See also a video of a traditional dance; another traditional performance.

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“START UP GRANTS 2012-ENG (Word)

Scribd versions

To all the Visitors and Vice-Visitors of the Congregation of the Mission 

My dear Confreres:

May the grace and peace of the Risen Lord be with us forever!

I write to introduce and enclose the annual letter from Fr. Robert P. Maloney, C.M., on behalf of the Commission for Promoting Systemic Change announcing grants totalling $100,000 (USD). These funds, made possible for the fifth consecutive year through a generous grant from a foundation, are earmarked for members of the Vincentian Family who are interested in starting or directing projects with the poor that promote systemic change.

One of the main outcomes from the 2010 General Assembly of the Congregation of the Mission was the decision to promote Systemic Change as a viable strategy for our apostolic endeavors. This goal is one we confreres willingly share with all members of the Vincentian Family so we can continue to be “good news” for the poor. Please study the criteria, procedures, and format for submitting a project proposal, and consider taking part in this worthwhile project.

As you know, I often travel to countries and continents to meet with confreres, Daughters of Charity, and members of the Vincentian Family to experience how they live out the charism of St. Vincent de Paul. Thus far in 2012, I have been to Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Canada, the USA, and Latin and Central America. I am continually edified and energized by the wonderful work done by Vincentian Family members to promote our charism. The grants offered by the Commission for Promoting Systemic Change provide another opportunity to serve the poor in a lasting and significant way. Please join me in continuing to entrust our efforts to Jesus, the Evangelizer of the Poor, and his Mother Mary, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

Your brother in St. Vincent,

G. Gregory Gay, C.M.

Superior General2

START UP GRANTS FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGE PROJECTS 

Criteria for Giving the Start-Up Grants 

1. The grants will be given to projects that:

a. Involve the poor themselves, including the young and women, at all stages: the identification of needs, planning, implementation, evaluation and revision.

b. Have a holistic vision, addressing a series of basic human needs – individual and social, spiritual and physical – especially needs like jobs, health care, housing, education, and spiritual growth.

c. Place particular emphasis on self-help and self-sustaining programs that have a special view toward addressing the root causes of poverty.

d. Foster transparency, inviting participation in preparing budgets and in commenting on financial reports, while promoting good money management and maintaining careful controls over the use of assets.

e. Construct a shared vision with diverse stakeholders: poor communities, interested individuals, donors, churches, governments, NGOs, the private sector, unions, the media, international organizations and networks, etc.

f. Are new or introduce a new, systemic change approach into an already-existing project.

2. Collaborative projects involving several branches of the Vincentian Family will be viewed favorably when evaluating the proposals submitted.

3. The grants will not be given for:

a. Projects that focus only on the relief of immediate needs (good though such projects may be).

b. The ongoing costs of already existing projects.

c. Applications which do not address a number of the criteria above.

4

PROCEDURE AND CALENDAR TO BE FOLLOWED 

IN APPLYING FOR START-UP GRANTS 

1. The members of the Commission for Promoting Systemic Change are sending out a letter to the international heads of various branches of the Vincentian Family, announcing that, once again, a foundation is willing to offer start-up grants for systemic change projects.

2. Attached to this letter are the criteria for judging who will receive these grants. Information about the procedure to be used in applying for the grants is also attached to this letter, as well as a calendar.

3. These grants will be for up to $100,000.

4. Proposals will be received from the following branches of the Family anywhere in the world: AIC, the Congregation of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, AMM, JMV, MISEVI, and the Religious of St. Vincent de Paul.

5. Each of the international heads of the family will inform the members of his or her branch about the funds and will send them the information about how to apply. Subsequently, the head of each branch will receive applications from the members of that branch, will evaluate them, and will select up to three applications. Individual members should not send applications directly to the Commission. Rather, they should send their applications to the international head of each branch, who will select up to three applications and will forward them, by email, to the Commission for Promoting Systemic Change.

6. Joint proposals that are submitted by various branches of the Vincentian Family which are working together will also be welcomed. In that case, they should be sent to Fr. Joseph Agostino, CM (agostinojv@gmail.com). He will submit them to the Vincentian Leadership Commission, which will choose up to 3 projects and will forward them to the Commission for Promoting Systemic Change.

7. The Commission should receive the applications from the heads of the branches of the Family no later than Sept. 1, 2012. Though the applications submitted to the heads of the family may be written in a variety of languages, we ask that the (up to) three applications which the heads of the Family send to the Commission be translated into English.

8. After that, the Commission will meet and will make a decision about which proposal(s) will receive the start-up grants. It will also decide how many grants will be given in 2012; for example, one grant for $100,000, or two grants for $50,000 each, or four grants ($25,000), etc.

9. The announcement about which proposal(s) will receive the grants will be made in the latter part of October 2012. At that time, the recipient(s) will be asked to supply further details about how the money might best be transferred.

