27 January 2006
GLOBAL NETWORKING FOR JUSTICE - KOLKATA SYMPOSIUM
Approximately 140 members of the Edmund Rice Network from around the globe gathered in Kolkata, India for the 'Flare up like Flame' Justice Symposium late last year.
The choice of location of Kolkata meant that those who participated in the symposium could not avoid being confronted and challenged by the poverty and struggle for survival that is the everyday experience of so many with whom we share this planet.
At times I felt overwhelmed by the scale and extent of the need by which I was surrounded. The futility of any personal response on my part to the pleas of the dozens of beggars who approached me each day was obvious. How could any giving of money by me make any significant difference to the poverty of the teeming millions who make up the city of Kolkata?
At other times I stood in awe and admiration at the many initiatives on behalf of the poor that I witnessed. The work of the Christian Brothers in providing educational opportunities for poor children in places like St Georges Bow Bazaar and St Mary’s Dum Dum and the work of the Salesians with the “Platform Children “ who found their way to Howrah station were some of the initiatives I saw first hand. At the same time, as important as these initiatives were, I was reinforced in my belief that the problems faced by the earth community can only be overcome by structural change – change that will only come about when enough people demand action on the part of our leaders.
I am hopeful that those of us who met in Kolkata came away more motivated to work for the creation of a more just world, with the realization that the Edmund Rice Network has the potential to contribute to the achieving of that goal and with a committment to building of global network for justice through the Edmund Rice Network.
The choice of location of Kolkata meant that those who participated in the symposium could not avoid being confronted and challenged by the poverty and struggle for survival that is the everyday experience of so many with whom we share this planet.
At times I felt overwhelmed by the scale and extent of the need by which I was surrounded. The futility of any personal response on my part to the pleas of the dozens of beggars who approached me each day was obvious. How could any giving of money by me make any significant difference to the poverty of the teeming millions who make up the city of Kolkata?
At other times I stood in awe and admiration at the many initiatives on behalf of the poor that I witnessed. The work of the Christian Brothers in providing educational opportunities for poor children in places like St Georges Bow Bazaar and St Mary’s Dum Dum and the work of the Salesians with the “Platform Children “ who found their way to Howrah station were some of the initiatives I saw first hand. At the same time, as important as these initiatives were, I was reinforced in my belief that the problems faced by the earth community can only be overcome by structural change – change that will only come about when enough people demand action on the part of our leaders.
I am hopeful that those of us who met in Kolkata came away more motivated to work for the creation of a more just world, with the realization that the Edmund Rice Network has the potential to contribute to the achieving of that goal and with a committment to building of global network for justice through the Edmund Rice Network.
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