| Jesus Christ
was born 2000 years ago to "be with
us" as our brother, through His life
example of love. He is present in our
brothers and sisters who face poverty,
hunger and oppression in their lives, in
prisons, streets or just next door -
regardless of the distance, class, race,
culture, religion and political
affiliation. Christmas is about learning
the meaning of God's presence in the
world and how we can be with him and in
Him. |
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Dear friends,
Greeting of Peace from ACPP-Hotline Asia!
It’s the time of the year again, to reflect
on the meaning of Christmas, and to reflect if we
have lived out our year-long activities as
acceptable birthday gift to our brother Jesus
Christ. How much have we believed that God is
with us and how far have we accepted His
invitation in others’ voices and appeal? How
have we embodied and reflected the hope of Christ
towards others, and how much have we appreciated
the Christmas gift of Christ throughout the year?
At ACPP, we strive to be committed to
our inspiration, the Populorum Progressio –
Papal encyclical from which ACPP got its
name, especially at its 40th year:
- For full development of all peoples
(not just some people): in Hong
Kong, Hotline Asia (HL) supported the
struggle of “ironworkers” for a just
wage as they have not been given a fair share in
salary in spite of the increasing profits that
the firms are gaining.
- For solidarity with the weak:
HL issued Urgent Appeals (UA)
on eviction of Christian farmers in a Muslim
District in Pakistan, and for the release of
peaceful demonstrators in Burma/Myanmar.
- For justice in trade:
Injustice of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in
Maharashtra, India is being monitored. An UA
has been issued for those evicted to make way for
Uttan-Gorai SEZ.
- For authentic development for
peace: HL organized a
regional training workshop on Catholic Social
Teaching, Rights-Based Approach and conflict
transformation, aiming to explore and enhance
justice and peace work as part of peace-building
in the region.
- All peoples of goodwill are called
to urgently act together in the world
of poverty, hunger, consumerism, injustice in
social and economic progress and all forms of
violence: all UAs strive to respond to
these issues and encourage recipients to respond
immediately.
We thank you for your consistent support and hope
that we continue to work together towards
sustainable justice and peace in the society.
With your keen support, we are happy to share
with you some achievements:
- local source in Pakistan confirmed how UA
played a positive part in an eviction case and in
final resolution of a Blasphemy Law case.
- response of the Myanmar and Bangladesh
Consulates to our letters.
- alumni of HL Training programmes since
2004 have been conducting follow up trainings for
their respective communities, and set up groups
based on the topic of rights based approach.
- Extension Workers have been actively
coordinating information and advocacy which are
reflected in the UAs, as well as
initiating contacts and building a network for
justice and peace in their respective countries.
- HL organized its regional training
programme on “Justice and Peace Work”
for 17 participants from 10 countries in
September 2007.
The
year at ACPP:We started
the year with anxiety about sufficiency of funds
to continue the HL project – with
hope and faith in our long-time supporters, as
well as generosity of friends with big hearts, we
were eventually able to achieve most of our
target and complete this year with gratitude and
confidence.
In addition, we marked the 40th anniversary of
Populorum Progressio - the encyclical which ACPP
got its inspiration and name - through an
introduction and reflection on its contents at FYI
and a seminar.
Our colleague, Mable completed her term with ACPP
and HL plunged into technical
difficulties for several months – thanks to
Fong, who is the newest member at ACPP, we are
now back to normal, at least technically, and for
the first time in many years, we are blessed with
a boy in our “female-only” team in Hong
Kong! We also welcomed our youngest HL
Team member in Pakistan, Kiran, as our previous
colleague was assigned to another project in the
same organization.
It appears that we will end the year with
on-going problems and risk of continued violence
in Burma and Pakistan – these crackdowns
surfaced the long-term oppression of the people
and problem of oppressive governments and the
strong resistance of the people fighting for
their rights. The people’s resistance also
shows a lot of promises that all the more call
for our vigilance on similar situations in Asia.
With your continued support, we can work together
in providing the solidarity that the people need.
Thanks to your support, we are able to continue
our usual business: Urgent Appeals: our
concrete support for victims of injustice and
human rights violations in Asia; UA Updates
that continuously monitor these cases; Extension
Workers programme in India and Pakistan;
quarterly JPW Bulletin on behalf of the
network in the region, web site, and regional
training programme this year.
We would like to continue our work in the coming
year. Your generous contribution is most welcome,
especially for new projects, which we have been
asked to take up, but have not previously
budgeted for.
Thank you for your continued support.
May the Peace of Christ be with you during this
season and throughout the New Year 2008!
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