AwarenessAwarenessIssue

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FREE The twice-yearly magazine of SURVIVE-MIVA (Missionary Vehicle Association Reg. Charity No. 268745)

Getting others back on the road to self-help

St Joseph’s Rural Health Centre, Kalulushi, Diocese of Ngong, Copperbelt Province, KenyaRun by the Sisters of St John the Baptist, this Health Centre is located in a rural area with a population of nearly 13 thousand people, many former copper mine workers who lost their employment when the industry was privatised. The Sisters have set up a home-based care programme, and use a vehicle obtained by a SURVIVE-MIVA grant to cater for the needs of those most affected by the AIDS pandemic,

to provide direct assistance in the form of clothing and nutritious food, as well as to sensitise the local communities about the issues surrounding HIV. Sr Martha Banda, writing in January of this year, says ‘The people not only have to be made aware of the situation, but they also have to be educated to become responsible by lending a helping hand.’ Because of the effects of AIDS/HIV, poverty is increasing: ‘The healthy are overburdened by caring for sick family members, land remains under-utilised, and the fall in exports means we do not have the means to pay for urgently needed imports and retrovirals. There are many orphans

and children living in child-headed households - those where the elder sibling, who is often still a young child, is responsible for the younger brothers and sisters.’ The Sisters’ work builds on the experience of other home-based care outreach programmes, which have been successful in other parts of the country, and also recognises the importance of voluntary testing and counselling as a means to educate and gain a true picture of the extent of the problem. ‘It is the responsibility of each community to address the problem and take the initiative to bring about change.’ says Sr Martha, ‘the problem is not going away by itself.’

A helping hand

READ ON……

…to see how your support is providing practical, everyday mobility to our partners overseas, and how your contributions bring hope to so many…

Vehicle special edition

Ju

ly - December 2006

Patron: Most Rev. Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of LiverpoolChairman of Trustees: Paul RobbinsHon. Finance Officer: Patrick McDonnellAppeals Coordinator: Alma WainwrightAppeals Administration Officer: Lynn BlackmoreAssistant Director (Development): Theresa Codd Director: Simon ForanClerical/Finance Officer: Eve Suffield

SURVIVE-MIVA (Missionary Vehicle Association) is a Catholic Lay Association (reg. Charity No. 268745) founded in 1974. We exist to provide funding for essential transport for missionaries and others working in the developing world.We have 115 lay Speakers based all over England, Wales and Scotland who represent the Association via lectern appeals. We are grateful to all the Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland for their support in our endeavours. For more information on our work and a booklet with details of all grants made in 2005, contact us at :

SURVIVE-MIVA5 Park Vale Road, Aintree, Liverpool, L9 2DG.Tel: 0151 523 3878Fax: 0151 523 3841E-mail: info@survive-miva.orgvisit us at: www.survive-miva.org

All images in this edition provided by those you have made mobile.

Editorial

A landmark in our historyWelcome, readers, to the latest update on our activities. Since the last issue of this magazine was produced, we are proud to inform you that we have funded our 3000th mode of transport since the early pioneers began the Association in 1974 - read all about it in the centre pages!When preparing each issue we try our best to incorporate the suggestions we receive from you our supporters - though there isn’t always room. Here, perhaps it is appropriate, as some readers have suggested, to have an overall look at 2005, as we now have all the relevant information to hand, and audited.

In all, a total of one hundred and seventeen different modes of transport were provided thanks to donations received in the course of the year. This total was comprised of the following mix : 23 Ambulance or community health outreach vehicles, 42 motorbikes, 50 bicycles, and 2 boats with outboard motors - not a bad mix, I hope you agree. A total of 67 grants were made to Diocesan accounts overseas, for in-country purchase of the above vehicles in the following nine countries: India, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda, Peru, Argentina, Republic of South Africa, and Indonesia. Total funds transferred amounted to some £449,990. This amount, however, does not allow for exchange rate fluctuations which occurred during the year, nor bank charges levied for making the transfers. Audited figures are, of course, published in our Trustees’ Annual Report, available on request. Not a single transfer, however, would have been possible without your support - in these few pages we can only show part of what you make happen!

Road Running raises hundreds for SURVIVE-MIVASupporters Andrew King and Gianni Fanton, parishioners of SS. Peter and Paul, Combe Down, Bath recently took part in the 2006 Bath Half Marathon. It was their first and, at twenty-one consecutive kilometres, a distance way beyond anything either of them had ever run.

Both Andrew and Gianni chose SURVIVE-MIVA as the charity to benefit from any sponsorship they could raise, and hoped for the best. Marathon beginners’ nerves must have been quickly dispensed with, however, as

Getting others back on the road to self-help

it proved to be a day to remember for them both - they not only completed the run in under 2 hours (a personal target), but in their loneliness of the long-distance runner, raised the fantastic total of £900 for SURVIVE-MIVA’s work.