10. After their systemic change project has been functioning for six months, the grant recipients will submit an interim evaluation of the project, explaining how the grant has been used until that time. After the project has been functioning for a year, the recipients will submit a final evaluation, explaining how the grant has been used. A form for these evaluations will be provided when the grant is awarded.

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FORMAT FOR SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL 

ASKING FOR A START-UP GRANT 

Please submit no more than 7 pages, plus the budget, as follows: 

PAGE ONE – Contact Details [one page] 

Please include:

• Name of applicant

• Branch of the Vincentian Family to which the applicant belongs

• Position in the Organization (e.g., president of local SSVP conference)

• Address

• Telephone

• E-mail

• Name given to the Project (e.g., “Clean Water for Palo Alto”)

PAGE TWO – Summary [half page] 

Summary of the proposal

PAGE THREE – Needs analysis [one page] 

Statement of need; why is this project necessary?

PAGE FOUR – Project Plan [one page] 

Project Description; how will the project be implemented?

PAGE FIVE – Finance - [one page summary, plus budget] 

• What will the start-up costs be?

• In terms of money and personnel, how will the project continue in the future?

• What other funding sources are there for the project?

• How will the grant, if received, be used?

• Is there a time-line for the use of the money? When will it be needed?

• Please attach the overall budget.

PAGE SIX – 

Evaluation [half page] 

How, when, and by whom will the project be evaluated?

Governance [half page] 

Please describe the Governing Structure of the project.

PAGE SEVEN – Systemic Change Criteria [one page] 

How does the project meet the criteria given above (under the heading “Criteria for Giving the Start-Up Grants”)?

“When I arrived I could not shut my eyes to utter destitution. I saw a 1,000 children struggling for survival among the animals in the garbage dump … I was dumbstruck. … I said to myself ,  ”Here I could not just talk. I had to act!” He went to meet them and promised them: “Together we are going to get out of this mess!”

Today, among other things, they have built 18 villages entirely with their own hands, bringing together 20,000 people: an authentic community in which everyone is respected and is learning to take responsibility for his or her own future. If God works miracles, He is certainly doing so here! Thousands of lives have been saved and 5-7,000 people each Sunday celebrate in what some would call a mega Church based in a garbage dump   This film takes us to Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean, to meet Father Pedro and his Madagascan friends. Originally from Slovenia, Father Pedro is an Argentine priest, who belongs to the Lazarist Congregation of Saint Vincent de Paul and has been a missionary in Madagascar since 1970.

After 15 years living in the middle of nowhere in one of the most deprived villages on the island, he arrived in Antananarivo in 1989 and found it impossible to close his eyes to the misery of the families and children living in the vast rubbish dump nearby. Father Pedro made a commitment to God and took action! He went to meet them and promised them: “Together we are going to get out of this mess!” And so it was that, with no money but with faith in God and no end of sheer hard work in communion and fellowship, Father Pedro and the unwanted of Antananarivo founded the “Akamasoa” Association (which means “good friends” in Malagasy). Today, among other things, they have built 18 villages entirely with their own hands, bringing together 20,000 people: an authentic community in which everyone is respected and is learning to take responsibility for his or her own future. If God works miracles, He is certainly doing so here! Thousands of lives have been saved and are blossoming as they have found their dignity restored!

Another site Pedro Pablo Opeka – Missionary of the “garbage people” in Madagascar tells the story while showing how people can help.

For YouTube videos in a variety of languages visit YouTube

“During the weekend of travel (March 24-25), the group visited the oldest Church (Basilica) in Taiwan, Seaworld, and two Vincentian parishes where the CMs serve the Aborigine People. A night was spent in the Hot Springs and an afternoon and evening in Kaohsiung City joining Catholics from 3 CM parishes in the Kaohsiung Diocese for dinner in the tallest building in Kaohsiung.

“Fr. Kusno Bintoro (Provincial of the China Province) and the rest of the Province’s confreres went out of their way to make the CM brothers from abroad feel right at home and make sure the Participants in the Formation Meeting were well fed. The next APRF CCC meeting? The Philippines!

[Show as slideshow]

“We are in the final day and half of our meeting. We are continuing  sessions with Hugh O’Donnell on leadership.  The sessions he is giving are based on the leadership training given at CIF in Paris.  Hugh also shared some reflections on the early life of Vincent.

Over the weekend we did some touring.  We were welcomed and entertained in a very generous way by the people of 3 parishes cared for by the Vincentians.  A feature of two of them is that people of the parish are mainly the indigenous people of Taiwan.  They shared some of their culture with us.

Yesterday we visited the huge Buddhist monastery not far from where we are staying.  There are over 400 Buddhist nuns there.  Confreres in Australia would recognise them as the Monastery near Woolongong NSW is a branch of this monastery.”

Several pages of photos on flickr

Thank you to Fr. Tim Williams, CM and the Australian site

2012-march-English PDF

SCRIBD version

The above image of Vincent de Paul is by a Seminarian from Tuc-Trung, Vietnam.   A larger view can be found on FamVin Prancophone Site  .