Querida Amazonia 6

Pope Francis has published his apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. I will post some of the highlights from the document in which Pope Francis focuses on four dreams.

The Ecological Dream

I dream of an Amazon region that can jealously preserve its overwhelming natural beauty and the superabundant life teeming in its rivers and forests. (7)

6. “In a cultural reality like the Amazon region, where there is such a close relationship between human beings and nature, daily existence is always cosmic. Setting others free from their forms of bondage surely involves caring for the environment and defending it, but, even more, helping the human heart to be open with trust to the God who not only has created all that exists, but has also given us himself in Jesus Christ. The Lord, who is the first to care for us, teaches us to care for our brothers and sisters and the environment which he daily gives us. This is the first ecology that we need.” (41)

Querida Amazonia 5

Pope Francis has published his apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. I will post some of the highlights from the document in which Pope Francis focuses on four dreams.

Cultural Dream

I dream of an Amazon region that can preserve its distinctive cultural riches, where the beauty of our humanity shines forth in so many varied ways. (7)

5. “Starting from our roots, let us sit around the common table, a place of conversation and of shared hopes. In this way our differences, which could seem like a banner or a wall, can become a bridge. Identity and dialogue are not enemies. Our own cultural identity is strengthened and enriched as a result of dialogue with those unlike ourselves. Nor is our authentic identity preserved by an impoverished isolation.” (37)

Managers Meeting

Every quarter the middle management of DDP—the managers of the six projects–come together for a two-day meeting. At the meeting taking place this week, Russ Brine presents the latest information on DDP’s child protection policy.

Querida Amazonia 4

Pope Francis has published his apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. I will post some of the highlights from the document in which Pope Francis focuses on four dreams.

Cultural Dream

I dream of an Amazon region that can preserve its distinctive cultural riches, where the beauty of our humanity shines forth in so many varied ways. (7)

4. “Here I would like to point out that ‘a consumerist vision of human beings, encouraged by the mechanisms of today’s globalized economy, has a leveling effect on cultures, diminishing the immense variety which is the heritage of all humanity’. This especially affects young people, for it has a tendency to ‘blur what is distinctive about their origins and backgrounds, and turn them into a new line of malleable goods.’” (33)

Fruit to Go

This woman is taking home a load of sugar cane. The stalks get scraped clean with a machete, taking the thin bark off, and then the stalks are run through a wringer-like machine that squeezes out the sweet sugar juice that is a staple drink for Cambodians.
Right down the street this woman is paring pineapples, scoring them and removing the little dots or eyes. She also removes the cores and then offers them as an oh-so-fresh treat on the street!

Querida Amazonia 3

Pope Francis has published his apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. I will post some of the highlights from the document in which Pope Francis focuses on four dreams.

Social Dream

I dream of an Amazon region that fights for the rights of the poor, the original peoples and the least of our brothers and sisters, where their voices can be heard and their dignity advanced. (7)

3. “The businesses, national or international, which harm the Amazon and fail to respect the right of the original peoples to the land and its boundaries, and to self-determination and prior consent, should be called for what they are: injustice and crime.”(14)


An Insecure Man Always Comparing…

Say What?

“If we hadn’t reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witnessing this great economic success.”
— Trump

6.6 million
— number of new jobs created in first 36 months of Trump administration

8.1 million
— number of new jobs created in last 36 months of Obama administration

From Doonesbury in the Washington Post

Street Scenes

Street scenes from the Tuol Tum Poung area. (Clockwise from upper left:) 1. Two identically dressed women selling small clams from the Mekong River. 2. Maybe the smallest market in the world, a three-foot strip of land outside a wat. 3. A little girl being reassured at the appearance of a monk on his daily begging rounds. 4. A motordupe (motorcycle taxi) driver waiting for a hire at a fruit stall.

Querida Amazonia 2

Pope Francis has published his apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. I will post some of the highlights from the document in which Pope Francis focuses on four dreams.

Social Dream

I dream of an Amazon region that fights for the rights of the poor, the original peoples and the least of our brothers and sisters, where their voices can be heard and their dignity advanced. (7)

2. “The Amazon region has been presented as an enormous empty space to be filled, a source of raw resources to be developed, a wild expanse to be domesticated. None of this recognizes the rights of the original peoples; it simply ignores them as if they did not exist, or acts as if the lands on which they live do not belong to them.” (12)