DOBEM TIMOR LESTE

Timor, husi ó ami moris
husi ó ami aprende atu terus ho domin
husi ó aprende atu perdua sira nebe halo at mai ami

Timor, ó kiik iha mundo rai klaran mas ó nia terus boot liu.
Terus nebe halo ó too ikus mai ó manan duni, ó sai duni ema iha mundo tomak nia oin

Timor, ami hotu hadomi ó
Maske ami lao doo husi ó
maibe ami lori nafatin ó nia naran iha ami nia fuan no laran

Loron ida, ami sei fila fali ba ó
hodi tane ó ba oin nafatin

Timor, ami dobem,
ami hadomi ó

(Portugal, 29.11.2010)

Santa Cruz Cemetery Massacre (Rushes) - East Timor

Massacre de Santa Cruz parte 3

East Timor - Dili Santa Cruz Massacre, November 12th 1991

Job description of the JPIC Coordinator

From the SVD Handbook of Superiors (2002)


A13 JUSTICE, PEACE AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION COORDINATOR

1.0 Part of missionary calling. Action on behalf of justice, peace and the integrity of creation (JPIC) in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized is a demand of our common religious missionary calling. Therefore, as the 12th General Chapter reaffirmed, all of us should manifest a definite commitment to promote justice and peace in whatever kind of apostolate we may find ourselves engaged (Nuntius XI, p. 583, 1).
2.0 Provincial coordinator for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.
2.1 Coordinator. All provinces should appoint a provincial JPIC coordinator to animate the confreres to a more determined commitment to the promotion of justice, peace and the integrity of creation in solidarity with the poor and marginalized, and to coordinate action in this field (Nuntius XI, p. 584, 2).
2.2 Commission. To reach out more effectively to all the confreres in the province and to deal more comprehensively with the complex issues of justice, peace, and the integrity of creation, provinces are encouraged to establish a commission to assist the coordinator.
3.0 Appointment and term of office. The provincial coordinator is appointed by the provincial superior with the consent of his council, and where applicable, also the members of the commission. He usually serves for a term of three years and may be reappointed (see c 615). However, in the interests of cultivating awareness of issues and fostering skills of coordination in a greater number of confreres, it is recommended that JPIC personnel be changed at reasonable intervals while ensuring adequate continuity.
4.0 Duties of coordinator. These include the following:
4.1 Awareness building:
4.1.1 to assist the members of the province in the process of conscientization about contemporary JPIC issues, particularly in those areas that impinge on our apostolates, and to promote an effective solidarity with the poor and the marginalized;
4.1.2 to contribute to a more critical awareness of cultural religious values and attitudes, of ideologies, of women’s issues and of socio economic and political realities; to encourage study of their effects on local and global justice, peace, integral human development, and on the ecology;
4.1.3 to engage in ongoing social analysis and research on JPIC issues in the context of local realities and to make the results known to the confreres for discussion, reflection and appropriate action;
4.2 Theology and spirituality:
4.2.1 to promote a faith awareness and spirituality in which a commitment to justice and peace is integral, and a theology of mission which incorporates justice, peace and the integrity of creation as a characteristic dimension;
4.2.2 to promote the realization that authentic living and preaching of the gospel as a community and as individuals involves a critical examination of our modes of acting in our various apostolates, of our possessions and investments, of our enterprises, and of our life style;
4.2.3 to foster an adequate appreciation of the scriptural and theological foundation for the promotion of justice and basic human rights as constitutive of the preaching of the gospel and as an authentic expression of the Society’s charism;
4.3 Support and solidarity:
4.3.1 to keep in touch with the apostolates in the province so as to be able to fulfill a consultative role in these apostolates, to help confreres in seeking funding when necessary, and to gain the understanding of the province;
4.3.2 to help and support members of the Society in difficulty because of their engagement in matters of justice, peace and the integrity of creation;
4.3.3 to seek to establish relations with confreres isolated from the province because of their involvement in JPIC activities, aiming to increase understanding and improve relationships within the province;
4.4 Dissemination of information: to prepare and make available materials related to JPIC issues, both at the national and international levels and, where possible, to suggest a theological and pastoral approach;
4.5 Coordination and collaboration:
4.5.1 to coordinate and support justice-oriented initiatives and promote collaboration with the confreres in the various apostolates within the province: mission animation, mission research, biblical apostolate, communications, education, formation, youth, indigenous peoples, etc.;
4.5.2 to serve as consultant to the provincial superior and the provincial council; to recommend specific programs of action for the province for their approval or active support; to accept from them JPIC related tasks;
4.5.3 to represent the province in responding to social issues and in networking with other organizations, especially the local church, e.g., through diocesan commissions;
4.5.4 to prepare a triennial report to be sent in to the generalate through the provincial council (D22);
4.5.5 to maintain communication and cooperation with the JPIC area secretary of the zone and the coordinator at the generalate; to participate in the activities of the area team of the zone and cooperate with other provinces;
4.5.6 to cooperate with the SSpS and lay associates, and with Church related or other organizations, whether local or international, such as Pax Christi, Amnesty International and so on;
4.5.7 to coordinate the provinces’ collaboration in international campaigns such as campaigns to restrict the arms trade, to alleviate debt, to establish a UN convention on food security, etc.
4.5.8 to maintain contact with VIVAT International and to collaborate with them on their various JPIC initiatives.
5.0 Coordinator’s relationship with the provincial and the provincial council.
5.1 The provincial should consult with the coordinator before he makes important decisions concerning JPIC matters. Although the role of the coordinator is informative and consultative, the provincial should give special regard to his recommendations.
5.2 The coordinator should be invited to provincial council meetings, or at least consulted beforehand if this is deemed preferable, when JPIC matters are at issue.
5.3 The provincial should encourage the districts and communities to establish links with the JPIC coordinator for the sake of consultation and ongoing formation. He should also ensure that venues for collaboration and dialogue between the coordinators of the different areas of concern are established, especially with those working in formation.
6.0 Interprovincial JPIC board. In countries with two or more provinces, an interprovincial JPIC board could be beneficial. Setting up such a board, approval of its statutes, and appointment of the members are within the competence of the provincial superiors.

The report of a JPIC coordinator in Slovakia

There are some areas in which I work every day and some others I work occasionally. For some several years I have been doing the work of a hospital chaplain. They ask for annoying of the sick, I listen to their confessions and say the masses in our hospital chapel every day.
The other social work is a work with roman people. Once a week they usually come to our parish asking us to baptize their children. It is very common that the father´s name of a child is unknown. There are many reasons why work with them is so tough. They have many demands on us, but they do not want to be led and educated by us. They are still attached to their own roman traditions. For instance, a roman woman just after baptizing the child with the holy water starts tweaking that child. The child has to cry loudly so everyone will know that this child is healthy. Afterwards they take the child and go around the altar three times praying and asking God to bless their child.
Sometimes they call us to bless their houses. So that is the good opportunity to know them better and even to see every place in their houses. We work with them in our pastoral centre which was repaired in 2004. I talk about small children attending the primary schools. We do some catechesis and through the small groups we try to lift up and make better their behaving and education.
Through these children we try to reach their parents. On different occasions they are invited to come and to participate and joined us. The best trap is to organize a disco for them. You can be sure for 100% that they will come and after finishing it, they will leave you with a lot of rubbish.
According to the official statistics 300 thousand roma people live at the present time in Slovakia. This amount is closed to the amount of roma people living in France, but the France is 11times bigger than Slovakia.
But it is a tough work and takes ages to improve something. One proverb says: “does not matter for how long a piece of wood stays in the water, it still does not turn to be a crocodile”.
The people believe that the socialist law which came out in the year of 1958 and was forbidding the migration was the begging of all the troubles with the roman people in Slovakia.
Once a week I go to charity to serve the homeless people. My work consists of worming the soup and spreading the butter on the bread and so getting closer to them. It sometimes happens that they asked for a confession.
Once a month I go to see drug and alcoholic addicts in Novy Svet. Some of us still remember visiting this places and I assure you they remember you. It was such a surprise when they suddenly saw a big bus and more than 30 people coming out of the bus just to see them and talk to them. The re- socialization centre is still receiving and accommodating more and younger or older people who have got into these addictions. The last week just one of them, a young boy overdosed himself. But on the other hand in two years three of them had been prepared to receive all the sacraments and they did so this year.
This year I have also started to work two non-government organizations named Pro-Life and Forum of Life. These organizations work hard to protect dignity and justice of a person as a human being and to protect human lives. I have started distributing a lot of brochures about protecting human lives everywhere I go but mostly in the hospital I take care off. The other time we had a mass for an unborn children and protection of human life.
On 1st-5 September this year a pilgrimage called “green” was led by the first deputy Prime Minister Jan Figel and the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson Kodwo. He said at a press conference that the theme of Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation should be studied in all seminaries. Furthermore, it should be incorporated into the curriculum of Catholic universities. Cardinal visited the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava and then they proceed to Mariazell a small town in Austria. The idea was based on the message of Pope Benedict XVI. Which he gave on the Day of World Peace 2010: “If you want to help peace, we have to save the creation.” The cardinal added: “The world is a house of people, and we try to make the world safe and comfortable house for all”.
In this context we started to separate the waist. We collect the plastic bottles and theirs tops and put them into the bags. The tops of these plastic bottles are collected by a one lady who is saving the many for buying wheel chairs for handicap children.
There are many other things that I am not going to mention them here but as God say: “For my justice God has given me a reward, because he has seen that my hands are cleaned” (Z 18).
----------------------------
The report of
Fr. Pavel Kobliha, SVD
Nitra, Slovakia 2010

JPIC SVD –SSpS JOINT MEETING

Report by: Fr. Bumanglag, Elmer Agcaoili, SVD (PAULINO)
JPIC COORDINATOR


JPIC REPORT: SVD ITALIAN PROVINCE

JPIC animation of the entire SVD Province: work to seek justice, peace and the integrity of creation, giving special attention to the poorest of the poor, the marginalized and the aged. As an SVD Province, in line with its mission and vision. It exists an attention and a promotion of the dignity of the person and a help in difficult situations of the migrants and the refugees.

In Italy, we give particular attention, especially in the Diocese of Vicenza and partly starting also in the Diocese of Bolzano, to inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue with immigrants. In other houses of the SVD Province is also engage to a dialogue with faith seekers as we realize this collaboration and partnership together with the host diocese in the work of evangelization.

Pastoral ministry to migrants is intensified (mentioning some of the groups: Filipinos, Ghanians, Nigerians, and some Asians origin. In particular, they were accompanied by three confreres namely Fr. Paulino - a Filipino confrere, Fr. Stephen- a Ghanian confrere, and Fr. Sathya - an Indian confrere.

SVDs Paulino & Stephen do these migrant ministry together and in line with the pastoral program of the diocese they belong. Two confreres were Caritas volunteers namely Fr. Paulino and Fr. Sathya, both were involved also in the prison ministry and has begin an apostolate for the “gypsies - roma sinti – zingari - nomads people. It does exit also a collaboration with lay people as regards JPIC, an ONLUS VAROM, a lay organization to give support the Romanian mission in terms of humanitarian helps with their basic needs, and another thing was also considered another involvement of lay group with an influence of SVD Spirituality, named themselves as AMICI VERBITI, a lay group for the animation of mission needs and helps in solidarity forms. More importantly, JPIC of the Province in Italy works hand in hand also with “Commission JPIC of the CIMI : “Conferenza Istituti Missionari in Italia”.

In Moldova, we give particular attention to dialogue with faith seekers. It does exist also in our Parish Stauceni near the Capital of Chisinau, meals help for the scattered flocks of children and adults in need, medical assistance to the sick and aged people in their homes, also an offering of temporary lodging and food for those without houses.

In Romania, we give particular attention to dialogue with the poor, the marginalized and we are involved also especially to ecumenical dialogue with the members of the Orthodox Church. It does exist also for so many years now, initiatives for the poor and the needy together with Caritas di Iasi, a promotion and support of Anti Alcoholic Club and work for logopedia “logopedy” for those victim most, and a help for young mothers and a help after the school classes.



FAITH IN A MIGRANT WORLD
(Case of Faith Migrant Community: Pastoral Care of Filipinos in Italy)

Filipinos are generally very enthusiastic in living out their faith and the practice of their faith continues to be a significant part of their lives. Living their catholic faith for Filipinos is indeed a major source of personal strength in moments of adversity – and adversities do exist in the lives of Filipinos working away from family and homeland. My countrymen and women in Italy are no exceptions to this phenomenon that may be observed in all foreign lands where Filipinos work to see a better life and a better future. Pastoral efforts must be sensitively aware of this fact, and the tremendous potential to serve and to reach out to un-churched Filipinos and to those in need of assistance, spiritual or otherwise.

The relatively large number of Filipino emigrants may be seen positively as the export of all that is good and wonderful in the Filipino character. The strong of perseverance for the sake of loved ones, the strong family values, the respect for elders, the “tender loving care” for children and the elderly, the values of honesty, seriousness in work, cleanliness and personal hygiene, the community spirit in traditional celebrations of the family (such as weddings, baptisms, etc.) and the community (such as fiestas of patron saints in the home country) and yes, the strong religiosity –all these are positive traits shining out in the midst of the society of the host country which they have come to regard as their second home. In fact, the developed and highly-industrialized Western societies such as the Italian society seem to have lost somewhat these values due to the pervading spirit of materialism and the individualism that becomes strong in these so-called modern and affluent societies.

The phenomenon of migration brings with it a host of problems, difficulties and challenges. One of the most obvious and important may perhaps be the fact that many Filipino families are torn apart from each other, creating situations at home that are challenging. In Italy, many families have also been reunited, thanks to the favourable policy of the host country’s government; nonetheless, the fact of being uprooted and transplanted into another society substantially different from where they come from brings with it challenges.

The actual situation in Italy brings to mind some aspects that make it somewhat unique in comparison with other European societies and cultures wherein Filipinos workers and families find themselves. The long history of the Church in this country, its strong presence and the influence which Christian values continue to have in Italian society makes the Italian context quite different from other countries. Many of the values and aspects of the innate character of the Italian people are also shared by Filipinos. Families from the Philippines working and living in Italy are surrounded by the rich Christian heritage evident in Italian history and culture, something inconceivable for thousands of Filipino workers in the Arab countries of the Middle East. In the same way, as in other affluent societies, Italy is also experiencing falling demographics, a turbulent political life, the gradual erosion of cherished values, increasing attitudes of selfishness and materialism, and the worrisome tendency of “lay or secular democracies” to exclude faith in God and other spiritual values from ordinary life.

With regard, Filipinos living and working in Italy and seeking to live and practice their faith must be aware that in Italy, ecclesial structures are very well established and organized. Pastoral Chaplains and pastoral workers have to be constantly aware that they do not act in isolation in their wish to evangelize their fellow countrymen and women, and that in the Christian community, communion and solidarity, justice and peace should be among the top priorities. The pastoral care of Filipinos living in Italy is therefore two pronged from the very beginning: it seeks to integrate the Filipino communities into the local Church or diocese in whose territory they reside (necessarily a gradual and slow process); and to preserve their spiritual and cultural identity, their Filipino-Christian roots, which should be for the local Church an enrichment or a positive contribution of the immigrant community.

Fullness of faith-life for the Filipinos will be during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist which for many communities is the Sunday Mass, celebrated probably in one of the Filpino languages, in a somewhat regular manner (every Sunday, every other Sunday, once a month, etc.). This is usually the activity related to faith life which is at the center of pastoral efforts and the first thing that must be established and stabilized, for which the presence of a priest speaking the language in which Mass is celebrated, truly necessary. Next would come the baptisms for children, the celebration of sacramental marriages, confessions, funerals (rarely) and other sacramentals, para-liturgies, devotions and traditional religious practices associated with certain moments of the liturgical year. These faith celebrations continue to be channels of divine grace and strength although at times tinged with some superstitions or misconceptions that pastoral care in the form of catechesis should seek to correct. These liturgical moments continue to be privileged moments of encounter and grace and pastoral workers must ever deepen their awareness of the great potentials for catechesis and evangelization inherent in these moments. These constitute the first priority of all pastoral activity for indeed the liturgy, especially the Eucharistic liturgy, is the font and summit of all Christian life. The Italian local Church thinks as such too, for the first form of assistance for immigrants is providing them space and time to celebrate the Holy Mass for themselves, in their native language if possible.

In Italy, ecclesial integration of immigrant communities is the pastoral approach for nurturing faith of these migrant people. With great challenges then, Filipinos at present try to concretize this project of faith life in them in the form of calling which may be seen into their life: A call to Community, A call to Hear the Word of God, A call to Faith and Hope, and A call to Mission.

JPIC REPORT

SVD ITALIAN PROVINCE
(Summary Scheme outline)

-Migrants Ministry :Migrants Commission of the Diocese
(Italy: Vicenza & Bolzano)

-Prison Ministry :Diocesan Caritas
(Italy: Vicenza) :Commissione Carcere

-Roma – Sinti – Zingari :Diocesan Caritas
(Italy: Vicenza) :Commissione Nomadi

-Dialogue with the Poorest
of the poor
°Humanitarian Helps :Caritas di Iasis
& Solidarity Forms
°Anti Alcohol Club
°Young Mothers
°Logopedy
(Romania) Lay Groups
ONLUS VAROM
AMICI VERBITI

-Dialogue with Faith seekers
°Medical Assistance
(sick and aged in their homes)
°Offering of lodging & food
(those without houses)
(Moldova) :Parish Stauceni–Capital of Chisinau


With JPIC in our Province, we are members of the CIMI “Conferenza Istituti Missionari in Italia”…which is also an associate member of the VIVAT. We work principally for the justice and peace. We are member supporting the campaign for the common good such as water, as a form of our concern for the integrity of creation. Many concerns of JPIC were being discussed and supported strengthening our networking and advocacy in all levels and in many for

JPIC Zonal Meeting, St. Gabriel 2010

Background Information
Since my appointment as the province coordinator of JPIC of the German Province, we have not yet had a meeting. This is because the appointment took place shortly before the summer holidays. The long and short of it all is that I am gradually getting immersed into my work as Coordinator of Justice and Peace and Integration of creation. All the same, we have been doing some few things. One of the major tasks of the commission in the German province is the contribution in the form of articles that we publish in the “Provinz Nachrichten”, where issues are handled to sensitise confreres on burning issues relating to Justice and Peace and Integration of Creation. This is to conscientise confreres on issues pertaining to this commission and how much each one of us can participate in it. In the last number of the Provinz Nachrichten, I wrote an article on the football world cup in South Africa, with special emphasis on honesty and world peace. The next article will deal with the world AIDS Conference 2010 written by another member of the commission who is working with people having AIDS.
I have also talked to some confreres to find out what they expect from the commission. Their answer is: get practical and less theoretical. We will try to accomplish this as much as we can.

Membership of the Commission
The commission consists of five members, three confreres in perpetual vows, one confrere in temporary vows and a lay worker from the Bank. My predecessor is Br. Paul Heider, who is yet to officially hand over to me.

Plans for the triennium
The first meeting will take place on the 22nd of November 2010. At that meeting we will look at how to cooperate with other apostolates in the province. I intend to propose the work with immigrants (Apostolate with migrants) as a priority. One of the members works with the Spanish speaking community in the archdiocese of Cologne. This will mean bringing together all the confreres working in this field to share with us their joys and sorrows and to make suggestions as to how we can support them. Migration is connected to integration. We, therefore, need to help our communities to get integrated into the German local Church, in order to contribute to the life of the Church as a whole. This brings out the beauty of belonging to this one Church but coming from different countries and cultural backgrounds.
I am hoping that we will also be able to team up with SSpS. This area is inexhaustible and I look forward to this collaboration.
We will continue with publishing articles in our “Pronvinz Nachrichten”. These may not only come from members of the commission but also from confreres in different apostolates. These would be encouraged to reflect on the contribution of their work to Justice and peace and integration of recreation.
The SVD in German is a member of Netzwerk Afrika. Fathers Krause and Muschof were part of the executive committee of this organisation. Our participation has been very minimal for the past three years and it is the hope of all that we contribute more positively as SVDs to the work of the Netzwerk. Every two years Sankt Augustin celebrates Klosterfest. As a way of presenting the commission not only to confreres but also to the outside world, we will want to be part of it. This is one good avenue for it. ^

Fr. Moses Asaah Awinongya
JPIC Coordinator - GER

Report of the JPIC Coordinator of the Slovak SSpS Province

The communities of SSpS of the Province of the Holy Spirit in Slovakia SSpS endeavour to minister to people, marginalized for one or the other reason or to those who are in need of help. Among them are particularly Roma people, sick, lonely, old and dying, handicapped and women.

Apostolate with Roma people, so called gipsies, is one of the priorities of the Slovak SSpS province, because their position in the society is indeed a challenge for us as missionary sisters. They make about 8-10 % of the total population of the country, which means around 400 000 (fourhundred thausend) people. Yet, Slovakia is after Bulgaria the second country in Europe with the highest number of gipsies.

So far we do not have exact statistics, because according to the last census in our country only ¼ of them confirmed their belonging to this minority.

Approximately a half of them are integrated in the society, the rest are concentrated in places near villages or towns. In Slovakia there are around 600 (sixhundred) Roma villages, especially in the east of the country. Marginalized Roma communities belong to the least developed, and the situation the gipsies live in can indeed be called frontier mission. Let us see some facts that speak about it:
 80 % has only basic education, often not even completed
 75 % of their families depend on government subsidy
 low standard of living and health care
 high rate of unemployment because of little education; this makes them unable to pay taxes for their houses, which leads to illegal housing
 prejudices and social distance

These are the facts that we all know. Yet, we do not want to excuse them or cover them simply with their culture and history, but as Servants of the Holy Spirit we want to search for appropriate and effective forms of help for these people living among us.

Common life with the rest of the population and their integration into the society is our desire and aim, yet it will be a long process, looking at their demographic development, because 40 % of Roma people living in Slovakia are children younger than 15 years of age. Therefore our apostolate concentrates mainly on children and youth. We want to educate them and implant in their hearts basic human and Christian values.

In some places the sisters work directly among the Roma people. Two years ago, during our meeting in Nitra you visited the marginalized area called Orechov Dvor. In that time there were 35 families living there who were unable to pay the rent of the flats in the town. Last year some more families were placed there – in certain unimocells made of metal. Today there are 65 families living there, which means more than 300 (threehundred) citizens in material needs, at the edge of life minimum. The possibility of increasing “migration” into this settlement is very real.
The last bus stop before this settlement is about one kilometre through the field. The real problem here is unemployment, school truancy and accumulation of social disadvantages with all their consequences.
Two of our sisters work in this settlement for five years now, ministering especially to the children and youth, organizing for them various afternoon activities, particularly tutoring, preparation for classes, catechesis, development of talents and creativity, playing and outings. Through education and meaningful use of time we aim at building up the sense of their own value. This evokes in their parents interest in a good education of their children. A number of times they expressed their gratitude and whish that the children attend these activities. According to possibilities and interest we work also with the adults – we dialogue with them, teach them some skills, arrange some material help for them as for example clothes, furniture, etc.

70 % of the activities of this project are financed with the budget of the city of Nitra. At this time a Community plan of social services in Nitra, for the time of 2010-2013 (two thausend ten ..), is being finalized. Our sisters also participated in the preparation of this plan, representing the settlement Orechov Dvor, presenting the needs of its complex development. We also cooperate with the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra. According to a contract between the University and our Missionary Congregation, we arrange for the students of the Faculty of Social Science possibilities to have a practicum in the settlement with gipsies. The University in turn offers us a possibility of supervision and specific counselling. For next year we also plan a closer collaboration with our bishops and so carrying out the pastoral plan of the Bishops´ Conference, as well as networking with other organizations, communities and individuals who minister to gipsies in the district of Nitra.

Apart from Nitra, also our sisters in Kežmarok (near High Tatra) visit once or twice a week Roma children and youth in the village Stráne and Rakúsy, where there are living around 1000 (thausend) Roma people.

They speak with them about different topics, prepare the Sunday Eucharist and play with them. The same they do

The regular visits gradually show the fruits, and sisters are happy to see the children relating well with, and respecting each other.

In the community in Zlaté Moravce, one sister works as the assistant of the teacher in the primary school for mentally handicapped children, of which the majority are Roma children. She also teaches religion in the same school.

Beside the apostolate among Roma people sisters work also with some other marginalized groups in our country. These are the following:

 Women in prison: four sisters of the community Ivanka pri Nitre visit every Sunday and feast the women prison, and in the collaboration with the chaplain for prisoners they prepare the Sunday Eucharist together with the women, give them catechesis or spend time listening to their stories;
 Socially weak mothers with children: once a week the novices with their directress spend time with the mothers and children of the Institute for single mothers with children in Nitra (at present there are 25 mothers with children there);
 Sexually abused women: every two months one sister in collaboration with an MSC missionary in Nitra organize a weekend meeting for sexually abused women;
 Alcoholics and drug addicts: two sisters – one in Pereš (near Nitra) and one in Choryne (Czech Republic) participate in the weekly meetings of alcohol and drug addicts, mostly listening to their stories and encouraging them on their way of recovery;
 Children and youth: sisters of all seven communities of our province have regular meetings with children and youth, according to their possibilities. In some places they have regular catechesis with them, they meet on various occasions, in other places they teach religion, or meet with the students in the University pastoral centre, in collaboration with the SVD they organize so called Mission holidays, fostering in children and young people the missionary spirit as well as the sense of social justice based on Christian love.
 Old people living in hospices, hospitals or lonely in their houses are often marginalized too, experiencing in one or the other way not only loneliness, but social injustice as well. Our sisters in Kelč, Kežmarok, Ivanka and Budapest contribute through their services to a dignified and valuable life of these people. Even some elderly sisters of the community in Ivanka visit the old and lonely people in the village or in the social institutes in Nitra. Their visits are signs of real interest in the stories, worries and struggles of these people, which the sisters bring in their prayers.
 Holy Spirit Missionary Association: meetings with the members of this Association give also space for deepening the social awareness of the members.

Wherever we move, we can see the poverty and injustice. – on the pathways of our towns and villages. Everywhere we meet people who are hungry not only for bread but also for attention and love. May also this Year of Battle against Poverty and Social Exclusion help us see the reality of our surrounding, courageously fight against the causes of injustice and take the responsibility for our own freedom in relation to the entire human family.


Sr. Pia, Ľubomíra Michalicová SSpS (JPIC coordinator)

Ivanka pri Nitre, 13.10. 2010

JUSTICE, PEACE AND INTEGRATION OF CREATION- HUNGARY

Jpic in Hungary started with a vision and mission in the month of September, 2010. It is an interdenominational and faith in ministry.

I. BACKGROUND INFORMATION & NEED OF JPIC IN HUNGARY

1.Roma Identity:A roma is a person who declares himself to be a roma on the basis of various criteria.e.g.way of life, anthropological features.

Statistics based on the 2001 census show that 190,000 people nationwide declared to be a roma nationality.

2.Affiliation: There are two tyes of Roma in Hungary: 1.Those for whom Romany is the mother tounge, 2.and those for whom it is not. Their tribal names refer to their professions, 1.Lovari- horse dealer 2.Kelderari-copper smith. The numerous linguistic differences between these two languages mean that the two groups can not understand each other. Gentel-singers and poor-who do casual work, another division.

Social status: Today almost all Roma in Hungary live settled lives, and the use of their native language is becoming less and less common. Various forms of slavery still exist today. These are manifested in forced begging, prostitution, and theft. Large number of Roma spends time in prisons.Roma people economically, socially and educationally backward ones. Because they have many social problems, the peaceful life is disturbed.

Roma family ministry: What type of family? The families of the Gypsy community are big. Each family has about 12 people including the mother and father. Gypsy women marry when they are about 15 or 16 years of age. This is the most common age for marriage. These women usually do not have any education, nor do the boys who they marry. So, they depend on their families to feed them and provide a living for them. They live with the parents of the boy even if they must all live in a one-room house. It is very difficult for such a large family to live, eat, clean, etc., in such a small place. This is one of the bad traditions in the community. The young married women have to have children after one year of marriage. They don't have happy lives and some of the young women get divorced only after 5 or 6 months of marriage. Since they have no education or anything else, the young women have to go begging in the streets. There is no choice in the matter since she must do something for her survival. Another problem that we have as a community is the lack of education. Most of the children grow up in the streets. This is what their parents, choose for them. They think it is a better life for them because they aren't in school and can go to work sooner. If the children do bad things it is not a problem because "they are only children." The parents say, "they will learn from the streets. The street is a good school. You can learn a lot from the streets." This is one of the big problems in their community.
As many people know, the Gypsy people are poor. They work one day and spend the money the next day. This was the way of life, "easy come, and easy go."

Other Reasons:
1. Loss of their parents
2. Either father or mother just to leave the child and run with other spouse
3. Almost father become irrecoverable drunkenness
4. When families leave the child with grand parents and go for earning faraway to states
5. Irresponsible parental attitude just to leave the children on roadsides and fear from the vicinity

Objectives Of JPIC:

 To train indigenous people
 To educate and train people in skill to sustain their life
 To enhance children in holistic development
 To bring youth transformation among the rural youth
 To develop leadership among disadvantaged people
 Socio-economic development programmes for the upliftment of the poor Roma people.

JPIC Mission Activities in Köröm:

We train young men from grass root level with a systematic and effective teaching of community organization. At least I want to train some 10 people, later on they will involve in field work in forming care cells in order to establish a caring community in their respective place.

Ultimate Aim Of JPIC in Köröm:
The ultimate aim of JPIC ministry is to make the people to read the word of god and to bring out holistic development in the life of god and to bring out holistic development in the life of the believers (Socially, morally, mentally, economically, and spiritually).

1.Child Transformation
 Conducting leadership training for child workers
 Organizing children care programme in the urban and rural areas during summer holidays
 Forming clubs for the care of children.
1.To teach children the importance of education
1. To impart knowledge and skills of leadership
2. To instill social, moral and spiritual values
3. To promote personal dignity and creativity
4. To train young minds to choose right vocations
5. To impart problem solving skills and rationale
6. To create a responsible and enlightened society

2.Youth Transformation
We are motivating and mobilizing the youth to get involved in care activities and in outreach social work. We conduct study centers, retreats, vocational skill training, for their spiritual and social self-sustainability.

3.Leadership Seminars
In order to bring Transformation in the churches, we organize Leadership Training skill programs for the Christian co - workers. So that they will do faith formation work in the schools, in the villages, bringing the people back to faith.

4.Women empowerment and socio-economic development programme
To bring awareness and raise their standard of living, we conduct social and community health (medial, general awareness camps) Roma women. We also encourage them to get involved in forming self help groups, and helping them with micro credit to start income generating programmes for their sustainable development.
Economic Development:
1.Poverty Eradication: Steps will be taken for mobilization of poor women, along with necessary support measures to enhance their capabilities. Self- help groups Little bit savings for the development of the children and the family.

Social Empowerment of Women
1.Education: Eradicate illiteracy, creat the quality of education to facilitate life-Long learning as well as development of occupation/vocation/technical skills by women.
2.Health: A holistic approach to women’s health which includes both nutrition and health services will be adopted and special attention will be given to the needs of women and the girl at all stages of the life cycle
Women’s traditional knowledge about health care and nutrition will be recognized through proper documentation and its use will be encouraged
3.Nutrition: This is also important in view of the health of adolescent girls, pregnant women with the health of infant and young children.
4.Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special attention will be given to the needs of women in the provision of safe drinking water, sewage disposal, toilet facilities and sanitation within accessible reach of households.
5.Women in Difficult Circumstances: Programmes will be undertaken to provide them with special assistance. These groups include women in extreme poverty, destitute women, women in conflict situations, women affected by natural calamities, the disabled widows, elderly women, single women in difficult circumstances, women heading households, women who are victims of marital violence, deserted women and prostitutes etc.
Area / Locality details of activities carried out now:
We are a team of persons from different walks of life dedicated our efforts for the uplift of the children of poor and under privileged lot in the society, We initially concentrate on the Home, Food, Cloths, educational and welfare side of the group of children chosen for rehabilitation.


 Teaching, counseling and upbringing of children to make them responsible and productive citizens of Hungary.
 Providing and facilitating the education and training of these children in order to equip them with life skills
 Establishing foster homes for those children who are homeless, currently we have been forced to rent out home for these children during holiday time as they have nowhere else to go
 To provide / facilitate health care for the orphans

III.HOW JPIC SERVICES EFFECT CHILDREN


How these services effect the children?

The services rendered by JPIC effect the children in the follow¬ing way:
 The children are identified.
 The institution act as guardian to the children.
 Regular education has been provided.
 The children are participated in curricular and Co-curricular activities.
 The children are having secured life, good nutritional regime, medicine and special care with love.
 At present various games like cricket, badminton etc. have been taught there by the children get good physique.
 The children learn various songs and to play musical instruments. So they are happy with normal life In order to get more confidence of life, Discipline and morals have been taught.



IV.Future Plans Of JPIC in Köröm:

 To establish a JPIC centre in Köröm.
 To train 15 indigenous for leaders, teach them pantomime, street plays, singing and dance.
 To start a child, youth and women development programmes
 To buy a four-wheeler for outreach work. This group will go round, performing the programmes, where ever people invite us. The main task of the group will be creating a lot of social awareness to the people about social evils existing in the society.
 The objectives will be achieved by using various means and ways of reaching out to people.

JPIC WORK IN POLAND

Since the down-fall of the Communism, we have seen rapid changes in our society, both: positive and negative. The positive one has been visible in the many cars on the roads, the nice and good family houses that were popping out and good stores. Let me only mention some negative ones which are noticed e.g.; in a growing number of unemployed people (one example in Nysa region: the huge industrial factory was sold to the foreign companies and 25.000,00 workers were sacked; the place is turning into ruin because for some years no new project was taken up). This in turn increased number of people living in poverty and widened a gap between the rich and the poor. The middle class is getting smaller, the richer and poorer classes are getting bigger. The long lines of the poor were cuing in front of our convents, especially in Raciborz – our provincial house. This is also a reason for which we, as an SSpS Province in Poland became more sensitive to the cry of the poor and we moved into the regular social work, besides our regular catechetical work and nursing.
In 2005 during our Provincial Chapter we looked at the reality surrounding us, we re-evaluated our apostolates and we put again into the focus our priorities.

1. Working with the Poor and Needy
In the recent years we had many poor families coming to our provincial house’s door. Since 1991 they have been served with soup. In 2001 they were around 300 families that received the most needed food. In 2005 during our Provincial Chapter it was decided that we could not simply feed these people without offering to them other services. A new sister was assigned who went to visit the families in order to see the proper picture and reality of those in need. We helped some of the people to get a paid job, a proper places to live and slowly little by little the help have been offered on different levels. Since the beginning of 2005 we started a Prophylactic Program for the Families called AVE MARIS STELLA which fosters sober life and around 70 families take part in the program. We turned for sponsorship of this project to the Local Government of Racibórz. Staff members who carry out the program are well prepared professionally (these includes: a social worker, psychologist, lawyer and one of our sisters who dedicates her service to women). According to both: the participants and the teaching-staff, the program has good impact on the participants. It includes a different levels care, namely:
.
• Awareness raising and hospitalized cure
 Care for the Mothers with children whose husbands are alcohol addicted
 Helping those unemployed to find a job
 Giving a day program during a summer holiday for the children of these dysfunctional families
Since the children of dysfunctional families during the summer holiday programs are mixed with some children of the good families, we see the growth in their social interaction. In these programs the University students of the Social Work faculty were helping out with a great dedication.

2. „Children’s Home” is one of the SSpS activities developed in this time of rapid changes in Poland. „Children’s Home”, opened on January 9, 1995 has been caring for children from dysfunctional families, who practically were spending their time after coming from school, on the street. The main focus of our program is placed on education, formation into self-education, self-reliance, self-discipline and spiritual growth. There are also recreational occupations and art-therapy that help the children to relax and to develop their own hobbies, skills and abilities.
Every year some special prophylactic programs are offered on alcohol, drug-addicts and others. Our goal is to help the children “to stand on their own feet” so that with God’s help they can be prepared for life better than their parents were. In our “Home for Children” we create an atmosphere of acceptance, loving care and security so that the children feel loved. Besides, one hot meal a day is served. At Christmas time we organize Christmas Eve dinner (an important polish custom), celebrating together. It was a special experience to see the growth and reconciliation in the families. For the first years the children did not want to celebrate Christmas Eve organized in the Home for Children with their Parents. They were afraind of the Parents behavior. It was a sign for the Sisters to have a program for the Parents that leads towards reconciliation. Recently the Parents and the Children celebrate Christmas Eve together.
During the winter and summer vacations many excursions are organized to visit beautiful spots and cities in our country. Unforgettable memories of joy that bind them into one family are shared and treasured for a long time.
Since 2005 there was an efford and openness from our side to collaborate with the local government in Racibórz. Evaluating and observing our activities, the local government accepted our project and put our “Home for Children” on the list of priorities and consequently, sponsored renovation of the house (roof, windows, dining room, bath-rooms, hot water and heating system, etc). As the time goes on we have been receiving some finances from the Local Fund of Racibórz. By taking part in competitions and winning different prices our “Home for Children” received enough money to purchase material for the arte-therapy, manual work and food for children. Recently we also received some computers that are a great help for us.
Besides, the children take part in various ecological competitions. Sisters of our community in Racibórz help them a lot but there are many lay helpers who carry out this important project.
Teaming up with lay volunteers we have been working on to make the received from the government house into a real „H o m e for Children”. It is a great joy to see how the so called by many “street rascals” have been slowly growing into a community of young people who care for life and are able to express their gratitude for the hand given to them at one stage of their lives. Let me share here, that some of them by now are gr. 12 graduates who carry out with their studies.


3. Migrant’s Centre – meeting people of different cultures and religions
Migrants became a challenge for our society in the last decade. Before the SVD Migrants Centre was opened we invited Fr. Anthon Koszorz, SVD to our Provincial Chapter to present to us his vision and desire regarding the Migrants Centre. The Migrant’s Centre in Warsaw was opened by the SVD’s in September 2005, to create a gathering Centre for different groups mainly from Chechnya, Vietnam, some African countries and China) of the national minority existing in Poland, mainly in Warsaw and its surroundings. In the first three years four of our junior sisters and two of the finally professed sisters took up a voluntary work in the Centre in order to serve the people of these groups. In the beginning our sisters worked mainly with the children, young people and women of Chechnya. It has been a good experience to work with the people of different culture, mentality, language and religion. They gave them Polish language lessons and some arte therapy sessions.
The SVD Fathers work with the Asians (mainly Vietnamese and Chinese people) and African people, teaming up with different institutions. In the last two years one of our Sisters worked as a full time staff member working hand in hand with SVDs. From September of the current year there is no SSpS Sister in the socio-pastoral service of the Migrant’s Center. There is only one SSpS treasurer who offers her part time helping out with the accounting there. However, our present PLT .also sees the Centre as one of our priorities and searches for a Sister who could offer her service in this acute need of our society.
Besides, of what was said above, our sisters are involved in the following socio-pastoral services:
• Pastoral service in the Correction House for the Boys in Racibórz in a close collaboration with the Parish Priest and staff members.
• Socio-pastoral care in the Home for the Single Mothers with Children.
• Pastoral service in the House for the Homeless People in Racibórz in collaboration with responsible Priest and staff members of the house.
As the years pass by we see in the sisters of our province a visible growth in understanding the problem and in supporting the Sisters involved. It is not any more a “single” sister’s responsibility by there is a support of the community behind.

Seeing the needs of our society in Poland and feeling inspired by all that has been shared in this meeting in the nearest future I wish to create a JPIC commission in our province supporting the sisters who make a lot of efforts to make their service ever more fruitful.

By Sr. Miriam, Maria Długosz, SSpS

Developing and Nourishing A Spirituality for JPIC

Introduction

In my contribution I want to explore ways in which we can continually nourish our own spirituality for justice and peace and through our various roles encourage others to do so. One of the challenges in religious congregations is that the whole area of JPIC can come to be seen as a specialist area for activists or a module that you follow as part of a formation program or theological studies rather than an intrinsic part of the Christian vocation and of religious life. This is not an optional extra, remembering the words of the 1971 Synod of Bishops that "action for justice and participation in the transformation of the world is a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel" (# 6). I also call to mind the words of Paul VI "we have to be converted to become the church of the poor". Other challenging phrases from the church’s teaching call us:
– to have a passion for the earth and its peoples;
– to promote justice, peace and the integrity of creation;
– to enter into solidarity with the victims of injustice;
– to have a love of preference for the poor.
The approach that I take when working with religious is to say that developing and nourishing a spirituality for JPIC is like responding to a call within a call. Each person has a unique way of responding to the call and that there any ways of responding to the call. This is a framework for living life and not merely a preparation for working for justice and peace. It links the challenge of the gospel and the various ways in which the charism of our orders call us to engage in the transformation of human society.
Model and Method of Formation
The elements for formation for JPIC are contained in the model for pastoral praxis developed by Joe Holland and Peter Henriot, SJ. These help provide a framework for developing a spirituality for justice and peace.
1. Experience
2. Social Analysis
3. Theological Reflection –
4. Action
Scripture and & Charism
I see these four elements like four doors – some people are more at home in the beginning when they enter through one particular door but the challenge is to move on and build these four elements into a way of living. Put simply an experience of oppression should challenge us to question and do analysis, looking for the causes in the light of the vision contained in scripture and church social teaching (CST) moving us towards various types of action. Ultimately these elements can lead us at both personal and social levels to conversion of heart, change of attitudes and new ways of being and acting in solidarity with those on the margins.
Reflection is at the heart of the process
Reflection is a way of making our learning conscious; it gets to the heart of the matter, to the truth of things. It helps us to go beyond the surface meaning and get to the deeper meaning of what it means for me and for us. Reflection deepens experience, knowledge and action. It allows each of us to imagine new possibilities and to risk becoming creators of a new way of being and acting. It is important then to approach each of the elements of the model is a reflective way:
a) Experience and reflection;
b) Social analysis and reflection;
c) Theological reflection;
d) Action and reflection.

(a) Experience and reflection
When thinking about experience in life and reflection on experience I am often challenged by the words of the prophet Isaiah "there are none as blind as my servants, none so deaf, they see and they do not see, they hear and they do not hear". I feel that we take it for granted that to experience something is easy. We can block out experiences for all sorts of reasons and with our modern instant communications systems we can suffer from a kind of experience fatigue when we see images of injustice, suffering and oppression. I remember reading that when the American put a man on the moon for a second time, after 5 minutes about 20 million people turned off their TV sets. How to really develop our capacities to see, hear, touch, taste and smell poverty and oppression? How in the words of Harper Lee in the book To Kill A Mocking Bird can we " get inside the skin of another human being and walk around?" When this happens the experience becomes a kind of subversive memory that remains part of us and long afterwards haunts us to change and to act. I can still remember the loud wails of a woman in a market near Thika on Christmas Eve. She had saved for weeks to come to buy a chicken and now the price of the chicken has gone up. The woman wailing in the market place highlighted the oppression caused when the principles of supply and demand operate and that challenges me to speak out. Equally I recognized that the woman’s cries are in another sense my cries – for I too am needy. Reflection on experiences of poverty and oppression can be graced moments allowing me to tap into my own needful life and come before the Lord with hands outstretched. For many years I lived in a very deprived inner city area where in the words of the song " the words of the prophets were written on the subway walls and tenements halls". The smells of vomit and urine spoke of a lack of dignity and self belief of "feeling like dirt and being treated like dirt’ by society’s systems, structures and policies. This situation was like a mirror being held up for society to examine itself and for me also to acknowledge my own poverty and blindness.
(b) Social Analysis and reflection
In Octagesima Advenians Paul VI said: "It is up to the Christian community to analyse with objectivity the situation which is proper to their own country, to shed on it the light of the Gospels’ unalterable words and to draw principles or reflections, norms of judgment and directions of action" (#4).
Social analysis contains within itself implicitly or explicitly a theology of life. It is a way of getting a more complete picture of a social situation by exploring the historical and structural relationship inherent in it. Social analysis can focus on issues, policies, structures or systems. Social analysis can then happen at different levels within the system: primary groups, local communities, national level, trans-national and trans-regional groups.
• Issue (Person
• Policy as it affects (Unit - family
• Structure (Local community
• System (Sub-group
• (Region ( Nation ( World
Social thinking and social practice inspired by the Gospel must show a special sensitivity ....towards those who are most in distress, those who are extremely poor, those suffering from all the physical, mental and moral ills that afflict humanity, including hunger, neglect, unemployment and despair… you will also want to seek out the structural reasons which foster or cause the different forms of poverty and injustice in the world so that you can apply the proper remedies (John Paul II – Yankee Stadium).
There are simple ways of undertaking social analysis and it is helpful to have some practice in undertaking analysis so that we can focus on our experiences of oppression, seek the underlying causes, expose structures systems and policies that require change otherwise the situations of injustice will remain. We need to constantly ask ourselves – from whose perspective am I getting this information? What perspectives are missing? It is particular important that we undertake this kind of searching discernment from a pastoral and apostolic perspective in our local ministry situations. This reflective analysis will help us to make Gospel based decisions. One religious congregation that I know ask when making a decision they ask themselves: "will the poor rise up and thank us for making this decision?"
(c) Theological Reflection – Scripture; Catholic Social Teaching and Charism
It is helpful to look at the biblical themes of justice/righteousness, the just person and the related themes of oppression, salvation, mercy, compassion, steadfast love and faithfulness. These help us to clarify our own particular call within JPIC. I just want to mention some key ideas that may help give pointers to the kind of reflection that the scripture invites:
A: Old Testament
i) In the OT where a central theme is the revelation of God’s justice and righteousness, to act justly is „to help sustain the life of the community".
ii) One of the marks of the exodus community is „a sharing of beliefs which issues in the sharing of goods, which is expressed in the sharing of a meal" (Van Rad).
iii) Oppression (9 different words) in the OT for the experience of feeling hemmed in, suffocated, cornered, having to endure outrage and exploitation
iv) Salvation in the OT means giving each person and each group breathing space, room to choose, grow and develop
v) The God of Israel is a God of justice and compassion who strengthens, sustains and assists the oppressed, the marginalized, the weak, the strangers and the debtors in their unequal struggle against their oppressors. (Ex. 3: 7-12)
vi) A person cannot be just before the covenant God unless we take on the cause of the poor and oppressed. This is said gently in Hosea 2:19: “I will betroth you to myself for ever, betroth you with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love.” and in a more demanding way in Isaiah 58:6-8: “Is this not the sort of fast that pleases me- it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks, to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke, to share your bread with the hungry and shelter the homeless poor, to clothe the man you see to be naked and not turn from your own kin.”
vii) If we are to act justly we must
– see that there are no poor among us (Deut 15:4);
– love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18);
– work for the liberation of captives (Lev 25: 54-55);
– care for the poor, orphan and widow (Pr 29:7);
– be good stewards of the land- rest for the land, animals and humans (Ex. 23: 10-12);
– delight in the whole of creation (Genesis);
– allow the poor to liberate us ( Zeph 3: 11).
This last reference from Zephaniah is particularly significant because it sees a role for the poor and oppressed themselves as the chosen instruments in God’s struggle for justice. It reveals the role that God allots to "a people humble and lowly" (Zeph 3:11) because as Jeremiah reiterated again and again God can work through broken, poor, oppressed, miserable, violent and angry people. Hans Reudi Weber (WCC) expresses that reality as follows: …only when human pride is broken, when our resources are spent, when we stand with empty hands…are we fit to participate in God’s work.
In the OT the core of Israel’s faith is equated with the doing of justice. To know Yahweh is to take to heart the cause of the poor and needy.
B: New Testament
In the NT, while there is no explicit reference to justice, the whole notion of the Reign of God spells out how the process of transformation enables fullness of life for each person and group. There are some significant moments and themes which call us to reflection:
– Jesus is the parable of God’s justice; he comes as one who serves;
– The reign of God is the power of God active in the world, transforming it and confronting the powers of darkness;
– Riches often distance the wealthy from the poor who occupy a privileged position in the Kingdom (Lazarus);
– Salvation depends on a person’s attitude towards the poor and afflicted (Sermon on the Mount);
– Christians are called to enter into solidarity with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the sick, the naked and the prisoner. This solidarity means that it is Jesus whom we encounter in the person of the oppressed (Last Judgment);
– The sharing of wealth seems humanly impossible but becomes a reality when salvation comes ( Zaccheus);
– Worship of God without justice to the neighbor is condemned as empty and worthless;
– Followers of Jesus are asked to give away two coats instead of one and to go two miles instead of one.
C: Charism
In each of our congregations the focus on JPIC has a particular meaning and significance in the context of the charism. The IBVM founded by Mary Ward has the Constitutions of St. Ignatius, the spiritual exercises and Ignatian spirituality as a guide for life. I spell out the links with key aspects of the charism — the Just Soul, finding God in all things, the values of freedom-justice-sincerity. There are also links which need to spelled out with the Constitutions and Chapter mandates.
D: Action and Reflection
There are many types of actions which flow from experience, analysis of situations of injustice and oppression, and theological reflection. Action calls for further reflection:
1. Indirect Support: This means providing material and/or financial helps or support by letters, appeals and by affirmation of those in direct support by encouragement and trust. It can also mean telling stories of transformation and liberation.
2. Direct Support: We take part in direct programs to help the victims of social injustice.
3. Compassionate Prayer: We meditate and pray/fast over the experiences and issues.
4. Advocacy: We make a cause our own cause. We speak out and demonstrate and lobby. We make clear to all that we are willing to suffer to whatever degree necessary to achieve justice.
5. Conscientization: Being informed and informing others.
6. Solidarity: We are one with the wounded, the forgotten, the ugly, the naked, the dying poor. We live with them, work along with them, speak out with them.
7. Knowledge: We are well informed on the issues and know what is going on.
Conclusion
I believe that formation for JPIC means answering a call within a call. It invites us to continual personal conversion and to act in solidarity with those who suffer injustice and oppression for the transformation of society.
The existence of the poor and oppressed raise questions about what it means to be a Christian and a religious. In a sense they are the subjects and agents of the judgment of God because by their very existence
– they condemn our hardness of heart and our superficial living;
– they are a corrective force in the life of a Christian;
– they invite us to a new way of living;
– they are mirrors of the human condition for they remind us that we are all poor and need to stand with open hands before our God;
– they are prophetic because they disturb the powerful, denounce the fearful and unsettle the comfortable.
They remind us that ultimately God saves us through the chinks and holes in our armor, through our poverty, our weakness, our suffering and our many deaths in life. When we can acknowledge this then we can stand in solidarity with those on the margins, leave our world and our security and take the risks necessary to live and work together for the transformation of the whole human community.

March 2002
By Pat Murray, IBVM

JPIC (Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation)

Monday, October 18:

Faith and Migrants: Living with the reality of change

I’d like to begin with some brief biographical details. I am currently working in local government in the United Kingdom, in the London Borough of Southwark, as a social cohesion specialist. My job title is Community Cohesion Co-ordinator and the fact that most local authorities in the UK now have at least one full time cohesion practitioner is an indication of how this area of work has grown in importance. Indeed community cohesion is very much a growth agenda across the globe, with one of its principle driving forces being the reality of migration, the fact that perhaps like never before the world is on the move and we are living in an age of mobility.

The London Borough of Southwark is one of 33 local authorities in London. It has a population fast approaching 300,000, out of a total London population of approximately 8 million people. Tomorrow I will speak in more detail about the demographics of Southwark, its vital statistics, and its challenges of social inclusion and cohesion. I’ll also share a little on the responses Southwark and other parts of London are making to the realities of what is now frequently referred to as a situation of super diversity.

Prior to joining local government I worked with the BBC as a presenter and producer of programmes about religion, ethics, and communities. Before that again I worked in my home country of Ireland - the Republic of Ireland - as a programme maker for RTE (Ireland’s national television and radio network) for 6 years.
I served as a Catholic priest for 10 years, most of which was spent in parish ministry, including my final appointment in the city of Belfast at the height of its sectarian war. In 1994 I took leave of absence from active ministry to undertake a postgraduate programme in communications and development studies at the Kairos Communications Institute, under the direction of the Divine Word Missionaries. I also used this time to discern my future direction in life and ultimately decided to leave the priesthood. But then again, you never really leave the priesthood, do you? Or at least it never seems to leave you, and I believe that I am priest still in the ordinary details of my baptized life as well as in terms of the contribution I quietly make in the context of my current role and responsibilities. I say “quietly” on the basis that Her Majesty’s government doesn’t pay its civil servants to be priests as well.

After post-graduating in Christian Communications and Development Studies, I continued to work with Kairos and SVD as a radio and television producer until 2002, the year I moved to the UK. I also served for one year as Editor of The Word magazine. Of all the material we produced at Kairos in those days (under the guidance of the late and truly great Michael Melvin SVD, who opened so many new vistas for people like me), I would single out three pieces of work:

An 8-part TV documentary series on the enduring relevance of the New Testament for contemporary society (Ever Ancient, Ever New), a radio reflection for Good Friday called The Clown Crucified, and a TV documentary about the Marian Shrine of Lourdes, called Faith, Hope, and Plastic.

For some that was a provocative title, for the national network it was a perfect fit, and for us as programme makers and Christian communicators it summed up neatly what Lourdes is all about, and how you find there a co-existence of commercialism and faith alongside human stories of hope.

This is how that programme ended.....

Roll DVD

So, that’s a little bit about me, and I wanted to begin on a personal note because I think our point of departure this morning needs to be inward looking. I’m aware that introspection has had a bad press, particularly in the world of psychoanalysis. But I think that any opposition to introspection is best dealt with by thinking of it in terms of wondering what to say, or rehearsing a narrative that could be made public: ‘How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?’

At its simplest then, it’s just a case of doing a little self-examination. And those of us who have been brought up on a diet of conscientious examens shouldn’t find this to be alien territory. Except it’s not about recognizing our sin and calling it by name. It’s simply a case of telling our own migrant story.

A little poetry often sheds some light, and adds a fresh perspective. It also captures truth and that’s why I often use it, and stories, in my work in London.
It’s amazing how poetry speaks to ordinary people, like you and me, and we in turn can learn to speak our own poetry too.
I’ll give you an example of the latter in just a moment. But first, these verses about being a pilgrim, by one of Ireland’s greatest poets, WB Yeats, from his poem “When You Are Old”:

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep.

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face.

He wrote it for a woman he was in love with, but the love was unrequited and the poem is one of subtle seduction. For our purposes, however, the object of the exercise, you’ll be glad to hear, is not to seduce or be seduced. Our focus instead is, as I mentioned, inward, introspective, personal. What Yeats calls, “the pilgrim soul in you.”

I also mentioned how we can speak poetry too, and I promised an example. It’s from a project I’ll introduce you to more fully tomorrow: Peace by Piece - profiles of Muslims living in Southwark. For the project we took their photographs and we interviewed them. Then we brought it all together in a touring exhibition and we published it later as a book.
The idea was simple: to provide a platform for the moderate voice of Islam, to help Muslims counter stereotype and prejudice where they existed, and to demonstrate the ordinariness of Muslim lives, a great many of whom were migrants. One of those lives was Erbil Celebi, a London taxi driver. This is the poetry he spoke on the subject of jihad:

“People misunderstand jihad. The prophet Mohammed - peace be upon him – said that the biggest battle of all is the one with your ego. Battling with your ego is like riding a wild horse. It tries to throw you off a few times. It’s a rough ride but if you hold on long enough you can rein it in and teach it to dance”.

So, for Yeats it’s “the pilgrim soul”. For Celebi it’s the alter ego or second self. For people of faith, it’s the slow work of God. For all of us it’s the journey we’re on.

SPACE for questions, comments.

Our focus over these days is the reality of migration and the migrant experience. And I think to enter in we need to have an understanding of what it’s like to be on the move, displaced, dispossessed, detached, at sea.

I suggest that one of the ways in which we might do this is to explore the transitions and transformations that have happened in our own lives. There will be time this afternoon to do this in a more expansive way, but I’d like you for now to begin thinking of one such experience you’ve had, of a time when life’s circumstances and God’s grace have conspired to take you to the edge of opportunity.

Of course, human beings are not good with edges. We find them frightening, or restricting. I recall one day on the London underground, The Tube, seeing a young man in front of me with this legend on the back of his t-shirt:

If you’re not living on the edge you’re taking up too much space.

And it captured for me how in cities like London, Sao Paolo, Shanghai, Mumbai, and so on, space is indeed at a premium and people consequently live on the edge, both physically and metaphorically.

Margaret Mead, the great American anthropologist who died in 1978 said this about cities:

“A city is a place where there’s no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again.”

Margaret Mead said something else that was powerful. It’s perhaps her most famous saying:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has”.

Life to the power of one. Life to the power of you and me. Life to the power of faith-filled people.

Closer to home, we all live on the edge when we experience the fear of letting go. There’s a short poem by an English poet, Christopher Logue, a veteran of the Second World War, about this. It was apparently written in 1968 for a festival being held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the death of the French poet, Guillaume Apollinaire (the man credited with coining the phrase “surrealism”).

It was quoted by the current President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, at her inauguration. She used it to challenge people from different traditions and mindsets - chiefly Protestant and Catholic in the case of the Ireland she addressed in the late 20th century - to let go of distrust and ancient hatreds. Since then new challenges have presented themselves, including economic recession and the impact of migration on a small island nation. There are several variants of the poem floating around, but this is the one which seems most common:

Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
Come to the edge.
And they came,
And he pushed,
And they flew.

So, where have your edges been? When have you been challenged to take flight? When has life made of you a migrant? It could be:

A reinvention you’ve undergone (perhaps partly or fully imposed, or freely chosen). A complete change of direction. A time when you felt like a stranger in a strange land, either physically or metaphorically. A loss that you’ve lived with, of a job, a person, a role, a relationship, a home.

2002 was one such year for me - a time when all kinds of things seemed to be conspiring together to take me to the limit.

I emigrated to the United Kingdom. I left loads of work behind in Dublin to take on a part time job with the BBC. I knew it was a risk but it was the best I could get at the time. My mother seemed lost completely to Alzheimer’s disease. My brother took his own life. Another died of cancer six weeks later. I entered into a relationship, which didn’t work out. I sold my home in Ireland. I bought another in England. Our small family business and homestead disintegrated under the weight of mismanagement and alcoholism, and the whole lot had to be sold off.

I remember thinking at the time that 2002 was my annus horibilis, the phrase brought into popular use after Queen Elizabeth II used it to describe ten years earlier, 1992 - the year that the marriages of her two sons Charles and Andrew broke down and Windsor Castle caught fire.

A sister wondered if we were cursed. I told her I didn’t believe in such things. And then at night I wondered too.

But of course it had nothing to do with being assailed by forces of darkness. It was simply life and how it can take a turn for the worst, and sometimes several bad turns in quick succession. On reflection, I decided, particularly after the tragic deaths of my two brothers, on three things, and I wove them into an editorial for The Word magazine:

Life is short, life is precious, and life is partly in our own hands.

I had of course professed these beliefs before, but now there was the added value of bitter experience, and the realization that suffering can indeed do one of two things to us: it can make us better people, or bitter people.

I realized too that some of the changes and challenges were of my own doing - emigrating, leaving a good job behind, selling my house when I didn’t really have to. The others were from without and I had little or no control over them - the deaths of my brothers, my mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s sickness, the loss of our family home.

The physical distance between England and Ireland is small, but it was nonetheless an experience of migration. My whole life seemed on the move. Everything was shifting and changing, and I did feel like a stranger in a strange land. I also had to improve my working situation from part time to full time, if I was to survive financially.

I recall driving the long commute from the English west midlands to the south west (a 180-mile round trip each day) and thinking to myself, “There’s something missing. There’s something not right”. I felt detached, dispossessed of something, and I felt it day in, day out.

In time my annus horribilis became an annus mirabilis (year of wonders or miracles), but only when I realized how I had grown through the experience. How I had survived, as people do.

The difference of course was that I hadn’t been forced to leave my own country. I left a job behind and I had at least half a job to go to. I also enjoyed all the benefits of being an Irish and EU citizen, and how as an Irish person we have an automatic right on the double to remain indefinitely in the UK. We have it for being Irish, and we have it again for being citizens of the European Union. It’s a uniquely happy situation that Irish people find themselves in.

But it did give some insight into the migrant story and the pilgrim soul. I learned to embrace change and decay, if not willingly then certainly eventually. I gained an understanding of why some people migrate, and the challenges they face. Especially the challenge of making a fresh start, of putting down roots, of leaving behind the safe and familiar and launching into the deep unknown. I didn’t face the struggle that many migrants do of seeking justice in the form of access to accommodation, education, healthcare, work, and of course the right to fully belong, in terms of “indefinite leave to remain” or permanent residency.

But I’m mindful of these realities and I try in my work now to help meet these needs for migrants by influencing policy and practice at local government level, feeding that into central government, ensuring that the services we deliver locally meet the real needs of migrants, by empowering migrant communities and individuals to fight for their rights, by working to promote cohesion and integration for migrants (Welcome Packs and induction programmes being small tangible examples), by challenging assumptions among settled communities that migrants are “here to take our jobs and our houses”, or that they have no interest in working for a living.

The story of Sylvia Wachuku-King from Sierra Leone, chair of Southwark Refugee Communities Forum.

I believe that the human story can be a powerful way of reaching and connecting communities. It can dismantle barriers, counter prejudice and stereotype, point up similarities, dispel misconceptions, and promote meaningful interaction. In our experience in Southwark the use of arts and media formats have proved particularly effective at exploring the commonalities of the human condition, and we’ll take a closer look at some of these tomorrow. We’ll also look at the difference a faith perspective can bring to the realities of migration and inequality.

As I mentioned earlier, Her Majesty’s government doesn’t pay me to be both a civil and sacred servant, but I do find that faith and cohesion are frequently cross-cutting.

There’s also a wider recognition of this fact across the United Kingdom and it’s evidenced by the proliferation of interfaith initiatives that are government-funded and are all about harnessing the passion and enthusiasm of faith communities for building a more cohesive, inclusive society. And that very much incorporates outreach to migrants.

So, that’s largely by way of overview and introduction to my contribution to this gathering. I also wanted to personalize what we’re doing from the outset. And to that end we’re setting aside some time this afternoon for participants to reflect on some of the questions raised.

1. In the light of this morning’s presentation, what has been your personal experience of migration?

2. What are the greatest needs of migrants and how might they be met? Try to reach a consensus on a top three.

3. How might the relationship between migrants and the wider community be improved?

4. How can we empower migrant communities to seek justice?

5. What do we need to do to bring about institutional changes that will benefit migrants?

By Michael Cleere

ENJOY THE FATHER´S GIFTS

Just as WATER cuts through rocks
and finds its way to the sea,
so let Your Grace, O Father,
cut through our stony hearts and
death-giving structures, so that
Your Gifths of Life and freedom
and Peace may flow to all people,
and specting the dignity of each one...

Justiça e Paz

MANUAL FOR FACILITATORS OF ADVOCACY TRAINING SESSIONS

Washington Office Center for Development

on Latin America and Population Activities MANUAL FOR FACILITATORS OF ADVOCACY TRAINING SESSIONS ► CONTENTS

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Section One: Overview

1 Introduction to the Manual
2 Basic Principles of Facilitating Advocacy Events
Section Two: Training Guides for General Workshops
1 Introduction to Advocacy
2 A Step-by-Step Approach to Participatory Planning of Advocacy Initiatives
Section Three: Step-by-Step Training Guides
Step 1: Identify and Analyze the Problem
Step 2: Formulate the Proposal
Step 3: Analyze the Decision-Making Space
Step 4: Analyze Channels of Influence
Step 5: Do a SWOT Analysis
Step 6: Design Advocacy Strategies
Step 7: Develop an Activity Plan
Step 8: Carry Out Continuous Evaluation
Section Four: Appendixes
1 Practical Tips on How to Facilitate Training Sessions
2 Preparation of Minutes
3 Group Exercises
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) is a nonprofit policy, research, and advocacy organization, founded in 1974 by religious and other civil society leaders. WOLA promotes human rights, democracy, and social and economic justice in Latin America and the Caribbean and encourages a United States foreign policy that contributes to the achievement of those goals.
WOLA’s Advocacy Training Program in Central America was established in 1996 to train civil society organizations in the region in the use of advocacy methodologies and techniques. The program seeks to strengthen the capacity of these organizations to influence local, national, and international policy-makers on decisions about key policies and programs. The overarching goal of the program is to contribute to the development of a democratic culture in Central America by promoting values such as equality, gender and ethnic equity, respect for diversity, dignity, tolerance, and human solidarity.
This manual is the product of a team effort by the staff of the Central America Advocacy Training Program and is based on extensive field experience in that region. It was developed in 2000–2001 by Patrick Baltazar and Andrés McKinley, with important contributions from Angélica Alarcón, Joshua Lichtenstein, and Susan Peacock, under the supervision of Danuta Sacher. It contains conceptual and practical tools to increase the effectiveness of individuals and organizations that seek to strengthen and assist advocacy initiatives through training, planning, and evaluation efforts. While the original Spanish-language manual was developed for use in Central America, this English-language edition is intended for broad use in other regions of the world, including Africa, Asia, and English-speaking countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The editing and publication of the manual are the result of a joint effort by WOLA and the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA). The manual was translated from Spanish to English by Susan Peacock, with support from Bread for the World (Germany).
We would like to thank the Asociación Mujer Vamos Adelante (AMVA) in Guatemala for its suggestions on how to incorporate a gender perspective into the manual. AMVA’s review of the manual was recommended by participants in the Training School for Policy Advocacy that was carried out jointly by WOLA and CEDPA between November 2002 and February 2003.
We hope this manual will be helpful to those persons and organizations that are working to consolidate human rights, democracy, and social justice through advocacy in Latin America and beyond.
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Section One:
Overview
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INTRODUCTION TO THE MANUAL
This manual is the product of six years of experience in Central America, facilitating advocacy training sessions and working in cooperation with specific advocacy campaigns. It offers conceptual and methodological tools to persons who wish to train civil society groups in the participatory planning of advocacy initiatives aimed at changing public policies and programs so that they benefit those in society who are traditionally marginalized.
The manual is organized into four sections:
Section 1 provides an overview of the manual and of the basic principles for facilitating events. These principles cover key areas that all facilitators should keep in mind when undertaking any training, planning, or evaluation activity intended to strengthen efforts to change public policies and programs.
Section 2 consists of two training guides for general workshops The first focuses on the concept of advocacy, understood both as a change process and as a way to exercise power. A full conceptual understanding of advocacy is key to the planning of successful advocacy initiatives. The second guide in this section introduces the eight steps that make up WOLA’s basic methodology for the planning of advocacy campaigns.
Section 3, the most extensive, consists of training guides for each of the eight steps.
Finally, Section 4 contains several appendixes with additional practical material for general reference. It includes a sample workshop agenda, suggestions on how to take minutes, and a selection of group exercises for use in workshops.
Using the Training Guides
Each of the 10 training guides, two general and one for each of the eight steps, is organized in a similar way. Each begins with a summary page listing the learning objectives, key concepts, practical techniques, and learning indicators for the guide. Next, key concepts are explained in detail. The core of each guide is a set of practical techniques that can be used in training sessions, with instructions for using each one. Most of the guides include worksheets to use with the techniques, as well as graphic resources that facilitators can use as handouts or as models for displays to illustrate the ideas discussed.
The facilitator using a particular training guide should first read the summary and the key concepts. He or she can then choose one or more of the practical techniques that seem most appropriate for the group’s campaign, taking into account its objectives, the characteristics of the group, and the time available. The facilitator can choose the worksheets and resources that are most useful with the technique selected and photocopy them for use in preparing the session.
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BASIC PRINCIPLES OF FACILITATING ADVOCACY EVENTS
The facilitation of advocacy training sessions or of other group processes related to advocacy initiatives requires a variety of technical, pedagogical, political, and artistic skills and knowledge. Facilitators should have at least a primary school education, with good reading comprehension and writing skills. They also need a commitment to advocacy, and the willingness to continue to learn by experimenting with new techniques and methods. It can be said that facilitators are not born, but rather develop through practice and continuous effort to improve and grow.
To be a facilitator also requires a strong commitment to the empowerment of other people. It is important to remember that a facilitator exercises considerable power and influence within the organizing and educational campaigns that s/he seeks to strengthen. For this reason, the facilitator should always be conscious that s/he has a responsibility to promote democratic participation and to seek to empower the group, community, or coalition with which s/he is working. Everything that a facilitator says or does—or does not say or do—has consequences for organizing and educational efforts. These consequences may not always be readily evident, but in the long run may either benefit or hurt a group.
It is therefore important to ensure that decisions made as part of an organizing or educational effort reflect a collective understanding and are based on the experiences of the group. They should not be based solely on the criteria and experiences of the facilitator.
Functions and Responsibilities of a Facilitator
A facilitator should:
• Contribute to the building of common understandings based on the group’s own organizing experiences.
• Contribute to the building of common understandings based on the group’s educational experiences.
• Learn new things.
• Make the group more aware of its own internal dynamics.
• Stimulate democratic participation.
• Help the group to identify its problems and analyze their causes.
• Motivate the group to define and achieve its objectives.

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• Help the group to work through internal conflicts in a constructive manner.
• Plan a logical and orderly process geared toward clear objectives.
• Prioritize and summarize important points.
• Go back to decisions made by the group and urge participants to follow up on them.
• Facilitate evaluation as an integral part of group processes.

Qualities and Skills of a Facilitator
A facilitator should be creative and dynamic, yet at the same time observant and sensitive to the needs and mood of the group. He or she should be patient and flexible, responsive to questions, and open to criticism. It is very important to be committed to gender inclusiveness and to respect cultural and ethnic differences. Finally, the facilitator should be consistent in his or her practices and statements.
Practical Tips for Facilitators
The following are general tips for the design and facilitation of advocacy training sessions or of meetings to plan or evaluate advocacy initiatives.
Before the event
1. Define the objectives of the session with leaders or representatives of the organization (or organizations) that will participate in it. This is especially important when the organization has requested that the session take place. A facilitator should be clear about how this particular event fits within the organization’s overall structure and programmatic activities. S/he should try to ensure that it is consistent with the organization’s stated mission and objectives.
2. Ensure that the people with whom you are coordinating the event have the backing of the organization and its membership in order to avoid such problems as manipulation, poor attendance, or lack of credibility.
3. Arrange for the facilitation to be done by a team of facilitators.
4. Make sure that whatever technical equipment is needed for the event is available and functioning properly.
5. Gauge the participants’ true level of commitment to and involvement in the group’s advocacy initiative.
6. Obtain as much information as possible about the organization: its history, current objectives, structure, activities, and internal dynamics. Information can be gathered through interviews, informal conversations, documents, and minutes.

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7. Bear in mind the characteristics of the people who are going to participate: their ages, ethnicity, race, gender, knowledge and experience related to the issue, level of formal schooling, responsibilities within the organization, and level of political awareness.
8. Deal with logistical aspects of the event: the schedule, time allotted for lunch, where and how to hang up newsprint, the size of the space, the noise and temperature levels, the availability of break-out space for small group work, and so on.
9. Ensure that the specific objectives of the session contribute to the organization’s overall objectives.
10. Ensure the logical sequencing of the content to be presented and select training techniques that will fulfill the specific learning objectives of the event.
11. Be familiar with all the materials that will be used during the session, ensuring their appropriateness for the particular group and issue under discussion.
12. Maintain good communication and coordination within the team of facilitators, agreeing in advance on each person’s role and responsibilities.

During the event
1. Make good use of the physical space available.
2. Allow participants the opportunity to express their hopes for the session so that they feel as though their opinions are taken into account from the beginning. Agree upon a schedule and some basic ground rules—the need to be punctual, to listen to other people’s opinions, to be brief, to avoid excessive repetition, to respect others, and so forth. In order words, clarify expectations and the “rules of the game.”
3. Create work groups of participants that will have specific responsibilities and tasks during the event to assist the team of facilitators.
4. Before presenting content, agree on how to handle the taking of minutes. It is important to be clear about the type of minutes that are needed, who will prepare them, with what inputs, and by what date. Explain that the minutes will serve as a report to be given to the team of facilitators. They should record the interests and needs expressed by the participants, analyze any difficulties that arose, and note which techniques were most helpful and appropriate and which achieved the best results.
5. Maintain fluid communication among members of the facilitation team, and model a participatory and democratic work style characterized by mutual respect.
6. Use a variety of presentation techniques (cards, newsprint, transparencies, the blackboard, etc.) to convey information and help participants follow a sequence of topics.

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7. At the end of each step in the methodology, summarize it and highlight the main points of the discussion in order to clearly mark the end of one step and the beginning of another.
8. Make visual contact with all of the people in the group of participants. Do not direct your attention at only one person or one subgroup of people. When participants speak, they should speak to the entire group and not just to the facilitator.
9. Be creative and use appropriate new techniques to communicate with the participants. Know when to switch to a different technique (for example, after a long plenary, a serious discussion, a sad or emotional moment, or a break or meal). Varying the techniques helps keep participants energized and alert. Do not, however, go overboard and allow the techniques to distract from the content being presented or to curtail debate among the group participants on contentious issues.
10. Recognize and deal with the conflicts and disagreements that arise during the session. It is counterproductive to continue to present content when it is obvious that conflict is brewing or that feelings are not being expressed.
11. Address comments or statements made by any participant that are racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise offensive, by questioning underlying behaviors or attitudes instead of attacking the person. The facilitator should make every effort to create a safe and congenial environment in which all participants feel respected.
12. Maintain a high level of motivation within the group throughout the session. It is important to create a positive and friendly environment by using techniques that allow the participants to get acquainted with one another.
13. Do not be afraid to make mistakes! Group facilitation is not an exact science, but rather a trial-and-error exercise. Popular educators often say that “a person who never makes mistakes is someone who is not practicing.”

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Section Two:
Training Guides for
General Workshops
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Training Guide:
Introduction to Advocacy
What is advocacy?
Why engage in advocacy?
What are the main things to keep in mind when we do advocacy?
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