May 26, 2022
At the end of April, the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines marked their first General Assembly, where 270 members of the co-operative committed themselves to the Centre, to its ethos, and to being “Food Security Frontliners” in the ongoing struggle to feed the hungry while protecting the earth and its natural resources.
At the MSC Centre for the Poor in Butuan, the MSC community use natural resources to give struggling families the chance to build a life of self-sufficiency and dignity, while protecting and nurturing the local ecosystem. Their core values focus on sustainable farming, environmental advocacy, zero-waste management, fair trade, and promoting a simple lifestyle, with emphasis on the value of sharing and spirituality of the heart.
The MSC Centre for the Poor Agriculture Cooperative (MSC-CEPAGCO) “is bound by the spirit of generosity and resilience, working towards a healthy, sustainable, and empowered society,” according to the centre’s vision and mission. “Together, we are building communities that care for the environment and look towards a better, more holistic growth of society as stewards of God’s creation.”
With current projects including a rainwater filtration system, their “Be a Food Security Frontliner” programme, livestock and vegetable farming, a Living Museum, their Farm to Table system, a scholarship programme for local youths, and several Typhoon Odette relief projects, the community at the Centre are going from strength to strength in their mission. Their most recent developmental plan encompasses several expansion programmes, incorporating the establishment of three greenhouses, an organic farm supplies store, an eco lab, a co-op office, a classroom for students, an organic fertilizer production scheme, and improved post-harvest facilities. Their current goals include:
- Caring for the earth, as our common home.
- Continuing in the development of farming systems that use sustainable practices.
- Transforming and inspiring lives.
- Encouraging participation through community engagement.
A total of 23 local youths are currently availing of the Centre’s scholarship programme, with studies in a wide variety of subjects including Accounting, Education, Environmental Science, Psychology, Business Administration & Marketing, Tourism Management, Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Information Technology, Agriculture, Mathematics, and Nursing. In addition, the Centre’s “Farm to Table” scheme is providing local employment and encouraging small businesses in 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.
Established in 2018, our MSC community at the Centre for the Poor have since been working in harmony with nature to bring hope to vulnerable families and individuals living in areas rife with poverty and unemployment.
“As long as there are people who believe and trust us and regaining one’s relationship with the environment, this work will sustain,” reports Fr Richie Gomez, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor. “We are an emerging social enterprise that allows individuals to create regenerative livelihoods that nourish the soul and take care of the planet.”
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MINISTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES
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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Jan 20, 2022
Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the MSC Centre for the Poor, located in Butuan, updates us on the current situation in the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Odette, which struck on December 16th, 2021. In a letter to Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC, Fr Richie writes of the deep gratitude of the Filipino MSC community for the support of our mission friends in the Irish Province. “I would like to thank you for your untiring support to the Philippine Province,” he writes. “We are your extended arms, feet, mind, and heart in reaching the poor, and now with our typhoon survivors.”
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart – Social Initiative and Collaborative Action Project (MSC-SICAP) is a group of missionary volunteers “with a charismatic heart,” working as a dedicated disaster response and management team under the umbrella of the MSC Centre of the Poor and led by Fr Richie, the centre’s director.
In response to the devastating impact of Typhoon Odette, Fr Richie has gathered a group of community-based volunteers, including doctors, engineers, teachers, business people, artists, students, and many more. “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,” reports the MSC-SICAP group. This group initiated an immediate active response to provide a basic relief kit of necessities including food, water, medicine, and hygiene products, to victims from both the mainland and islands of Surigao. “The group aims to amalgamate passionate and compassionate volunteers in the region, whose hearts are dedicated and committed in the service of humanitarian movements,” writes Fr Richie.
MSC Strategic Disaster Response Plan
The MSC-SICAP group, working with the MSC Centre for the Poor, have developed a strategic disaster response plan, detailing three recovery stages:
Stage 1: Bangon-Igsoon (In the immediate aftermath of the typhoon)
This stage has focused on answering the immediate and urgent needs of survivors, with the distribution of essentials such as food, water, medical aid, and clothes. All of these necessities have been issued directly to victims of the typhoon at designated distribution points, with a target reach of 10,000 households.
