Connie Sorio, KAIROS Coordinator for Asia-Pacific partnerships
Connie Sorio, KAIROS Coordinator for Asia-Pacific partnerships, sends KAIROS a letter from her current trip to Fiji, Philippines and Indonesia, October 2, 2009:
“Thank you for your thoughts and concern. I am now in Jakarta, just arriving a few hours ago. I’m fine. I left the Pacific a day after the tsunami struck Samoa and Tonga while the whole of the South Pacific was put under tsunami alert. Simultaneous to this tragedy in the Pacific were the earthquakes that hit Sumatra and Padang in Indonesia. At the same time, in the Philippines, many parts of the capital and 25 other provinces are still recovering from the flash floodingand mudslides. The condition of victims was further aggravated by the lack of support and immediate relief and assistance.
This is almost too much to digest and come to terms with as someone who is not directly affected but who happened to be in the region while these tragedies were happening. It is so much more devastating to the people who are living it and are directly impacted. What can we do, how can we be relevant? These are the questions raging inside me at the moment.
Just before the tsunami struck, I spent the whole day with our partner, the Pacific Conference of Churches (with their Climate Change team), discussing our program for the next 4 years. In that meeting was a very young intern from Tonga, very passionate on the climate change issue. He told me that what prompted him to apply for this internship was the reality his people in Tonga are currently facing- the disappearing shorelines, the rising sea level and the increased salinity in the soil that makes vegetation growth impossible. He also talked about the impending need to relocate or evacuate their lands and their islands – and the threat this poses to their culture and their way of life as a people. This was pretty scary, particularly hearing this from a 20 year old man. Then the tsunami struck…
Here in Jakarta, in the few hours I’ve been here, I’ve already been asked what can KAIROS do. A similar question came from partners in the Philippines. It’s not so much about responding to the emergency relief and assistance needs but, programmatically, through raising awareness, advocating for policy change and supporting groups on the ground responding to these realities. In my discussion with the Pacific Conference of Churches, what was made very clear was that climate change and the disastrous economic models that are currently in place should not be seen as two different realities, but rather as intricately linked. This very much resonates with the reflection we shared as staff during our recent retreat-responding to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth are not two separate approaches. They are one.
I’m feeling a bit at a loss on how to approach this visit in the face of all these human made “natural” tragedies. While I have a very clear set of trip objectives, I’m afraid that is this going to be an imposition to partners to ask them to discuss program planning and program implementation strategy when they are physically and emotionally preoccupied in dealing with their current realities, particularly in the Philippines where three new storms are expected to hit the country this weekend.
I’m wondering too if KAIROS can encourage statements of solidarity and accompaniment to our affected partners in the Pacific, in Indonesia and the Philippines in the face of all of these tragedies.
Abrazos,
Connie ”
Want to respond…
Send statements of solidarity, donate to KAIROS` ongoing work with global partners, and act for climate justice!
Statements of Solidarity
Please consider sending brief statements of solidarity and accompaniment to our affected partners in Asia Pacific listed below with a copy to
Connie at:
Ecumenical Consortium for JustPeace, Philippines
c/o The National Council of Churches (NCCP)
Rev. Rex Reyes, Jr., General SecretaryNational Council of Churches in the Philippines
Usman Hamid, Coordinator
JATAM, Indonesia
(Mining Advocacy Network in Indonesia) Siti Maemunah, Coordinator
Pacific Conference of Churches, Fiji
Mr. Fe’iloakitau KahoTevi, General Secretary
Donate To support these and other global partners in their ongoing work on the structural injustices that magnify the impact of these disasters, go to Act for Climate Justice If you want to take action on climate change–to address what’s happening in Asia Pacific and around the globe—please go to the Week of Action (October 17-24, 2009) page on the KAIROS website at
http://www.kairoscanada.org/en/ecojustice/climate-change/kairos-week-of-action/ for education and worship resources.
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PWRDF is a member of KAIROS