Surely nobody could
fail to be moved and edified by the great wave of generous
support for those affected by the Asian disaster. In the
days that have passed since that first great wave - of death
and destruction - we have seen a quite extraordinary response
here in Britain and around the world. The good God, whose
aching desire is to be with humanity in our worst tragedy
and pain, can find and evoke goodness even the direst situations.
The eyes of faith, easily dimmed when there is grief and
disbelief, begin to brighten again when there is such solidarity
across oceans and frontiers.
The community that
gathers here at Farm Street for worship and prayer has played
its part. Many have already made donations to the Tsunami
appeals set up by the Young British Jesuit Alumni (YBJA)
and Jesuit Missions and no doubt elsewhere too, such as
CAFOD. The parish is reaching out to Sri Lanka in particular
where our Jesuits were among the first to respond to the
disaster. We have been receiving good information from them
about how they are responding. We are glad to share this
good news with you. From the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)
in Sri Lanka we learn: "JRS is concentrating on meeting
such basic needs as provision of mats, bed sheets, towels
and clothes, as well as clean water. Fr Vinny Joseph SJ,
Director, reported that the biggest challenge they ahve
been facing is how to help people in the camps to come to
term as with what has happened."
From Jesuit head
offices in Colombo this report: "Father Provincial
called an emergency meeting on the 4th attended by the superiors
of the affected districts, the Social Action coordinator
and those already involved in Relief. It was decided, while
immediate relief work goes on, to put in place an apparatus
that can professionally handle the rehabilitation and reconstruction
for Tsunami victims, houses and livelihoods."
Our Jesuits have
now drawn up an action plan and note that while reconstruction
must begin soon, there are people still suffering. A staggering
800,000 are displaced, in over 700 camps, many of whom need
counseling help. The hardest hit are the fisher folk who
lost their boats, and Jesuit contribution to reconstruction
will help to replace those boats. Will you help them?
Fr David Stewart
SJ
YJBA Director
PARISH
INFORMATION
