Archive for June, 2008
Scholars rehearsing for concert in Zamboanga
traditional Filipino instruments for a concert in the jungle surrounding Zamboanga City,
Philippines, in January 2008. The concert will be featured in ZAMBOANGA, a documentary
film due out in 2009. Visit the Web site at www.zamboangathemovie.com.
Scholarship students from the Philippines formed a special bond while studying traditional Filipino instruments such as the kulintangan, the dabakan and the agong. The students rehearsed throughout the year for a CFCA concert on Jan. 30 in Zamboanga on the island of Mindanao.
The experience awakened an interest in composing and writing for scholar Xarina, 16. Xarina is featured in the Spring/Summer issue of The Scholar, a CFCA publication that highlights the accomplishments and challenges of students in the CFCA Scholarship Program.
“I am used to composing in English and Tagalog,” Xarina said. “Now I am writing in Chavacano [a Filipino dialect]. I am experimenting.”
Hours of rehearsal put a strain on Xarina’s studies, but the hard work paid off.
“They did brilliantly,” said Kansas City-based musician Barclay Martin. Martin arranged the concert music and wrote original songs combining traditional Filipino and modern music.
The day after the concert was bittersweet for the students, Martin said.
“We played music for each other as a gesture of thanks and to mark a significant life experience for all involved,” he said. “As it neared time to leave, members from all of the groups began to laugh, sing and cry out of gratitude for what we had shared.”
2 comments June 23, 2008
India mothers groups inspire Kenyans
Janet Tinsley, CFCA International programs – Africa project director, reflects on the many ways the India mothers groups have inspired sponsored mothers in Kenya.
The culture of creativity and courage that Fr. Francis (the late Father Francis Thumma), the Hyderabad team and the sponsored mothers set into motion extends far beyond the borders of India.
A spirit of cooperation and ingenuity has always been present on the African continent, but recently the CFCA community in Nairobi, Kenya, became inspired by Hyderabad’s example of the culture of creativity and courage.
Janet and CFCA-Nairobi project coordinator, Peter, in India.
The CFCA-Nairobi project coordinator, Peter Ndungo, and I immersed ourselves in the Hyderabad spirit in an inspirational visit and exchange of ideas at the Hyderabad project last November. Immediately upon Peter’s return to Kenya, the Nairobi project team began taking steps to put the sponsorship resources into the hands of the Nairobi mothers through sponsored mothers groups.
The Nairobi mothers had some setbacks as a result of post-election violence that broke out in Kenya just after the first of this year. The mothers, who primarily live in Nairobi’s sprawling slums, come from a mixture of backgrounds, and when the politically motivated violence took on an ethnic tone, it threatened to tear apart the communities they had only recently begun forming. Tapping into their own limitless creativity, the Nairobi mothers are now courageously putting their political and ethnic differences aside and are examples of peace in their communities through the sponsored mothers groups they are now re-forming.
Because of the inspiration set in motion by Fr. Francis, the Hyderabad sponsored mothers and the project team, the sponsored mothers in Nairobi have started reclaiming their own creativity and courage.
2 comments June 19, 2008
A culture of creativity and courage
Watch a video highlighting CFCA’s work in India and the beauty of the mothers groups.
Ilene Adams, CFCA International programs – Asia project director, reflects on the award given to Father Francis Thumma and the Hyderabad team, and the mothers group program established there.
The culture of creativity and courage which was established by Fr. Francis is alive in Hyderabad today. The culture can be witnessed in many different ways. It is witnessed through the proud faces of the mothers as they display the products they have produced and will sell at a profit, through the bounce in their step as they walk among 5,000 other sponsored mothers at the annual mothers conference, through the confidence in their faces as they explain that the blue vest they are wearing denotes them as a mothers group leader, and through the excitement in their voices as they introduce their child and explain that she will be graduating this year with a masters degree.
