Students at the Jesuit-run St. Xavier’s in Sadakbari, a rural hamlet in Nepal, will soon have a school canteen. The board of directors at Canadian Jesuits International has approved a project that includes building a dining hall, a modern kitchen, sanitation facilities, and a safe drinking water system to enhance the school’s infrastructure and to improve students’ health and well-being. Photo: St. Xavier’s Sadakbari
The Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) Board of Directors has approved 15 new and ongoing projects run by its Jesuit partners serving poor and marginalized communities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
These projects range from a socio-environmental justice education and training program for community leaders in the Pan-Amazon region, to a community development, skills training, and employment program for Afghan youth (66% female; 34% male).
The Amazonian Service for Socio environmental Action, Reflection and Education (SARES), a Jesuit social center based in Brazil, will train 390 community leaders across the Pan-Amazon region on integral ecology and climate justice. The training will be delivered through a series of six virtual courses and in-person meetings. Priority will be given to women, and participants will be able to exchange experiences, receive technical advice, and assistance in strengthening their advocacy for human rights and defense of territories. About 230 trained leaders will then be tapped to participate in at least two advocacy spaces such as the Pan-Amazon Social Forum (FOSPA) and the Indigenous Women’s Movement.
In Afghanistan, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is working to establish “sustainable and creative communities” in Kabul and Herat, through a training program designed to improve the self-confidence and competencies of 773 female Afghan youth. Participants will learn about community development activities, computer literacy, English classes, psychological first aid, play and art for peace, child protection, and social cohesion.
The board also approved the following projects:
- Support for the development of a Communications and Information Technology (ICT) curriculum; scholarships for 85 students; contribution to salaries of teaching and non-teaching staff; and school maintenance at Moran Memorial School, Nepal
- Construction of a school canteen that will include a dining hall, modern kitchen, sanitation facilities, and safe drinking water systems at St. Xavier’s Sadakbari, Nepal
- Support to help ensure the delivery of quality education for students at the Xavier Jesuit School, which is operated by Jesuit Service Cambodia
- Integration for refugees and vulnerable local communities in Amman, Jordan, run by the Jesuit Refugee Service-Middle East and North Africa
- Information, guidance, and socio-legal assistance for 800 highly vulnerable migrants of different nationalities in Costa Rica, a project run by the Servicio Jesuita para Migrantes (SJM)-Costa Rica
- Support for building resilient, cohesive, and sustainable communities in Magdalena Medio, Colombia, a project by the Jesuit Refugee Service Colombia
- Support for the Ecclesiastical Conference of the Amazon to develop synodality within the church in the Amazon, so that it is outward-looking, and capable of pastoral responses that pursue social justice, care for creation, and dignity for peoples of the territory.
- Building the capacities of community leaders and young people in the municipalities of Chilón and Sitalá, Chiapas, Mexico, to promote peacebuilding and access to justice by training them in Indigenous law and governance. This Jesuit-led initiative is run by the Indigenous Rights Centre (Centro de Derechos Indígenas or CEDIAC).
- Strengthening women’s leadership and promoting local advocacy to mend the social fabric and improve living conditions La Carucieña, Venezuela. This is a project of the Jesuit Gumilla Centre Foundation (Fundación Centro Gumilla)
- Support for the scholarship program offered to Nicaraguan students enrolled at the Jesuit-run Central American University (Universidad Centroamericana or UCA) in El Salvador
- Development of the Pan-Amazonian Apostolic Plan, which will be undertaken by the Jesuit Conference of Provincials of Latin America and the Caribbean (ConferenciaProvinciales en America Latina y el Caribe or CPAL)
- Support for a sports court in a Fe y Alegria school in Lurigancho, Peru
- Scholarships for 10 students at the Jesuit-run St. Alphonsus Primary School in Kurseong, India
