Margaret (standing) welcomes all to Ard Bhríde in Castlebar
Front: Juliet from PLT, Ciara from Vita and Catherine from Mercy Global Action
The four-minute video below shows Denise Boyle from Mercy Global Action giving her views on the Vita/Mercy partnership. To view it, ensure your speakers are turned on, click on the arrow and enjoy!
https://youtu.be/x_wBmxbzt5A
The Sisters of Mercy Western Province have been nominated by the NGO Vita for an Eco-Congregation Award. Eco-Congregation Ireland is an organisation which encourages churches and communities to take an eco-approach to worship, lifestyle, property and finance management, community outreach and contact with the developing world. The independently assessed Eco-Congregation Award is designed to affirm good practice in environmental stewardship and help churches/communities witness to the importance of caring for God’s creation.
Kathleen and Mary from the WP Working Group
The NGO Vita works to pursue the well being of many in Ethiopia and Eretria through their model of grass-root, community led, sustainable, development projects. When, in 2007, the Western Province decided to seek an outreach in areas of extreme poverty, a working group of Sisters was set up to identify a partner, who would have the necessary personnel, skills and experience to help them in this. After an extensive search, Vita was identified as this partner. It was as much for the values shared by both groups as for any practical issues that both parties are happy to work together. The Gamo Gofa Zone in Southern Ethiopia was identified as an area the Sisters of Mercy could support.
Denise – Mercy Global Action, Juliet – PLT & Patricia – Mercy Working Group
Following seven years of partnership, a positive mutual influence has developed. Visits to Ethiopia by four members of the working group led to provincial meetings where information was shared, questions were explored and speakers from Vita were heard. Sisters in the province contribute financially, while Vita supports and facilitates the development of more energy efficient stoves, seed saving, better water management and sanitation, and, most recently, solar lighting. For their part, Sisters in the Western Province have examined their lifestyles and chosen to live in a more environmentally sustainable way. This mutual commitment to sustainability is what led to the nomination of the Western Province by Vita to be recognised as an Eco-Congregation.
Catherine, Mercy Global Action, with Áine & Kathleen
A meeting in Castlebar on January 25th, 2016 was held with both groups (Vita/Mercy). The Vita Mercy Working Group had invited Denise Boyle FMDM, who works in Global Action for the Mercy International Association, Baggot Street, to share how there might be a link with the wider Mercy world. She was accompanied by a co-worker, Catherine Gibbons rsm. Both contributed positively to the meeting, believing that the link from this alliance can strengthen advocacy at UN level, through Mercy Global Action.
Mercy Working Group
Western Province
