Tandale (Dar-es-Salaam) prostitution: a challenge
In the parish of Tandale, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania there is a place called « Uwanja wa fisi », Hyena Square, where near bars, small restaurants and hairdressers, women sell their bodies as merchandise… It is a famous place for prostitution in Dar es Salaam.
Passing by to meet these women, saying to herself « Lord, I know you are already here! » Sr. Cecylia Bachalska discovered that these women caught up in prostitution have a very close relationship with Jesus! Read more.
Remaining with a few children during the Covid-19 at Malindi (Kenya)
Before the Covid-19 Pandemic, at the Pope Francis Rescue Centre we had 43 children but on the 20th March, we were asked by the Government to move most of the children elsewhere and remain only with those who were admitted by Court Order and those with difficult cases especially incest, whose families are not ready to receive them back. Lire la suite →
Advocacy activities in Gumo (Ghana)
On October 7 to 11, 2017 the major superiors of Ghana had a seminar on advocacy for justice. The biggest concern that emerged was the phenomenon of the Kayayei (female porter) where poor young Ghanaian women, age 7 years and above, migrate to larger cities to carry traders’ and shoppers’ wares and purchases on top of their heads for little money. Lire la suite
Solwodi-Germany shares with Solwodi-Kenya during the Coronavirus
In Germany, despite the closing of brothels on March 16, prostitution continues and affected women are asking us for help, because their situation has worsened. In Kenya the monthly income averages only 114 euros. This makes buying basic food a big problem for many people, as the price for a kilo of rice is 1.29 euros. Lire la suite
Struggle against human trafficking in Quebec
Our General Chapter of 2011 recommended that we »intensify our commitment to the service of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation and make it the common thread that runs through all our missionary commitment »
Reading the Congregation’s newsletters, I am very impressed by the number of our sisters
who have committed themselves to the fight against human trafficking by doing prevention
work and caring for the victims. I share with them, as I represent our America Entity in the Action Committee against Internal and International Human Trafficking (CATHII ). Read more.
Gumo (Ghana) fights human trafficking
Gumo community is quite committed in their fight against human trafficking.
Prosperine, Caritas and Sabine followed the online course on Human Trafficking and Project
Management offered by St. Leo University from January to April. They are very happy with
the training and the important tools acquired.
Sabine is part of the Street Invest Network coalition. Although due to the coronavirus they were unable to carry out their plans for the International day of Street Children, Read more.
Taking care of the Earth and all it contains
Publié le 23 juillet 2019 par Begoña Iñarra
Need of an ecological conversion to take care of creation Faced with the human-made destruction of the Earth’s ecosystems that threatens the future of humanity we have to fight climate change whose consequences are already being experienced all over … Lire la suite →
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The Oran Library is getting into ecology
Publié le 14 juillet 2019 par Begoña Iñarra
At the last meeting of the library Reading Club, we chose the theme of ecology and the safeguard of creation. We were inspired by Pierre Rabhi (of Algerian origin), one of the greatest « human consciences » in the world on these … Lire la suite →
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Tunis facing migration
Publié le 14 juillet 2019 par Begoña Iñarra
Tunisia is facing problems of migration more than ever before. Speciosa Mukagatare must often travel south to Sfax to arrange housing for those who cross the border with Libya. A conference, for which Speciosa looked after the logistics, brought together … Lire la suite →
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Children plant trees in Nouakchott (Mauritania)
Publié le 14 juillet 2019 par Begoña Iñarra
One day in February we welcomed 54 children of the Cœurs vaillants-Ames vaillantes (CVAV) movement, to plant aloe vera and moringa trees. This activity was the follow-up to last year’s meeting, during which we raised awareness among this group of … Lire la suite →
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Annual JPIC meeting for religious in Ghana
Publié le 14 juillet 2019 par Begoña Iñarra
Sabine participated in the annual national session for JPIC coordinators of the religious congregations of women and men in Ghana. For 3 days the participants shared their JPC activities of the year which were carried out together as a sector. … Lire la suite →
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Canada: Anti-trafficking Hotline
Publié le 14 juillet 2019 par Begoña Iñarra
Jacqueline Picard a assisté au lancement de la ligne d’urgence pancanadienne contre la traite des personnes. Mme Barbara Gosse, PDG du Canadian Center to end human trafficking (CCEHT) a donné un exposé sur le lancement de cette ligne pour dénoncer … Lire la suite →
