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Part XI – Maryknoll Designates 100 Projects To Commemorate Society’s Centennial

During this year’s centennial commemoration of the Maryknoll Society, also known as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, all eyes of the Society’s priests and Brothers remained focused on current mission projects to help the poor, disadvantaged and others in need in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They also continue to engage American Catholics, who, through baptism, are called to mission.

For the centennial year, Maryknoll identified 100 current apostolic projects that Americans support with their prayers and donations. The projects are featured on the Maryknoll Society website (www.maryknollsociety.org). Several of the projects are spotlighted below.

Maryknoll in Asia

Father Larry Radice discusses agricultural issues in Asia (photo credit S. Sprague).The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers ministry in South Asia began when four priests established a mission in Wuchow, China, during 1918. Since then, Maryknoll’s presence in the region has grown to include missions in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Rehabilitation of Children with Disabilities - Vietnam

At more than 20 centers, Father Tom O’Brien has Maryknoll partnering with Vietnam Save Disabled Children Foundation. Children receive free treatment and rehabilitation. Medical personnel are trained in treatment and rehabilitation skills. Most children are from poor families in remote areas. The goal is to serve more children in need.

Food Assistance Program for Slum Children in Yangon - Myanmar

The United Nations identified child malnutrition as one of the major concerns in Myanmar, where three of five children are malnourished. With donations for Cyclone Nargis relief during 2008-2009, Farther James Kofski’s Maryknoll team opened a community kitchen at Takita Buddhist monastery in a slum area of Yangon. Today, Maryknoll serves hot meals to more than 142 children three days each week. Milk and bread are served twice a week.

Maryknoll in Africa

Father James Eble of Fairfield, California, in Tanzania (photo credit S. Sprague).Maryknoll has worked in Africa since 1946. Originally directed to share the Good News of Salvation with the people of Tanzania and Kenya, Maryknoll's missionary endeavors in Africa now extend to Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Sudan and Tanzania.

Public Health Work at the Mabatini Parish - Tanzania

Brother Mark Huntington is helping the community address public health concerns through workshops, seminars and the training of two healthcare workers at Sengerema Hospital. The objective is to help repair club-foot deformities and to teach parents of handicapped children to administer the necessary treatment exercises.

AIDS Relief Programs - Kenya

Father Lance Nadeau's ministry offers comprehensive HIV/AIDS care to those living in the slums of eastern Nairobi. Patients receive antiretroviral treatment, and they receive palliative and end-of-life care. Pregnant women learn about nutrition and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of the virus. In the Archdiocese of Mombasa, a 50-person medical staff that is complemented by 400 volunteers provides a home-based program that delivers free healthcare to HIV-infected people and those who are sick with AIDS. This effort, led by Brother Frank TenHoopen, reaches patients in 10 parishes, where 4,000 people live with HIV and AIDS.

Maryknoll in Latin America

The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers ministry in Latin America began during 1942 when three Maryknoll Fathers established a mission in the Pando region of Bolivia. Since then, the Society’s presence in the region has grown to include additional missions in Bolivia and missions in Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Peru.

Okinawa Medical Care - Bolivia

Father Michael Gould helps provide medicines and surgeries for the sick poor, especially the elderly, young mothers and babies of Okinawa parish. He also arranges for aging parishioners to live at home so they are not abandoned during their senior years.

Human Rights and Care of Creation - Peru

Maryknoll works collaboratively with other groups in the Southern Andes to address poverty and racism, and to improve civil rights among the poor. Residents have been affected by the poor attention to the environment by mining and petroleum companies. This program teaches residents to reclaim their environment as a way to reclaim their human dignity.

Maryknoll in the U.S.

Maryknoll’s mission apostolates in the United States support the ongoing education and formation of Society members and candidates for the missionary priesthood and Brotherhood. They also share the Church’s mission and God’s Good News of the Gospel with U.S. Catholics nationally.

Maryknoll Classroom Program – U.S.

With the addition of a new K-5 grade school curriculum for younger children, the program reaches more than 150,000 students in grades K through 12 in more than 2,600 schools across the U.S. The program, offered free to schools through the support of donors, uses Maryknoll magazine to introduce students to mission.