NEWS from JASH as at November 2011

The update on the news from JASH this time is twofold:

  1. the result of the All Sacred Heart Donation for the Victims of the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
  2. the start of JASH Study Group 2011-2014

All Sacred Heart Donations for the Victims of the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

As already informed, a short time after the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, JASH established the All Sacred Heart Donation for the victims of the disaster. The earthquake and the tsunami that followed caused catastrophic damage in the wide area of Tohoku and Kanto districts. The 8 member associations of JASH and many persons associated with the Sacred Heart Schools in and out of Japan were able to unite with one heart in this activity.
The donation campaign was terminated on August 31 with the total amount of more
than 30,000,000 Yen. In deciding to which organizations the donations would be distributed, we made it our goal, keeping in mind our initial intent, to select those that would be most in line with the wishes of all who chose to donate to this All Sacred Heart campaign. Since our initial intent was to help JASH members who live in the disaster-stricken area, it was decided that the donations would be given to the Tohoku Chapter of Miyashiro-kai to which approximately 360 JASH members living in the disaster-stricken area belong, and to schools and children’s homes managed by Catholic orders that do not receive support from the government or the Catholic diocese. We have also made a donation to Sacred Heart Schools where there are many students whose parents are suffering from financial difficulties caused by the disaster.
 
We believe that this campaign, together with our Mass on June 25 can be considered an embodiment of the AMASC theme, which Pamela Snyder announced in her inaugural address last December: "Listening with One Heart." We were able to put this theme into practice not only in the process of the campaign by uniting ourselves but also in the process of selecting the organizations to which we would distribute the donation. We tried to listen to the voices of the most needy as well as the voices of the donors.

Start of the JASH Study Group (2011-2014)

On October 25, 2011, approximately 30 persons representing all the 8 alumnae associations in JASH gathered for the first meeting of the JASH Study Group for the 15th AMASC Congress.

The meeting began with a brief PowerPoint presentation by JASH President, Kimiko Hotta, explaining the theme and 3 subthemes presented by AMASC President, Pam Snyder, for the current AMASC mandate.

After introducing themselves, the members divided into three groups of their choices. Each group held a very lively discussion which promised fruitful and enjoyable study. The whole Study Group will meet once every two months. Besides, each group may have chances to go out for research and for other purposes. An interim report will be made on JASH Day 2013 and a final report will be presented to AMASC at its conference in Montreal in 2014.