China Wrap up

Some random pics that I finally uploaded:

Enjoying some 'Hot Pot'. Each person cooks his or her own raw food in the pot of boiling water. One priest commented on Hot Pot, "If I wanted to cook I would have stayed home!"

This was an interesting bunch. They are all co-workers. I thought these women were going to fall off the wall. They were hiking the Great Wall, now very rough and steep in many places, in HIGH HEELS! It was absurd.

At the Great Wall

Wang Wei, Mike, Nick, and myself

North Korea in the background. At this location I could, with one glance, see three of the most isolated countries in the world. Russia, China, and North Korea all shared borders here.

Taiwan

After our excursion into Southeast China and Macau, we spent the night back at the retreat house. The next day, Friday July 23rd, we flew to Taiwan. There we met Fr. Joy Alito a priest of Maryknoll who is originally from the Philippines. He was our host for the weekend. We had the opportunity to ride to the top of the 'Taipei 101' building. The elevator goes a whopping 36 mph. It is the second tallest building in the world. It was the tallest until last January when the Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai. Saturday evening we took the 'bullet' train to Taichun which was about an hour south. The parish there was almost 100% Filipino migrant workers. Father wanted this assignment for obvious reasons, wanting to help his people. At mass 98% of the attendees were between the age of 20 and 30 and 75% of them were women. They are so young because the maximum number of years a person can work is eight years, and there are mostly women because the main industry there is technology, specifically computer chips. Therefore, women are hired more often because of they have steadier hands. They make computer chips for organizations such as Intel, Apple, and the military.

We had the opportunity to speak to a number of them Saturday evening for a little while. Eventually most of them had to leave. I didn't quite understand this so I asked one of them named Nilda. She said she had curfew, yes curfew. At these factories, the workers are required to live in dormatories, they are also required to be in every night by 11:30pm. They are allowed to spend the night elsewhere only two times a month, and this she told me was difficult to get permission for. And we think seminary is strict! She makes about $320 a month after deductions for housing and other things. And even to work in Taiwan she had to pay a very high placement fee. I've heard of people being unjustly subjected to conditions such as these but never met one, never had the opportunity to listen to someone's personal experience of it. She said until last year, the companies would keep the worker's passports, making it impossible for them to leave. It was only after a journalist wrote an article and mentioned Apple as one of the companies benefiting from this factory did that practice cease. Now they are having problems accessing their savings/checking accounts when they want to leave. The companies are keeping the workers' 'chop' a chop is like a stamp. It verifies someone's identity. So if a worker decides to leave the factory and go back to the Philippines for any reason (which they are legally permitted to) although they may have their passport, they aren't going to leave if they don't have their money, which they cannot access unless they have their 'chop'.

Fr. Joy is very knowledgeable of the situation, and he is very good at letting the workers know what they are legally able to do. He does a good job pastoring his sheep in this way. He mentioned that this tactic of keeping the workers' 'chop' is the next injustice they are working to change. In the end, he said the only way to bring about justice for these workers is to allow them to unionize, which Taiwan will not permit. Therefore, other governments such as the U.S. need to put pressure on Taiwan to allow their people to unionize. He admitted that to boycott one company doesn't work (he has an Iphone), because all companies in order to stay competitive take advantage of cheap labor. It must start with the workers themselves, allowing them to find strength in numbers.

This encounter was also an opportunity to encourage them. I was able to explain to them that their suffering and work has meaning, that God is pleased with their suffering especially when done with love and for others. I tried to explain that although Christ has redeemed the world, we still play a part in its redemption. We can help bring it about in its fullest sense. As Paul says, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church" (Col 1:24).

The following Monday the Chargé d'Affaires of the Holy See to Taiwan, Msgr. Paul Russel, invited us over to his place for lunch. He has all the responsibilities and authority that an Apostolic Nuncio would have but because of the tension between Taiwan and China he is not given that official diplomatic title. That title would imply that Taiwan is its own sovereign nation, something that China disagrees with. And if the Holy See would ever recognize Taiwan as such, there would be no dialogue between China and the Holy See. So this title of Chargé d'Affaires shows Rome's openness to China.

Closing Barbecue

We returned to Hong Kong Monday the 26th of July, and spent some days being debriefed about our experience in the Orient. On Friday the 30th, our last full day, we hosted a barbecue at the retreat house for all those who had a part in making this pastoral experience a success. It was just a small way to show our gratitude. We cooked burgers with onions, and cheese inside of them. We had sausages with a special Mexican salsa, there was a delicious fruit salad, we made a special desert, and we even made some sangria. At the end of the dinner we had a small program that explained our trip, what we encountered, and we also shared some of the most significant moments each one of us had. Mine was my encounter with the migrant workers, what I explained above. The only mistake of the night was that we didn't mention to the personnel that the sangria had wine in it. So at the end of the night one of the women wasn't feeling too well. That's the problem with sangria, you can't taste the alcohol, and you end up drinking it like juice. I know that wasn't funny, but it was a bit funny.

The next day, the 31st we left for Rome and arrived in Rome the same evening. What a trip! Something I will never forget, and people I will never forget, especially those who were so kind and generous to me. Praise God.