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Help Stop Human Trafficking in Hotels January 10th, 2011
Trafficking of people – especially women and children – is a huge problem around the world, including the Unites States. A campaign is underway with hotels to raise awareness and stimulate action on this issue.
While the Oblates have taken action as shareholders with hotels and other parts of the travel industry, it is now possible for individuals to take action.
Please consider using this letter which you can copy and take to any hotel where you stay. It expresses concern about human trafficking, especially that of children for sex and asks that the hotel be aware and active on this issue. Please note that there is a space at the bottom of the letter for you to fill in your contact information so the Hotel Manager can send a response.
Download Sample Letter to Hotel
Thank you for taking action on this important issue!
Community Organizing Booklets Available January 7th, 2011
Engaged in community organizing? Looking for some good resources? Interested in learning more? Check out a new series of small booklets on community organizing from ACTA Publishing in Chicago.
Titles include:
Reflecting with Scripture on Community Organizing; author Jeff Krehbiel explores four key passages from the Bible and how they might inform community organizing. There are directions in the back of the book for using the reflections for group discussion.
Rebuilding Our Institutions; by author Ernie Cortes. This booklet contains his analysis of the need for mediating institutions if democracy is to flourish.
Action Creates Public Life by Ed Chambers, argues that it is by taking action that we define who we are as adults. Chambers’ previous booklets, The Power of Relational Action and The Body Trumps the Brain are also available.
Effective Organizing for Congregational Renewal by Mike Gecan offers advice and case studies on how to use the tools of community organizing inside congregations of all faiths and denominations.
ACTA Publishing is a lay-owned religious-oriented press which publishes “a wide variety of materials for those attempting to live out the Christian faith in their daily lives, on their jobs, with their families, and in their communities.” The new booklets focus on CO especially as practiced by the Industrial Areas Foundation.
Booklets retail for $5.95 each, with discounts available for multiple copies.
The Press also offers other books of interest to people active in the life of their communities. Order the booklets and learn more at www.actapublications.com. Go to the Community Organizing part of the site to find the list of booklets listed above. If you need further assistance, please contact the OMI JPIC Office by calling or emailing Mary O’Herron or Christina Herman.
January 11, 2011 – Human Trafficking Awareness Day January 5th, 2011
In honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Day, here are some websites to check out:
- Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center
- Stop Trafficking Newsletter
- End Child Prostitution and Trafficking
Google The Dark Side of Chocolate to find several websites that show how children in Africa suffer in the production of the chocolate we enjoy so much.
Solidarity with the People of Southern Sudan January 5th, 2011
Prayer campaign promotes peace before Southern Sudan independence vote; photo by Paul Jeffrey, CNS
On 9 January 2011, the people of Southern Sudan will vote in a crucial referendum whether they will unify with or secede from Northern Sudan. The vote will likely give a birth to a new country; however what happens in the wake of the referendum is less certain. The people of Southern Sudan have endured almost five decades of war and displacement. Southern Sudan is the least-developed part of the country, but contains important natural resource wealth, particularly oil.
The Catholic Task Force on Africa, of which the Oblate JPIC Office is a member, is closely monitoring the situation. CTA has in the past hosted briefings with Catholic Bishops from Sudan and religious workers from different congregations working in the southern Sudan through Solidarity with Southern Sudan which is sponsored by the members of the Union of Major Superiors (USG) and International Conference of Superior Generals (UISG) in Rome. The Missionary Oblates is a member of these international religious groups and is supportive of the missionary work done by the Solidarity with Southern Sudan initiative.
The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Office of International Justice and Peace in conjunction with Catholic Relief Service issued a statement on 28 December 2010, “Peace in Sudan: Your Help Needed as Vote Nears” which encourages U.S. Catholics to pray and advocate for their brothers and sisters in Sudan. The Bishops are urging schools, schools, religious communities to offer special prayers for people in Sudan, especially on January 9th and in the weeks following the referendum vote.
More information and action suggestions can be found at Catholic Relief Services – Peace in Sudan
Missionary Oblates responding to the needs of the homeless in Chula Vista December 31st, 2010
Fr Ricardo Lopez OMI shares his experience of working with the homeless and migrants in Chula Vista, California in this recent video.
