 |
 |
 |
Research and Publications on Africa AJAN REPORT 2007 2007 was a significant year, with fifth anniversary celebrations of the founding of AJAN and with the establishment or strengthening of several Jesuit projects dedicated to the pandemic. Read more (PDF)
The 2007 Report is an obvious example of the work of AJAN House, communication. “It is full of Jesuit initiatives in the AIDS field, addressing the pandemic at many levels, especially local but also regional, Africa-wide and beyond: beginning, expanding, restructuring, meeting new needs. You will be left with impressions of creativity and generosity, quality service, solidly rooted in faith and spiritually motivated. You will receive testimonies of healing, life, faith and hope. So, please do not take the stories in the 2007 Report for granted. They are human, social, religious and spiritual learning in motion. They document rapid cultural change under way before your very eyes. At the risk of exaggeration: they are communication - first and finally the Word of God - taming AIDS.” Michael Czerny, S.J. - Coordinator of AJAN
Our task, to use the image from Matthew that gives the title to this report - oil for their lamps (25:4) - has been to equip people in the communities where we work with relevant skills. These range from the ability to face civic challenges in the community to practical projects in self-reliance. Since its founding by Fr. John Dove in 1964, Silveira House has been putting oil in lamps by responding to needs as they arise. In the 60s and 70s, the need was to prepare citizens for an independent Zimbabwe, so we focused on leadership training for youth, trade unionists and nationalist leaders. After independence, we responded to the need for rehabilitation and rebirth by turning to agriculture and skills training. In recent years, we have shifted our focus to HIV-AIDS, advocacy and peace building while maintaining civic education and ethical leadership as our core curriculum. The Presence of the Society of Jesus in Africa In 2003 Fr. Michael Vjecha, SJ compiled a map, depicting the Society of Jesus's presence on the continent of Africa. His data was partly from Province catalogues and partly from independent research. The compiled data focuses mainly on the involvement of Jesuits in education. The research is available on the In All Things Website. To read more click on IAT2003fall_map.pdf
“We are providing these proceedings in print form not only as an aide-memoir but as a handy reminder not of what we have done in the WSF/IFE, but what we need to do, not the good feelings gone but the consolations to come. The time is not waiting for us. As you read them a year down the memory lane, keep the experience alive. For our brothers and sisters from Africa and Madagascar, let them be a wake-up signal, in order to stand up for Spiritual and Social Transformation. Our region, says Credit Suisse, makes up 13% of the world’s 6.5 billion people and it accounts for only 2% of the global economic output. Drop in commodity prices hurts many, and political strife wounds and kills especially the poor. We look forward to the day we can say with the rest of the world that the Spiritual and Social conditions have improved significantly.”
|
REPORT OF AFRICAN JESUIT AIDS MINISTRIES 2007
Silveira House Annual Report 2007
IGNATIAN FAMILY ENCOUNTER PROCEEDINGS