Concern for Gonzaga

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<td width=”34%” valign=”top” align=”left”><a href=”http://www.amdg.ie/blog/serendipity/exit.php?url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5hbWRnLmllL2FtZGcvd2Vla2x5L2ltYWdlcy8yMDA3MTIxMS9zdGF0aW9uX21pc3Npb24yLnBuZw==&amp;entry_id=151″ title=”http://www.amdg.ie/amdg/weekly/images/20071211/station_mission2.png” onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.amdg.ie/amdg/weekly/images/20071211/station_mission2.png’;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;”><img width=”150″ height=”200″ border=”0″ src=”/amdg/weekly/images/20071218/phil_okelly_concern.png” alt=”Image” id=”Image” /></a></td><br />
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<td valign=”top”> <font style=”color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: verdana; size: 12px;”>12<br />
December 2007 </font></td><br />
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<td valign=”top” font=”font” style=”font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);”><p>Phil<br />
O’Kelly, who graduated from Gonzaga College in 1997,<br />
now works with Concern, Ireland’s largest aid agency. Phil<br />
is just back from a short visit to Malawi where he was examining<br />
Concern’s logistics operations in the country. Phil<br />
manages Concern’s logistics, making sure that<br />
materials get to the right place in as short a time as possible,<br />
a vital component in Concern’s operations.</p></td></tr><br />
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<td valign=”top”>Links</td><br />
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Solemn greetings from Virginia Tech

Mia Ortega, a JVC volunteer some years ago, wrote from Virginia Tech just after the horrendous shootings which took 32 lives. A good friend of hers was killed after he came to the aid of another of the victims.

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Hello everyone,

First of all, I’d like to thank you for the continued messages of concern, hope, and prayers. I am so grateful to know that I have your support. As silly as this may sound, I can truly feel your prayers and positive thoughts coming from your corners of the world. In such a time of grief, it is certainly helpful to know I am in the minds and hearts of my friends near and far. Read more »

Is Lent a curse on refugees?

In his blog ‘Roaming and Rooming with Refugees in Uganda’, Patrick Hume wonders if there isn’t something amiss in urging refugees to take on some new hardship for Lent. “Are they not permanently in Lent?” he asks.

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Imagine starting Lent in a refugee camp! What can one dare ask of refugees in a Christian community to do at this time of year? How can a hungry person fast? How can a poor person give alms? How can a person who has pleaded on their knees with God for their lives be asked to pray? Are refugees not permanently in Lent?. Read more »

When the archbishop meets the pope – International Herald Tribune

When the archbishop meets the pope <a href=”http://www.amdg.ie/blog/serendipity/exit.php?url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5paHQuY29tL2FydGljbGVzLzIwMDYvMTEvMjIvb3Bpbmlvbi9lZHBlY2sucGhw&amp;entry_id=16″ onmouseover=”window.status=’http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/22/opinion/edpeck.php’;return true;” onmouseout=”window.status=”;return true;” title=”IHT”>International Herald Tribune</a> Keith Pecklers SJ<br />
<blockquote>”Today the world is a radically different place than it was back in 1966. All eyes will be on Pope Benedict XVI next week as he embarks on his visit to Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, in the wake of the pontiff’s remarks on Islam several months ago.”</blockquote>

Views from Down Under

Piaras Jackson describes and illustrates his experience in Australia, where he spent two months working in Jesuit Communications, Melbourne, as part of his Masters in Media Studies, DCU.

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Completing the Masters in Journalism in DCU required spending eight weeks on a placement. I had thought that an experience in a commercial radio or print newsroom in Dublin might be useful, but, as the year progressed, realised that some time in a non-commercial setting would bring another aspect of journalism into focus. Read more »

Giving of oneself in Zambia and not counting the cost

Conor Gannon went to Zambia with a group of Slí Eile volunteers and worked there with sisters of Mother Teresa’s order. He was deeply impressed both with the sisters and with the Zambian people he met.

