Remembering the Windrush generation
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI The term ‘Windrush generation’ refers to the immigrants who went to the UK between 1948 and 1971 from Caribbean countries. When the MV Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, on June 22, 1948, 802 passengers on board came from Caribbean countries. This included about 539 Jamaicans, and […]
‘No’ to drug abuse and illicit trafficking
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI On Tuesday, June 26, the world will observe the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The World Drug Report 2017 states that 29.5 million people globally suffer from drug use disorders, including dependence. Opioids are the most harmful. Read what it says about how drug […]
Reflections on Father’s Day
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI Today is Father’s Day! Let’s take some time to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that our fathers in T&T and in the world face. I don’t think we need research to tell us how important it is for children to have both parents in their lives. […]
Ending child labour
According to the ILO, worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment. Source: www.thenewsminute.com “We must move much faster if we are to honour our commitment on ending child labour, and we need to do it together” UN. On Tuesday, June 12, we will observe World Day Against Child Labour on […]
Moving from retribution to restoration
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI “…the Church proposes a form of justice that is humanising, genuinely reconciliatory, a justice that leads the wrongdoer, through an educative path of encouraged penance, to rehabilitation and total reinsertion in the community.” (Pope Francis) A Catholic approach to restorative justice “recognizes that the dignity of the […]
Bloom where you are planted
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI As we prepare to observe Indian Arrival Day tomorrow (May 30), let us use this opportunity to thank God for the resilience of our forebears. As Desmond Tutu said, “You don’t choose your family, they are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” Sadly, many […]
Arrival and cohesion
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI “The political and social climate that prevails in the world today emphasises difference, disunity, and destruction rather than the qualities of unity and productive and constructive energy that are required to sustain human societies. These negative processes and forces have perpetuated our alienation from the basic material […]
A ministry for migrants & refugees
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI “Are we open to ‘God’s surprises’? Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which God’s newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in transient structures which have […]
Working towards an AIDS-free Caribbean
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI In today’s Gospel reading (Jn 15: 9–17) we focus on the greatest commandment that Jesus gave us: “love one another, as I have loved you“. If we are to “remain” in Christ, we must follow this Commandment. In May 2015, Pope Francis, on reflecting on this Gospel […]
The call to be holy
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty.” (Jn 15:5) There is an inextricable link between the teachings in today’s Gospel (John 15:1–8) and Pope Francis’ latest Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and Be […]
