Ibrahim*, a young man of 32, has been in Cambodia for nearly three years. His home is Myanmar, more specifically Arakan state. He is Rohingya. He is part of a Muslim minority from Myanmar, which has faced persecution for decades. Many consider them to be stateless, as Myanmar does not recognise people of this ethnicity as citizens.
The seafood factory on the southwestern coast of Thailand is sometimes referred to as the “Burmese university in Ranong”. It is one of the few opportunities available to many Burmese migrant children denied an education due to chronic poverty and social pressure.
The Conference team is expanding and strengthening. Consultations between the President and Provincials over several months have resulted in the missioning of Jesuits from various Provinces to core positions in the Conference. This generosity of spirit will greatly help the Conference to keep the Society in Asia Pacific oriented towards the service of faith and the promotion of justice.
The appointments announced by Conference President Fr Mark Raper SJ in December are:
From September 23 to 25, 2012, 340 delegates from 10 Jesuit schools converged in Zamboanga City to participate in the 2nd Jesuit Basic Education Congress and join Ateneo de Zamboanga University in celebrating its centennial year.
The Christian Life Community in Australia has made giving and promoting the First Spiritual Exercises an apostolic work. For the last six years, the First Spiritual Exercises have been given in Australia and Malaysia, by Jesuit, religious and lay teams in parishes, spirituality centres and other groups.
Jesuit Social Services CEO Julie Edwards recently spoke to Catholic Health Australia about leadership in the context of a Catholic service. She addresses the elements required to enable leadership to flourish, in particular the approach to decision-making at critical moments to ensure witness to the mission remains authentic.
Jesuit scholastics in the Loyola House of Studies located in the Ateneo de Manila University campus have embarked on a series of initiatives to raise awareness about care for the environment in community lifestyle and house management.
Reconciliation with Creation is a priority for the Society of Jesus and a key concern of the Indonesian Province. Scholastic Billy Aryo Nugroho SJ reports on a Go Green course that was conducted for Jesuit scholastics in Jakarta.
The Shimonoseki Labour Education Centre (LEC) in Japan and the Jesuit Research Centre for Advocacy and Solidarity (JAS) in Korea jointly held an Anti-nuclear Peace Conference in July. LEC Director, Fr Hisashi Hayashi SJ, hosted Jesuits and peace movement members from the two countries for the two-day meeting that began after breakfast on July 12.
The joint sponsorship is a result of the recent agreement between the Korea and Japan Provinces to heighten the level of inter-Province cooperation.
A funding pitfall in education for the Burmese refugees along the Thai border may negatively affect their preparedness to go home.
The focus of the international donor community is shifting from the camps towards Burma, and a lack of sufficient resources has forced many organisations working in the camps, such as Jesuit Refugee Service, to make cutbacks to critical programmes like schooling.