After the race, Andrew panted:-

“I can thoroughly recommend doing a half marathon to anyone even slightly tempted to give it a try. The combination of the sense of personal achievement, that special bond arising from combined effort with training companions, the satisfaction of raising money for such a very good cause, and the excitement of race day itself would be hard to beat. Will I do it again? ……… ask me in a few weeks when my legs have stopped aching and I can walk downstairs without having to rely heavily on the banister rail!”Maybe you too would like to follow in the footsteps of Andrew and Gianni? Ironically, perhaps, many of the greatest middle and long distance runners in history have come from Africa, and began their careers running miles to and from school each morning, precisely due to lack of available transport - any takers?

We hope you enjoy this special edition; if you have any comments or suggestions, do please contact us.

Many thanks, and God Bless.Simon Patrick Foran, Director

News from OverseasEach issue we do our best to keep you up-to-date with the progress being made by those you have supported. There are no easy or quick solutions to the problems our beneficiaries face each day, but we know that being mobile does enable them to tackle jobs they would otherwise have great difficulties doing. Here is an update of just some of the work being done:

PERUOur Lord of Tintay Parish, Diocese of Abancay, PeruThere are days when Parish Priest Fr Francisco Merino has his ups and downs – up to 4000 metres above sea level, then back down to ‘just’ 2000 metres – his parish is located high in the Andes. Even at his lowest point, he is still much higher than the peaks of Ben Nevis (1344m), Snowdon (1085m), and Scafell Pike (977m).

The Diocese of Abancay is one of the poorest in the land, and established readers may remember that for years its inhabitants suffered from the effects of the terrorism of Shining Path’s brainwashed, murderous thugs. Many were forced to leave the area for their own safety, though not all could. ‘Illiteracy abounds here,’ says Fr Francisco, ‘and the majority of my people are (minority) Quechua as opposed to Spanish speakers.’

There are an estimated 54 languages spoken in Peru, though precise classification is something of a linguist’s nightmare and hot potato, as many indigenous languages have never been written down, and it is unclear to what extent some of them are variations of a single language or form a separate

language in themselves.

For a long time, Fr Francisco walked between the communities he could reach, but his work has become much more effective thanks to a motorcycle grant of £2,000, made in August last year. ‘Our objectives are to reach all the people, and spread the Good News, and my duties also include baptisms, celebrating the Eucharist, marriages, deaths and confirmations. I work with 30 catechists who have been trained, but the longer term aim is to have a catechist or lay minister in each of the forty communities that make up the parish- all Quechua speakers.’ Fr adds that in Tintay parish, ‘acá no llega ni el gobierno ni la ayuda social.’ (neither the government nor any social help ever reaches us here).

It is with quiet pride that we present this report on the work of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, who contacted us from Orissa late last year, and were the beneficiaries of a £6,700 vehicle grant, thus meaning that our Association had reached a numerical landmark - the provision of our 3000th mode of transport.

Gopalpur is a small village in Orissa State, on the east coast of India. The locals are mainly fisher folk, considered ‘low’ caste, and literacy rates are lower than 10% for men, and less than 5% for women. Sr Regina Chinnappa FMM, informs us: ‘Until a few years ago, none of the girl children went to school; their parents, illiterate themselves, did not give this high priority. Also, living from hand to mouth, they engaged the children in collecting firewood, cooking, and babysitting, and local contractors had them labouring in cashew nut harvests. Child marriages from an early age prevented them from going to school, as did early motherhood.’

In economic terms, the local Dalit people live on a meagre income, and daily wages are paid at a low rate. ‘80% of the wealth here is in the hands of rich middlemen who exploit the fishing people,’ Sr Regina adds, ‘and as the poor are unorganised, they are exploited and have no real buying capacity.’ Since 1998, the Sisters have been living and working alongside the inhabitants of 23 coastal villages, many affected by the Tsunami, if not directly, then indirectly with the effect on the fishing industry. Their apostolate prioritises much work on literacy, savings schemes, and children’s rights groups, ‘panchayats’, or self-governing youth groups. Their intervention has led to the setting up of fifty-five women’s self-help groups, or ‘Mahila Mandals’

with some 950 members across the 23 villages. The work done so far has a wide range, and includes health camps and hygiene awareness and training in

record keeping so that each mandal becomes self-sufficient and self-regulating. With mobility of their own, Sr Chinnappa enthuses, ‘we are able to plan ahead. We have successfully intervened in some villages which were within reach, and seeing the benefits, 12 new villages from the interior we could not reach - representing 2,500 women - have also now approached us. We plan to implement new outreach work with them too, in a time frame of 4-5 years, while continuing the programme in the existing villages.’

