? Where can they turn? In Lebanon, one place offering care and support is the Howard Karagheusian Center — a kind of refuge CNEWA proudly supports. In this letter, a Syrian wife and mother adds her voice to this ongoing story.

M

y name is Angella Bourudjian. I used to live in Aleppo, Syria, with my husband and two young boys.

Before the outbreak of the war, my life was so peaceful in Aleppo.

We lived in an Armenian neighborhood, where everyone knew each other and our social relations were more than perfect.

We had a lovely apartment — very well furnished — and we enjoyed our family life to the maximum. My husband owned a shop for car electronics, and his income was enough to feed the family as well as to have surplus for leisure-time activities.

Weekends were special for us — hanging around, witnessing the joy of our children. We spent a lot of time at the parks, taking our children out to enjoy nature. We attended musical events that took place around the country.

In my own spare time, I used to go to ladies’ outings, and attend

lectures and social events organized

by Armenian organizations. I also volunteered in activities supporting the elderly and orphan children.

After the war began, all of this disappeared.

One day we realized that our neighborhood had become one of the most dangerous zones in the country. The area was subjected to siege and constant bombardment.

Gunmen and military troops took control of different parts.

I really do not know how we came to the decision to leave Syria, because everything happened so quickly. There was neither time to think about it, nor any second choice. Leaving our country and our beautiful home became an imperative if we wanted to survive, and that’s exactly what we did. We left everything behind and took the path of uncertainty, of ambiguity.

As a consequence, we lost all our property, my husband lost his shop and we lost our home, and became

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Angella and her children, Christian and Carl, sit in their current home in Bourj Hammoud, Beirut, Lebanon.

homeless. We couldn’t find any shelter to protect our children. We had only one choice to save our lives: finding refuge in Lebanon.

The move to Lebanon was another terrifying experience. The road from Aleppo to Lebanon was controlled by unknown terrorists.

We were interrogated and hunted at several stops. We were threatened with death. I lost my hope to survive.

Horrifying thoughts accompanied me all through the way. I felt death was so near to us, and I could imagine seeing my children being taken away from me.

Finally, we arrived in Lebanon through the Arida border, safe and sound. I consider this a miracle granted from God, for which I thank him every single day!

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Now that we are living in Lebanon, we are indeed safe. But the economic difficulties — unemployment and inflation — are hindering our normal pace.

Our life in Lebanon is very tough.

Being a Syrian refugee, my husband has difficulty finding any fixed job to support our children. He works part time, making minimum wage.

He tries so hard to find another job, but he is always rejected.

Our children are attending St. Agnes Armenian Catholic School in Bourj Hammoud, a neighborhood in a suburb east of Beirut. So far, the school has covered the cost of tuition and supplies for our children.

However, the administration informed us that this funding would stop as of the next academic year. I am totally at a loss, and worried for the days to come; there is no way that with the little income we have, we can afford to pay anything for school.

My children face great psychological challenges. They struggle with the trauma they have experienced — from witnessing bombardments to the difficulties that are now a part of daily life. Our apartment is so small that they do not have any space to move. They do not play with games or toys. They are deprived of almost all the pastimes other children naturally enjoy.

As a mother, I always try to keep my spirits high to help my children overcome the hardships we are going through. My children are very young to experience such burdens.

They know their lives have changed — they no longer enjoy family outings and there are no more parks or day trips.

Nonetheless, I spare no effort to make them feel happy. I read books for them. I play games and sing songs. I want them to live as peaceful a life as every other child enjoys. I want them to see beauty. I want them to sing, play and laugh.

I want them to grow up and find meaning and positive values in life.

My only hope to assure a better future for my children is starting over in a country where we can regain our dignity and enjoy basic human rights, where my children can grow and become successful.

Going back to Syria is not an option for us; the minute we pass the border, my husband might be recruited into military service.

We have applied several times for emigration to European countries, but have received no answer.

From time to time, I imagine being in a country where my children go to school without having worries. I imagine sleeping at night without thinking how to pay the rent at the end of the month or what to feed the children with the little we have.

I imagine my children having a small space to run and play and move. I imagine my children going to school without worrying about huge tuition fees. I imagine my

children’s health care and medications are provided without running here and there to collect money. I imagine myself having a decent job and supporting my husband. I imagine a life that citizens in developed countries already live.

My only hope for a solution lies with God, with whom I speak every day. I have delivered my problems to him, and I am sure he will find a way out for us.

In the midst of our unbearable dilemmas, we have found a refuge in the heart of Bourj Hammoud, the Howard Karagheusian Child Welfare Center. I am so grateful to the people there for taking good care of us.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan visits Armenian Syrian refugees at the Karagheusian Center.

We have received food and clothing with the change of seasons — especially holidays. I was able to take my children to the Palm Sunday liturgy with new clothes, and enjoy a good meal and Easter cookies during this festive period.

My eldest son, Christian, was most affected by the war. Through the center, he has been able to receive therapy, working with a team of three clinicians who oversee his recovery and psychological development.

The center’s summer school program has been a salvation for us. Through it, my children have been able to enjoy vacations again.

They attend classes, participate in activities and go visit places I will never be able to take them. My

eldest son is impatiently awaiting this year’s program, to rejoin his summer friends and go on trips with them.

