Años de conflicto y sequías periódicas, junto con la subida de precios de los alimentos que conllevan, la ausencia de un estado fuerte y una hambruna sin precedentes, han desplazado a casi dos millones de somalíes. Las cifras siguen aumentando rápidamente. En los últimos meses, 120.000 somalíes más han huido a Kenia y Etiopía. Este mes, al menos 3.000 han estado llegando diariamente a ambos países. Se calcula que unos 11 millones de personas han quedado afectados en el Cuerno de África por la peor sequía en más de cincuenta años. Si no se actúa inmediatamente, la hambruna se extenderá al resto de Somalia y a los países vecinos.

"More than 12 million people urgently need attention to survive the worst drought in decades. The human cost of this crisis is catastrophic". Thus sounded the alarm send out a few days ago by the United Nations Organization (UN) secretary General, Ban-ki-Moon in the face of the terrible emergency situation that the region is actually suffering.

And it's a fact that this region has been suffering an unrelenting drought for the past two years that many have estimated to be the worst since 1951. The countries worst affected by its devastating consequences are, for now, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia. Within their borders, their inhabitants are suffering levels of malnutrition, especially in Somalia, up to six times what the UN considers already an emergency. In fact, as of today more than 500 Somalis have lost their lives due to illnesses related to malnutrition in the last months.

CPAL is mainly centred on the work done with migrants and refugees (Jesuit Refugee Service-JRS and Jesuit Migrant Service-JMS), on the apostolate in the middle of communities and indigenous villages and in different social assistance works. According to CPAL, "the social sector is not understood only as specific to some Jesuits, but as an essential dimension of the apostolic labour".

Fifty five people participated in this encounter, between the Provinces social delegates, Networks coordinates (JRS, JMS, Social Centres, Indigenous Apostolate), Social Centres directors, as well as the special guests Rome's Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat, Spain's Social Sector Coordination, Alboan, Entreculturas, Porticus, Red Xavier, Misión Procura from Germany and Fe y Alegría International Federation).

Some years ago, Entreculturas initiated a new action proposal with private business and institutions: raising awareness to promote solidarity and volunteering.

The concern shown by companies about training their manpower adequately in this area has led us to conduct courses on this subject, both classroom attending and on-line (Internet) .

This educational proposal promotes a reflexion about which values should attract volunteers and about the reality that makes their existence necessary. It is also sought that the persons count with action proposals, personally or collectively, within the enterprise.

María Gómez, an Accenture employee, is one of these people. She will travel this august to Lima (Peru) to collaborate in one of the projects that Entreculturas develop under the umbrella of Fe y Alegría. "I'm excited about getting to know Entreculturas close up and collaborate with the professional volunteer project that I've been offered. It is the first time I do something like this, so I hope that I can contribute my knowledge and working experience to whatever that can use it. I believe that this is going to be a great opportunity to learn another culture and other ways to do things..."she asserts.

In turn, Daniel Fernández a Coritel software developer, will go for almost a month of his holidays to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where he will assist with the planning and delivery of IT courses, through Fe y Alegría, which is the main Entrecultura's partner in Latin America. "I've done volunteer work in a few social centres in Madrid and given IT and Spanish classes to immigrants, but never have had an international experience. I believe this trip is going to be an excellent opportunity to grow professionally and, above all, personally.

MÁSmovil's CEO, Maini Spenger, expresses his satisfaction with this solidary initiative"We want to help all the NGOs or solidary initiatives that can obtain more funds for them to do their work and also facilitate client solidarity without any extra cost to them. In this modest way we can contribute our penny's worth for a better world.

The MÁSmovil Solidaridad initiative already has six NGOs on board: Acción contra el Hambre, Hazloposible Foundation, Plan Internacional, El Compromiso Foundation, Entreculturas and Global Humanitaria.

"Without a doubt, this is good news. Any economic contribution, however small, is a great help to keep our educational projects in Africa and Latin America functioning, and our sensitizing initiatives in the North.

The Justice Foundation - Bancaja award acknowledges the trajectory and constant dedication of those people or organizations that are noted by their contribution to the promotion and defence of human rights. The jury, presided by last years winners, the Charity Sisters, and formed by the presidents of the Justice and Bancaja Foundations, other year's winners, like Vicente Berenguer and the president of the Valencia Water Tribunal, representatives of public institutions, the Minister of Health, Social Policies, equality and the Councillor of Solidarity and Citizenship, has found a hard job in choosing one of the 15 candidates presented.

