Ecuador: Sumak Kawsay as a Way of Life
The indigenous concept of ‘good living’ can be adapted to Western culture. Understanding the indigenous worldview involves questioning how we are traditionally taught to face life. For example, knowing how to distinguish between ‘living better’, the basis of Western development, and ‘good living’, or sumak kawsay in Kichwa. ‘Living better’ is a Western model that […]
Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Smiling Faces of People
For more than twenty years now, Brother Richard Hardi, a medical ophthalmologist, has been travelling through the forest of the Congo to reach the most distant villages and restore sight to people otherwise condemned to a life of darkness. His old four-wheel drive vehicle moves slowly along the track deep in the rain forest. Three […]
South Sudan: The Spear Master
Guricdit Marialjual lives at the Gel river bank on a small plot of land devoted to raising livestock, where there are a dozen tukules (traditional circular huts) made from mud with thatched roofs and high trees. He is probably the oldest person in the village, hence the suffix “dit” (which means “elder” in the Dinka […]
Philippines: Empowering Poor People
She has been arrested and detained, harassed and sued; but this Benedictine nun continues her anti-mining activism and promotion of sustainable agriculture in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao. Sister Stella Matutina of the Order of St. Benedict has received a fair share of harassment because of her missionary work across the southern Philippines. In 2009, she […]
Bangladesh: Tokai Songho for Street Children
The streets are always crowded. Boys and girls run and play. There is a continuous zig-zag of bicycles, cars, and wheelbarrows. But there are also the harrowing faces of the marginalised, fearful and suspicious street children. If the police arrest them, they are beaten; but mostly people just avoid them. They live in a world […]
Brazil: The Living Sign of Mercy
The visits to prisoners are one of the works of mercy, the theme of the Jubilee Year. Monsignor Carlos Varzelletti, Bishop of Castanhal in the State of Para, Brazil, describes his experience of thirteen prisons in his diocese. Our Church of Castanhal has recently celebrated its tenth birthday. A lot of good work has been […]
Myanmar: Thanaka, the Secret of Beauty
Burmese women’s and children’s use of thanaka is a unique custom. We uncover this tradition’s history and the reasons it continues to thrive today. Burmese women feel great pride when they are asked to explain the golden paste covering their faces. The paste is a traditional skin conditioner that has been used in Burmese society for […]
Mexico: “When the Moon Taught Us to Weave”
“In the beginning of the world the moon climbed into a tree. And there it began to weave and embroider” – so runs a Mexican legend. Hands move rapidly across the loom, repeating gestures that have been performed every day from time immemorial. Doña Yolanda smiles; she learned the art of weaving from her mother, who […]
Algeria: The Cathedral in the Desert
The Church of Sahara, a small Christian community in the immensity of the Algerian desert, where faith is nourished by simplicity and dialogue with Islam. We spoke with Monsignor Claude Rault, Bishop of Laghouat – Ghardaïa. He often depicts his small church, located in the immensity of the Sahara desert, as a small caravan. Monsignor Claude […]
Sudan: A Glass of Water for the Kafir
Just asking for a glass of water in a Darfur refugee camp became a source of fruitful dialogue between a Catholic and a Muslim. A Comboni Missionary who has been living in Darfur for twenty years tells us about his experience. As has been happening every month for many years, this Friday the kids have […]