Good Shepherd Sisters
2014
Good Shepherd Sisters
Annual Report
CONTENTS
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
1
Exchange Visit to the Good Shepherd Sisters’ Services in Taiwan
2
Exchange Visit to the Good Shepherd Sisters’ Services in Sri Lanka
4
Advocating for a “just” Domestic violence Law
5
Walk for Women Activity
6
Anti-Trafficking Activities
7
Non Violent Communication
8
Open Day for Women’s Centre
Maria Ko is honored for 15 Years of Service with Good Shepherd Sisters
STAFF DEVELOPMENT
9
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GOOD SHEPHERD CENTRE SERVICE INFORMATION
10
11
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Good Shepherd Centre Statistics
Activities of Good Shepherd Centre
GOOD SHEPHERD SISTERS WOMEN’S MUTUAL HELP
CENTRE SERVICE INFORMATION
12
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Staff Development sponsored by the Social Welfare Bureau or other NGOs
Activities of Good Shepherd Sisters Women’s Mutual Help Centre
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
15
Acknowledgements
Highlights of the Year
This year our staff were divided into two groups to participate in exchange visits to other Good
Shepherd Services in Asia
Exchange Visit to Taiwan
This year from May 17th to May 22nd Sr. Johan accompanied 3 staff to visit the many and diverse
services of the Good Shepherd Foundation in Taiwan. These services include: programs for children and
youth, programs for women and girls in crisis, shelters for domestic violence victims, shelters for
trafficking victims, services for foreign brides, for unwed mothers and adoption services.
Our staff visited projects in Taipei, Tainan and Chiayi. They were very impressed by the professionalism
and dedication of the staff. Everywhere they went they received a warm welcome and a comprehensive
explanation of the service and goals for the clients. For our staff it was a great help that everything was
in Chinese as they didn’t have to go through interpreters as in some other countries they had visited.
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Exchange Visit to the Good Shepherd Sisters’ Services in Sri Lanka
Another group of 4 staff led by Sr. Juliana and Sr. Maria Rosa paid a visit to Sri Lanka from August 21 –
28. They visited many of the services offered by the Good Shepherd Sisters in different parts of the
country. Since the long running civil war finally ended in 2009. we were able to go the North of the
Island which was previously out of bounds for visitors
The Good Shepherd Sisters have been in Sri Lanka since 1869 and at present there are more than 300
Sisters. At the time of their arrival education for girls
was the most pressing need. Therefore the Sisters
started schools and even after the government took
over the nation’s schools there were several schools
that remained under the auspices of the Good Shepherd
Sisters. St. Bridget’s College is one of the most famous
women’s educational institutions in the country and
boasts one of the country’s prime ministers as a past
pupil. During the course of our visit we saw a great
variety of services and journeyed from the capital,
Colombo to nearby Negombo, a resort town for tourists,
then to Kandy, famous for its elephants and a shrine encasing Buddha’s tooth, up to Chilawa and even as
far north as Mankulam, an area which was under the Tamil Tigers during the country’s civil war.
Sr. Solange Fernando, who spent 7 years in Macau was our guide. She enlisted the help of many lay
friends to make our visit comfortable and enjoyable. We witnessed the poverty of the country and were
inspired by the dedication of the Sisters who serve so many women, young girls and children with such
great generosity but with such limited financial resources.
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Highlights of the Year
Advocating for a "just" Domestic violence Law
Sr. Juliana’s visit to Geneva
On May 14th Sr. Juliana represented the Macao Anti-Domestic Violence Coalition to speak at the
NGO session in response to the UN CESCR (Committee for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights)
It was a very valuable education for Sr. Juliana to see first- hand how these committees of the UN
function in Geneva. She was assisted by our Good Shepherd NGO representative in Geneva, Sr.
Hedwig Johl.
Like the other NGO speakers she was only allowed a 3 minute intervention and Sr.
Hedwig helped to keep cutting down her speech. She focused only on the necessity of making
domestic violence a “public crime” which was not the intention of the government’s draft law.
