| International News

Some 40 women from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka visited five social service centers on April 17 to gain "first-hand experience" of living conditions of poor women and children.

The exposure program was part of a consultation organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences' Office of Laity and Family (FABC-OLF). “Responding to the Challenges to Women and Family in the 21st Century” was the theme of the April 16-21 consultation.

Separate groups of delegates visited centers for children, destitute women, drug addicts and those affected by HIV/AIDS.

What the groups saw and heard appalled them. In their reports, they cited broken families, domestic violence, family conflicts, gender discrimination and poverty, culminating in misery.

Their reports urged the church and its agencies to create more awareness among Catholics about injustice and misery that women and children face. They also want the church to allot more time, resources and personnel to help them.

Sister Ruby Joseph led a group to a center where the Sisters of the Destitute care for 35 abandoned women. The Indian Jesus and Mary nun told UCA News she "felt like crying aloud" when she saw the "pathetic condition" of the physically and mentally challenged women. Her group wants the Church to create a system to attend to such people's needs. They also want Christians to sensitize society about suffering people.

Another group of six visited a vocational-training center where the Protestant Church of North India trains illiterate women and dropout teenage girls in tailoring and other skills.

Sujata Rai from Nepal, who was in that group, noticed most people there were Muslim migrants from Bangladesh who have no proper documents to claim government benefits in India. Christians can help these women by better networking and maximum utilization of their institutions, she told UCA News. People there experienced suppression, poverty and cultural alienation, the group reported.

Nazareth Sister Cecilia Simick, another Nepal delegate, was in the group that visited Michael's Home, which cares for victims of substance abuse and the HIV/AIDS-afflicted. A Catholic group manages the 35-bed house, which is partially funded by Catholic Relief Services, the official international social-service agency of the U.S. Catholic community.

Sister Simick told UCA News she found a person from her country who "was happy" to meet her at the center. Her group also visited another center the Catholic group manages for 24 women and seven children.

Another group spent five hours at a juvenile home named Prayas (challenge) Juvenile Aid Centre. The visit inspired some in the group to work against trafficking of women and children.

"I will start a network to raise awareness on trafficking in our diocese," said Sister Prudentia Kullu from Orissa, a state in eastern India. Her group spent time with 50 girls aged 6-18. They learned traffickers trap girls through poverty, illiteracy and lack of social awareness.

Nikunj Francis from Jamshedpur said Christian organizations "are not doing enough for these children." The church should use its institutions as "alternative schools and tuition centers," she told UCA News.

One group visited a slum area just outside the capital where two people allegedly sexually abused and then killed 30 poor children.

Rita Costa from Bangladesh said the team could sense the insecurity and fear families experience even six months after the crime. She wants more church initiatives to make families feel secure in such places.

FABC-OLF chairperson Archbishop Maria Calist Soosa Pakiam of Trivandrum, in southern India, who was also in the group, said starting charitable work among such people is difficult because "we may not get the response we expect" from them. "But that should not stop us from working for the poor," he added.