Immaculee Prompts Many Discoveries

By Mary Donovan

My mind is aswirl with thoughts about Africa. In anticipation of hearing Immaculee Ilibagiza at November’s conference, I’ve been reading everything I can about Rwanda – and finding out a few surprising things. Mostly I learned how easy life is for me and how hard it is for women in areas affected by war.

I also found out how difficult it is to picture life without the fundamental basics we consider a necessary platform for survival. I’m talking about healthcare (bad as it reputedly is, it’s not that bad). I’m talking about the car, the computer, the tiled bathroom, the lovely lawn, the discretionary income.

I found out that my sister sponsors a woman in the Congo through an organization called ``Women for Women, International.’’ I read the material. It told of one woman who was able with the help from her sponsor to give up prostitution and support herself and her child selling charcoal. Of all the part time jobs I could scrape out of my brain, selling charcoal wasn’t one of them.

I read about Rwandan orphans, some of them children of rape, some of them children of murdered parents. Imaculee Ilibageza has a foundation to help educate these children.

There are other problems and other areas, but I’m still focused on Africa. I read a column recently in The New York Times by Nicholas D. Kristoff and I found out that I am a woman of privilege. I must be, I’ve had seven kids and I’m not dead If I lived in West Africa, I very likely might be. According to Kristoff, in that part of the world motherhood is one of the grimmest risks to human life.

Of course this is true in other parts of the world as well. Poverty, lack of education and inadequate resources are factors. Women die from complications of pregnancy and birth that could often be prevented by simple procedures. A very large factor, evidentally, is the cultural estimation of poor women as expendable human beings.

Kristoff listed organizations which are working to alleviate just these problems: White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. CARE, and Averting Maternal Death and Disability.

I found, not surprisingly, that there’s no kicking back and coasting in to the finish. There’s too much to be done.

Commission Members appear on CatholicTV

Commission members Marie Fusaro Davis and Susan Bailey appeared live on CatholicTV's twice weekly talk show, "This Is the Day," hosted by Jay McFadden, general manager of CatholicTV, and Fr. Robert Reed, director. CatholicTV is a ministry of the Archdiocese of Boston and has an increasing far reach. It can be accessed on via Cable TV such as Verizon (channel 296), Comcast and Sky Channel (depends on which town you live in). Although a Boston-based TV station, CatholicTV is accessible throughout the country through cable and also on their excellent website, www.catholictv.org, where you can watch all the programs live, or from their archives.

Marie and Susan appeared on "This Is the Day" to talk about the upcoming Gather Us In conference in November. Before making their appearance, they were taken on a tour of the station and we'd like to share some of that with you.

This is the foyer of the CatholicTV building on Chestnut Street in Watertown. The building formally was used as a convent for the Dominican Sisters and has a real chapel which is used for the Daily Mass broadcast live on CatholicTV.





The first thing you see when you come into the building is this beautiful tribute to St. Therese of Lisiuex, the patronness of Catholic TV. The tribute includes a first-class relic of the saint.






Here is a picture of the chapel where daily mass takes place. The Dominican Sisters worshipped here daily when the building housed their convent.





This is the main control room for the station.
All the programming you see on your TV originates from this area.










This is the control room for "This Is the Day."









Hosts Jay McFadden (left) and Fr. Robert Reed begin the show.






There were 2 interview segments during the program; Marie and Susan appeared in the second segment. In between the segments, Kevin Nelson, news anchor for CatholicTV, delivers the Catholic Newsbreak.







Jay and Fr. Reed conduct the interview with Marie (far left) and Susan, talking about the Gather Us In conference and the Commission for Women.

Marie and Susan will be appearing again on September 12 to talk more about the conference.

Want to see the interview? Click on the Gather Us In link on the website to see the interview.