The fact that her intervention was heard by the
Committee was evidenced by their report to the
government at the conclusion of the session.
“While noting that legislation on domestic
violence is under consideration, the Committee
is concerned about the prevalence of domestic
violence in Macao, China and regrets that
domestic violence has not yet been recognized
as a public offence (art. 10)”.
Following this statement are a list of recommendations which conclude with a recommendation for a
media campaigns targeting all segments of the population in particular the law enforcement officials,
with a view to changing the society’s attitudes regarding domestic violence.
Ms. Debbie Lai is guest speaker
In addition to attending several special meetings with the directors of the Law Department and the
Social Welfare Bureau, Ms. Debbie Lai was a guest speaker at a film screening which took place on
November 10, 2014. This was the third part of a program on domestic violence organized by the social
work department of the Macau Polytechnic. This section used films from Taiwan to illustrate the reality
of domestic violence.
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Walk for Women Activity
This year to celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on November
25th and Human Rights Day on December 10th we held a Walk for Women on December 8, 2014
We had 3
mottos on the banners we displayed:
“Stop Violence”
“Respect Women’s Dignity”
“Gender Equality”
We walked from the park below the Royal Hotel to the Sintra Square where there were
performances and games. We were very happy that over 100 people participated and many
men joined our walk to show their support for women’s rights.
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Highlights of the Year
Anti-trafficking Activities
Awareness raising for Different Religious Groups
The documentary “Nefarious Merchant of Souls” was shown to the following:
Jan 11, 2014 - in the Bishop’s House to a group of religious Sisters
February 3, 2014 –Salesian Sisters
March, 2014 – Trappestine Sisters
Feb 8, 2014 –Jesuit priests’community
April 2014 – Hong Kong Sisters in pastoral work
June 4, 2014 – a group of Sisters and lay people from mainland, China
Awareness raising in Schools
Feb 10, 12 & 14 – Presentation on Human Trafficking to students of St. Rose of Lima, English
section School; around 100 girls attended each session
April 8, 2014- Presentation on Human Trafficking to students of Sacred Heart Chinese section
School; around 250 girls attended.
April 15, 2014- Presentation on Human Trafficking to 90 Students of Britto School
Nov 2014 – Presentation on Human Trafficking to 100 Students of Matteo Ricci school
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Non Violent Communication
This year we focused on training our new staff in NVC so that they would be able to give workshops
either alone or as a team member.
We invited Sr. Bernadette Yuen, a Good Shepherd Sister from Hong Kong who has done training both
with us and in Australia to lead the training. Workshops for all staff of both Centers were held on
October 30 & 31 and also on November 13 & 14, 2014.
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Open Day for Women’s Centre
On June 7, 2014 Good Shepherd Sisters’ Women’s Mutual Help Centre held an Open Day entitled “A
Happy Family is What We Make Together.” The program consisted of Game booths, a poster exhibition
and two talks – one on dealing with stress and the other on parent-child communication skills. More
than 100 persons came to visit the Centre for this occasion.
Maria Ko is honored for 15 Years of Service with Good Shepherd Sisters
At the annual Christmas Party of the Women’s Mutual
Help Centre Maria Ko was presented with a souvenir
plaque commemorating her 15 years of service with the
Good Shepherd Sisters. Maria began working as a
part-time social worker in 1999 shortly after we
established an “after care service” for women who had
been in our Centre. The majority had been victims of
domestic violence. At the Christmas gathering of
1998 we distributed a questionnaire asking the women
present what they felt their needs were and how we
could help them. After gathering the results we started a
part-time service for the women and their children on
the weekends. Out of this humble beginning our
Women’s Mutual Help Centre was born. After several
moves it was located in the present building on Rua de
Central and had it’s official opening in 2004.
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Staff Development
In addition to the Non Violent Communication workshops, our staff participated in the following
training sessions organized by the Social Welfare Bureau or other NGOs.