In a society where women are oppressed, these opportunities are made available only by a culture of great creativity and great courage. A culture established by Fr. Francis and embraced by Suresh, Prakash, Rosy and by each and every member of the CFCA Hyderabad team. And, while it’s this culture which allows for such opportunities, Fr. Francis and the staff in Hyderabad would be quick to point out that it is the endless work of the mothers themselves which turns these opportunities into the glorious realities that we celebrate.
Add comment June 18, 2008
Priest who empowered women in India honored with award
This week, Father Francis Thumma, along with the Hyderabad, India mothers groups and staff, were honored with CFCA’s Pilgrimage of Faith Award. The award is given annually to honor those who exemplify CFCA’s core values—answering the Gospel call to serve the poor, serving with integrity and accountability, recognizing the dignity of every person and fostering respectful relationships.
To learn more about the 2008 award, read the Web story here.
The concept of mothers groups originated in CFCA’s projects in southern India in 2001, pioneered by Father Thumma. Now more than 240 mothers groups operate in and around Hyderabad.
The mothers organize into small self-advocacy and livelihood groups that offer members solidarity and support in life’s challenges, as well as low-cost loans to start family businesses. The women approve loans and oversee repayments. They also help administer program benefits for their families — including education, nutrition and medical assistance. The benefits are made possible by support from people in the U.S. who sponsor children through CFCA.
The mission of the mothers groups goes beyond financial needs, however. Meetings provide a forum for health-care education, for development of children and families, and for spiritual orientation seminars. Separate seminars are held for Catholic and Hindu members out of respect for the faith traditions of sponsored members.
The CFCA mothers groups are transforming lives all throughout India… giving mothers the opportunity to provide for their families and lift themselves out of poverty. And the movement is spreading to other CFCA countries. More on that next week…
1 comment June 13, 2008
Latin American coordinators reflect on the future of the poor
CFCA has always been guided by its humble spirituality and vision. We have always said, “Lord, give us a spirit of always beginning.” Always thinking, always creating, and always finding ways to reach out to those in need of help and to those who need to help.
I was blessed to recently participate in a CFCA Latin American Encuentro (gathering) in Guatemala, with the Coordinators of CFCA projects in Latin America: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Brazil and Chile.
Our hope was to unite creativity, spirit, faith and hard work, to look towards the future of our sponsored families and to offer our sponsors a transparent opportunity to help one child not to have more, but to be more. During three days, we learned about many different programs functioning in CFCA Projects all across Latin America. What an amazing experience to see the extraordinary amount of talent in our CFCA staffers, offering real options of hope for the sponsored and their families.
The current economic situation of the world is making life harder – further limiting the poor as they try to reach a better future. Many of our families are suffering deep and brutal situations due to the lack of jobs, health and opportunities; they find it more difficult to survive every day. The reality is so difficult that many poor people are trying to find ways for their children to work to contribute to the family income.
The grassroots movement of CFCA is based on offering our sponsored families options for them to reach their very own dreams, starting from what they know and building from there.
CFCA creates livelihood programs… Projects in Honduras have sponsored families growing pigs, selling them and making extra income from it. Our Guatemalan families are being blessed by producing and selling products such as pants, backpacks, nutri-cereals, etc. Many others are growing chickens, goats and planting corn. In Costa Rica, families are producing cloth dolls, some mothers have beauty shops and others are marketing local homemade jelly.
These families are not only growing economically, as they market their products, but they are also becoming experts in these fields, acquiring a higher self-confidence as they are capable to provide for their families.
Just as Jesus sent the disciples to spread the good news of His kingdom, all of us, CFCA servers, were sent to promote the dignity of the poor and to offer hope by building, with the support of our sponsors and our sponsored families, options for needy people. To create an environment where they can be builders of their own future, asking them what they want to accomplish, learning from their human potential and developing programs from there.
In the hurting world we live in, we are called to open our hearts and vision and tell all those who are suffering that it is worth it to continue, it is worth it to keep fighting, it is worth it to keep on believing — just like a song in Spanish says, “I have faith that everything will change, that the love will always triumph, I have faith that the light of hope will never die….”
