St. Francis' children in our school & religious education classes will explore the countries that the rice bowl will be benefiting.

Activities/ Calendar-

Monday, Feb. 18th 8-8:30am  Mass families will meet to participate in activities (games, toys) related to the different countries.

Friday, March 7th  8-8:30am Mass families will meet after Mass to listen to and participate in music from different countries.

Friday, March 14th  8-8:30am Mass Families will meet after Mass to listen to a story or folktale about a country or region. 

THEME
Seeing (Sharing) God’s Love and Action in Our Lives.

Countries:

Theme and activities related to Catholic Relief Services with emphasis on Food Assisted Education.  Students will be encouraged to add coins to Rice Bowl at home and return to church.

1. Participate in the Rice Bowl 

2. Focus on doing one random act of kindness for each day of Lent. I am wanting to stress that Lent is not just about giving something up...you can also work on doing something that you normally do not do.

CRS - OPERATION RICE BOWL is part of St. Francis Parish Lenten observance, to help us pray, fast, learn, and give in solidarity with those less fortunate around the world. The cardboard Rice Bowl serves to remind us that people in developing countries face hunger and harsh poverty conditions.  The Lenten Season is a time of sacrifice and prayer, in preparation for our renewal.  Use your cardboard Rice Bowl for collecting your monetary offerings from savings by preparing simpler meals or making other sacrifices for those living in harsh poverty conditions. 

Think about all the quantity & variety of food to which you have access…   Now think about those who lack adequate food —around the world!  How is Jesus calling you to serve those in need of adequate food, water & nutrition?   What would you sacrifice to give others a more abundant life?

Please collect each day’s contribution in your cardboard RICE BOWL bank and then RETURN your contributions to the church on the weekend of Palm Sunday, March 16, 2008, payable to "St. Francis Parish" with a NOTE:  for "Rice Bowl"...   Or, you may mail them to:  St. Francis of Assisi Church, Attention: Rice Bowl, 2150 Frieze Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104.

See more here at: www.crs.org/   AND at:  orb.crs.org

The CRS - OPERATION RICE BOWL contribution funds...  25% of the funds stay in the Diocese and the rest, 75%, is sent internationally.  (Of which 94% goes directly to direct services.)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) provides support services to orphans and vulnerable children with the majority being HIV-infected or who have parents living with HIV.  An estimated 15 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS and this number is expected to increase.  As the disease progresses without medication, parents become unable to work and provide their children with the basics of food, shelter and education.  Communities are then left to care for these orphans when the parents die.  CRS partners with the local community to assist in providing psychosocial support, food security, education and medical care to these children. 

Shedrick from Malawi became an orphan after loosing both of his parents to AIDS and became the head of household with two brothers.  After participating in an agricultural program supported by CRS, Shedrick was taught how to dig an irrigation ditch from a nearby stream to his fields which he then planted.  He is now able to make a living from farming.  An advisor goes to the village once a week to teach the participants farming practices that will increase their crop yield. 

Children in Zimbabwe also reported positive outcomes after participating in a similar program.  Emmanuel said the program had saved his life and he was now able to provide for himself.  Mbongeni learned the importance of self-reliance; and Mthokozise said that in addition to learning about farming, they learned about AIDS prevention, and the importance of not segregating those with the disease but to “continue to love them and treat them with dignity”. 

To illustrate other work CRS does with HIV/AIDS orphans, CRS is one of the lead agencies in Haiti providing assistance to safety net institutions such as the Orphanage of Saint-Francis of Assisi located in the very poor area of Croix des Bouquets.  The program includes providing daily meals to children, institutional strengthening, rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure, and funding small income generating activities. 

In Ethiopia many of the already suffering children are orphaned two or three times during their childhood.  Family unknowingly HIV positive accept the responsibility of caring for the orphaned children and themselves die from the disease.  A CRS supported facility ‘the Gift of Love’ is home to orphans who are all HIV positive. Sisters of the religious order founded by Mother Teresa and their staff provide care, education, care, counseling and love to the children and teens in this facility. 