Over a five-year workplan, the Sisters’ aim is to overcome the immediate issues of malnutrition, sickness, child labour and the repugnant crime of female infanticide: ‘Our programme is realistic and specific, as we know from our experience and involvement as an Order in other parts of the country. She adds: ‘We are confident that the people will attain measurable and tangible results over this period. In five years, we will hand over to the self-help groups, safe in

Getting others back on the road to self-help

Vehicle special edition

INDIA - Queen of Peace Mission (Shanti Rani Bhavan), Diocese of Berhampur, Orissa

the knowledge that they will be able to manage their own programmes. This is something we always knew, but could not put into practice because we had no regular access to the villages or the elders, with whom we coordinate our work.’

Sister Regina’s words reflect everything we as an Association believe we should be supporting in our own ‘niche market’ area of international charitable relations. We plough a lonely furrow; we know we are not among the ‘big players’ like Oxfam or Save the Children, but their developmental work is different to ours. We limit ourselves to funding a piece of kit, something highly practical which is in use everyday; we don’t pretend to have the answers, we do not get involved in the internal running of others’ work, we have no staff overseas, nor do we engage in project monitoring and evaluation exercises like other highly specialised agencies. What we do know is that we have the infrastructure of the Universal Church to guide us. We know our beneficiaries, once our part is played, will get on with their own work themselves. In so many cases, it is only with the provision of such a fundamental element of successful outreach work – some form of transport – that the good work done by such resilient people can actually be carried out.

The FMM’s work contains distinct elements of sustainability, it is planned in collaboration and consultation with local communities in response to their needs and priorities, not what outsiders may perceive them to be; it can (and has been) replicated elsewhere; it wants to expand and reach others, and can now do so thanks in part to our contribution.

Above all, it tackles deep-rooted inequalities, and is Faith-inspired.For these very reasons, it is right and fitting that we should give thanks and praise for this, the funding of our 3000th form of transport. Without you, we could never have reached this landmark. We hope you consider us worthy of your continued support.

“Lord God, our hearts are full of thanksgiving for the blessings you bestow upon us. May your Holy Spirit continue to guide us on our way.”

OCEANIAFakaofo Atoll, Tokelau - some facts and figures.

The three Tokelau coral atolls, Atafu, Fakaofo and Nukunonu lie 500 km north of Samoa in the central South Pacific Ocean. The atolls are only a metre or so above sea level and each encloses a large lagoon.

The total population of Tokelau is approximately 1,500, with roughly 500 people living on each atoll. The people are Polynesian with their own language and culture, and as a result the Church regards Tokelau as a separate entity equivalent to a diocese. Tokelau’s small size, isolation, and lack of resources greatly restrain economic development and confine agriculture to a subsistence level. The principal sources of revenue come from sales of coconut kernel, postage stamps, souvenir coins, and handicrafts. The people rely heavily on aid from New Zealand.

There are no cars on Tokelau, nor communication by air, so the usual mode of transport is an aluminium dinghy with outboard motor. Dinghies cannot be used between the atolls because they are separated by too great a distance (about 60 miles) – dinghy use is confined to lagoons and the ocean surrounding the respective atoll.

Monsignor Patrick O’Connor is the Ecclesiastical Superior of Tokelau and he is based on Nukunonu where there is also a married Deacon and a Catechist who consolidate his pastoral work. Monsignor O’Connor wrote to SURVIVE-MIVA explaining that there was an urgent need for a dinghy and outboard motor for the Catechist based on Fakaofo so that he could carry out his pastoral duties more effectively. Fortunately, the Association was able to assist with this request, and, in time, the dinghy and motor arrived safely to Fakaofo. Monsignor O’Connor later wrote with an update: ‘Now the boat and outboard motor are in use in Fakaofo and I have made several short journeys on the boat from the cemetery islet, where I usually sleep, to the village for Masses and visitation and on occasion in the opposite direction across the lagoon to the hospital clinic and the school. Please pass on my heartfelt thanks to all involved’.

