Ignatian family news 2

October 2015

This is the second edition of a regular newletter from the development Office of the Jesuit Province of Zimbabwe— Mozambique.

We are writing this specifically for relatives , friends and our partners in Mission those who work with us in our efforts to make our vision a reality in Zimbabwe.

We see our relatives, friends and partners as part of the extended Ignatian family , inspired by the vision of our founder , St Ignatius Loyola.

Please feel free to offer contributions to the newsletter. Your thoughts, experiences and stories are important to us, and will be of interest to other members of our extended family.

The Jesuit Development Office 37 Admiral Tait Rd Marlborough Harare Tel : +263 4 309623 or 712209718

From the Development Director’s Desk Our cover picture shows a young soccer team at Epworth, one of the poor suburbs of Harare. These are a just a few of the members of the Shingirirayi project, whose vision is to form a transformed youth dedicated to the Kingdom of God. Due to the foresightful planning of the founder, Fr Norbert Gille SJ, the entire running costs of this project are funded by a local income-generating programme.

See our featured article for more on this innovative project.

The other feature article tells of a new school in rural Mozambique aimed at promoting local agricultural development in Angonia. Whereas in Zimbabwe we are responsible for many well established schools, this is not yet the case in Mozambique. We shall follow the progress of this new initiative with great interest.

This newsletter also has encouraging updates on previous features about the women of St Peter’s

Mbare and the hearing impaired children at the Pedro Arrupe Centre, Musami.

All of these projects are run and supported by members of our extended Ignatian Family thus the name of this newsletter: Ignatian Family News. We would like to receive more news from Ignatian Family members, as well as increased local support for these wonderful initiatives.

Email : projects@jesuitszimbabwe.co.zw Website :

Table of Contents

www.jesuitszimbabwe.co.zw

Cover Page: Shingirirai Youth Soccer team , Epworth

Contributors: Jesuit Development Office and Communications

From the Development Director’s Desk

2

The Amazing Women of Mbare Update

3

Pedro Arrupe Centre : An Oasis in the desert Update

3

31 July Launch the Feast of St Ignatius

4

Shingirirai Youth , An initiative of Jubilarian Fr Nobert Gille

5

Secondary school Inacio de Loyola in Msaladzi

6

Copyright 2015 Please get inspired to write to me at projects@jesuitszimbabwe.co.zw

2 Ignatian Family News November 2015 Issue No.2

The Amazing women of Mbare update In our last issue we showcased the amazing work that was going on at St Peter’s Mbare under the watch of the Jesuit Parish Priest and Sr Diana Kanyere who is the coordinator of the project. With the generosity of Jesuit Missions Nurnberg they were able to add to the Misereor grant which jump started the project. In addition to the floor polish, poultry, icecream and sewing projects; peanut butter, candles and detergent making have been added to the women’s empowerment projects. The projects that have been highlighted as successful in terms of profit making are poultry, sewing and peanut

butter making. These have yielded returns and plough back funds of 15% of profit as an investment towards supporting other women to carry out similar projects. This is an effort towards sustaining projects well after the funding cycle is complete. With prayers and support from the Ignatian Family we foresee this model being implemented at the missions as well.

Interested in finding out more and supporting the Mbare Social Project?

Do feel free to get in touch with the Development Office and we will be happy to assist.

Pedro Arrupe Centre: An oasis in the desert update Since the last issue of Ignatian Family News, Pedro Arrupe Centre for concern has made a 360 degree turn to become an institution boasting renovated structures and income to cover running costs for at least 5 years to come.

Wizear Trust is a non-profit organization which aims to reduce the gap between the hearing impaired and their hearing counterparts decided to do more than just hold hearing check-ups with the children at the Centre. They obtained funding from Beit Trust for the development of the Centre.

With grants from t h e Beit Trust and t h e Jesuit Province of ZimbabweMozambique of $35,000 and $14,000 respectively three rooms were converted into work rooms for practical subjects. All rooms have been equipped with equipment for Fashion and Fabrics and Carpentry. This is to equip the children with skills that will enable them to support themselves after they complete school. In addition all the roofing on the buildings has been converted from thatch to

iron sheets. This was necessary because monkeys were pulling off the thatch in search of food.

.

Through links with Wizear Australian donors have offered to support 11 children from the Centre with school fees. A gift was also sent from Rome of $100000 which will be invested and contribute towards the Centre’s running costs.

This will help address the challenges relating to security and the state of the facilities.

3 Ignatian Family News November 2015 Issue No.2

Inspired Contact the Office of Development and Communications projects@jesuitszimbabwe.co.zw

31st July launch: The St. Ignatius Feast Day St. Ignatius was a Spanish saint who founded the Society of Jesus, better known as Jesuits, created the “Spiritual Exercises� that are used today for retreats and individual discernment.

The 31st of July is a day set aside to commemorate the life and mission of this great Saint. It is also a day for Jesuits to reaffirm their commitment to the Society of Jesus.

This year the Development and Communications office took the opportunity on this day, not only to celebrate mass with Jesuits and friends of Jesuits but also t o launch local fundraising initiatives in the Province.