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The clinic of the kapokier of Deli : « The Tunisia of the poor »
Publié le 14 juillet 2019 par Begoña Iñarra
In Barcelona, I discovered holistic “arqromerterapy”, a non-aggressive therapy to discover and treat diseases through kinesiological testing and the use of archetypes. Its founder, Dr. Jaume Feliu (naturist), heals with: plants (herbal medicine) and other techniques that yesterday and today … Lire la suite →
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JPIC-ED in the MSOLA Documents
Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation and Encounter and Dialogue (JPIC-ED) in the Documents of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA) In the Constitutions of 1987 N.7: We need to be utterly unselfish if we are to discern … Lire la suite
Climate change: an invitation to set off on the road
Climate change is one of the great challenges in the world of today. As human beings and as MSOLA sent so that «All may have life and have it more abundantly » (John 10.10) we respond according to the spirit … Lire la suite
Commitment of the church in the fight against human trafficking
The Holy See and the Fight Against Human Trafficking Archbishop Bernardito Auza delivered a lecture entitled, “The Holy See and the Fight Against Human Trafficking,” on February 23, 2017, upon his inauguration as the Casamarca Foundation Chair in Migration … Lire la suite
Meaning of JPIC-ED
Meaning of Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation, Encounter and Dialogue (JPIC-ED) Justice Conscious of the weight of injustice, deprivation and insecurity that condition the lives of so many of our contemporaries, we try to « feel with the poor. » Together with … Lire la suite
Ecological Challenges for Religions
The development that is most changing Humanity’s current consciousness is “the new cosmology” of cosmic and natural sciences. For the first time, we have a scientific view of the Universe: its origins, its dimensions, its evolution, the galaxies, stars, planets, and life. This means we have a very different vision than that which we previously held.
In this new “revelatory experience,” the divine element of reality is manifesting itself to us in a new way. Religions need to feel the ecological kairos of this hour and return towards the cosmos and nature, overcoming the current divorce between science and spirituality, between religion and reality. Accepting the challenge of ecology does not mean including “the care of nature,” as one more moral imperative. It is something more: it is a complete “ecological reconversion” of religion itself. Read more.
Meeting the other as visitation
Presentation on Meeting the other as visitation.
It is a reflection on the interreligious and intercultural encounter based on Mary’s Visitation to Elizabeth. Look at the slides presentation inspired by Kam Sié Mathias’ in « African Tradition of Hospitality and Interreligious Dialogue: Reflection ». See the presentation.
Sieger Koder
What is a prophet?
« The prophet evokes a perception of reality different from the perception of the dominant culture that surrounds us … He criticizes the dominant culture. He gives energy to people and communities and promises them a situation towards which the community can move forward … » (Walter Brueggemann).
The prophet is a man / woman who:
- Has received a special grace from God.
- He watches and his eyes and his ears are attentive and he see
- He watches and his eyes and ears are attentive to see in reality what others do not see: signs of God’s action. Read more.
Ubuntu, an African Philosophy : I am because we are
“ A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. ” Desmond Tutu 1999
The concept of ubuntu defines the individual in terms of their several relationships with others, and stresses the importance of ubuntu as a religious concept. The Zulu maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (« a person is a person through other persons »)suggests that the person is to become one by behaving kindly towards humanity. Those who uphold the principle of ubuntu throughout their lives will, in death, achieve a unity with those still living. Read more.
AEFJN Manual on Economic Justice for JPIC groups – Vol. 1 – The Pastoral Circle
The AEFJN Manual on Economic Justice for JPIC groups working on JPIC issues is an excellent tool to learn how to go about in the commitment to transform society following the Pastoral Circle.
In the different chapters of the manual you can find:
1. Economic policies and the Christian response
2. The Pastoral Circle
3. Knowing the situation.
4. Analysing the situation.
5. Christian Reflection.
6. Planning the action
7. Implementing the action.
8. Monitoring and Evaluation.
Download the Manual on Economi Justice – Vol. 1: The Pastoral Circle
Season of Creation
The 1st September the Catholic Church celebrates the Day of Prayer for Creation. But the whole month of September till the 4th of October, feast of St Francis of Assisi, many Churches and many Catholics celebrate the Season of Creation, a time to take care of creation in a special way. We offer some reflections and prayers for each week of the Season of Creation.
