The creation of women’s “skill circles” in Afghanistan, and research and training to strengthen women’s leadership in a vulnerable community in Venezuela are among the new projects recently approved by the Board of Trustees of Canadian Jesuits International (CJI).
The Board of Trustees approved 21 new and continuing projects totaling $1,184,389.04 at its meeting in Toronto on October 5. Eight projects focus on the right to education, three on the rights of forcibly displaced persons, four on human rights, civic participation and peacebuilding, four on ecology and sustainability, and the remainder on emergency and other work.
In Afghanistan, a project run by CJI partner Jesuit Refugee Service will train 380 women from Herat and Kabul in traditional carpet weaving, embroidery and tailoring, with the aim of helping them to set up their own businesses and achieve economic stability for themselves and their families. At the end of the training, participants will receive start-up support in the form of equipment, materials and advice from a professional designer and marketer to help them develop their businesses. Participants will include internally displaced Afghan women, returnees and members of host communities.
In Venezuela, a project run by the Fundación Centro Gumilla will train 50 women leaders ages 18 and 65 from La Carucieña, which has been hard hit by the country’s ongoing political and economic crisis. The aim is to strengthen their leadership skills so that they can improve the living conditions of their community and find solutions to the problems that affect them. Fundacion Centro Gumilla will also carry out research on “democratic coexistence, with an emphasis on the role of women in the community.” It will also assist the community in developing a “local agenda for advocacy and dialogue with local authorities.”
The other projects approved by the Board of Trustees are:
- Scholarships, construction of a children’s play area and pre-school classroom furnishing, St. Xavier’s Sadakbari School, Nepal (Jesuits of Nepal)
- Scholarship and development project, Moran Memorial School, Nepal (Jesuits of Nepal)
- Education, health and training support for children and youth in Barrios Unidos, Manta, Ecuador (Fundacion Rio Manta)
- Extension of Canisius Hostel Dining Hall, Gayaganga, India (Jesuits of Darjeeling)
- Construction of toilets for St. Vincent’s High School, Hatighisa, India (Jesuits of Darjeeling)
- Healthcare services to marginalized communities (Jesu Ashram, India)
- Reconciliation and peacebuilding in violent contexts CEDIAC (Centro de Derechos Indígenas AC, Mexico)
- social protection and building climate-resilient communities across 13 states in India, third phase (Lok Manch, India)
- Renovation of three buildings, purchase of office equipment, support for healthcare, childcare and other programs (Hayden Hall, India)
- Agroecology Center of Learning and Practice (Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre, Zambia)
- Alphonsus Social and Agricultural Centre (SASAC) programs
- Pan-Amazonian Apostolic Plan (Servicio Jesuita Panamazónico)
- Building Resilience in Women and young Girls in Africa (African Jesuit AIDS Network)
- Emergency support to earthquake affected communities in Aleppo (Jesuit Refugee Service Syria)
