What makes us want to go beyond the places that we know? Explorers, conquerors, pilgrims and tourists are united in one thing - the travel bug.
One reason would be the transformative nature of travel; which is a way of saying that travel changes stuff. It changes the traveller firstly, (or rather it has the potential too). It can broaden perspectives, encourage new relationships and inspire people to envision other ways of doing things.
As influential English writer G.K.Chesterton noted: ‘The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.” The traveller often returns changed and looking to change.
However the change doesn’t stop there. The communities visited can often undergo massive changes if enough people visit. Travel can stimulate the growth of whole new industries, affect eco-systems and alter existing cultural dynamics.
Such changes can be positive but all too often they are exploitative. New markets crush traditional economies, an eco-system starts to collapse under the weight of visitors and the incoming revenue benefits a select minority.
It is because travel can either be empowering or oppressive (if not a complex intertwinement of both) that Caritas has come up with an Ethical Pilgrim’s Guide.
While this has been written with the young people coming to World Youth Day in mind, it can equally be used by all travellers who want to travel in a way that is ecologically and culturally sensitive.
Not only that, the guide is filled with tips on how to bring the changes you make on the journey back into your everyday life, as what the world really needs is Ethical People, not just Ethical Pilgrims.
Monday, 11 February 2008
Friday, 11 January 2008
Resolutions for a new world
East Timorese school children supported by a Caritas Australia program enjoy a nutritious meal.New Years resolutions can be a bit like long weekends. They’re great while they last, but their life expectancy can be around three days.
This means that for three days Australians are eating less, exercising more, stubbing their smokes, learning French, cycling to work and spending more time with the kids.
While it’s easy to be cynical about New Years resolutions, I think there is enormous merit in reviewing one’s life and making a commitment to change. Remember Socrates’ curt surmise that the unexamined life is not worth living. A touch harsh perhaps, but it is important to take stock. And we certainly don’t have to wait to the end of the year to do that.
The resolutions we make say a lot about who we are, our values and what we think is worth aspiring to. A country where the seemingly most popular resolution is to lose weight says something about Australia today.
This year (apart from the usual resolution of keeping to my resolutions) I want to re-evaluate my lifestyle. In a recent address the Pope called for people in wealthier countries to adopt a soberer lifestyle. He’s got a point, and it’s not one about booze.
Rather what he is getting at is that people need to live lives that are friendly to environment and to the people of the world. This is about slipping out of the fast lane, with its emphasis on consumerism and consumption, and freeing up some cash to give to people who need it. With people starving in the world, a good resolution might be to support development agencies like Caritas to help people put on weight.
Such resolutions, orientated in gratitude for the good things in life and mindful of what others don’t have, are always worth making and sticking to. Perhaps this year we can all give a little more to those with little and make our usual ‘long weekend’ last a year?
This means that for three days Australians are eating less, exercising more, stubbing their smokes, learning French, cycling to work and spending more time with the kids.
While it’s easy to be cynical about New Years resolutions, I think there is enormous merit in reviewing one’s life and making a commitment to change. Remember Socrates’ curt surmise that the unexamined life is not worth living. A touch harsh perhaps, but it is important to take stock. And we certainly don’t have to wait to the end of the year to do that.
The resolutions we make say a lot about who we are, our values and what we think is worth aspiring to. A country where the seemingly most popular resolution is to lose weight says something about Australia today.
This year (apart from the usual resolution of keeping to my resolutions) I want to re-evaluate my lifestyle. In a recent address the Pope called for people in wealthier countries to adopt a soberer lifestyle. He’s got a point, and it’s not one about booze.
Rather what he is getting at is that people need to live lives that are friendly to environment and to the people of the world. This is about slipping out of the fast lane, with its emphasis on consumerism and consumption, and freeing up some cash to give to people who need it. With people starving in the world, a good resolution might be to support development agencies like Caritas to help people put on weight.
Such resolutions, orientated in gratitude for the good things in life and mindful of what others don’t have, are always worth making and sticking to. Perhaps this year we can all give a little more to those with little and make our usual ‘long weekend’ last a year?
Friday, 30 November 2007
World AIDS Day - taking action
Tomorrow, December 1, is World AIDS Day.
To commemorate this day Cath, the convener of the HIV/AIDS working group at Caritas, led a simple, quietly powerful liturgy. Around a single large candle, tea-light candles formed the shape of the red ribbon; a symbol of solidarity with those infected with, or affected by the virus.
Each tea-light candle however represented a million people who are HIV positive in the world. As each little candle flared in the darkened room, so a million suffering victims were acknowledged, remembered, made present in our little office.
As the warm light spread, we were also reminded of how the Pandemic continues to spread throughout the world. Indeed in Sub-Sahara alone, 6,300 people die each day. Imagine if the Boxing Day Tsunami occurred every six weeks and you get some idea of the scale of this tragedy.
It is in a spirit of solidarity that Caritas will be present at The Big Red Challenge, an event hosted by the Broken Bay Diocese this Sunday with the Cross, Icon and Message Stick. (http://www.wydbrokenbay.org.au/bigredchallenge.php),
Together young people will explore how the HIV/AIDS pandemic is complex, heart breaking and potentially overwhelming. However it is also an expression of the courageous decision not to be overwhelmed, but to take action.
To commemorate this day Cath, the convener of the HIV/AIDS working group at Caritas, led a simple, quietly powerful liturgy. Around a single large candle, tea-light candles formed the shape of the red ribbon; a symbol of solidarity with those infected with, or affected by the virus.
Each tea-light candle however represented a million people who are HIV positive in the world. As each little candle flared in the darkened room, so a million suffering victims were acknowledged, remembered, made present in our little office.
As the warm light spread, we were also reminded of how the Pandemic continues to spread throughout the world. Indeed in Sub-Sahara alone, 6,300 people die each day. Imagine if the Boxing Day Tsunami occurred every six weeks and you get some idea of the scale of this tragedy.
It is in a spirit of solidarity that Caritas will be present at The Big Red Challenge, an event hosted by the Broken Bay Diocese this Sunday with the Cross, Icon and Message Stick. (http://www.wydbrokenbay.org.au/bigredchallenge.php),
Together young people will explore how the HIV/AIDS pandemic is complex, heart breaking and potentially overwhelming. However it is also an expression of the courageous decision not to be overwhelmed, but to take action.
Friday, 23 November 2007
Child from Santa Teresa - a community visited by the pilgrimage.
Today I turned 23 years old - and birthdays and anniversaries have been on my mind of late.
Not too long ago on The Great Crossing Pilgrimage, we visited Blatherskite Park outside Alice Springs. This was to mark 21 years since Pope John Paul’s historic address to Indigenous (and ultimately to all) Australians at the site.
As the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council noted, there are four really core points that came from this speech.
- He challenged all Australians to preserve Indigenous cultures and to work for an inclusive multicultural Australia.
- He called for people to search for similarities and points of agreement between Indigenous and Christian traditions.
- He praised the way Indigenous Australians cared for the land and challenged non-Indigenous Australians to learn from this
- And finally, by acknowledging past hurts, he confronted us as a nation to work for an authentic reconciliation.
It was something really special to travel to where this speech was first given. This was one of the experiences that around fifty young people had on The Great Crossing Pilgrimage.
Join in a virtual pilgrimage!
To allow more people to share this experience, Caritas has developed an interactive Flash animation that allows you to step on board the Ghan. Through the experiences of four young people, you can go to the heart of the social justice issues that affect Australia at this election time.
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Bangladesh cyclone: how aid and development work together
Caritas Australia is an Aid and Development Agency. On the one hand we provide effective humanitarian relief following natural disasters and conflict (aid). While on the other hand we work with our regional and international partners to address the root causes of poverty and create long-term change (development).
However it is unwise to see these two responses as totally distinct or separate.
Recently a storm called Cyclone Sidr tore through parts of Bangladesh. News bulletins can be a bit like sports reports sometimes; it’s the figures that matter. In this tragedy it is estimated that more than 2,200 people have been killed so far. However human suffering can never be reduced to a numbers game.
Caritas Australia has already responded. Rather than having offices or bureaus overseas (that are expensive to staff and run) we mainly work through local networks already on the ground. This means that we are already delivering emergency food rations through our partner organisation, Caritas Bangladesh. Moreover, because Bangladesh has regularly been affected to cyclones and flooding, Caritas has supported the construction of emergency shelters so people can gather safely. These structures have been attributed with saving thousands of lives during Cyclone Sidr.
Here we see the interplay between aid and development. As Jack de Groot, CEO of Caritas Australia noted, “Our long term involvement and presence on the ground in many of the affected communities (development) ensures we can make an efficient and effective response (aid) when disasters occur.”
These two prongs of Caritas works are united by our commitment to work with everyone, particularly the poorest of the poor.
Caritas is accepting donations to help the people affected by thh Bangladesh cyclones. Donate here.
However it is unwise to see these two responses as totally distinct or separate.
Recently a storm called Cyclone Sidr tore through parts of Bangladesh. News bulletins can be a bit like sports reports sometimes; it’s the figures that matter. In this tragedy it is estimated that more than 2,200 people have been killed so far. However human suffering can never be reduced to a numbers game.
Caritas Australia has already responded. Rather than having offices or bureaus overseas (that are expensive to staff and run) we mainly work through local networks already on the ground. This means that we are already delivering emergency food rations through our partner organisation, Caritas Bangladesh. Moreover, because Bangladesh has regularly been affected to cyclones and flooding, Caritas has supported the construction of emergency shelters so people can gather safely. These structures have been attributed with saving thousands of lives during Cyclone Sidr.
Here we see the interplay between aid and development. As Jack de Groot, CEO of Caritas Australia noted, “Our long term involvement and presence on the ground in many of the affected communities (development) ensures we can make an efficient and effective response (aid) when disasters occur.”
These two prongs of Caritas works are united by our commitment to work with everyone, particularly the poorest of the poor.
Caritas is accepting donations to help the people affected by thh Bangladesh cyclones. Donate here.
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