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This summer I was privileged to have the opportunity to put that phrase from St. Ignatius’ prayer – “to give and not to count the cost” – into action. This was because I was able to spend some time volunteering in Zambia with the help of Sli Eile, an organisation established by the Irish Jesuits to encourage young people to get involved in matters of faith and justice. Read more »

A conversion of mentalities needed in Europe and Africa

Africans need to be respected as the authors of their own future, according to the attendants at a recent conference of Scribani, a network of European Jesuit centres, working on questions of social justice in a European context. Cathy Molloy and Gerry O’Hanlon SJ attended on 6 to 9 September 2006.

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The second Scribani bi-annual conference – organised by the Scribani Jesuit European Network of Social Centres and Saint Ignatius University College, Antwerp – ‘Africa and Europe. Read more »

They won’t believe you’re coming until they see you

Gerrry Clarke looks back on an extraordinary fortnight at the Makoba Mission, South Africa, with a group from Belvedere and from Friends in Ireland. Their mission: to build the walls of a wash-house for children suffering from AIDS.

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Our mission was to raise the walls of a wash house for the children orphaned by AIDS at the Makoba Mission near Kokstad in South Africa. It was a long journey by plane, ‘combie’ (a small van), and ‘bakkie’ (a pick-up truck) that brought us to the remotest communities of the Drakensberg foothills. Read more »

What separates the Sunni from the Shiite Muslims?

Martin McDermott has spent over 35 years in the Middle East. In this interview with Pat Coyle, he provides valuable insights into the theological and political differences within Islam.

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Fr. Martin McDermott from the US has been in Beirut for the last 35 years, before that he lived in Baghdad, and he did his doctorate in Islamic Studies. It proved to be quite a renowned doctorate, was translated first into Persian and then into Arabic in the 90s. He provides counselling services and assistance to migrant workers on behalf of JRS in Lebanon. Read more »

Bethlehem calling

Charlotte Carson, UK coordinator of Open Bethlehem, explains the difficulties Bethlehem faces this Easter – both the physical obstacles which cut it off from Jerusalem and the lack of the tourist traffic on which it depends.

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Soon it will be springtime in Bethlehem. The Christian heart of the Middle East will be bathed in warm sunlight, wild flowers blooming in its fertile valleys and birds singing in the Shepherds’ Field. It is a glorious time of year. But the sun shines down on a town struggling to breathe. Read more »

Never go back: a refugee’s story

Egide Dhala, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, describes his experience of arriving in Ireland as a refugee and registers his gratitude to the JRS for their help.

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Jesuit Missionaries are to be found all over the world today. There are Irish Jesuit missionaries in Zambia, Malawi, Hong Kong, Cambodia, East Africa, Paraguay, and Japan. But just as our missionaries have gone east, many people today are coming west as refugees and asylum seekers. The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), with offices across Europe, offers assistance to these people. Read more »

Kashmir earthquake appeal – Thank you

Bill Toner recalls how the Irish Province’s appeal on behalf of earthquake victims in Kashmir was started, and he reports on the projects which have been helped by the money raised.

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In October 2005, Gertrude O’Connor, a retired special needs teacher living in Navan, was, like many other Irish people, shocked at the devastation caused by the earthquake in Kashmir, affecting parts of both Pakistan and India. As it happened, Gertrude was attending a course in spiritual direction in Manresa House and enquired from a Jesuit friend there, Read more »

Lessons in love

A Slí Eile volunteer, Karen Mooney, recalls her intense emotional responses as she worked this summer in an orphanage in Bogotá, Colombia. She reflects in awe on the character, playfulness, love and humanness of the children she met there.

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With a need to do something different and more meaningful in my life, I headed off with ten volunteers to Colombia during the summer to work in ‘Hogares Luz y Vida’ Orphanage in Bogota. Our group had a number of meetings the previous six months to organise the trip, and we had got to know one another reasonably well before getting on the flight to Colombia. Read more »