KAR Jesuit Disaster Management Team Meeting

 Bengaluru, 6 June 2021: Time to time, the Karnataka Jesuit Disaster Management Team consisting of 17 members meets under its coordinator Fr Jason Furtado, SJ. The second Corona wave is still active and there is news of an emerging third wave. 

Today's meeting tried to answer a number of questions, which would help in the future to deal better with the situation in our settings. The following questions were very much to do with our Jesuit way of proceeding and the process of discernment:

1.    After a month-long active involvement in the relief work, what has been the gut-level feeling of your community? Happy, satisfied, hopeful, unhappy, disturbed…..

2.    What is your view about collaboration: among Jesuits, with our stakeholders, NGOs, FBOs, PHC/DHC, government officials, local church (Diocese), other religious, etc.?

3.    What are the strengths discovered during this humanitarian work? What are the areas to be improved upon (opportunities)?

4.    Are we really reaching out to the needy? Are we distracted by taking up too many activities (having a saviour complex) and executing without proper planning, execution, monitoring, accountability? Are we feeling saturated or running short of ideas?

5.    What are your plans apart from relief work for your educational institutions, social work centres, formation and retreat/spirituality centres?  

    Since the Covid second wave began in the month of May, we started our covid relief work.  Each community under the guidance of the Jesuit nodal office is actively involved in the relief work.  We are involved in distributing dry ration kits, food kits, medical kits, oxygen concentrators, etc.  We are actively collaborating with government agencies, NGOs and FBOs in establishing CCC’s, isolation centres, reaching out to the infected and affected people, creating awareness etc.  We are also providing counselling support to our collaborators, stakeholders, and others.  Through various activities, we are engaging the students. We had a common prayer with the family members of Jesuits.  We have received tremendous support from donors and alumni.  God has been generous and kind to us; he has blessed us with good health.  After the initial surge in the infections, no new cases.  Most of our Jesuits have received at least the first dose of the vaccine.