Following a Mass celebrated by the Jesuit Provincial Fr Cheidza Chimhanda guests, were led to the hall of the Our Lady of the Wayside church, where a short video presentation was shown, showcasing some of the works of Jesuits in Zimbabwe.

The main speaker, the Provincial, encouraged Friends of the Jesuits to actively support Jesuit works, especially now when financial resources from traditional sources for missionary efforts were declining.

In the same vein the Director of the Jesuit Development and Communications Office, Fr. Nigel Johnson SJ also implored friends of Jesuits to support fundraising efforts through the use of their expertise, skills and resources in different areas. Examples were given of where local fundraising has been successful to the extent that little funding is required from external sources.

The Nigerian Jesuits have managed to raise most of their funds locally.

The message was further brought home by an alumnus of St Ignatius College, Mr Gabriel Chipara. As someone whose life was directly influenced by Jesuits, he believes this is a cause worth supporting. He encouraged many of his contemporaries who benefited from Jesuit education to pool resources together to support Jesuit

works.

Among the invited guests was the Minister of Public Service, Labour and

4 Ignatian Family News November 2015 Issue No.2

Social Welfare, Senator Prisca Mupfumira, who is a fevent supporter the work of Jesuits in the country.

Inspired!

For more information find us on Youtube

https://youtu.be/q3jOOGqwFZc Join the Extended Ignatian Family

Shingirirayi Youth, an initiative of jubilarian Fr. Nobert Gille SJ Fr. Nobert Gille SJ, is very well known for the Shingirirayi Youth ministry.

The Shingirirayi idea ministry came to Fr. Gille while he was at St Rupert’s Mission, Makonde. During its formative years, the ministry promoted youths living around the rural mission to start poultry, gardening, goat keeping and other small income generating projects.

When Fr Gille moved to Murombedzi, his determination to continue work among the youths became stronger. In 1989, the Shingirirai Trust was registered.

Today, workshops on leadership, behavior change, the environment and human values form the core of the ministry, along with visits to the homes of the children. The project also realizes the importance of protecting children from societal evils, so also addresses physical, socio- emotional, mental and spiritual issues.

“At the peak of our work, we were working with about 21 000 young people countrywide. Due to resource limitations, the numbers of youth we work with has reduced to about 6 000 young people,” says Administrator, James Yakobe.

The Shingirirai programmes are open to children of all religious affiliations.

The Shingirirai Youth project works mainly as a street ministry among disadvantaged youths in the high density areas of Harare, Chitungwiza and Chinhoyi. Fr Gille encourages pastoral work among the same groups in

Murombedzi Rural, using sport to attract young people. It targets young boys between 8-18 years. Its overall goal is to produce young men who have purpose and are groomed to be responsible adults dedicated to the

Kingdom of God. Holistic programmes allow the target group to benefit from spiritual, moral, social, educational and physical formation based on Christian values.

5 Ignatian Family News November 2015 Issue No.2

With added financial support Shingirirai Youth Project would be able to acquire more football kits for their soccer training. The soccer training clubs have produced successful football players who have gone on to play for the national team and other successful soccer clubs.

The youth promoters who are in essence the outreach workers need training on issues that affect the youth today for example training on SRH and awareness on HIV/ AIDS issues. Currently their knowledge is limited to sport and general religious content, but with capacity building the youth promoters will become more relevant and can relate better with the youth based on the issues that affect them.

Secondary School Inacio De Loyola in Msaladzi

A very rocky 5km drive from the main road to Msaladzi reveals the construction site of the Santo Inácio de Loyola Escola Secundária (ESIL). With funding received from the Italian Bishops, the project commenced in 2012. It is forseen that the school will open its doors to students in 2016. The school will be an agricultural training centre, ideally located in a very fertile area with vast amounts of land and a readily available supply of water on the premises. It also has accommodation facilities to attract students not only from the surrounding areas but from around the country as well.

Currently two blocks have been completed, the first block has classrooms, a power supply room and a library. Although the construction project is not complete as yet, some of the classrooms are being used for adult literacy classes.

This is a way of beginning to generate income .

The second block is the administration block, where work has already begun in developing systems and operational procedures.

The curriculum promises to be an intensive programme with theory classes in the morning and practicals in the afternoon.

The school construction project is a very exciting initiative, but is faced with some challenges; •The area is not very accessible to transport due to the very poor roads.

•Due to years of political instability, the culture of education has deteriorated. For the school to attract students locally there is a fair amount of public awareness that needs to take place in the surrounding communities of Msaladzi, Satemwe and Fonte Boa. •The need for skilled people to run the school

6 Ignatian Family News November 2015 Issue No.2

But there are also opportunities.

In this case there is great opportunity to continue fundraising in order to develop a school with standards that match other Jesuit run institutions in the region.

With very generous donations the school library is well resourced. There is still need to raise funds to purchase adequate equipment, cover start-up operational costs and hire skilled staff.

With prayers and support from our Ignatian family we are confident that in the coming newsletters we will have positive updates to share.

For more information watch Jesuit work in Province of Zimbabwe—Mozambique (PORT)

https://vimeo.com/48476585