HUMAN TRAFFICKING: MODERN SLAVERY

On 29 May, Thursday, Michael Nguyen and I attended a seminar on HUMAN TRAFFICKING. It was organized by the Catholic Religious Australia-Victoria (CRA-V) held at the Mary MacKillop Centre, Hawthorn East, Vic. (cf. photo).
The CRA-V is committed to working together towards the elimination of human trafficking in Australia, the Asia Pacific and internationally. There were about 50 participants, both men and women religious. Five women religious (from different congregations) gave a team-presentation which made it very interesting. Like “Charlie’s angels”, they did their job with aplomb.
In the open forum, Michael shared with the audience his special ministry for the Vietnamese victims of human trafficking in Taiwan (cf. photo). He said that in 2005 and 2007 there were 65,000 and 100,000 Vietnamese respectively who were trafficked to Taiwan. The root cause of this modern slavery is poverty. The report of Michael must have had an impact to the group, because subsequent speakers later were quoting him. During the break, some asked Michael’s contact number and address for future networking – an instant celebrity. Good on you, Michael!

Did you know:
* That each year 600,000 to 800,000 men, women and children are trafficked across international borders and that the trade is growing?
* That human trafficking is the third largest source of income for organized crime, exceeded only by arms and drugs trafficking?
* That the UN estimates trafficking is a 5-7 billion US dollars operation annually?
* That PROJECT RESPECT estimates that 1000-1500 women are trafficked in Australia?
* That UNICEF reports that 200,000 children are trafficked yearly in West and Central Africa?

Source: Statistics given from a handout leaflet during the seminar

DOM AS IN DOMINIC!

Long time ago, when I was still in the Pacific, a palagi (i.e. non-Samoan or foreigner), used to greet me, “Hi, Fr. Damn!” Some time last week, I got an exciting phone call greeting me: “Hello, Fr. Doom!” In March, when I was in Nemi (Rome), a German speaking missionary whispered to me in confidence: “Don’t take offence, but your name doesn’t sound good, because in German sounds like “dumm,” which means “stupid.” In Brisbane, where we lived together, Dom Cremasco used to refer to both of us as: “Dumm & Dumm!” (The two fools).

So now wherever someone asks my name, I tell them slowly and patiently: “I am Dom, D-o-m, as in Dominic.” After that they keep silent and ask no more questions...

THIS IS YTU!

YTU stands for Yarra Theological Union (see facade -inset photo). It's located at 98 Albion Road, Box Hill, VIC. The SVD candidates who are preparing for the priesthood or brotherhood do their theological studies here. This remains the last theological institute run by Religious in Australia.

It was founded in 1971 but the SVDs began to send their candidates to it only in 1978. It is a cooperative venture in which Franciscans, Dominicans, Redemptorists, Passionists, Divine Word Missionaries, Pallotines, Blessed Sacrament Fathers, Carmelites, and Discalced Carmelites send students, provide faculty and financially support the Union. Many of the faculty now are also women religious and lay people; and most of the students are lay people. It is a highly-esteemed theological school and it provides a wonderful multi-cultural atmosphere in which to have our candidates trained. Larry Nemer, SVD, is the incumbent YTU President (see photo).

Photo credits: Michael Nguyen, SVD.

OUR VAN BADLY DAMAGED

On 23 May, Friday, at 5pm, May, Michael Quang came anxiously to inform me that our community van (USO 161) has been damaged. The rear window was smashed leaving a big hole at the back of the van (see photo). This happened at the common open parking compound of YTU. We have reported it to the police. They'll furnish us the result of their investigation. There is no suspects and the offender has not come out to inform us.

While waiting for the repair of the vehicle, Wim Valckx, our handy man, improvised a safety cover to ward off the rain. Needless to say, the incident causes much anxiety in the community. Now we don’t feel safe with the others cars that are parked in the same place. As yet we haven’t found an alternative parking place. ~