1 comment June 11, 2008
Bob’s report: Visit to Venezuela
Mission Awareness Trip
May 17-24, 2008
Bienvenidos
This May 2008, we are 21 CFCA pilgrims in Venezuela—18 sponsors plus Sheila Myers (Communications Department, CFCA-Kansas), Cristina and myself, Bob Hentzen. Three of our trip participants are Catholic priests. They have expressed great enthusiasm about the work and the future of CFCA.
The Venezuelan staff and sponsored families tell us how much they have been looking forward to having the sponsors here. The CFCA program in Venezuela can boast of a very loving and professional staff. They model the community they proclaim. Sponsored families are responding to this example. The CFCA communities serve as a leaven, a beacon of hope and a sign of God’s love.
CFCA roots in Venezuela
My brother Bud and I made our way by land from Colombia to Venezuela in 1983 to visit with Father Jerry Beat and Father Angel Riba. Since that time, the CFCA program in Venezuela has grown to 5536 children, 665 elderly and 22 vocation sponsorships. Almost 800 children and aging from Venezuela are on our waiting list for sponsorship.
CFCA Venezuela represented in Japan
David and Sunilde (center) receive congratulations and
“godspeed” from sponsors Kay (l) and Esther (r).
Project Coordinator Sunilde Perez, who has been with CFCA for 11 years, and sponsored child David, 13, will represent Venezuela and CFCA at an interfaith conference in Japan sponsored by the Arigatou Foundation. The conference will address poverty and ecological questions relating to children and intra-family violence.
CFCA Venezuela work groups
The Barquisimeto project has implemented nine commissions with representatives from all subprojects to oversee the delivery of benefits and services to sponsored members. These groups are born from the expressed felt needs of our sponsored families. They cover the following themes: Education, Nutrition, Health, Correspondence, Finance, Fundraising, Recreation, Sports and Culture. The commissions are a grassroots organization which includes the mothers. I am so very pleased and impressed that mothers of sponsored children are confidently giving these presentations to sponsors on the trip.
Scholars give back to community
(L to R) CFCA scholars Eliani, Joana, Adrian and Antonio
We heard a presentation by four CFCA scholars. Eliani organizes scholars. Joana helps keep the children’s files in order. She is in the third semester of nursing school. Antonio supervises the dining room for 259 sponsored in the Maria Auxiliadora school(subproject MA). “They receive a good lunch every school day and medical care,” Antonio said. “I am also supporting my mother and my sister, a special child. This is the hand of God.”
Scholar Adrian Mendoza works with the children and youth in Ciudad de los Muchachos, a foster home for girls and boys. “We want to give our youth tools to continue,” he said. Adrian grew up in Ciudad de los Muchachos (subproject M) and was sponsored through CFCA from age 7 to 17. He then became a CFCA scholar and has now graduated from college with a major in business administration. Adrian will continue his studies in psychology. He still lives and works at Ciudad de los Muchachos. He communicates very well and shows tremendous poise and rapport with the children and staff.
Outing with sponsored children
On Wednesday, we enjoyed an outing in Humucaro Alto (subproject HRA), about two hours from Barquisimeto, with children who are sponsored by members of this group. The entire project was on hand to welcome and to celebrate the visit of the sponsors. As we passed through small towns, parents, staff members and children were out on the highway awaiting our caravan and waving us on. They really do have a strong sense of belonging. How encouraging is this clear identification with CFCA.
This day was a real CFCA fiesta. The age span was from 99 years to newborn. Mothers, dads, youth, children and staff were involved in the many activities: Holy Mass with special commemoration of the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Lois and Walt Silvernale, cooking and organizing a nice hot lunch for hundreds, a theatrical production on the history of CFCA, folk dances and songs and visits to families.
May our loving God continue to bless us all in the great adventure of CFCA.
Bob Hentzen
On the road in Venezuela
1 comment June 3, 2008