Stage 1 also includes the installation of water filtration stations in Siargao Island, which is currently suffering from a dangerous cholera outbreak. These water filtration stations cost 100,000 Philippine pesos, an equivalent of approximately €1,700.
Stage 2: Bahay-Buhay (Approximately one month after the typhoon)
Stage 2 involves helping to build simple houses for families who cannot afford to repair or rebuild homes that have been destroyed by the storm. The target goal is to build 500 houses, benefitting people from the communities of Siargao, Nonoc, Bayagnan, Dinagat, Loreto, and the Islands.
Stage 3: Heal-Surigao (Taking time to heal the island)
During Stage 3, MSCs around the islands will pray with local communities for cleansing and renewal of the land. This stage will also incorporate the arts as a vehicle for healing children and the wider community, through music, dance, storytelling, and more. Through the creative process, it is hoped that children and their families will be able to better process the impact of the typhoon and look with renewed hope towards the future.
“Faith based, love driven.”
The motto for the response plan is “Faith based, love driven”, as MSCs throughout affected areas work together with local communities to rebuild a ravaged land. The MSC-SICAP group are working to “react, respond, and rescue” the victims of natural disasters such as Typhoon Odette, providing fundamental needs, from the physical to the spiritual, and bringing the light of hope into the hearts of survivors.
As they continue in the implementation of their response plan, the MSC-SICAP group write of the impact of Typhoon Odette, and the power of faith and unity in the hope of renewal:
“‘Expect the unexpected’ – a classic line that could somehow happen to anybody at any moment in any place, just like the typhoon, Odette, that wrecked Surigao. It was once a haven of nature’s bounty, with exciting hullabaloo coming from different nationalities. Now, nothing but silence! December 16th 2021 was an unforgettable traumatic moment for every Surigaonon and tourists in the area, along with other areas where the typhoon made landfall. It was a nightmare…
Strong winds of 165 km/h near the centre, with gusts of up to 205 km/h and central pressure of 950 hPa, swept away houses, buildings, trees, and street posts, leaving the entire place destroyed. The roaring storm sounded horrid, bouncing back into each corner, frightening the children, the elders, and the weak, a miserable experience of anxiety and fear. The unthinkable orchestration of chaos, fear, hunger, and hopelessness has savaged and saddened our Surigaonon brethren.
Emotionally, the circumstances have been intensified because it was near Christmas season when the typhoon hit – supposedly a season of merry making and thanksgiving, to celebrate the most awaited Simbang Gabi, but this year, it turned out differently. Many have suffered and been broken, dreams have been shattered, smiles have been torn, and hearts have been wounded. That echoing feeling of devastation resonates in the whole island of Mindanao and to the heart of the world.
They need our HELP! They need our PRAYERS! They need US!
We, the Missionary of the Sacred Heart- Social Initiative and Collaborative Action Project (MSC-SICAP) volunteers, have initiated a massive calamity response from the very start, beginning with providing basic needs to over 5,000 families in several parts of Surigao. The operation runs under our own strategic organising and management system to accelerate the distribution of relief goods with the help of our partners. Hundreds of volunteers convene 24/7 at the district house of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Butuan City, and together we are working hand-in-hand to address the urgent necessities continuously.
Fr Richie Gomez is the captain of the project and keeps our vessel afloat amidst exhaustion and sleepless nights, for the sake of the wailing sacred land of Surigao that seeks our comfort. We will stand right beside them until they will rise back.
For us, this is an awakening journey and a profound reminder of what our hearts are made of – compassion and kindness. Together, we will rebuild the hopes and dreams of our fellow Surigaonons’ brothers and sisters, and with the provisions of God’s divine grace we shall rejoice back the victory of our loving and united place, Caraga.”