Brenda, a 14 year-old in from Kenya, had been unable to attend school regularly supporting her family.  When her parents died she had a 2 and 8 year-old sister, a 9 year-old brother and an aging grandmother.  She often worried about rain falling on her 2 year-old sister, but thanks to CRS they now have a warm, dry home and she is able to attend school regularly.  The support includes food, health care, education and agricultural help.  Although Brenda still faces the challenges as head of household, and the deteriorating health of her grandmother she does not worry like she used to.  She dreams of continuing her education to help her younger siblings and “to be somebody in the future’. 
 

Water.  It surrounds us here in Michigan.  We drink it, bathe in it, play in it.  Maybe we even take it for granted, because it’s always there when we turn on a tap.

But there are lots of places in the world where clean water is not available.  How do they grow food for their families?  In many cases, they don’t.  For example...
In rural Ethiopia, almost 80% of households do not have access to clean, safe water.  Women and girls have to walk as long as six hours to collect water for their families. 

Medina Dorra is an 86-year-old widow who lives in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.  She had to collect contaminated water from an unsafe source, the Dobi spring. Medina and women from the 22 households in her village would walk every day to the spring. Getting water was dangerous work.  The journey was long and the spring had rocky sides, so it was hard for anyone to reach the water without slipping and falling. Medina admitted that as she grew older, she felt more vulnerable to waterborne disease and she was worried about falling into the spring.  The women wished they could have a safe water source closer to their homes.

Thanks to Catholic Relief Services, Medina’s story has a happy ending. CRS partnered with a local agency in Ethiopia to develop and improve the Dobi spring.  Medina and the women of her village now stand on a steady platform and collect water from taps attached to a reservoir. A contribution of 10 cents a month from every household in the village covers the cost of operating and maintaining the water system, plus the caretaker’s salary. 

So what does this have to do with us at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Ann Arbor?  Can we help people like Medina?  Yes, we can!  Every time we put money into our Rice Bowls we are helping women like Medina, because CRS uses this money to fund projects that help make clean water accessible.

Luckily, Medina’s story has a happy ending.

This is the kind of work that you are funding when you donate to Operation Rice Bowl. You become a source of hope, a stream of living water, for people all over the world.
 

Did you know:  Diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation claim the lives of 1.8 million people a year (mostly children)?  Around the world, 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean water?

In the Philippines, Analiza Litohon grows all of it in her own vegetable garden.  She often grows enough to sell some to her neighbors, along with extra tilapia she raises in a fishpond. Her husband, Julito, farms the family cornfield.

 Their life sounds pretty ordinary, until you consider that not long ago, there was no garden - no vegetables for them to eat, no fishpond in the yard.  That's because it is pretty extraordinary to have access to clean drinking water here in the small village of Kalinawan, perched in the steep, remote highlands of Mindanao's Bukidnon province.

Analiza used to make three trips a day to haul just enough water to her home to meet her family's basic needs for cooking, drinking, and washing.  There was no time or water left over to grow a garden or develop a fishpond. 

Now Kalinawan has an enormous water tank that was built by Catholic Relief Services and its partners.  It stores up to 1,320 gallons of clean drinking water. This tank feeds six common washtubs and two standing faucets, enough for all 40 households in the village to tap.

Before the water tank, the villagers had to hike more than a mile uphill to fetch water from a mountain creek.  This took an hour, round-trip, on foot.  Providing this one basic necessity - clean water - has allowed the residents of Kalinawan to build small but secure livelihoods for themselves.

You can help CRS in their work to bring clean water to people all over the world by giving to Project Rice Bowl this Lenten season.  Just by giving up popcorn when you go to the movies, for example, and putting that money into your Rice Bowl, you can help provide accessible drinking water to another village like Kalinawan.

1. TURN OFF the WATER when you brush your teeth.  You’ll save 2-4 gallons of water  each time.

 2. LEARN about the Huron River Watershed Council and how this AFFECTS you as a  member of the St. Francis of Assisi community. Visit www.hrwc.org. 

3. PROTECT our WATER by using the following directions to clean floors:
   Floor cleaner ~ a 50/50 mix of vinegar and hot water
   Mop floors and let stand for 1/2 hour.
   Wipe clean with a water-dampened cloth or mop.
 By doing this, you are NOT adding toxins to the sewer when you dump the bucket!