Date
Training
Staff
March 28 & 29
Understanding Human Sexuality in a Chinese Context
1
April 16
Workshop on the Meaning of Service
12
April 23,25
Against Drug Abuse Training
2
April 30
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Workshop
9
May 7
Fantastic Human Life Workshop
9
June 20
UGAMM Seminar On Students Counseling
1
June 25,26
Training For Director of Family & Community Service agencies
1
Sep 18,25
Estimating Domestic Violence Seriousness & Handling Crisis Cases
3
Oct 15
IOM Workshop on Labor Human Trafficking
2
Oct 20
Audit Culture in Social Service Agencies
1
Nov 5
Workshop on how to support staff who deal with sexual abuse cases
2
Nov 29
Communication and Counseling Skills In Neuro-Linguistic Programming
1
Dec 11,12
Bereavement Counseling Workshop
1
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Good Shepherd Centre Statistics
During the year under review Good Shepherd Centre gave shelter to a total of 47 persons. At the
beginning of the year there were 14 in residence. We admitted 33 persons (22 adults and 11 children)
and discharged 35.
The reasons for admission were as follows:
Reason
Numbers
Under-age trafficking victims
5
Domestic violence victims
4
Family conflict
4
Document problems
Unmarried mother
3
1
Marital conflict
Emotional problem
1
1
Psychiatric problem
1
Other
2
Total
22
The 2 classified as “other” were a young woman who had been a resident of Star of Hope residence
but after going home had no quiet place to prepare for her exam and a Filipina woman who came to visit
her mother who was in a coma in the hospital. They each stayed with us for a brief period.
**
Figure 1: The Percentage of reasons
Reason
9.09%
4.55%
Under-age trafficking victims
22.73%
4.55%
Domestic violence victims
Family conflict
4.55%
Document problems
4.55%
18.18%
13.64%
Unmarried mother
Marital conflict
Emotional problem
18.18%
Psychiatric problem
Other
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Activities of Good Shepherd Centre
In addition to birthday & farewell parties we organized the following activities:
Date
Activity
Feb 3
Feb 5
Feb 18
Feb 22
Feb 28
Mar 9
Buffet lunch at L’Arc
Teenagers trip to HK Ocean Park
Visit of Michael Mecca & staff from Galaxy
Staff & residents New Year “Yam Cha”
Int’l Women’s Day tea party
Bingo Party
May 11
July 13
August 19
Sept 9
Sept 19
Sept 21
Sept. 26
Oct. 2
Celebration of Mother’s Day
Supper party in the garden
Celebration of St. John Eudes’ feast
Mid-Autumn festival party in garden
Visit of Hong Kong Women Lawyers
Nov 7
Dec 20
Dec 22
Dec 24
Dec 31
Visit of staff & women residents of ARTM
Pizza Party
Winter Festival “Hot Pot”
Christmas party
X’Mas party for Staff and their children
Visit of Catholic Lay Association
Barbecue in the garden
Buffet Lunch to celebrate National Day
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Good Shepherd Sisters
Women’s Mutual Help Centre
Activities of Women’s Mutual Help Centre
Type of Activity
Counseling sessions
Home visits
Hotline calls
Telephone contacts
Small groups
Talks for women
Activities for women
Activities for children& teens
Activities for families
Birthday parties
Interest groups
Activities for special holidays
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
Number of Times
202
25
240
4806
3
3
3
8
6
3
25
5
Clients Served
18
25
36(24adults,12children)
72
37
110
193
47
346
283
page 12
Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
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Good Shepherd Sisters Macau Annual Report 2014
page 14
Acknowledgements
We express our sincere thanks and appreciation to all those who have helped us by their interest, support
and collaboration and/or financial support
Bishop Jose Lai
Members of our Advisory Board
The Macau Social Welfare Bureau
The Macau Education Bureau
The Macau Foundation
The Macau Jockey Club
Sands, China Limited
Mocha
The International Ladies Club
Chan Sui Kei Perpetual Help College
JML Property
All our friends, benefactors and volunteers are remembered in our prayers with gratitude.
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