The winner this year, the Jesuit Refugee Service, has worked since 1980 to offer assistance to the forcibly displaced on a global scale. Its motto is "accompany, serve, and defend" and accordingly it offers care at all levels to this collective - health, education, religion, society -. The collective with whom it works comprises all that have been separated from their homes by conflicts, humanitarian disasters or human rights violations. Their activity is deployed in 50 countries in all continents and benefits more than 500.000 people. In it's more than 30 years of history it has been present in conflicts such as the civil wars in Centro America, in the Great Lakes in Africa and more recently in the Middle East, always defending the rights of the refugees, the imprisoned, conflict zones and border areas from a nearness and accompaniment perspective.

Torres had arrived in the country to inspect the projects on which Spanish Cooperation invests jointly with the Manabí Province Development Agency (APDM). This collaboration with the Spanish government, according to the APDM director Jakeline Jaramillo, has been taking place for the last five years.

Amongst the projects that the ambassador and the OTC coordinator got to see, there is the Fe y Alegría Las Cumbres School, providing primary education in one of the Portoviejo slums. There is also a Textile Workshop managed by the community mothers, and a Solidarity Centre for Education and Sport that receives financing since 3 years ago from the Barcelona Football Club Foundation.

With the objective in mind of maintaining nearness to the Guatemala population, complying with the open doors policy, the District Chiefs and sub Chiefs assembly, gave a public hearing to the representatives of the Fe Y Alegría Foundation, the Association of Communities United for Development and the National Coordinating Association of Guatemala Marginal Areas Inhabitants.

During the meeting, each one of the organizations representative presented to the District Chiefs and sub Chiefs assembly, its requirement. In the case of Fe y Alegría, the request was intended to obtain the approval of initiative 4222 by this High State Organism, A "Law for the state to subsidize education in the rural and marginal areas trough the Fe y Alegría Foundation", which would permit them to continue with the same coverage on the subject "Fortunately, the issues at hand are urgent and nobody questions them, so it will wait for when they are included in the agenda, we will verify the viability of their incorporation when the necessary legal space is there", said the second Vice-president of the Republic Congress, deputy Carlos López Girón, who directed the encounter.

"We, the democratically elected representatives of the people, based on the will of the people of South Sudan and as confirmed by the referendum on self-determination, hereby declare South Sudan to be an independent and sovereign state," said Igga before Sudan's flag was lowered, the South Sudan flag was raised and the new anthem sung. President Salva Kiir Mayardit took the oath of office.

South Sudan's flag which was raised at the independence ceremony in the capital Juba on 9 July 2011.
(Johannes Siebner SJ/JRS) 

We are all responsible of where our savings go, and RSI contributes to a fairer, more equitable and sustainable world.

With RSI you are saying "no" to the environmentally damaging bossiness, to the ones that produce health hazardous products, the ones that invest in weapon manufacture and distribution...ultimately, you are contributing to reduce poverty and negative impacts on developing countries, you are favouring the integration of collectives in risk of exclusion, you are promoting that non socially-responsible businesses become so. And all this, without forsaking investor return.

On many occasions you ask yourself, what can I do about the world around me? And then reach the conclusion that you choose to change from the inside.

I've been in Peru for a tear, in the Moquegua region (the city of Ilo). My job was to work in the NAJS Program, aimed at children, adolescents and youths in risk of social exclusion, developed by the Jesuits in the Centro Loyola. The objective of this project is to provide social training and socio educational attention from an ethics perspective and promoting active and critical participation in problem resolution.
The experience has given me much more than what I can possibly describe. It is early still to know the real extent of the effect the experiences have had on me, the conversations and life experiences in general...although if I was to choose a few words to express more they could be prudence, fortitude, temperance and hope. On my side...I don't know what I could have contributed. Maybe, nearness and commitment.

I try to be philosophical on my return to Spain...at first I was very happy reencountering my family and friends; however, in the days following the feeling of sadness keeps growing, sadness for the people you've left behind, the things you aren't doing any longer...The days pass and you realize that all the things you didn't like about your culture become more senseless and unbearable as time goes by. But all this is in a constant inner fight, trying to find the positive side as well, with the emotion of living in a different manner and being able to contribute to change this meaninglessness.

The VOLPA experience has given me the strength and the energy so necessary to insist in the method of the restless and the dreamers...and, from this angle, it is an experience I recommend to everyone.