World Day of Prayer for Creation (1st September)
September 1st was proclaimed as the World Day of Prayer for Creation by the Orthodox Church in 1989, and many other Christian churches have joined since then, with Pope Francis most recently in 2015. It was then extended to be a month-long Season of Creation, ending on October 4 (Feast of St. Francis). It is a time to pray, do symbolic gestures and take action for creation. See the planning tool kit.
Committing geocideGeocide is the collective action of a single species among millions of other species which is changing planet Earth to the point that it can become unrecognisable and unfit for life. But we still have a chance!
We are on a kind of modern pilgrimage; a difficult but infinitely rewarding journey towards a sustainable world, fit for human habitation… We know that the earth and all the myriad forms of life living on its land and under its seas are unlikely to withstand an increase in temperatures beyond 2 degrees… Read more.
Thousands of children work in African gold mines
A reef of gold is buried in some of the world’s poorest countries. Where the ore is rich, industrial mines carve it out. Where it is not, the poor sift the earth. These hard-working miners include many thousands of children. They work long hours at often dangerous jobs in hundreds of primitive mines scattered through the West African bush. Read more.
Faith, Economy, Ecology and Transformation
Volatile gas and food prices, rising sea levels, warming temperatures, the frequency of floods and terrifying storms are harbingers of a global reality spun out of control threatening the world’s most vulnerable people and species with starvation, poverty and extinction. Yet, the outcomes are not written in stone. We are at a moment where some important shifts in economic structures and “business as usual” could radically improve the outcomes for the entire planet.
Different Christian organizations in the USA have built a strategic alliance of people of faith and secular organizations and communities actively seeking economic and ecological justice. Read more.
Sub-Saharan Africa – Slavery analysis 2016
In 2016, the estimates of modern slavery in Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for approximately 13.6 percent of the world’s total enslaved population. In Ghana, there are an estimated 103,300 people enslaved y, of which 85 percent are in forced labour (farming and fishing, retail sales, manual labour and factory work), and 15 percent are in forced marriage. In South Africa, the commercial sex industry, manual labour industries (construction, manufacturing and factory work), and drug trafficking are the sectors with greater slaves… Read more.
15 years of migration in 15 mesmerizing maps
Since 2015 Europe talks about a huge flow of migrants. But, what does that flow actually look like compared to the rest of the world?
We present a series of maps that detail over a 16-year span from 2000 to 2015 where migrants are leaving and arriving.
Data comes from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Each red dot represents 17 refugees arriving in a country, while yellow dots represent refugees leaving their home country behind.
The resulting maps are nothing short of mesmerizing. See the maps.
Subsaharian migrants in Algeria.
Like every other month we organized a meeting of the Reading Club at our library in Oran. This time the theme was migration. We took care to invite sub-Saharan migrants who have lived in Algeria for many years, to allow for an exchange close to reality. Our reflection and discussion were not limited solely to the current migration in Algeria of the Sub-Saharans, but also to the world and the history of Algerian migrations to various horizons, especially after independence. Read more.
Mari Angeles working as a nurse in her previous post in Deli (Tchad)
« We are glad that there is someone who can visit these prisoners; you can count on us » said to Mari Angeles the director of Laghouat prison, when she went to the Laghouat prison some days ago. The joyful reception received from the staff and especially from the director of this large modern prison buried in the desert of Laghouat has edified and encouraged her to go regularly. Read more.
To be a landmark for the stranger who seeks her bearings
Zawadi with co-workers.
An elderly French lady had come with a group of tourists to visit Algeria. On the day of her arrival in Ghardaïa she fell in the hotel and broke her hip. Her traveling companions continued their tour while God reserved for her another form of tourism. Poor lady…she remained on her bed in the hospital. Zawadi was asked to come and rescue her, to speak to her in French. Read more.
Réseau Justice, Paix, Intégrité de la Création, Rencontre et Dialogue des SMNDA 