May 18, 2022
Welcome to the Summer 2022 edition of the MSC Message!
• Read a special greeting from Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, Director of the MSC Missions Office.
• Find out more about the visit of our MSC Superior General, Fr Absalón Alvarado MSC, to the Irish Province.
• Catch up on the latest news from the mission fields, including updates from our MSC brothers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique, and our OLSH Sisters in Brazil and Papua New Guinea.
• Read more about the latest updates from our global COVID-19 relief ministry, with a report from the Pacific Islands.
• Discover the ways in which our MSC community in the Philippines is helping survivors of Typhoon Odette.
• Fr Alan Neville MSC writes from South Sudan, where he is currently ministering with the Loreto team in Rumbek.
• Read all about recent celebrations in the Venezuelan Region, where two members of the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have marked milestone steps on their missionary journeys.
Read the Summer 2022 edition of the MSC Message
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May 5, 2022
The community at the MSC Centre for the Poor, located in Butuan, in the Philippines, continues in its ongoing ministry to help survivors of Typhoon Odette, which struck in December of last year and left hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes.
As well as working towards the repair and construction of new houses for families whose homes were left badly damaged or destroyed by the typhoon, MSCs in the Philippines are also working on the provision of a rainwater filtration system for affected communities, to ensure a safe supply of water for drinking. “The Centre for the Poor Cooperative designed a water filtration machine that processes or treats rainwater for safe consumption,” reports Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor.
“The Potable Water System Programme was established as one of the most important components to consider in our developing farms,” continues Fr Richie. “After the onslaught of Super Typhoon Odette, which devastated Surigao City and caused further damage in Butuan City, people were distressed because there was no food or water. The Centre for the Poor in Butuan were able to supply potable water because of its water filtration facility and MSC-CEPAGCO (MSC Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative) was able to supply food because of its farm.”
“As we continue to reflect on the ordeal of the most vulnerable people, the Centre for the Poor has established the Potable Rainwater Filtration System Programme,” Fr Richie says. “We plan to set up water filtration centres in strategic places to ensure a clean water source for communities in need through rainwater collection.”
One water filtration unit costs 100,000 Philippine pesos – just over €1,800 – and will provide an invaluable supply of clean, safe drinking water for people who have found themselves in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. In addition, each unit provides an ongoing, renewable supply, as it takes rainwater at the source and renders it safe for consumption.
As relief efforts continue in the rebuilding of communities and society in the wake of Typhoon Odette, Fr Richie and his team persevere in their endeavours to help those most in need, in keeping with the ethos of the MSC-CEPAGCO and thus “bound by the spirit of generosity and resilience [as we work] towards a healthy, sustainable, and empowered society.”
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MINISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES
Apr 7, 2022
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines have begun work on the housing project which will help families whose homes were destroyed by Typhoon Odette, a devastating storm that struck in December 2021, killing over 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes.
This month, MSCs in the Philippines have begun distribution of housing materials to five communities across Bayagnan Island in Surigao City. The materials provided will allow for the repair and construction of homes for over 330 households, where houses have been severely damaged, often completely destroyed, by the typhoon.
Recalling the impact of Typhoon Odette, which struck on December 16th 2021, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart – Social Initiative and Collaborative Action Project said, “When it made landfall, winds of up to 210 km per hour were uprooting coconut trees, ripping down electricity poles, and hurling slabs of corrugated tin and wood through the air.” The MSC-SICAP group, working in conjunction with the MSC Centre for the Poor, are currently carrying out a strategic disaster response plan, with several recovery stages in place to aid in the restoration of communities across Surigao.
The Facebook page for the MSC Missions Office in the Philippines has shared photos and updates of the housing project as it progresses, describing the successful beginning of this stage: “The MSC Task Force Odette distributed the housing materials to the first batch of totally affected families in Bayagnan Island, Surigao City. It was a great moment for the community to show bayanihan spirit and help one another to make the activity a successful one.”
As we journey together through the Lenten season, we continue to offer our prayers and our support to our MSC brothers in the Philippines and the communities they serve there as they work to rebuild affected communities in the wake of Typhoon Odette.
Images via the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc. Facebook page.
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Mar 24, 2022
MSCs in the Philippines joined forces with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and local volunteers to offer emergency relief aid to survivors of a fire that tore through the community of St Teresa of Calcutta in Quezon City on Tuesday, March 8th.
The MSC Scholasticate Community visited the community of the St Teresa of Calcutta Chapel to help with relief aid, including food provision and the distribution of care packages, shortly after the fire took place on March 8th. The St Teresa of Calcutta Chapel is just one of the chapels of the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Mission Station in the area, which is under the pastoral care and guidance of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
More than 80 families were left homeless following the blaze, where possessions, houses, and valuables were all lost to the flames. The MSC Scholasticate Community distributed care packages containing food and essentials, including pre-loved clothes and goods for families that had been left with nothing following the fire.
The MSC Scholasticate Community shared an update on the relief aid on their Facebook page, writing, “Gratitude is due to the OMI Theologate Community, SFIC Philippines, and some other individuals for sharing their resources in helping the affected community.”
“Together, we all make present the Heart of God on Earth,” they finished.
Please keep our Sacred Heart family in Quezon City in your prayers as they help survivors of the fire to find safety and security in the wake of this disaster.
Images via the MSC Scholasticate Community – Philippines on Facebook.
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Feb 10, 2022
Established in 2018, the MSC Centre for the Poor is located in the city of Butuan in the Philippines, and focuses on harnessing the gifts of the natural world to combat poverty, unemployment, and the exploitation of the ecosystem – work in which “everyone is called to be a partner in the contribution of healing our land”.
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have a long-standing friendship with the community at the MSC Centre for the Poor, and community leader there, Fr Richie Gomez MSC, has recently been in touch with an update on the work going on in the centre, following their most recent “Be a Food Security Frontliner” campaign.
“An alternative lifestyle that is good for the well-being of all”
The goal of the community at the Centre is “to promote an alternative lifestyle that is good for the well-being of all”, with a co-operative running across the two MSC Centre for the Poor locations, one in Butuan City and one in Del Monte Agusan del Sur. Focusing on the development of a self-sufficient community, where those involved nurture the earth and reap the benefits in return, the current programme incorporates the following goals:
- The development of healthy soil and fresh organic produce, to contribute to a plentiful and nutritious diet for members of the co-operative.
- The development and use of safe, ecologically balanced technology to tie in with the concept of organic sustainable farming employed by the MSC Centre for the Poor.
- The development of a deeper consciousness of managing waste with the aim of a zero-water lifestyle in all kitchens across the co-operative.
- The development of income-generating projects and additional efforts to raise the quality of life of the rural poor.
- The continued raising of awareness of the necessity of caring for the environment in response to the ongoing climate emergency.
“From the tiniest seeds to a grown tree, from the fertilization of eggs to completely matured animals, from planting to nurturing, growing, and harvesting, all of these processes are realized because of tender love and care, whether by nature or by a responsible steward,” writes Fr Richie. “We have to stop abusing and poisoning the soil, water, air and our bodies, for us to allow the natural regeneration process of our environment.”
“Farm-to-table connections”
The MSC Centre for the Poor community are continuing work on the establishment of a fair-trade system based on an inclusive economy, whereby nobody will be left out through “farm to table connections” that bypass large commercial traders. Consumers are educated about the lives and work of the farmers that grow the produce they buy, and all of this produce is grown organically, without chemical interference.
“We have a sincere desire for change – not to make false promises but to be true to our conviction for total transformation from ‘ego-system’ to ‘eco-system’,” explains Fr Richie. “We value the collective efforts of our co-op members through the establishment of their own farms, and we bring them together at the Centre’s Trading Post Harvest Facility. Then, we become the green producers and bring our products to the green consumers.”
The MSC Centre for the Poor is conscious of upholding their responsibility to the consumer, noting that each member of the co-operative must “fulfil its obligation to produce and supply with the corresponding demands. Each member of the co-op is tasked to be part of the responsibility and must be prepared for the assigned crops or livestock productions.”
“As long as there are people who believe and trust in us and in regaining one’s relationship with the environment, this work will sustain.”
The community at the Centre for the Poor benefit greatly from a wonderful team of volunteers. “Volunteerism is one of our core values to meet our goals, as we believe that by helping others, we help ourselves.”
“As long as there are people who believe and trust in us and in regaining one’s relationship with the environment, this work will sustain,” continues Fr Richie. “We are an emerging social enterprise that allows individuals to create regenerative livelihoods that nourish the soul and take care of the planet.”
“The honing of the land to its full potential will create multiple revenue streams, while we will implement a model of an assets-based community. This is a closed-loop system that generates and replenishes the earth’s resources without creating waste and ecological harm.”
The MSC Centre for the Poor also operates a “Living Museum” of farmland in Del Monte Agusan del Sur. “Our farmland will be stewarded by the members of the co-op who are ready and willing to embark on a pathway of alternate living,” says Fr Richie. “The goal is to allow for choice around intentional community and to create the opportunity for lifelong learning for everyone.”
“Our priority is to meet the needs of each member and the land. We will create a full-featured settlement that allows all of the functions of everyday life. The community will provide a place to live, make things, enjoy leisure, and honour social connections. We will encourage individuals to find their own niche for self-expression, livelihood, and growth. Everyone will have the opportunity to co-create the change they seek.”
“A fertile community allows for the emergence of a new culture rooted in a deep connection to nature and the self, collective consciousness of ecology, and mutual respect between all living beings.”