We have been asked already many times why did we choose to volunteer and the answer is that it wakes up the senses and the heart swells because one understand that it isn't that easy... It isn't just another decision, it is right inside your lifeline and in just a moment the right circumstances appeared and...zas! You jumped in.

I got to know about the volunteer program VOLPA through the Jesuits. I was certain that I was called to this, to SERVICE in a wider sense, to SEE in a wider sense and to LIVE in the widest sense of the word. Even so it wasn't an easy decision and certain fears made me recoil, but there was always a force pushing me on...

The reality of the place I live in now is rather difficult and hard. The Totonicapan department heads poverty in Guatemala with an 80% percentage of chronic malnutrition in the rural areas that I am in. I work within a mother-child program with quite good coverage in the area, we work with 720 mothers and nearly 900 children. We address health issues, size and weight control and alimentation in the villages. What I like best is the actual work, the task that is realized is vey humane and the team that I'm lucky to work with is from there, professionals bent on giving service to their people.

In spite of the fact that health services are public, often ignorance or the lack of money for transport make even access to them not possible. Also sometimes, almost always, attention is deficient due to shortages at the health ministry level (medicines, personnel...). The villages are poorly communicated, only by earth roads and periodically there are assaults to buses and carts, which makes people live with fear.

Sometimes one doesn't quite know how to help, I only ask that God gives me the strength, valour and common sense to be a light of hope of the possibility of another world...

And the desire to share how precious the Guatemala mountain views are and the peace and tranquillity that reigns in Santa Maria de Chiquimula. I keep the smiles of the people, the hospitality, the simplicity, the joy of work and all that I have to learn here...

Madrid, 23 de agosto de 2011-. Un equipo del Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados (SJR) acaba de regresar de Etiopía, donde ha visitado los cuatro campos de refugiados en Dollo Ado (Bokolmayo, Melkadida, Kobe y Helawen) que acogen a más de 100.000 somalíes que han escapado de su país huyendo de una crisis humanitaria sin precedentes. Para llegar, tienen que caminar entre 18 y 19 días bajo el sol, intentando escapar de la hambruna que asola al país durante la peor sequía de los últimos años, y de la inestabilidad provocada por la ocupación de las tropas rebeldes de Al-Shabab.

En el marco del IV Encuentro de Jóvenes de las Comunidades Castellanas y Leonesas en el Exterior, celebrado del 4 al 8 de julio de 2011 en la ciudad de León, se desarrolló el curso Introducción a la Cooperación al Desarrollo: Agentes, Estrategias y Formulación de Proyectos, en las instalaciones de la Escuela Municipal de Música.

Jesús Landáburu, responsable de proyectos de la delegación de ENTRECULTURAS en Valladolid, y Jorge Velasco, delegado de ENTRECULTURAS en León, compartieron el proyecto educativo en el que Entreculturas trabaja en la zona de Corrientes (Argentina), con el que se procura garantizar la continuidad de la educación primaria universal de 500 niños/as.

En el marco del IV Encuentro de Jóvenes de las Comunidades Castellanas y Leonesas en el Exterior, celebrado del 4 al 8 de julio de 2011 en la ciudad de León, se desarrolló el curso Introducción a la Cooperación al Desarrollo: Agentes, Estrategias y Formulación de Proyectos, en las instalaciones de la Escuela Municipal de Música.

Jesús Landáburu, responsable de proyectos de la delegación de ENTRECULTURAS en Valladolid, y Jorge Velasco, delegado de ENTRECULTURAS en León, compartieron el proyecto educativo en el que Entreculturas trabaja en la zona de Corrientes (Argentina), con el que se procura garantizar la continuidad de la educación primaria universal de 500 niños/as.

Con motivo de la 35ª Asamblea Nacional del Movimiento de Juventud Estudiante Católica que se celebró del 26 al 31 de Julio en la ciudad de Salamanca, tres voluntarios de la delegación de Entreculturas en la ciudad realizaron un taller sobre cómo hay jóvenes trabajando para crear cultura: una cultura alternativa.

Este tema se trabajó a lo largo de la asamblea desde el ver, juzgar y actuar. Nuestro día, el 28 de julio, fue el de JUZGAR. Los jóvenes reflexionaron sobre qué raíces, qué tronco y qué frutos juzgaríamos de forma positiva en nuestro mundo de hoy.