4. SAVE money and KEEP our Earth clean by using this method:
   Mildew remover: Spray undiluted vinegar on the surface. 
   Wait 1/2 hour. 
   Scrub with hot water. 

5. FIX dripping faucets!

6. TAKE A BATH instead of a shower. After 5 minutes, more water is used for showering  than for bathing.

CALENDAR CLUE:  WATER can exist in 3 states: solid, liquid and gas!

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Our Operation Rice Bowl focus the first 4 weeks of Lent has centered on Catholic Relief Services’ work with HIV/AIDS children and adults and Water for Life, 2 of many areas where CRS works to bring a better life to the people of the world.  These last weeks of Lent will focus upon CRS’ work in Sudan.  Since establishing the first office in Juba in Southern Sudan in 1971, CRS has consistently worked with the Sudanese people with the goal of saving lives. Also, CRS acts as the voice of the Sudanese to speak to us and our American government and leadership.  One of the principals of Catholic Social Teaching is to work in Global Solidarity with people whom we will probably never meet. Here is your chance to learn first hand from my friend, Buthiana, as she teaches us about life in Sudan. 

Salaam! My name is Buthiana Hassan and my friend, Patti Yonka, has asked me to tell you about my country and my work in Sudan. Salaam is Arabic for peace but it also means “Greetings”.  And so I say Salaam, people of St. Francis of Assisi!

Sudan is the largest country on the continent of Africa. It covers 967,500 sq. mi with a population of approximately 42,000,000. The majority of the population is African and the minority is Arab. The country is divided into 5 areas: North, South, East, West and Central and 8 regions with 26 states. Khartoum is the capital of Sudan. The national language is Arabic and English is considered as a second language. There are approximately 600 ethnic groups that speak about 400 different languages in Sudan. 

I was raised in the city of Omdurman. City life for the wealthy looks like some areas of New York City with skyscrapers, much activity and businesses. Outside of these areas, city life looks very different. Services such as postal delivery, electricity, health care facilities and education are not easily available nor free. 

Most people cannot afford to have electricity installed in their homes, let alone pay for the service.  People living in the big cities only go to the doctor when they are ill.  You can not see a doctor unless you pay your ticket first and this is very expensive.  There is no free education for children in Sudan.  Only the wealthy people can afford to send their children to school.  Most children work with their parents or working on their own to help their families.  Other children are on the streets. 

Jobs in the cities of Sudan are very scarce. Most people do not have jobs. The jobs that are available go to particular groups of people even if they are not qualified. The lowest paying jobs go to Africans  who do not support what the government does. 

Stay tuned for more of my story.   I will soon continue my story by telling you about my work with internally displaced persons [IDPs] in the camps. Ma Salaama  means Goodbye!
 

One of the principals of Catholic Social Teaching is to work in Global Solidarity with people whom we will probably never meet.   Here is your chance to learn first hand from my friend, Buthiana, as she CONTINUES to teach us about life in Sudan. 

Regular doctor or dental visits for prevention are non-existent. Government and big business people have health services but the majority of big city residents do not.  Ill persons go to health clinics or hospitals for services.  People must pay first before they receive treatment.

There are public and private schools in the cities of Sudan, but children do not get free education.  Boys and girls who can pay the school fees and book fees can learn.  They are taught in separate classrooms. All books and materials have to be purchased.  All the schools in the cities require uniforms which the parents also have to buy.  With all of this expense, only wealthy children go to school. Most children work with their parents or are on the streets. 

Postal delivery is only available for the big companies and businesses.  There is no home delivery even in the cities. Computer use is only for businesses. Most people living in cities do not have home computers or access to email. People can communicate by cell phone but written communication, sending greetings cards, etc. does not exist in Sudan.

Electricity is available in the big cities but only in certain areas. Electrical services must be paid for in advance. It is up to the consumer to read the monitor in the home and to buy more electricity when needed.  People who can afford to buy electricity cannot always use it when they need it because it is not always available.Most people cannot afford to have electricity installed in their homes, let alone pay for the service. 

Stay tuned for more of my story.

On Tuesday, April 15, at 10 am in the St. Francis PAC I will tell my story about my work with internally displaced persons [IDPs] in the camps and how this relates to what Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is doing in Sudan.