APAY E-NEWSLETTER

December 2020 - January 2021

New Year Greetings from the President and General Secretary - APAY

Dear friends and colleagues,


We wish to bring you warm greetings of the New Year from APAY. We hope you have started 2021, with a fresh mind, healthy body and renewed spirit amid unabating pandemic in our region and beyond.


Though we continue to face multiple challenges – both personally and professionally, we will not lose hope that is promised by our God. We are called to stand firm on God’s promises and envision courageously “the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1) It is still uncertain what the ‘new normal’ would be ahead of us? 

Nevertheless, we are called to continue to read and reflect on the signs of our time and be awakened by the ‘wake-up call’ posed by the pandemic! In this regard, we would like to introduce you a Prayer in the form of a Poem written by a theologian titled: 

“At the edge of a New Normal”.

Our “normal ways” are reassuring to us:
It is our normal way to slot people for wealth and poverty;
It is our normal way to classify people as “us” and “other”;
It is our normal way to prefer males to the other gender;
It is our normal way to distinguish heteros and the “other.”  

Prof. Chen Chin-Seng - President
Nam Boo Won - General Secretary

A Year Through ZOOM!

ICF looks back on a year with many challenges due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its related restrictions. However, like so many others, ICF took its activities online as much as possible in order to keep offering a space for young peace-builders of the region to learn, exchange and connect. The year 2020 was concluded with an online series of four workshops on the Intersection of Religion, Gender, and Human Rights.
“Women who are the victims of violence and sexual abuse usually do not get justice for themselves. Though the result is not a hundred percent, people are now raising their voices for justice for the victims of violence and sexual abuses. People are breaking the silence against violence, and this is a good sign.“ – Psyche Mankin from Bangladesh in her reflection on the first session. 

YMCA Tozanso organized Retreat for Essential Workers amidst
Covid-19 Pandemic

There was no time to take a break these days.  A deep breath in nature has made me feel much better. During the bonfire session, I could get to know that everyone has similar trouble.  It relieved my burden.  These are quotes from the participants.
 
Dr. Nakatani says those people have a strong will to “work for people” and “be close to people in need”, and they sometimes failed to notice their own exhaustion.  She points out that those sense of mission can quickly bring them into “Burnout Syndrome”.  She also advised the participants to share their feelings among workers every day and not carry their mental stress to the next day.

Together We Stand against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
NCY India Organized a Week-long Activism

In response to the call of the Asia & Pacific Alliance of YMCAs( APAY),   to observe the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), the NCY India organized a week-long virtual program on December 4-10, 2020.  The global campaign began on November 25, 2020, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and concluded on 10th December 2020, the Human Rights Day.  The UN UNiTE campaign had set the theme for the year “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!" The APAY chose the theme “Together We Stand Against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence”, and invited men and women to actively participate in the 16 days of the campaign.
Cecilia, a member of the gender equity committee of APAY from YMCA MACAU raise concerns to promote gender sensitivity and gender justice in order to move towards a peaceful world” on International Human Rights Day.

Albay YMCA Helped Communities Recover from Typhoons

The rollout of donations to disaster-affected communities commenced on November 22, 2020, two weeks after damage assessment and needs analysis. It was found that nearly half of the communities visited have already received shelter kits from the government and that the underlying hurdle was food security. Thus, Albay YMCA concentrated on the provision of food packs. Further, priority communities were determined based on typhoons’ damages, rate of displacement and poverty incidence.
The association coordinated with local government units prior to activity to ensure that the assistance will be delivered to minimize the risk of Covid-19 for disaster-affected people. So far, six successful food packs distribution has been carried out wherein the majority of direct beneficiaries were mothers, children and farmers from far-flung villages that were severely lashed by the above mentioned typhoons.

The Green Dream

A Dream That Became a Reality!
With great pleasure, we share the news with the YMCA family, that the YMCA of Moratuwa was a carbon-neutral YMCA during 2019. The feat was achieved, mainly through a 12kVA Solar PV system which was installed in July 2018. The total investment for the project was 11790 USD which was partly funded by the APAY.

Vaccine for Peace
Equal Distribution of Vaccine is The Only Way!

Criticism is mounting that wealthy countries are "buying up" the COVID- 19 vaccines. WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure. And the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the World's poorest countries ..., and ultimately this actions only prolong the pandemic."
At the end of December 25, officials including the president were vaccinated against COVID-19 with Russia's Sputnik V. Nearly a month later (January 23, 2021) 60 million people worldwide have been vaccinated. Still, no single Western-approved vaccine has been administered in any African countries, with a 2.5% mortality rate. The polarization of the vaccination is going on in a cruel manner. For reference, the global mortality rate is 2.14 percent.

The YPLD Committee Elected New Chair & Vice-Chairperson

APAY Congratulates Stephanie Cheung of YMCA of Hong Kong and Daniel Cheong of YMCA of Penang, Malaysia for being elected as Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson, respectively, of the Committee on Youth Participation and Leadership Development during its election held on 10 December 2020.

APAY Invites to join the Thursdays In Black Movement

APAY Upcoming Programs and Meetings

APAY Executive Committee Meeting by Zoom
Date: April 16 & 17, 2021
Time: 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
(Hong Kong Time)


ICF Program Committee Meeting
Date: 9th & 10th Feb, 2021
Gender Equity Committee Meeting
Date: 18th Feb 2021


Symposium on International Women’s Day
Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world
Date: 8 Mar 2021

Mental Health and Trauma Healing in Peacebuilding
Date: 22-26 Feb, 2021

GATN Manager Training
Date: 22 Feb, 2021

Religion and Peacebuilding: Exploring Patriarchy, Androcentrism and Misogyny in the Sacred Texts
Date: 4, 11, 18 & 25, Mar, 2021

Green Ambassador’s Training
Date: 17-22 Mar, 2021

Covid & Youth: Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development Side Event (APSFD)
(organized by APAY and IMCS)
Date: 22 Mar, 2021

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