A Jesuit brother in Vietnam has highlighted several areas he feels the government should focus on in the coming years – education, corruption, legislation, ethnic minority groups and the environment.
Brother Anthony Ba SJ of the Jesuit-run Alberto Hurtado Center for Pastoral and Social Service in Ho Chi Minh City said this after completing a PESTLE analysis on Vietnam in 2011.
British Jesuit scholastic Stefan Garcia was in the Philippines when Tropical Storm Washi struck, and witnessed the destruction it caused. Stefan is half-Filipino – his mother is English and his father is Filipino – and he grew up in Cebu.
He reflects on his recent visit home.
How do we promote reconciliation with creation to our fellow Jesuits in Asia Pacific? With imaginative and powerful images as the members of the Scholastics and Brothers Circle showed in the innovative campaign materials they developed during a workshop on Effective Communications held from December 19 to 30, 2011.
Xavier University is appealing for funds to help the victims of Typhoon Sendong (International Name: Tropical Storm Washi), which struck the southern Philippines on December 17, causing flash floods and landslides.
Typhoon Washi slammed ashore on Mindanao island in the dead of night, sending torrents of water and mud through riverside villages, drowning scores of people as they slept, and sweeping houses out to sea. Tens of thousands of people have been rendered homeless and many are now in evacuation centres. As of December 20, the official death toll was close to 1,000.
At the height of the floods in Thailand in October and November, the Jesuit Foundation Prison Ministry continued to reach out to the many prisoners it has befriended in the country’s overcrowded prisons. Vilaiwan Phokthavi, Director, Jesuit Prison Ministry tells us how the floods affected prisoners in three prisons.
The Philippines island of Mindanao will soon launch a major island-wide undertaking that shall focus on ensuring integration of Mindanao’s economy and environment to achieve sustainable development. Jesuit research institute Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) is a partner agency and one of only two non-governmental groups working with the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) on this flagship programme.
Abaca, coffee and rubber are three very different crops that can make a difference to the indigenous communities in Mindanao – both economically and socially.
In October, 30 youth from Upper Pulangi, Bukidnon in northern Mindanao spent 10 days learning about these crops, how to produce them and how to do so with a sense of environmental stewardship. Jesuit research institute Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) conducted the training, in partnership with the Malaybalay City Agriculture Office and the Fibre Industry Development Authority.
An estimated 20 million people across Southeast Asia have been affected by flooding since June. Most are in Thailand, but typhoons struck the Philippines in October, and Laos was hit by cyclones in July and August. About 1.8 million people in Cambodia and Vietnam are also suffering from the worst flooding in a decade. Myanmar also is experiencing flooding, though the extent is unclear because little information has been released from the country. Local media there reported some 30,000 people were hit by flash floods last month that killed more than 160.
On October 30, 2011
As the floodwaters in Cambodia recede, the work of recovery and reconstruction begins. Fr Greg Priyadi SJ, Director of Jesuit Service Cambodia, reflects on the damage caused of by worst floods the country has experienced in years and the tough times faced by the people who have lost their homes, their harvest and their livelihoods.