by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
On Saturday evening I attended a Divali/Christmas celebration organised by the Inter Religious Organisation. The feature speaker was Acting President, His Excellency Timothy Hamel-Smith. His words of wisdom to those gathered were truly inspirational. Inter alia, he applauded the IRO for prioritising parenting programmes in its plans for 2014.
He said: “Where else but T&T would there be a celebration of Christmas and Divali together – such is the genius of the role of the IRO. In our plural Society the IRO is one of the most important institutions. To whom much is given much is expected in return.
“Do not hide your light under a bushel – shine out for all of T&T. Be a transformative agent in our land. We must ask ourselves is our current situation acceptable? I believe the time has come when it is vital that we change the cultural norms of indiscipline, lawlessness and criminal conduct.
“Our job as agents of change is to plant the seed – the Lord will produce the harvest. T&T is looking to its religious bodies to be change agents to lead us out of the darkness. No one else is coming to fix T&T – you the members of the IRO must be the leaven in our society.
“No other institution reaches as far and as deep into the lives of our people. So where do we start? I believe we must focus on Family Life – the family is the foundation stone on which all great nations are built. Without such a foundation we are building on sand and we will soon come to grief.
“Throughout our mosques and temples and places of worship and in our schools we must promote a revolution in family life and values which will sustain and promote good living. If we get this right everything else will fall into place.
“So today, I challenge each of you to come up with innovative ways of touching the minds and hearts of our people in a way which will lead us back to fundamental values underpinning family life.
The time is short, the journey must begin now. Let this be the legacy of the IRO so that when future generations review the past they will know the journey towards change was started with you – right here – right now. God bless each and every one of you and may Almighty God Bless our Nation.”
Our work as transformative agents extend beyond our shores e.g. to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. This may be one of the most powerful typhoons to make landfall in recorded history – 195 mph winds with gusts reaching 235 mph.The scenes of devastation there are truly heart-wrenching.
Haiyan is the second Category Five typhoon to strike the Philippines this year. It decimated buildings and homes in six central islands. As one report stated: “Typhoon Haiyan churned through the Philippine archipelago in a straight line from east to west.”
It is estimated that 10,000 may have died in its wake. More than 600,000 are reported to have been displaced by the typhoon which, on Sunday November 10, was heading for Vietnam.
The UK Guardian reported, this is “the third major disaster to hit the Philippines in the past two months. Some 75,000 people are living in displacement centres in the southern port of Zamboanga after recent fighting, while 350,000 people are living in tents and other temporary shelters on Bohol, after an earthquake that killed 200 people, near where Haiyan made landfall early on Friday.”
Humanitarian aid is urgently needed. High on the list of needs for survivors will be food, water, shelter, clothing, and medicine. Diseases can spread by contaminated stagnant water. Organisations such as CAFOD, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the World Food Programme are mobilizing resources and collecting donations (see their websites online) to assist the relief efforts.
Joe Curry, CRS, says: “The areas that were hit are largely rural. In rural areas, anywhere from 30-40% of the population would be very poor, including farmers and fishermen, earning around US$2-3 per day. The poorest are the people who are most affected by disasters like this. They live in the most fragile houses that are susceptible to damage.”
Please pray for our brothers and sisters affected by the typhoon and for a speedy response to their needs.
