In response to the dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied children arriving in the United States from Central America over the past few years, Jesuit Refugee Service is collaborating with 13 Jesuit law schools in the US to address the issues faced by these child migrants.
They travelled from California in the United States to Yogyakarta in Indonesia in search of a common word. The 10 students were from Santa Clara University’s Jesuit School of Theology (JST) and the trip in January was for a three-week immersion in Islam.
Banteay Prieb, a Jesuit vocational training centre in Cambodia, is launching an education program for people with intellectual disabilities next month. The program, which begins with 11 students, builds on the centre’s 23 years of experience serving people with physical disabilities as a result of war, land mines, polio and accidents.
The first Jesuit community college, Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago, is scheduled to open in August. The college will provide students with the same liberal arts core curriculum classes offered at the university, but at a more affordable cost, according to Fr Stephen Katsouros SJ, Arrupe College’s dean and executive director.
An inter-religious ceremony was recently held to bless the land for the Xavier Jesuit School Project. Msgr Enrique (Kike) Figaredo SJ, Apostolic Prefect of the Battambang Prefecture in Cambodia presided with His Excellency, Mr Oum Reatrey, the Vice-Governor of Banteay Meanchey Province with responsibility for Education, at the ceremony which took place on January 29, 2015, in a temporary tent erected for the purpose on top of the land-fill just opposite the site where the foundations of the first building are already being constructed.
The Jesuit-run University of San Francisco has been running an alternative study abroad program based in Metro Manila, the Philippines. Casa Bayanihan is a semester-long program rooted in the Jesuit tradition, conceived initially for undergraduates in Jesuit universities in the United States.
What a difference a change in venue can make. This year, by holding their English Summer Camp at the Arrupe Centre in Huay Tong, in the Mae Wang District in Chiangmai Province, the Jesuits in Thailand were able to take their camp to a new level.
According to the program’s chaplain Fr Vinai Boonlue SJ, the change of venue was to provide a multidimensional setting for the students to learn, and to help them become more aware of nature and their immediate environment. The camp is usually held in Seven Fountains, the Jesuit spirituality centre in Chiangmai.
Students from six Jesuit universities in Asia recently spent three weeks dialoguing and working with the Xavier Ecoville community. Xavier Ecoville arose from the devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Sendong (Washi). After the storm, Xavier University together with the city government led the relocation and rehabilitation of affected families on a plot of land donated by Xavier University.
What is the role of Jesuit universities in social justice? This was a question that participants at the recent meeting of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in Asia Pacific (AJCU-AP) were asked to consider.
The two concerts were organised to raise awareness and funds for Xavier Jesuit School, the Jesuit education project in Cambodia. That they did and more. The two nights of awe-inspiring classical music led the school project team to an audience with King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia.