Faith in Action Around the World | C21 Resources - Spring/Summer 2022
The Church in the 21st Century Center is a catalyst and a resource for the renewal of the Catholic Church.
C21 Resources, a compilation of the best analyses and essays on key challenges facing the Church today, is published by the Church in the 21st Century Center at Boston College, in partnership with publications from which the featured articles have been selected.
c 21 resources editorial board
Patricia Delaney
Karen Kiefer
Peter G. Martin
Jacqueline Regan
O. Ernesto Valiente
managing editor
Lynn M. Berardelli
guest editor
Peter G. Martin
FAITH IN ACTION AROUND THE WORLD
Ddear friends :
When I arrived on the Boston College campus back in the fall of 1978, I had no idea that this Jesuit, Catholic university would transform the way I looked at the world and how I would live my faith.
It all began with an encounter with Fr. John Dinneen, S.J., a Jesuit chaplain, who encouraged me to get involved in community service projects through Campus Ministry. I mentioned that my parents had always reminded me that “charity begins at home.” He looked at me with his piercing brown eyes and said, “Karen, the world is you r home.”
Those words changed my paradigm, offering me the grace-filled realization that being Catholic is a call to serve others, near and far, with dig nity and compassion.
This issue of C21Resources magazine takes a look at faith in action around the world. Special thanks to our colleague Peter Martin for curating and contributing to a collection of articles that will introduce you to global Catholic organizations, leaders, and changemakers and those they serve while offering insights and perspectives on how our Catholic faith continues to inspire lived vocations in an effort to care for our world.
May this issue inspire you to share your faith with and for others.
Karen K. Kiefer
Director,
Church in the 21st Century Center karen.kiefer@bc.edu
the church in the 21 st century center Boston College 110 College Road, Heffernan House Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
Through the BC Connell School of Nursing's oldest standing service trip, students and faculty traveled to one of the poorest communities in Nicaragua to provide primary care and health education to its residents and to learn more about that country's health care, social, and political systems. As the nurses visited the homes of residents and supported the work of Nueva Vida Clinic in Ciudad Sandino, they witnessed the resilience and strength of the people of this community.
2018 Alumnae of BC CSON from left to right: Mattie DeSimone, Mary Ladesic, Caroline Zakrzewski, Izabella Gubala, and Nicolette Pellicane.
photo credit: Boston College Office of University Communications/John Walsh
Setting the World on Fire
Peter G. Martin
when i arrived at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in 2003 for a diplomatic assignment as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, I knew I would be engaging with Holy See officials on the hot issues of the day, such as stability in Iraq, religious freedom in China, and other topics of interest to the Department of State. My marching orders were also to foster cooperation with other foreign diplomats in Rome who were accredited to the Holy See. I had little idea, however, that one of my closest partners in diplomacy would be the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic lay organization involved in peacemaking, refugee work, and interfaith dialogue. Indeed, by the time I completed my assignment at the Vatican, I had supported Sant’Egidio in peacemaking negotiations with rebels from Darfur, consulted on the group’s peace and reconciliation work in the Balkans, and served as U.S. representative to the Community’s annual Prayer for Peace, which brings together a diverse group of religious leaders from around the world to promote peace and reconciliation.
Nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Community of Sant’Egidio has become a powerful force for good in the world despite its small size. Its members are resourceful, indefatigable, and fueled by their Catholic faith and a belief in the power of prayer. Throughout my diplomatic career, working on issues from nearly every continent, I encountered many such examples of Catholics doing good, far from their own homes, working to help people of all races, cultures, nationalities, and faiths. With this issue of C21 Resources, we offer the reader the stories of some of these organizations and people, motivated by their Catholic faith and unrestrained by borders. The work is often unheralded, but quietly effective and inspirational.
Boston College students on an Arrupe International trip to Puebla, Mexico, in January 2019. Students are seen here working on a neighborhood garden as part of a community sustainability initiative.
Observers of international development efforts are aware of the outsized role that the Catholic Church and its related organizations play in education and healthcare around the world. And many Catholics are familiar with the “heavyweights” of international Catholic relief work, like Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Jesuit Refugee Service. However, lesser known organizations and individuals affiliated with the Church are also making a difference in the lives of people around the world.
Catholic Relief Services is represented in the pages that follow through the courageous story of a Haitian CRS doctor fighting to rebuild her earthquake-ravaged country, as well as through conversations with the current and former heads of CRS, both of whom boast Boston College (BC) connections. Longtime BC teacher and journalist William Bole describes Jesuit Refugee Service’s inspiring 40-plus-year record of educating and otherwise “walking with” refugees.
Many Catholics know the Knights of Columbus for their local volunteer work and support of those on the margins of American society. Fewer are aware that the Knights have been increasingly active internationally. A strong presence in East Central Europe has helped them take an active role in aiding Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of their country. The Knights have also been great champions of Christian communities under siege in Iraq. In this issue, we highlight McGivney House in Erbil, where the Knights have given displaced Iraqi Christians a chance to rebuild their lives after conquests by the Islamic State fighters.
inspired the next generation of young Catholic leaders to venture beyond U.S. borders to do good. You will read about two BC alumnae who collaborated with the IFMF to create a “game-changing program” to help form new leaders in global development. You will also learn about IFMF-sponsored service trips for nurses from BC’s Connell School of Nursing to assist vulnerable populations in the Dominican Republic.
These stories and others remind us that every act of solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world begins with an initial “yes” from an individual who decides that, whether working for a large organization or acting alone, he or she wants to make a difference in the wider world. Dr. Paul Farmer, remembered in this issue, experienced a sudden realization that his vocation was to serve the poor. His “yes” led him to found Partners in Health, an impressive organization that has saved numerous lives in Haiti, Rwanda, and elsewhere.
In 2022, what happens on one side of the globe reverberates everywhere. This reality should add a sense of urgency to fulfilling our duties around the world.
I first worked with Monsignor Robert Vitillo of the Diocese of Paterson, NJ, in 2005 when he was Caritas Internationalis’s key representative in Geneva working on health issues. At that time, the State Department was supporting President George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Now Msgr. Vitillo is secretary general of another important Catholic organization that we profile, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), which serves refugees, asylum-seekers, victims of human trafficking, and others. As an illustration of the variety of the organization’s work, we highlight ICMC’s efforts to stop child marriage, a devastating trend affecting girls in numerous countries.
Boston College also has a long history of institutional and individual activism around the world, fired by its Jesuit, Catholic ideals. Established by legendary BC benefactor Thomas Flatley and his family in 2010, BC’s Irish Famine Memorial Fund (IFMF) has been a bridge from “the Heights” across the globe, bringing students from 57 countries on five continents to study at BC on scholarship, as well as funding development projects in communities in Africa and the Americas. The fund has also
This issue also provides evidence that willing, committed individuals are strongest when they work together. You will read about the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, which links 23 affiliated organizations in a quest to build a peaceful a nd more just world. Another network, Catholic Theological Ethics i n t he World Church, draws on a variety of voices from around the world to remind us that we do not perform good works in a vacuum; they are supported by the framework of our rich Catholic intellectual and social justice tradition.
Now, it is true that there are many people in need in our own communities. We certainly must maintain our at tention to the marginalized among us. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and repercussions from the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine have reinforced what we already knew: the world is interconnected. In 2022, what happens on one side of the globe reverberates everywhere. This reality should add a sense of urgency to fulfilling our duties around the world. As CRS President Sean Callahan tells C21 in these pages, we need to continue to care for our local communities, but as people of faith, we should not limit our attention to our “own backyard.” Callahan urges us to consider our place in the world community, “respect the human dignity of all of our brothers and sisters,” and act boldly. Or, as St. Ignatius would have it, “Go forth and set the world on fire.” ■
Peter G. Martin, a former U.S. diplomat, is special assistant to the president at Boston College. He is chairman of the steering committee of BC’s Church in the 21st Century Center and is the University’s accreditation liaison officer, among other roles.
Bridge Building across the World Church
Kristin E. Heyer
Recognizing the need to dialogue from and beyond local culture and interconnect within a world Church, Boston College Canisius Professor of Theological Ethics James Keenan, S.J., co-founded Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC) with Professor Linda Hogan of Trinity College Dublin. Fr. Keenan was later named Boston College Vice Provost for Global Engagement and is now leading efforts to enlarge BC’s international presence and impact. Continuing Fr. Keenan’s work, BC ethicists Professors Kristin Heyer and Andrea Vicini, S.J., currently co-lead CTEWC along with a colleague at Dharmaram College in Bangalore, India, Shaji George Kochuthara, C.M.I.
Bborn of a desire to connect Catholic ethicists and to amplify the work of colleagues in the Global South, Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church is now concluding its 15th year of vital bridge-building initiatives. Spanning 80 countries, the network fosters cross-cultural, interdisciplinary conversations about critical ethical issues that impact the world Church. It does so by cultivating the exchange of ideas via its online platforms and book series and supporting new as well as isolated scholars in theological ethics. Through its monthly newsletter and its visiting professors program, CTEWC supports colleagues who have been marginalized and expands the traditionally Western
focus of the field of theological ethics. It has helped center and empower the voices of those in the Global South via its African and Asian scholarship programs along with regional and international conferencing (in Padua, Manila, Trento, Nairobi, Berlin, Krakow, Bangalore, Bogotá, and Sarajevo).
As founder James Keenan, S.J., puts it, “Our network is based on the simple assumption that we ethicists need to be better connected. We also realized during our years of work that we had to extend our network to those literally on the margins, to those whose voices have not been heard, and whose insights have not been recognized.” For example, given the noticeable absence of
trained women in the fields of fundamental and applied theological ethics across the continent of Africa at the start of the millennium, key issues had been given little attention (e.g., the feminization of poverty, the impact of HIV/AIDS on women) and the distinctive perspectives of women overlooked. CTEWC perceived this as an ecclesial loss but also a matter of serious concern for Catholic moral theologians worldwide. T h rough its African scholarship program, CTEWC granted scholarships to eight women who went on to complete their doctorates in Kampala, Kinshasa, Nairobi, Yaoundé, and Trinity College, Dublin; today they are at work in universities and seminaries or in leadership positions within t heir orders. An annual postdoctoral program hosted by Boston College’s Jesuit Institute has helped the scholars to receive mentorship in publishing and transitioning into the theological guild; the program’s graduates have already begun to transform moral theology on the continent. Moreover, today there are more than 24 African women with doctorates in the field.
During its audience with Pope Francis in March of 2017, CTEWC’s planning committee emphasized its method of prioritizing personal encounter and the exchange of ideas in order to foster harmony in diversity. Members underscored their attempts to serve and empower those on various peripheries of the field by reprinting books in its series at lower costs (the network has since moved to online publishing to further expand access) and connecting one another via its website and The First, an online monthly newsletter. The pope was quite supportive of the network’s initiatives, sending a letter encouraging its passion for dialogue and accompaniment to open its 2018 international conference in Sarajevo.
and cross-cultural dialogue; peace building and ethnic conflict; and resistance and economic struggle. For the first time, at this conference colleagues from the Global South were the majority of the participants, and 30 percent represented the field’s rising generation. Three cardinals, Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Blase Cupich of Chicago, and Peter Turkson, then head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, took part in the conference as well.
We also realized … that we had to extend our network to those literally on the margins, to those whose voices have not been heard, and whose insights have not been recognized.
The 2018 Sarajevo conference was CTEWC’s third global conference, focused on promoting bridge building in a world in urgent need. Its program moved from forging academic contributions and relationships alone toward more practical responses to pressing social issues. In particular, the conference issued a call to action in addressing the climate crisis and its impact on the environment and marginalized populations alike, and the tragic banality of contemporary political leadership in many countries. The conference underscored the need to address these challenges in solidarity, so it incorporated opportunities for interpersonal encounter, worship, media training, and informal networking alongside academic presentations. Vibrant Sarajevo—neither developed world nor developing world—offered three relevant contexts: inter-religious
In Sarajevo, the founding cochairs, Keenan and Linda Hogan, stepped down and the “next generation” of leaders, Shaji George Kochuthara, C.M.I., of Dharmaram College in Bangalore, and Andrea Vicini, S.J., and Kristin Heyer, both of Boston College, assumed their roles. Following Sarajevo the network has launched eight international “Virtual Tables,” convening members on topics ranging from global health to nonviolence to the sexual abuse crisis. The tables presently engage over 100 ethicists from more than 30 countries, yielding forthcoming publications and cross-regional events, not to mention new perspectives and moral support. The network is launching a multiyear initiative to train ethicists on how to do more public-facing scholarship in the years ahead as well, including an international seminar to be hosted at Boston College in July 2023. Its monthly online newsletter connects participants in an ongoing way, keeping voices and perspectives from each region and from junior scholars on the collective radar. To that end, its Forum features regional contributors regularly reflecting on urgent moral questions, whether nationalizing the mines of South Africa or ending corruption in India. Beyond its thriving international book series, the network continues to find new ways to connect and respond to the emerging signs of the times, most recently sharing resources treating COVID-19, Fratelli Tutti, and racism. CTEWC’s virtual and in-person initiatives continue to bridge build in an often-siloed academy in light of the gifts and needs of the global Church. ■
Kristin E. Heyer is a professor of theological ethics and the director of graduate studies in the Boston College Theology Department. She serves as co-chair of Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church and vice president of the Catholic Theological Society of America.
photo credit: https://photodune.net/user/merc67
Walking with Refugees
William Bole
Iit is challenging to provide an education to refugees, both children and adults who are escaping violence and unrest in their homelands, but it is also the single best way to aid them in starting over with hope for a better future. The coronavirus pandemic has made the task all the more challenging, especially in remote stretches like Thailand along the border with Myanmar, where lack of Internet meant that online learning was not an option when schools closed.
Enter the Jesuits.
The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is finding ways to keep up the learning amid lockdowns—often in places without reliable Internet or even stable electricity. In the remote camps of Thailand, teachers quickly adapted, developing home-based learning kits for students and periodically visiting families to check on progress and provide support. Bringing Jesuit education to forcibly displaced people is one way the Rome-based agency is revitalizing its global mission—in the most troubling times since its establishment 42 years ago.
“I don’t think Fr. Arrupe envisioned us being around four decades later,” says Fr. Thomas H. Smolich, S.J., JRS’s international director. He was speaking of Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., the beloved Jesuit Superior General who was serving in that role when refugees began flooding out of Vietnam on rickety boats and rafts in 1979. The plight of the Vietnamese “boat people” led Fr. Arrupe to call for a worldwide humanitarian response by Jesuits
and Jesuit organizations. Out of that campaign came, in November 1980, the founding of JRS.
Soon after, another crisis materialized—the Ethiopian famine, which triggered another humanitarian push by the Jesuit agency. These were unusual eruptions at the time, and many thought the emergencies would pass (and so would the need for such large-scale campaigns).
“But here we are,” says Fr. Smolich, “still showing the face of Jesus at this time when there are more and more forcibly displaced people.”
Indeed, the United Nations reports that there were 79.5 million forcibly displaced people at the end of 2019. Their numbers have swelled in the decades since the boat people, largely due to conflicts in places ranging from Syria to South Sudan. And, just as alarming, these people are living through much longer periods of refuge because the conflicts are protracted. Fewer can return to their homes or find opportunities to permanently resettle.
“The major change in the refugee world is that the underlying conflicts which cause the outflow of people are not being resolved and the duration of exile extends (now an average of 17 years),” says Fr. Michael Gallagher, S.J., a member of the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province and deputy international director of Jesuit Refugee Service. He has served with JRS for nearly two decades.
Father Gallagher began working with refugees in 1991, when the Haitian crisis was at its height, and he helped Haitians in Miami. Then he went to El Paso, Texas, in 1994, where, as a lawyer, he handled asylum
cases. “I loved working with refugees and found them the most interesting and grateful clients I had ever had. They would even thank me sincerely when we lost the case!” he said. “I thought that this was my niche, and the province agreed.”
He went to Oxford for a master’s degree in forced migration and then was hired by JRS Southern Africa as a policy officer. He went on to become the country director in Zambia, then a regional advocacy officer in Johannesburg, South Africa. Then he served 10 years as the JRS representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
“When I started international refugee work, there were resolutions to situations. Now that is not the case,” he says. “Humanitarian workers were not targets of abduction and killing as they are now in many parts of the world. As for the refugees, their number is greater than any time since WWII. They are typically housed in the least developed countries in the world, where they are excluded from full participation in society. It has remained true throughout my time working with refugees internationally that as a group they are underfed, undereducated, and unemployed.”
In light of this reality, JRS is playing a long game. It does provide short-term aid such as food and cash when the situation demands—and the emergency list has lengthened to include soap and hand sanitizer during the coronavirus era. At the same time, the agency has shaped its outreach with the understanding that the displaced are spending years, even decades, uprooted. They need schools, counseling, and other help along their journeys. They need what Jesuits call “accompaniment.”
“We walk with them,” says Fr. Smolich, a member of the Jesuits West Province. “We educate them. We help them find their voice, so they can tell their own stories. They get what they need to move forward. And that’s what Jesuit ministry does. It helps people fulfill their hopes and what God intends for them.” He adds, “We listen, because oftentimes there’s a lot of trauma.”
advocate the cause of forcibly displaced people, that they may heal, learn, and determine their own future.”
“We provide a way for them to provide for themselves and their families, and that is through education,” Fr. Gallagher said. “Education toward livelihoods, marketable skills—a path out.” To accomplish this, JRS has articulated four basic priorities and goals, including:
RECONCILIATION
Diverse teams of JRS workers are teaching children and others from disparate backgrounds how to live together and respect one another. For instance, in regions torn by religious and ethnic violence, Christian and Muslim students have sat alongside each other in JRS classrooms. They’ve learned not only the basics but also lessons from a peace studies curriculum that teaches about culture, dialogue, and mutual understanding. The aim is to foster “right relationships,” not only among the forcibly displaced but also between them and their host communities.
Inspired by the generous love and example of Jesus Christ, JRS seeks to accompany, serve, and advocate the cause of forcibly displaced people, that they may heal, learn, and determine their own future.
MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT
Violence and chaos, along with years of displacement, can take a psychological as well as physical toll. For that reason, JRS workers offer an assortment of community-based services to improve psychological well-being.
“All the relief aid in the world won’t necessarily help a child with her trauma,” says Joan Rosenhauer, executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, explaining why such support has recently emerged as a priority. “And if children are struggling with their mental health, then having good scientific facts in their heads is not going to help them much.” Even in refugee camps there are people at the margins: those with a physical disability or a mental illness, or those who have been victimized. “We are serving the people who are the least served,” Fr. Gallagher says.
EDUCATION AND LIVELIHOODS
The work is further spelled out in the mission statement: “Inspired by the generous love and example of Jesus Christ, JRS seeks to accompany, serve, and
JRS is adapting Jesuit education to the world of the displaced. The idea is to nurture hope and help students develop marketable skills (as teachers, healthcare workers, entrepreneurs, and other roles such as coders in the global economy).
Fr. Michael Gallagher, S.J., with refugee children in Rwanda.
This past summer, JRS schools in Beirut were the first green-lighted by the government to reopen after lockdowns—a tribute to the high esteem for Jesuit education there and elsewhere. During the global health crisis, JRS has pivoted toward a patchwork of options. These include open-air classrooms, lessons broadcast over refugee-camp radio, and multiple channels for online learning. Sometimes instructors hand-deliver course materials to the one-room urban apartments of refugee families and teach with the use of cell phones.
ADVOCACY
JRS advocates policies, practices, and legislation that offer protection to forcibly displaced persons—inspired notably by Pope Francis’s passion for this cause. “We continue to lift up the importance of rights established under U.S. and international laws, including the rights of asylum seekers,” says Rosenhauer of JRS/USA, referring to U.S. policies in recent years that have severely hindered the asylum process as well as refugee resettlement. “It’s more complicated no during the pandemic, with borders across the world being closed up. But even in a pandemic, you need to find to help people in desperate situations. They shouldn’t be sent back to situations that threaten their lives.”
We provide a way for them to provide for themselves and their families, and that is through education ... Education livelihoods, marketable a path out.
JRS is now at work in 56 countries, serving over one million refugees who have fled their countries and those forcibly displaced within them. As Fr. Smolich says, they have stories to tell.
This article is printed with the permission of Jesuit Refugee Service.
JRS Disaster Preparedness team simulates a disaster in the village of Lawe Sawah, Indonesia, susceptible to earthquakes and floods.
photo credit
60,069 Catholic Institutes dedicated to social support including childcare, social rehabilitation, and marriage counseling
25,335 Catholic Homes for orphans, elderly, sick, and disabled
140 Million SERVICES provided to people in 115 countries by Catholic Relief Services in 2020
1 MILLION PEOPLE received life-changing services in 57 countries through the Jesuit Refugee Service in 2020
223,777 Catholic Parishes
1.344 Billion Catholics Worldwide
20,208 Catholic Hospitals & Clinics
1847 Catholic Universities
Catholic Works Around the World
72.7 MILLION Catholic School Student Enrollment
38,000 PEOPLE in 11 camps in Pakistan received medical care, over 20,000 children provided with books and school supplies in Pakistan and Jordan, 51,000 vulnerable people relocated, and 109 experts deployed to UNHCR operations in 31 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East by the work of the International Catholic Migration Commission
Sources: www.bc.edu/c21spring22
$3 million IN AID for projects to create schools, water systems, and housing in 17 countries, and scholarships for 200 students from 51 nations to study at BC and return to their countries better equipped to make change, all funded by the Irish Famine Memorial Fund
220,000 Catholic Schools Preschool to Secondary
2 Million Knights of Columbus members in over 15,000 councils (including 374 on college campuses) in more than 13 countries
2.1 Million HOME VISITS by community health workers, 2.8 million outpatient visits, and 2.1 million women's checkups around the world by Partners in Health in 2021
Don’t Forget About Haiti
Dr. Fonie Pierre
The following account of the aftermath of the 2021 earthquake in Haiti illustrates the type of crisis addressed by Catholic Relief Services around the world. For nearly 80 years, the mission of this arm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been to assist impoverished and disadvantaged people of all faiths all around the world. CRS works in the spirit of Catholic social teaching to promote the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person. Following this piece, we include conversations with both Ambassador Ken Hackett and Sean Callahan, former and current leaders of CRS, who offer perspectives on their careers and on the work performed by the organization globally.
Iin the streets , you can still hear the music from the funerals. Everywhere you turn, it sounds like mourning. A curtain of grief hangs in the air. Overhead, helicopters shuttle in supplies. Nearby, heavy-duty construction vehicles dig through the rubble.
It has been about a month since a 7.2 earthquake devastated southern Haiti, but for those of us living through its aftermath, it feels like we’ve lived through a thousand years. The earthquake killed more than 2,200 people and injured many more. It also damaged about 130,000 homes. Alarmingly, hundreds of people are still missing.
Life here in Les Cayes is challenging. Gone are many of our municipal buildings, shops, and cultural landmarks, including our cherished cathedral. Some days I close my eyes to the destruction. It’s estimated that about half a million families need support. In certain areas,
there is significant damage to infrastructure—water systems are damaged and no longer functional, or the water is dirty and not usable.
With everything that’s happened, some people wonder whether Haiti is cursed. It can feel that way.
In recent months, we’ve dealt with drought, hunger, the COVID-19 pandemic, and unprecedented political instability, made worse by persistent gang violence. As you walk the streets, you see the despair on people’s faces. We can only bear so much.
What I remember most during the earthquake is the noise. What started as heavy clanking turned into a loud rumble—like a construction truck was making its way through the neighborhood. But when the shaking began, I cried out to my 11-year-old daughter to get out of the house. Luckily, she heard me and scrambled to safety. We both did. In the chaos that followed came the hugs.
The Church of St. Anne was completely destroyed by the earthquake in Chardonnieres, Haiti, on August 18, 2021.
We wrapped ourselves in our neighbors’ arms. We texted loved ones to tell them we had survived.
I’m more than just a survivor of the earthquake. As a doctor and global public health expert, I am also an aid worker for the American charity Catholic Relief Services (CRS). As we’ve surveyed the extensive damage, we’ve found hospitals overcrowded and thousands of people sleeping on the streets—either for fear of aftershocks or because they have nowhere else to go. Temporary settlements have popped up in my neighborhood and many others, including in the city’s soccer stadium. People have made shelters out of sheets, blankets, tarps, and anything else they can find, using poles or sticks as scaffolding.
Originally from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, I’ve been living in Les Cayes since 2006. Although it’s considered one of Haiti’s biggest cities, it feels like everyone here is family. We’ve certainly come together in recent days to support each other during this tough time. In the nights immediately following the earthquake, my neighbors came together to sleep outside and share food. That first night we shared bread and avocados. The next night it was bread and bananas. Like many children who have lived through trauma, my daughter was initially too stunned to eat. Thankfully, she has slowly come back to life—joining with the neighborhood children to play.
I see hope in the work of my organization, CRS, and others that are on the ground getting supplies to those
When tragedy strikes, we open our hearts to each other. We share our bread. We care for one another’s children.
in need. I’m also inspired by the longstanding generosity of the American people, who have shown remarkable solidarity with Haiti in the past. I hope that Americans will continue to show solidarity with us, especially now, after the headlines have faded. Please don’t forget about us. Americans can help by donating to a relief organization like CRS, or by advocating for congressional support of U.S. humanitarian aid.
To be sure, we won’t know the extent of the earthquake’s damage for some time. Those of us caught up in this catastrophe are taking each day as it comes. Those outside Haiti must understand that we are more than the sum of our disasters. It might not seem like it now, but Haiti is a beautiful country with a courageous and resilient people. We live with dignity, even in the face of adversity. And when tragedy strikes, we open our hearts to each other. We share our bread. We care for one another’s children. Even if all that means is that each one of us survives another day. ■
Dr. Fonie Pierre is a humanitarian and the Catholic Relief Services’ head of office in Les Cayes, Haiti. She earned her medical degree from State University of Haiti, Port-Au-Prince, and the University of Montreal.
This article was published with the permission of Catholic Relief Services.
UPDATE FROM CRS
Haiti continues to reel following the devastation from last August’s earthquake described by Dr. Pierre. Ongoing economic and political unrest have jeopardized humanitarian and development activities, leaving an estimated 4.9 million in need of support. In the hardest hit areas, people are still sleeping outside in makeshift camps, exposed to the elements and traumatized by the hundreds of aftershocks that have hit Haiti since. CRS is reaching hundreds of thousands of people with emergency support, including providing shelter, rehabilitation, cash assistance, and improved access to clean water. CRS’s ongoing support also includes grief and trauma counseling. Long-term needs will include the rebuilding and repairing of homes and the restoration of vital infrastructure.
photo credit : Reginald
Louissaint Jr/AFP via Getty Images
A Conversation with Ambassador Ken Hackett
Former President & CEO
of Catholic Relief Services
Boston College alumnus Ken Hackett ’68 worked for 39 years for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), rising through the ranks to become CRS executive director and then CRS president and CEO from 2003–2011. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, Hackett ran CRS relief and development efforts around the world, including CRS’s response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. In 2013, President Obama named him U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, a post he held until 2017. Paulist Press will publish Ambassador Hackett’s The Vatican Code: American Diplomacy in the Time of Francis in September 2022.
AAmbassador Hackett, How did your Jesuit Catholic education contribute to your deciding to dedicate your life to international service?
Well, the Jesuits have this phrase, “men and women for others.” In my day, I never heard that phrase, but it was certainly something I witnessed. In fact, I found that the Jesuits were all about others. And they instilled that commitment and passion in so many of their students and followers, urging us to be concerned about others along our journey.
Also, I had an uncle who was a Passionist priest, and he would bring home some of his colleagues when I was young, who told stories about the Philippines and other places around the world. And I think that I was captivated by these role models. I didn’t have international experience as many students do now, but I think it was a mix of my education and life experience that influenced my choices. While I interviewed for jobs in business, having studied in what is now the Carroll School of Management, I also learned about the Peace Corps in college, and ultimately decided to accept an assignment with them. I was posted to Ghana for three years and very much enjoyed it, and found that I indeed had a calling to international humanitarian and development work.
How did you come to work at Catholic Relief Services?
When I came back from Ghana, I thought I might pursue something with the UN or Care or Catholic Relief Services. I decided to pursue my international dreams and headed off to New York for some interviews with these organizations. When I got to Catholic Relief Services, I met some very nice people, and they offered me a job on the spot. They asked if I would like to go back to Africa and I said yes! Thus began a 40-year career.
I was sent to Sierra Leone in West Africa first, which was a real deep learning experience, to support a program of maternal and child health, where there were nurses and mobile teams delivering health services around the country. We had a school feeding program for about half the country and a very large leprosy control program. The priest managing the program left after six months and put me in charge. It was really enjoyable and also difficult at the same time. Like many places, the people were wonderful and dedicated, even as the situation in the country was challenging. After three years there, I decided to go to graduate school, so I returned to New York and worked as an assistant for seven years in the CRS Africa regional office, handling all of the develop-
Olivia Colombo
In this 1996 black-and-white file photo, Mother Teresa visits Catholic Relief Services headquarters in Baltimore, Md., accompanied by Ken Hackett, then president of CRS.
ment projects that we funded around the continent. In 1978, I became the Africa regional director. That was a challenge, because we had programs in 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and I traveled about 60% of my time. Eventually, I asked for an overseas assignment and headed to the Philippines with my family for five years during the tumultuous presidency of Cory Aquino, then back to East Africa during the Somalia crisis in the early 90s and the outbreak of genocide in Rwanda. In 1993, I took over as CEO of Catholic Relief Services and held the position until my retirement. It was a wonderful 40year career with CRS, but it became time for younger and smarter people to take over.
What were some of the most memorable and effective programs or relief efforts during your time at CRS?
One particularly memorable and effective effort was the antiretroviral HIV/AIDS program. We won one of the largest grants from the U.S. government to use in 11 countries. We were able to support tens of thousands of families. It was not just lifesaving, it kept families together. And of course, every year there would be a cataclysm of some sort—a tsunami or earthquake— which we would always respond to, supporting the local Church in its efforts to reach out to the community. We were able to garner a lot of resources, which we made available to the local institutions, and restored dignity and life to hundreds of thousands of people.
There was also a whole other side of CRS, which was the long-term development programs, self-empowerment programs for women, agriculture programs, and a broad array of other things. So, my task as the leader was to find the best and smartest people I could, and then let them go and do their work, supporting and encouraging them. Those were the ingredients for success.
How is a faith-based relief organization different from a secular one?
I believe that many relief and human development organizations are wrestling with their identity. For a faithbased organization, it’s important to be true to yourself, and ask questions like: What are your core beliefs? Does your faith and religion support your actions? And then put that in an organizational model that works. Whether you’re Lutheran World Relief, or Church World Service, or government services, you can create the right framework for your situation.
When you became U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, you must have brought with you many useful relationships.
It’s true, and I found that personal relationships were crucial to doing business at the Vatican. For example, in my first meeting with the Vatican’s foreign minister equivalent, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, I recalled that I had met him in Burundi years earlier, when he had become papal nuncio there on the heels of the assassination of the previous nuncio, Archbishop Michael Courtney. He reminded me that actually we had met years before that, when he was a Holy See diplomat in the Philippines, and I was the country representative for CRS there. That was the continuation of a very productive relationship that included consulting on numerous crises around the world as well as Pope Francis’s trip to the United States in 2015.
Based on your experience at the Vatican, what do you think the Holy See can do to help the situation in Ukraine?
Diplomatically, Pope Francis is in a difficult position. He has made it clear since the Russian invasion that he has great concern for the Ukrainian people and is horrified by war. At the same time, he wants to be heard by the Russians and the Russian Orthodox Church and potentially influence the outcome and aftermath of this conflict. Cardinal Parolin, the Holy See secretary of state, as well as other Vatican officials, have pointed out the Russians’ culpability more directly.
Looking back at your whole journey, what advice do you have for young people who have a passion for social justice around the world?
I haven’t told you the full story about the original job offer I received from CRS. On my wall over there is my initial rejection letter from them in 1971. They said I wanted too much money because I suggested $6,500 as my salary, but I didn't give up. I knew that the organization had something I wanted. And I knew I had something to give. My advice would be to stay with it, be true to yourself, keep focused on what you want, and choose what is going to make you a better person … remember, a person for others. And lastly, I’d also tell you to say a prayer and then jump in. There is always something important to learn in every endeavor. ■
Olivia Colombo, Boston College senior, interviewed Ambassador Hackett for C21 Resources and for her podcast, To the Heights
Please listen to the complete recording of the interview at: bc.edu/c21spring22
A Conversation with Sean Callahan
President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services
Sean Callahan is president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services, the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. As a 34-year agency veteran, Callahan has held a wide variety of leadership roles overseas and at agency headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to overseeing the worldwide operations of CRS, Callahan is the first vice president of Caritas Internationalis, the confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations operating in over 200 countries and territories. He sat down with a staff member of the C21 Center to discuss his vocation to international relief work and the role of faith in CRS’s global engagement.
WWhat role did your faith and upbringing in the Church play in your deciding to go into international affairs and work for CRS?
For me, faith was really about giving back. I was an altar boy with my two brothers, so our local church always knew it could get Sunday morning altar servers just by calling the Callahans. My Boston College alumni parents had instilled the Ignatian values from BC in us. And my aunt and uncle both were Maryknoll missionaries. Unfortunately, they have both passed away. They would come back to the States and show slideshows at our house until late at night. We’d be learning about Guatemala, the Philippines, and other countries.
After I did my graduate work, the first thing I thought of was, what can I do to give back? I was finishing school, and there was a gentleman in the lobby at the Fletcher School. As I walked by him, he looked up at me and said, “Is it time for you to give something back?” And I thought, this is strange, because I’ve always had that inside me. I said, “Where are you from?” And he said, “Catholic Relief Services, and I’m interviewing people for a one-year internship. How would you like to go overseas?” We talked for a little while and I wound up interviewing with him the next day. Then I went through the hiring process, and my mother has now finally stopped asking me when I’m going to get a real job!
I’ve always understood that there is a difference with CRS—it believes strongly in working with local populations and not simply going in and dictating what needs to be done for them.
Yes, exactly. That’s what we try to do: listen to the local people, find out what they need, and then move forward. You know, our feeling is that the protagonists in development work aren’t those of us who are coming in, it’s those who are already there.
Our role is to highlight the importance of those local people on the ground and recognize the work they’re doing. Their development is in their own hands.
So when you’re in these dire situations, is there a place for your faith? Can you draw on that faith or are these circumstances so fast-moving and stressful that you have no time to step back and consider the big picture?
I really think that faith is an essential component of it. The tagline of CRS is “faith, action, and results,” and faith comes first. But I do think that in the rush to get things done we can get ahead of ourselves. I was once in South Sudan and we were crossing the Nile River. We went through a bunch of different villages and went to schools and water projects, and we were trying to be respectful of each of the communities and hearing how they were going. But we got to our last group and we were two hours late. We told them that we weren’t going to be able to have the same meeting that we had hoped for. We said, “Could you just tell us how the microfinance has been, because we have to get a boat and get across the river before sundown; otherwise we’ll be stuck.”
Then a woman stood up in the middle of the group and said, “Sir, this is no way to start a meeting. We have to invoke the power of God to bless our words and to bless our work.” I thought, wow, she really understands who has brought us together here. Let’s take that time to thank Him, no matter what. So I said, “Would you open with a prayer?” And we did. And I must say, we were in a rush, we were concerned about security, but we realized that it’s not all in our own hands, that it really is in God’s hands. He put her there to let us know that we can learn from the people that we’re serving as well.
What do you say to people who would rather prioritize domestic programs over foreign aid and work like CRS is doing?
It’s perfectly understandable that some people have that reaction. But I think if anything has taught us a lesson during this COVID pandemic, before that the Ebola crisis, and of course the ongoing concerns about climate change, it’s that we’re a very small world and that what happens in one part of the world affects all of us. At home and abroad, when we look at these things, we see that they impact the poorest among us the most. And so I think we should look at our neighbors here in the U.S., but also our neighbors overseas and see that those lives are just as valuable as our lives.
I hope that we all can support the work that goes on in the United States, through Catholic Charities and other organizations. But I think as a Church, we’re bigger than just looking in our own backyard. We really need to look at the world community and how we fit into that. We need to respect the human dignity of all our sisters and brothers.
It strikes me that there’s a close connection between this philosophy and issues of racial justice. Those challenges aren’t limited to inside the borders of the United States, are they?
There’s no question. It’s all about respecting the human dignity of every human being. Through that respect, we want to help everyone to thrive and to contribute. Of course, there are racial issues that we see in the United States that we must address. In other countries, it could be a tribal issue. It could be a religious issue. It could be a language issue. And so we, as an organization, are trying to respect the differences we see among our colleagues, our partners, and all of the participants in our programs. Related to that, more and more of our leadership is diverse in the countries in which we serve. Of our 8,000 employees, probably 7,500 are from the countries in which we serve.
We have all been watching the humanitarian situation in Ukraine with great concern. What are your priorities there at this time [April 2022]?
CRS has benefited from working with Caritas Ukraine for the past eight years. We are working together to support
Sean Callahan visits with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, where CRS supports Church efforts to provide comprehensive humanitarian relief.
emergency efforts inside Ukraine by providing access to food, water, shelter, security, and psychosocial care. It is a chaotic and devastating situation, but our Ukrainian colleagues are courageous and their strong faith and our solidarity are helping them through this crisis. We are not only looking at the immediate response but we are looking to the longer term for stabilization of the population and then we are hoping to participate in the reconstruction/rehabilitation of those most affected. We are also working closely with our European partners in Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, and others to assist mainly women, children, and elderly who have been forced to migrate. Our teams on the ground welcome these victims of the violence, and we are working to ensure their safety and security until they can return to their homes.
And all these efforts require resources. I know that our readers are aware of the financial needs of CRS. What else would you tell people they could do to help CRS’s mission?
Obviously the financial contributions are indispensable, but equally as important are two other areas. First are the thoughts and prayers and demonstrating solidarity to people around the world. I would say the other area is for people to become educated citizens and influence their local and national governments. For example, with COVID—the U.S. has been very generous with vaccines, but there are still countries where the vaccination rate is below 10%. And so, to become educated and advocate for what you feel is right, and to help us all promote that human dignity, that’s so important.
Telling one’s elected officials can make a difference?
Yes, I don’t think people realize how important that is. When you advocate like this, you’re not really saying you should give more money to CRS. You’re saying this child should have an education. This mother should have food for her children. And that’s a bipartisan issue. I think CRS is a special place where our goal is one to be bold in our aspirations, humble in the way we do things, and a force that unites people.
In all of this, are there things that give you hope?
There certainly are. The inspiration, the courage, and the dedication of the people we work with. We really see the Gospel message in action around the world. And it’s not only being done by Catholics, but it’s being done by Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and others. And I don’t mean that they’re spreading religion, but they see these needs and they reach out. So, I get inspired by my colleagues. I get inspired by our local partners and the people we work with. They often have very meager resources, but they are so generous in reaching out to people that it’s truly an inspiration that I think many of us can follow. ■
photo credit : Ismail Ferdous for Catholic Relief Services
Soleen Sami Ibrahim feeds her baby in her family’s new apartment in McGivney House in Erbil, Iraq. Soleen and her husband, Bara Dia Ghanaen (left), struggled to find stable housing before moving into the 140-unit apartment building, built with assistance from the Knights of Columbus.
Nahrain will never forget how those nightmarish days affected her family. Thinking the danger was temporary, they crammed into a church minibus and fled to the safety of Iraqi Kurdistan, some 50 miles to the east. Nahrain’s aunt, a nurse, did not manage to escape. She was tortured and abused, forced to convert to Islam, and compelled to treat wounded militants until her rescue in 2017. “What happened was a tragedy. We had homes, businesses, cars, and good lives in Bartella, and we left everything behind,” Nahrain said. “We thought we were just leaving for a few days. We had no idea we were leaving for so many years.”
After the forced exodus, Christian homes were looted and set ablaze, and livelihoods destroyed. Although Erbil is relatively safe, job opportunities are scarce and rental costs often prohibitive. So, for many families, McGivney House offers a lifeline. The new residents are among the community’s poorest. Though many had successful careers prior to losing everything in 2014, financial circumstances precluded them from traveling to neighboring countries to seek asylum or rebuilding their former homes and lives.
For former Mosul residents Rana George, 39, husband James Albert, 40, and their two young children, McGivney House has offered respite from 16 years of uncertainty and instability. “From 2003, Christians in Mosul started being persecuted, so we moved from place to place and it was a very hard time,” said James, a former security guard at one of Mosul’s churches. “We were living in Mosul when IS came and we fled with everyone else. Since then, for five years, we have lived off charity.” The couple, who are Chaldean Catholics, returned just once, after liberation, and found their former rented home collapsed and the interior stripped of every item, leaving them with almost nothing. With few work options in Erbil, they often went without food to pay rent each month, so moving into a rent-free apartment in McGivney House has alleviated a major source of worry. “It’s early days for us here, but so far, so good,” said Rana. “We are happy, thank God.”
Though the one- and two-bedroom apartments in McGivney House are modestly sized, they are finished to an exceptionally high standard and partially furnished. Families need to buy just a few items, such as sofas, tables, and soft furnishings, to finish off apartments with their own personal touch. “It’s great here, and it feels like we’re living outside Iraq, in Europe, because all the systems and services work,” said Rana Abdul Ahad Younis, 37, who is a basketball coach. She and her husband, Moqdad Abdul Ahad Messehi, 38, a writer, have a 5-year-old daughter. Their apartment is “perfect for now,” said Moqdad, adding with a smile that they might need more space in the future if they are graced with more children. Moqdad fled his hometown of Mosul in 2005, after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of
Iraq ushered in a period of sectarian violence. He tried living in Syria and Turkey but obstacles prompted him to return to Iraq in 2011. He and Rana married in 2013, but since then, they have moved from one shabby rented place to another, suffering from poor basic services and unpredictable landlords. “Finally, daily life has become easier for us,” Rana said.
Besides helping young families make ends meet, projects such as McGivney House have also helped to maintain Iraq’s diminishing Christian community, Archbishop Warda said. About 1,500,000 Christians lived in Iraq before 2003; now that number is estimated to be fewer than 200,000 as thousands of families seek asylum abroad. “Of the 13,000 families we started caring for, 8,000 families have returned to Nineveh and 2,500 have stayed in Erbil,” the archbishop said. “We cannot control people’s decision to leave the country, but we can give them options and it’s proven by the numbers that such support has helped keep Christians in Iraq.” Five years ago, in this outlying district of Erbil’s Ankawa suburb, the Daughters of Mary Convent had to put chairs outside their little chapel to accommodate the hundreds of displaced people coming for Mass. Today, former wasteland stretches are being transformed into Iraq’s newest Christian district. A stone’s throw from the recently completed Sts. Peter and Paul Church and a Christian school, McGivney House stands at the heart of this new community, helping some of the country’s long-suffering Christians to finally envision a future for themselves in Iraq. ■
Tom Westcott is a British freelance journalist based in the Middle East.
The original article, entitled “Haven of Hope,” was published in full in Columbia magazine, February 2020. The article has been edited by the C21 Center and is reprinted with the permission of the Knights of Columbus.
Boston College is the home of its own Knights of Columbus council, preparing members to become leaders and men of faith after college. Council 5278 of Boston College is comprised of undergrads, graduate students, and alumni. After being reactivated in 2017 by Bob Jacques (’18 CSOM), the council has taken part in numerous social and charitable events around c a mpus, including starting its own “Persecuted Christians in the Middle East” fund as part of t he Knights of Columbus’s global initiative.
UKRAINE: Refugees from Ukraine on the border with Poland (checkpoint Grushev - Budomierz) February 27, 2022.
To learn more about how the organizations profiled in this issue are supporting relief efforts for Ukraine, please visit: bc.edu/c21spring22
PHOTO CREDIT: Fotoreserg
A PRAYER FOR UKRAINE
Loving God,
We pray for the people of Ukraine, for all those suffering or afraid, that you will be close to them and protect them.
We pray for the world that in this moment of crisis, we may reach out in solidarity to our brothers and sisters in need.
May we walk in your ways so that peace and justice become a reality for the people of Ukraine and for all the world.
AMEN.
The BOSTON COLLEGE Irish Famine Memorial Fund
Peter G. Martin
Thomas Flatley at the Boston College President’s Circle Dinner in 1990.
BC’s Irish Famine Memorial Fund (IFMF) has been creating opportunity and changing lives all over the world since its establishment in 2010. The following several pages, adapted from the forthcoming history of the fund, describe the IFMF’s origins and illustrate the impact of several of its grants and scholarships.
Ssince 2010 , the Irish Famine Memorial Fund, a gift to Boston College from Thomas J. Flatley (1931–2008) and his family, has supported the efforts of Boston College alumni and others to alleviate poverty, disease, famine, and illiteracy around the world. The fund has enabled nearly 200 students from 51 nations and six continents to study at Boston College and return to their home countries better equipped to help address various social, health, and educational problems. In addition, the IFMF has provided more than $3 million for projects to construct schools in impoverished communities, provide clean water and sanitation, and develop transitional housing in 17 countries, including the United States. The fund has also made grants to young alumni from Boston College and other universities, supporting them in their
desires to engage the world and put Jesuit, Catholic ideals of “men and women for others” into action.
Thomas Flatley came to the United States from his native Ireland as an 18-year-old with all of $32 to his name. After his own stint in the U.S. Army, he made use of the G.I. Bill to gain his plumber’s, electrician’s, and builder’s licenses. Thus began one of the most impressive real estate development careers in Boston annals. The Flatley Co. eventually accumulated assets of more than $1 billion, and Flatley became a significant figure in Boston’s business community and a legendary, if humble and quiet, philanthropist.
Although he was immersed in business ventures and never pursued higher education himself, Flatley gained an appreciation for Boston College not long after he
PHOTO CREDIT: Gary Wayne Gilbert
Non-Profit Glorious Invests in the Future
in 2015 , bc alumnae Katie Carey Nivard ’09 and Hannah Ames Beavers ’09 approached the IFMF with a proposal that Carey called a “game-changing program to engage the next generation of leaders from Boston College.” The two had developed a partnership with an impressive school and orphanage in Tanzania, where both women first volunteered as recent BC graduates. While they were volunteers, the founder of the school, Alice Mathew, was feeding orphaned children in her backyard. Since those early days, she has built what is now a top-ranked school and educational hub serving over 300 children ages 3–15. Her story of resilience and commitment to her community aligned closely with the IFMF philosophy that Carey and Ames had learned about through their time at BC: that people with commitment serving local communities can drive lasting economic and social change. They were inspired to help Mathew succeed, and to help others in the BC community connect to make an impact themselves.
First, they established Glorious, a U.S. nonprofit, to provide direct financial support to Mathew and related causes. Then, they partnered with Mama Hope, an education-focused nonprofit, and with the Irish Famine Memorial Fund to build the Global Advocate Fellowship Program. This immersive nine-month training program was designed to develop the next generation of young leaders, often graduates of Boston College or other Jesuit universities. The advocates first participated in an intensive entrepreneurship course that required participants to raise at least $20,000 for a community-identified, sustainable project in the developing world. They worked
with local entrepreneurs to understand the project impact and to raise funds to help bring it to fruition. They then traveled to live in the community and to build out the program. Projects ranged from school facilities to farming projects and beyond. Over 2015–2019, IFMF’s grants to Glorious funded the training and deployment of 34 advocates who undertook 40 projects.
Many talented BC alumni have become global advocates. Katie Remy, BC Class of ’11, moved from investment banking to philanthropy. She joined the program and raised funds for the construction of Glorious’s school campus and accompanying school shops. Nicole Su llivan ’13 left her job at GE and subsequently raised $20,123 to fund a solar-powered computer lab in Moshi, Tanzania. Marisa Maneri ’16 obtained $20,500 from donors to help complete construction of a boarding home at St. Timothy’s parish and school, also in Tanzania. The parish was able to take in 50 new boarding students because of the project, creating a revenue stream to f und various parish and school activities. BC alumnus Kevin Burg ’18 was excited to bring the lessons he had learned at Boston College into international service. At BC, Burg said he and his classmates had learned to “examine justice far beyond our own little bubbles.” He raised $20,862 for the construction of the much-needed United Hearts Nursery School in Bawjiase, Ghana, a nd spent three months working in the children’s center there. While the Global Advocates program had no official religious affiliation, Burg said he found the program to be Ignatian at its heart. It embodied Jesuit social justice principles on the “global stage,” he said.
photo
Tom Kubik @tomjohnkubik
Children playing outside one of Glorious‘s partner sites, Glorious Orphans Care, a primary school and orphans‘ center in Tanzania.
Tom Flatley would have liked the Global Advocate business model: $350,000 of grant money from the fund led to over $680,000 raised by the advocates for 40 projects in 17 communities in Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Moreover, the majority of global advocates have pursued careers in service or development work. Marisa Maneri, for example, went on to work for Kickstart International, a nonprofit in Nairobi that designs climate-smart irrigation technology for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. She is now a leadership giving officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. After working in Kisumu, Kenya, Megan Sonier ’16 joined Geneva Global, a philanthropy consulting company. Similarly, after serving as an advocate in Guatemala, Tessa Peoples, also Class of 2016, is now working at the Council for Relationships, a mental health nonprofit. Jackson Pellegrini, former advocate and BC Class of 2018, now works at Accion, a global
Inspiring the Next Generation
home visit to a patient during a Dominican Republic Service Immersion trip.
nonprofit committed to creating a financially inclusive world, with a pioneering legacy in microfinance and fintech impact investing. By 2019, the Global Advocate venture had touched an estimated 32,000 people’s lives through its work.
Glorious’s vision was to set in motion a movement toward greater global connectivity, compassion, and justice. Since 2020 and the onset of the pandemic, both Glorious and its local partners have had to adapt and pivot. In one small example, its partner, Suubi, a maternal health center in Uganda, had to become a COVID treatment and care facility servicing a community of over 200,000. As a result, Glorious has shifted its focus to double down on directly supporting partner organizations working on the frontlines of our world’s most challenging issues. While much about the future is uncertain, Glorious and the work of its partners continues. ■
in keeping with the IFMF’s original commitment to supporting BC undergraduates’ volunteerism, the fund has supported several programs that have inspired the next generation to pursue service initiatives. In 2011, colleagues in the Dominican Republic (DR) reached out to the IFMF to discuss the establishment of a program in the DR that would provide healthcare, education, and cultural exchange between BC nursing students and the residents of poor communities in that country. The students would engage in “teaching projects” in response to medical issues identified and requested by the communities. With that template in place, the Connell School of Nursing (CSON) has completed seven group trips over the years that have made significant contributions to the lives of the people of San Pedro de Macoris, La Chachena, and Communidad Experimental, Dominican Republic. Julia O’Brien, CSON ’20, applied to take part in an immersion trip in January 2020 to combine her passions for service and for nursing. She did not simply improve her nursing skills but also considered larger healthcare issues. “Our work in the
communities confirmed my desire to work with vulnerable populations,” she told BC administrators recently, adding that, “It also helped us to reflect upon larger questions of equality and healthcare policy generally.”
“It gives me great pleasure to see how this program has grown,” says CSON’s Rosemary F. Byrne, RN, who has developed the immersion trip since its creation. She notes that, by design, the group returns to the same two communities each year. This continuity has helped BC nurses and students build trust and relationships that have increased their effectiveness. Byrne reports that the visitors have seen improvement in the general health of the communities they are serving each year. “There is so much that remains undone,” however, Byrne cautions. With the exception of the most recent hiatus due to COVID19, the IFMF has continued to fund the trip every year. “It is through being ‘men and women for others’ that we are able to practice social justice both here in the United States and in the Dominican Republic,” Byrne concludes. ■
BC Connell School of Nursing student making a
Leadership and Vision in Uganda
the ifmf committee has observed since the fund’s inception that effective leadership is often the key to success in development projects. When asked for an example, committee members all mention Fr. Emmanuel Mwerekande. Fr. Mwerekande guides Our Lady of Fatima parish, which covers some 30 square miles and has more than 60,000 parishioners, 53 sub-churches, and 23 Catholic schools serving children of all religious backgrounds in Mubende, Uganda.
The Boston College community became familiar with Fr. Mwerekande while he was studying for a master’s degree in pastoral ministry in Chestnut Hill from 2004–06. He shared with his BC colleagues and parishioners at his adopted parish, St. Mark’s Church in Dorchester, the bleak situation at home, where there was no running water or sanitation. As Fr. Mwerekande explained the situation, “In my home village … the water supply is a communal well (more like a pond) that is contaminated. This well is used by humans and animals alike. The next well, which is also contaminated, is a distance of five miles. In order for any well water to be considered safe, it has to be boiled before consumption. One rain barrel can provide a family of five to ten people with a source of clean drinking water. The barrels hold approximately 200 liters of clean rainwater and can make a difference of life and death.”
Working with the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Mark’s, Fr. Mwerekande raised a modest amount of money for rain barrels for the community in Mubende. They were inexpensive at approximately $80 each, but had an outsized value to community members, especially the elderly, who would otherwise have had to travel on foot to the nearest well, carry their water supply back to their homes, and then engage in the time-consuming
process of boiling the water. Further generosity from the parishioners of St. Mark’s eventually allowed the purchase of more rain barrels; in all, some 350 families in the area gained access to clean drinking water
BC administrators were impressed that a relatively small investment in the hands of the right leader had made such a difference in people’s lives. When the Irish Famine Memorial Fund was created a short time later, the committee reached out to Fr. Mwerekande in Uganda to see if there were additional needs in his community. It did not take long for Fr. Mwerekande to come up with his wish list, and a relationship began.
Ongoing support by the IFMF to Our Lady of Fatima parish has led to the installation of more rain barrels as well as water tanks and latrines. Perhaps most significantly, an IFMF grant allowed for the construction of an irrigation system to support a sustainable agriculture program in the community. With his success in these efforts, Fr. Mwerekande was also able to attract new partners such as Engineers without Borders, who recognized the impact of these projects and partnered with the community to help make them a reality.
The results of the IFMF’s investment and Fr. Mwerekande’s vision are most striking in the parish schools. Access to clean water was a first, pivotal step for education, just as it was for daily life at home. Further, IFMF grants for books and school supplies have been very helpful in raising the level of education in the community. However, the school lunch programs established with IFMF funding have simply transformed the lives of the students. Fr. Mwerekande recounts that, before his development of the parish began, he would go out in the middle of the day and see children, absent from school, wandering around and napping out in public. “Many
Fr. Emmanuel Mwerekande with students in Uganda's Our Lady of Fatima parish receiving books and school supplies through IFMF grants.
The sounds of happy and healthy children are wonderful to hear. It's as if they're different children.
were hungry, underweight, and sickly, with neither the energy nor the will to do anything,” he explains. Diseases that prey on the undernourished were rampant. With the grain produced by the sustainable agriculture program, the children are ensured at least one nutritional meal a day.
The lunch program at the parish schools and complementing ongoing water purification projects had great impact. Enrollment boomed as children came to school every day to have a good lunch to eat. Once they were better nourished, the entire atmosphere of the school and community changed. “Now, I see the students energetically engaged in their studies,” Fr. Mwerekande says. Then they are off to run and play after lunch. “The sounds of happy and healthy children are wonderful to hear,” adds Fr. Mwerekande. “It’s as if they’re different children.”
The Ugandan government has also taken notice. Ugandan officials visited the parish to discuss Fr. Mwerekande’s success and enlisted his help as an advisor on government development projects. “You’re showing us what we should be doing,” one official was overheard saying during a visit. After Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni came to the parish in 2015 to see for himself what was happening, Fr. Mwerekande was promised a boost in government funding for his work. BC administrators recently connected Fr. Mwerekande to USAID and Catholic Relief Services personnel to stimulate further cooperation. In recognition of Fr. Mwerekande’s “tireless efforts to improve the everyday lives of the people in his homeland,” Boston College awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2016. ■
Supporting People in Crisis
a key aspect of the IFMF is its ethic of “giving back.” Committee member Thomas Reardon recalls that “Tom Flatley wanted scholarship recipients to be able to return to their homes, equipped with new skills and credentials, to make a difference in their native countries.” In practice, recipients have been remarkable in “paying forward” their educational and pastoral benefits once back home.
Filipina Sister Ashwena Apao of the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban was already studying theology at Boston College when a colleague suggested to her that her ministry back home would benefit from training in mental health counseling at BC. “This type of training is not readily available in the Philippines,” Sr. Apao said recently, “and we had seen a g reat need for such expertise at home and in mission territories.” Needing funding to pay for the additional academic training, she approached BC’s Rose M a ry Donahue, who brought the case to the IFMF Committee for consideration. The resulting academic study and practicum in a Boston area homeless shelter gave Sr. Apao the skills and experience she desired. She left Boston College for a missionary assignment in Myanmar and assisted the local Church i n developing a center for those suffering from drug addiction. Once, the fledgling center had offered mainly spiritual advice and encouragement; now, Sr. Apao was able to add a specialized professional dimension to the work, incorporating her BC training. “I ’m very grateful for the opportunity I was given,” Sr. Apao says. “I just try to make a little difference in the world … and maybe that is growing.” ■
region.
Peter G. Martin is the special assistant to the president of Boston College.
Midsalip Subanen Ministry: Sr. Ashwena Apao working among the Indigenous people of the