INDIASt Ignatius Parish, Darsi, Diocese of Nellore, Andhra Pradesh

We return now to India, moving due South from Orissa to Andhra Pradesh. Darsi is a small rural town 270 kilometres north and inland from the Diocesan headquarters in Nellore itself, with no ‘proper’ roads, although PP Fr Arul Elango has seventy villages in his pastoral care. ‘This area was so abandoned that the Church, not the government, began a Rural Dispensary here in 1991. Since then, cases of HIV have spread rapidly - some figures indicate that there are up to 4 million people living with AIDS/HIV in India as a whole - second only to South Africa. People here have little if any understanding of the disease and

are not aware of the pandemic. We care for 343 patients each day, and the number is growing.’ Thanks to a £6,700 grant, the parish team are now mobile. Health education awareness in the villages is a priority, and the team of lay doctors, counsellors and care workers have initiated a training programme for field workers in each village. ‘We have 32 AIDS orphans, 12 of whom are HIV+ themselves, but have no-one left to look after them. For poor Dalit women, often infected by their husbands who return having migrated to find work, healthcare in general is an area which they miss out on, as access is confined to men and advantaged women. Low dietary intake, combined with excessive physical labour in the fields, frequent births, constant breast feeding, anaemia and malnutrition have all drained the women of basic health status.’

Though the challenges are great, the team can begin to make inroads with their vehicle, and where illiteracy is so high, short sketches or mini-plays, often on central Gospel themes, are used to get the message across, and to encourage villagers to be tested for HIV. ‘The children are actively involved in the programmes to promote awareness. Kindly pray for us,’ asks Fr Elango, ‘ and do visit us if you can.’

Marching to raise awareness on World Aids Day

Getting others back on the road to self-help

TanzaniaMkumbi Parish, Diocese of Mbinga

Fr Manfred Mahundi’ s Parish is one of the 26 that make up the Diocesze, and he has 12 outstations to cover, with approximately 20,000 parishioners to care for. He has requested the most suitable vehicle for his terrain and responsibilities, a Honda XL 185 dirt bike. A grant of just £3,800 would be sufficient for him to give his people regular access to the Sacraments.

NigeriaCatholic Action Committee on HIV/AIDS, Diocese of Ikot Ekpene

Located in Akwa Ibom State, Ikot Ekpene Diocese has 41 parishes, and the Diocesan team require a £19,000 grant to equip them with a Hilux 4wd in order to be able to visit all six Deaneries, in order to make home-based care visits, carry our VCCT (Voluntary Confidential Counselling and Testing), and reduce infection rates through educational awareness campaigns.

Papua New Guinea St Martin de Porres Parish, Diocese of Wabag

Fr John McCarthy, a Divine Word Missionary originally from Co. Cork, has contacted us, also requesting a four-wheel drive. Based in the Highlands, ‘It is frustrating not to be able to care for them properly,’ he says of his Parishioners, ‘SURVIVE-MIVA is my only chance of getting the funding I need to serve these people, largely forgotten by the world. Please help me to help them.’

BrazilSt John the Baptist Parish, Diocese of Miracema, Tocantins State

Brazil’s newest State, created 39 years ago, and located in the lower Amazon, at the heart of Brazil. The Sisters of St Louis are based in a shanty town/settlement, where they are in need of a jeep to visit the sprawling barrios. They are engaged in evangelisation among the youth, surrounded by violence and drug-related crime, are training community health workers, and have a mother-and-child nutrition programme based around locally available medicinal plants.

A few from the queueWe receive on average some 460 requests for some form of mobility every year. We do not have the funds to meet the needs of all those who match our basic criteria of urgency, impact and sustainability. This means there is always a queue of applicants hoping and praying we can increase our funds. Our aim is to provide suitable means for them to carry out their important work, and what follows is a ‘cross-section’ of different projects urgently in need of a vehicle. Please note that all donations are paid into a central fund, to be distributed by the Allocations Committee, who between them have nearly fifty years of service on overseas mission. The administrative costs involved in having a separate audit trail for each and every donation made would make our work impossible; this means that we cannot say in advance where your particular donation will be distributed – but what we can say is that together we are much, much greater than the sum of our parts!

Issue 40 Designed and printed by County commercial www.ccstat.co.uk This newsletter uses paper from managed, sustainable forests, where planting of new trees exceeds the trees harvested.

A large print version of this magazine is available on request.

End of the Road?We hope you found this issue of ‘Awareness’ informative, and have enjoyed reading about those your donations help. We also hope that we have managed to illustrate just how important mobility is for those who share their lives with the poor.

We are the only UK-based Catholic charity which funds exclusively for all different modes of transport. Making a donation will help ensure this is not the end of the road for the aspirations of so many people.

CAN YOU HELP?There are various ways in which you can support us:-

Make a donation – and don’t forget to ‘Gift Aid’ it!

Organise a fundraising event in aid of SURVIVE-MIVA.

Leave a legacy to the Association in your will.

Represent us as a SURVIVE-MIVA Speaker making lectern appeals on our behalf.

Pray for the work of the Association and our beneficiaries. Rest assured that they pray for you!

SURVIVE-MIVA5 Park Vale Road Aintree Liverpool L9 2DG

Tel: 0151 523 3878

Fax: 0151 523 3841

E-mail: info@survive-miva.org

Visit us at: www.survive-miva.org

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