By Pascale Rizk
SAN CARLOS, Philippines – A few days ago the seventh edition of the “Asian Mission” initiative ended, which this year had the motto “Made for a mission. Made for peace”. The event brought together 50 participants, including eight young people from Japan, five from the diocese of Daejon in South Korea, five from the Philippine diocese of Nampicuan and two from San Fabian, as well as 30 young people from the “Servants Missionary Youth” group from Malasiqui. The meeting, organized by the Congregation of the Servants of the Gospel of the Divine Mercy, takes place once a year and was held from Feb 6-16 in San Carlos, in the Philippine province of Pangasinan.
“While young people in the Philippines suffer from poverty, young people in South Korea and Japan suffer from their families’ crushing expectations of success within a very competitive, rigid and demanding social system that causes a high suicide rate. The Asia Mission initiative aims to support all these young people,” says Sister Ana Palma, a Spanish missionary who has been in the Philippines with her community since 2015. “By creating this space, we want to sensitize young people to realities that are different from their own.”
“They should experience ‘human fraternity’ by being able to participate in pastoral activities with young people, children and university students. At the Pangasinan State University, young people meet with the university pastoral staff to share experiences of life in their respective societies and discuss ways to promote peace. In general, games, workshops and key meetings are held on human values such as freedom of expression, human dignity and work, depending on the age group,” explains the nun.
San Carlos is 122 kilometers from Manila and is characterized by great poverty. It is usually the fathers who provide for the families by working in agriculture; families are made up of an average of five or six people and the most common work is building bamboo houses, called “Bahay-kubo”. The daily wage is 450 pesos, which is about 9,900 pesos a month, or about 200 euros. Women who do the cleaning work receive 350 pesos a day. With this income, families cannot afford to send all their children to university, and they only choose those who have the best prospects of success.
The different needs of these young people also include the financial aspect. The parishes promote university scholarships of 1,500 pesos (about 26 euros) per month for the entire academic year. “My community sponsors 20 students with financial support of 1,750 pesos – 360 euros per year – from private donors,” adds Sister Ana, who continues: “Our work with young people aims above all to give them the confidence to change their lives. We encourage them to discover their potential, their talents and abilities. They are all very gifted, but at the same time they are crushed by the reality of poverty, which always makes them underestimate their potential.”
According to Sister Ana, young people who are unable to continue their studies at university help their fathers with construction work, and the girls act as “laundresses,” washing the clothes by hand for families who do not have washing machines. It also happens that girls enrolled in university have difficulty paying the exam fees and therefore turn to prostitution.
In addition to their work with young people, the missionaries of the Congregation of the Servants of the Gospel of Divine Mercy are involved in children’s catechism in parishes, in the distribution of the Eucharist to the elderly from door to door and in various educational, recreational and entertainment programs for young people. Every week, the missionary community meet with the youth group of the “Servants Missionary Youth” to pray. “The strength and power of prayer is very important. Filipino Catholics have a strong sense of popular piety,” emphasizes the missionary from Granada.
“I am very happy that these young people, who come from very poor families – I know, for example, a family with up to fourteen members – can study at university. Many study nursing, political science or education. It is beautiful to see how they mature through open-mindedness,” says Sister Ana, “Even if, unfortunately,” reports Sister Ana, “today many are leaving the Catholic Church to join the ‘Born Again’ sect, attracted by music and animation.” – Agenzia Fides
