JRS: Education is key to preventing poverty, war

(Vatican Radio)  International director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Fr. Peter Balleis  sj wants to help build a “platform for universities" to provide education to many more people on the margins of our world to reduce poverty and prevent conflicts.

Jesuit Refugee Service cooperates with JC:HEM, an international Jesuit-run project that provides access to higher education for people who otherwise would not have the opportunity to frequent university-level courses.

Established in 2010, the Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins (JC:HEM) has put thousands of refugees and people from hard-to-reach and poor communities through their certificate and diploma programs in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Many Jesuit Universities contribute to the program whose virtual classrooms link up students to teachers around the world for courses such as Business Entrepreneurship, Psychosocial Case Management, Community Development, Special Needs, and Community Health.  

“We have to help people with education to find better solutions” to conflict

Fr. Balleis recalls that the countries with the lowest levels of education top the list of those affected by poverty and war:  “We cannot give up hope in the idea that we have to help people with education to find better solutions.”

And women are encouraged to be a part of those solutions.  “You may not believe it,” says the Jesuit priest, “but we have [one] program in Afghanistan, and out of a couple hundred students who do the certificate course, more than half are women.”

Listen to Tracey McClure's extended interview with Fr. Peter Balleis:

First school bombed in Aleppo but hope continues in graduating class in Amman

Together with JC:HEM in 2011, Jesuit Refugee Service opened its first higher ed program in Aleppo, Syria. 

Speaking to Vatican Radio ahead of the Muslim feast of Ramadan, Fr. Balleis warns of an impending exodus of Christians from Aleppo, where fighting has increased between government troops and opposition groups, including Al Nusra and so-called Islamic State militants.

Looming Christian exodus from Aleppo

“Destruction is now happening in Aleppo.  There’s great concern about Aleppo.  There’s serious concern … that the government or that the army will move out and different groups like Al Nusra or [the so-called Islamic State will move in].  We know from the people in the field that Christians, once the school exams are done in mid-June and before Ramadan, many families will leave with their children because they do not trust the situation. So we are facing, very likely, a major, another humanitarian crisis in Aleppo.”

When war broke out in Aleppo in July 2012 Fr. Balleis says, the Aleppo educational program was closed down. “And in September, the building which we used was destroyed by the war.”

Wars destroy but hopes linger, people rebuild

“But the war has not destroyed our hope and our desire and our people’s desire for education. And that is for the key point I would like to make.  Wars destroy a lot, it’s true.  A lot of buildings, people die.  But there’s always humanity: people will be continuing life, rebuilding.  So our program which has moved to Amman [Jordan], is now serving also refugees from Syria.”  Fr. Balleis explains that amongst the graduates was one from Homs, the epicenter of the Syrian conflict and a town he had recently visited.

Homs – rebirth and First Communion for 50 young people

He explains how residents of Homs, including the small Christian community, are trying to reclaim their lives – even celebrating the First Communion  of the city’s young Catholics.

Fr. Balleis says two Jesuits continue to work in Homs - where some neighborhoods are completely destroyed.  “The worst of the fighting there took place in 2011-12.  On the other hand, you see parts of the city intact which were not affected directly by the war.”

People are living in a “difficult war economy with inflation; goods are not always available and are expensive.  But you know, human life is very resilient and we celebrate for example, the first communion of fifty children in the Latin Catholic church community.  There are still families there,” he adds.

We will rebuild Jesuit home for handicapped children destroyed by war

In the old center of the city, Balleis says, the Jesuit home for handicapped children was taken over by a rebel leader and was “pretty much destroyed” in the conflict.

“But it will be rebuilt and will return to its original function,”  he stresses.  “And these are for me the signs of life coming back gradually.  In some parts of Homs, people are allowed to return [home] so life is picking up again.”

 It’s not enough to teach women and girls sewing and boys, carpentry

JC:HEM’s Amman graduates included Iraqis, Syrians, Somalis, Sudanese, Jordanians and Palestinians,  he points out. When you see a small but varied group such as that which graduated, he says, “it’s a symbol of bringing people together, sharing ideas, study[ing], reflect[ing], put[ting] questions [like] ‘why’ and ‘what’ and ‘what can we do better?’ : that’s why I am so hopeful.”

Saying that JRS is involved in JC:HEM projects in Africa and Asia as well, Fr. Balleis stresses, “it’s not enough anymore in Africa to teach women and girls sewing and the boys, carpentry.  They need sophisticated skills in Africa, in Afghanistan, the Middle East.  In order to build their own lives.  So, injecting higher education skills will improve their education – because we have trained teachers.  We’ll have better leadership .. that’s what I want to see – to change whole [communities].”

Our digital world has “knowledge sphere with ozone holes”

In our digital world Fr. Balleis says, “the knowledge sphere” has areas like “ozone holes” – “areas of the world that are not covered.  People have no access to the knowledge which is out there, accessible through internet.  So we need also to cover these knowledge holes.” 

When you take a map of the world’s  human development index, says Balleis, you’ll see that the countries in red have low life expectancy, low income and low education.

“These are the countries where we have the wars in our times…so, it’s strategic to change things around.  Maybe it’s a big idea, but it’s better to have a big idea than to think small because at least part of the big idea will become reality in the end.”