Since 2013, I have been a member of the Karagheusian Center’s women’s empowerment group, which has helped me through my own struggles. I learn new things, I make friends, and somehow I have restored my social life. Through its vocational classes, I have also had the chance to study the trades of hairdressing and cosmetology. I could not imagine myself staying sane without the support of this center.

I am sure that God has a special plan for my family, and I will wait for his plan to work.

May the almighty God bless you all abundantly! n

“I am sure that God has a special plan for my family, and I will wait for his plan to work.”

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focus

on the world of CNEWA

“We do this because Jesus has asked us to…”

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O

ur Holy Father Pope Francis often exhorts us to focus ourselves better as Catholics in our shared vocation to evangelize. But many followers either don’t understand this or even dismiss it. Some presume that evangelization is somehow only related to preaching, faith formation or catechetical programs.

All of these are certainly very important dimensions of evangelization and should never be dismissed as “irrelevant” or “outdated.” But the church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, evangelizes in many other ways.

At the basis of all our evangelization efforts is the core truth that God loves all of us and invites us to know him more fully through meeting Jesus, his only-begotten son. And how do we share Jesus with the poor, the oppressed, victims of war, the displaced?

The opportunities are endless. In every good work, every response of loving kindness, every gesture of reaching out to assist someone in need — done in the name of Jesus — we share the Good News that God loves us and wants us to be uplifted by his love.

We are not alone, we are not forsaken, we are not orphans.

p Msgr. John Kozar greets the Filipino community in Tel Aviv on a pastoral visit. t In Zahleh, Lebanon, refugees pass the time, awaiting the chance to either return home or settle abroad.

I think of so many examples of how CNEWA is honored to accompany the church — witnessing, sometimes without even mentioning the name of Jesus, to the power of God’s love in the midst of so much suffering and injustice.

The good works of the church, which form a major plank in the platform of evangelization, give witness of how Jesus would have us live and how he would have us respond to the needs of others. The recipients of these works often recognize there is something unique about what we do, and especially why we do it. Unlike governmental or secular programs of aid, the church — and CNEWA accompanying her — reaches out to those in need because we are compelled in faith to do so.

We exercise our baptismal mandate to live the Gospel of Jesus and to share his Good News with everyone.

To be more concrete: CNEWA supports, through your generous contributions, many clinics and dispensaries, which serve everyone

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in need. Oftentimes these people are welcomed, embraced and tended to by the loving care of religious sisters and devoted lay associates.

For some patients, of whatever religious background or faith, this might be the only expression of love and human dignity they experience. And whether spoken or unspoken, it is done in the name of Jesus.

In hundreds of schools supported

by CNEWA, the church — through priests, sisters, brothers and lay staff — offers a refuge from the realities of hatred, bigotry and disrespect. For a few hours each day, youngsters learn that God loves all of us and wants us to be at peace with each other.

And oftentimes the lessons learned at these schools are long lasting, even life changing.

This is part of the future for many areas of CNEWA’s world. These are the fruits of this form of evangelization.

Where there is war and oppression, there is also great material suffering and want. Here, too, CNEWA accompanies the church in sharing the Good News of Jesus through many programs of food sharing, basic housing assistance, clothing, and so much more. Through the gentle hands of the priests and sisters and others, the church pastorally helps those in need through material assistance — never demeaning, never excluding, but always with the warm and loving presence of our Lord.

For some of those who are hungry or in need of basic material goods,

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this gesture of kindness, this good work of the church, is the only experience of love and concern to reach them. In offering material aid, in emergency circumstances or in abiding conflicts, the church — and CNEWA alongside — evangelizes about the love of God for all.

People in flight or displaced refugees are extremely vulnerable to feeling alone and forgotten.

In camps, in settlements and in provisional surroundings, often crude and even dangerous, the church lovingly assists those in need with food, water and shelter. More than just meeting material needs, the church, with the support of CNEWA’s generous donors, uplifts the spirit and counteracts the feeling of abandonment.

These goods works reinforce God’s love for all.

For some victims of flight, there is another challenge: to return to one’s homeland. With the liberation of many villages from terrorists, the displaced, although filled with insecurity and fear about what life will be like, often return to an uncertain future back home.

u In the town of Aiga, Ethiopia, children receive nutritionally dense biscuits from a school meal program. uu A child goes for a checkup at the Martha Schmouny Clinic in Erbil, Iraq. y Msgr. Kozar visits the Home of Faith in Kerala, India, which cares for children with disabilities.

All of these are beautiful forms of evangelization — faithfully transmitting through good works our conviction that the son of God makes all the difference in our world.

We don’t look for credit or seek notoriety for our works. We do this because Jesus has asked us to do so.

We don’t expect everyone to profess his name; we only seek to share his Good News.

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful generosity in helping our CNEWA family make that possible!

But they are not alone.

Msgr. John E. Kozar The church is there to walk with them and to accompany them.

Through the steady, loving presence of religious sisters and pastors, and with some assistance with basic household needs and healthcare support, the refugees become resettled citizens. The church, with CNEWA at her side, reinforces the core truth that God loves all of us and wants us to share in his love.

FOR MORE ON EVANGELIZATION, CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO WITH MSGR. KOZAR AT: onemagazinehome.org/ web/evangelization

u

“The good works of the church form a major plank in the platform of evangelization.�

CNEWA a papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support 1011 First Avenue, New York, NY 10022-4195 • 1-212-826-1480 • cnewa@cnewa.org 1247 Kilborn Place, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 6K9 • 1-866-322-4441 • www.cnewa.ca