One of the approved projects will strengthen the leadership of Indigenous peoples in Latin America. Photo: CPAL
The Board of Trustees of Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) recently approved 13 new projects, ranging from addressing gender-based violence in Kenya’s Kangemi slums to strengthening the leadership of Indigenous peoples in Latin America who are defending their ancestral territories and culture.
The projects, totaling $411,673, will be implemented by CJI’s Jesuit partners in India, the Dominican Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Cambodia, Honduras, Kenya, and in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
The projects address issues related to the right to education, human rights and democratic participation, ecology and sustainability, the rights of forcibly displaced persons, and emergencies and humanitarian assistance.
A project of the RSAI Network of Indigenous Solidarity and Apostolates will strengthen the leadership, especially of Indigenous women, and raise awareness about the issue of extractive industries and their impact, especially on women living in Mesoamerica, Andes, and the Amazon. The project, Joining forces for the protection of our common home and community engagement, continues what was started in 2023, when 46 Indigenous women from 21 regions of Latin America gathered in Peru to share their experiences, knowledge and spiritual reflections. They emerged hopeful and energized by their experiences, including reconnecting with the land and their ancestors.
The African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN) will provide vulnerable teenage girls and mothers in Burkina Faso, Togo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zimbabwe, with medical care, skills training, scholarships, seed grants, and HIV-prevention services. The Giving Hope to Women and Girls project aims to stop the vicious cycle of economic instability and related risks associated with factors such as teenage pregnancy, unemployment, lack or low level of education, forced marriage, HIV, and poverty,” according to AJAN’s project description.
The other approved projects include:
- Improving access to quality education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through programs of the Jesuit-run Foi et Joie (Faith and Joy), including scholarships for 1,500 boys and 1,763 girls in Foi et Joie schools in the town of Kikwit, training for teachers and school directors, extra-curricular activities, and adult literacy radio programs
- “Safeguarding our territories from mining,” a project by Centro Montalvo, a Jesuit social centre in the Dominican Republic, will empower vulnerable communities through training and advocacy for sustainable development; it is in line with the environmental justice agenda of the Society of Jesus in Latin America
- A program to address the needs of the most vulnerable migrants passing through Central America and Mexico on their way to the U.S. and Canada; the project is run by the Jesuit Migration Network ( Red Jesuita con Migrantes en Centroamérica y Norteamérica)
- Ensuring the safety and basic needs of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Hungary, Romania, and some parts of southeastern Europe, through Jesuit Refugee Service- Europe
- Building a vegetable washing house to help small-scale organic farmers trained and supported by the Jesuit-run Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre in Zambia; the produce grown and sold by farmers improves their livelihoods
- Medical support programs for people living with HIV-AIDS, and support for victims of gender-based violence in the slums of Kangemi, Nairobi, Kenya, to be implemented by Uzima, a program of the Jesuits Eastern Africa Province.
- Financial support for the purchase of a multi-purpose vehicle and equipment for Jesu Ashram, a health care centre of the Jesuit Province of Darjeeling in Matigara, India, which provides free medical treatment and care to poor and marginalized people, especially those living with leprosy and tuberculosis
- The wheelchair project of Metta Karuna Kampong Thorn, by the Jesuit Mission in Cambodia, which supports the most disadvantaged and marginalized people by upholding their rights, welfare, and dignity; 230 new wheelchairs will be provided to persons with disabilities (PWD) and 230 other wheelchairs will be fixed, livelihood support will be given to 75 PWD
- Capacity-building support for the development office of the Eastern Africa Jesuits, based in Nairobi
- Support for poverty alleviation and other projects at the Jesuit-run St. Alphonsus Social and Agriculture Centre (SASAC) in Kurseong, India
- Repairing and renovating classroom floors and facilities at the Jesuit-run St. Peter’s Primary School in Gayaganga, India
