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.
When the Philippine’s newest freeport was established seven years ago in Casiguran, Aurora province, a large-scale protest among the affected residents and various groups erupted. The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport (APECO) aimed to transform more than 12,000 hectares of Casiguran land into a commercial, industrial, agro-industrial, and tourist hub to usher development throughout the province.
Today’s problems need different strategies and Jesuits must apply new skills and techniques in order to respond more effectively. Beyond simply business skill however, there is a need for greater imagination to solve the challenges of today. In the same way business as usual needs to change, social ministries and apostolates must also go beyond the usual.
Members of the Prison Ministry team of Jesuit Foundation (Thailand) recently made a trip to Laos to visit the families of Laotian prisoners in Thailand and share news of the prisoners. Over six days, the team visited 22 families as well as two ex-prisoners who were released last year.
Will creating more social spaces in Singapore lead to the sprouting of more social communities? In this concrete jungle we live in today, where do we fit in? How can modern architecture lend a hand in softening Singapore’s concrete jungle, making it a more liveable place? These were some of the questions considered at the forum@KINGSMEAD dialogue and reflection on “Mankind and Urbanisation at the Cross Roads”, held at the Kingsmead Centre for Ignatian Spirituality and Counselling on August 19, 2014.
The path to finding employment can be long and difficult, particularly for those who have been out of the workforce for an extended period of time. For those seeking work, the process can feel like being stuck in a never-ending cycle of applications and knockbacks.
For a while, Zac felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Despite being engaged with an employment service, he was having no luck securing work in the highly competitive Melbourne job market.
Ignorance, prejudice and fear are the first enemies to fight if you want to eradicate the Ebola virus, and the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN) is getting involved in the fight by providing culturally sensitive information that is urgently needed to increase understanding of the virus and address the fears of the people.
Have you ever seen or walked into a fancy handbag boutique selling the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Dolce and Gabbana? Even if we have never walked into one, we all know that these bags are pricey, high class, and beyond the reach of most people. What about bags branded “Rag2Riches”? You can find them in major shopping malls in the Philippines and in Anthropologie shops in Singapore, Malaysia and many countries in Europe.
There is no institution so old that it has nothing left to learn – and the Catholic Church must commit to learning about and changing its practices in relation to ecological issues. This was the message from Colombian Jesuit Fr José Mesa, Secretary of Primary and Secondary Education at the Jesuit Curia in Rome and one of the keynote speakers at the JCAP Education Colloquium in Sydney.
Rommel Villanueva is one of the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines. A fisherman in Barangay Binudac in the island of Culion, his boat was destroyed by Haiyan, which was one of the strongest tropical storms ever recorded. With no boat, Rommel, 29, was dependent on other boat owners if he wanted to fish and provide for his wife and two young children. For months he had to look for space on a boat every day in order to fish, and if no boat owner would take him, then he was not able to fish that day.