THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR DACA
Antony Raj sj
(57 years old).
FOUNDER AND CEO of the DACA
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"As a Dalit leader,
I had to face hostility from the local government, the police,
political parties, non Dalits, and even from certain bishops.
My life was often under threat which was why my superiors invited
me to get involved in the formation and helping leaders to become
aware of development. It is from this invitation that DACA was
born. In the same time, having noticed how mediocre the health
care brought to Dalits was, I decided to create the Pierre Ceyrac
Medical Foundation (CMF) with the help of my friend and companion
Pierre Ceyrac: www.ceyrac.com.'' |
" Antony Raj is a fighter. We need men such as him otherwise
nothing ever moves !" Pierre Ceyrac, Frontier Pilgrim,
1998.
His role:
He defines the ambitions and the goals of DACA.
He takes in charge the promotion of DACA on a national and international
scale so as to gather the funds necessary for DACA to function.
His formation
and passed experiences :
Doctor in Sociology, with a PhD from Loyola University of Chicago,
Antony Raj came back to India in 1987 and did a research on discrimination
against Christian Dalits in Tamil Nadu. This research gave him an
opportunity to know the socio-economic conditions of the Dalits
and plan programmes for their liberation. This lead him to found
the Christian Dalit Liberation Movement, one of the goals of which
was to put a term to the practice of untouchability inside the Church
itself. This engagement pushed several bishops to openly reject
him and they exercised a certain pressure on the General of the
Jesuit Society thus making Father Raj take his distance from militancy.
He was then elected to the Presidency of the Federation for the
Integration of Dalits whose ambition was to unite the different
Dalit movements.
Then, from 1997 to 1999, he was nominated by the government at the
head of the Federal Office for the Education of Indian Workers.
Pierre Ceyrac sj
(86 years old).
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"My friend
Antony, that fighter, that man of action came to see me after
I returned from Cambodia to ask me to be a member of their team.
How could I refuse such an invitation from such a man ? I invite
all young people who will know the third millennium to walk
towards the others, towards the sick, towards the outcast, towards
those who are rejected, towards all the Dalits and the untouchables
of this world. Go to them ! This walk is a fight which never
stops. It reveals the never-ending fight for mankind, for his
dignity, for his freedom, for his grandeur and beauty. This
walk calls on us all to give. All that is given is never lost." |
His role:
Father Ceyrac, who has been in India for 60 years (between India
and a refugee camp in Cambodia), is an old friend of Father Antony
Raj. Among other initiatives he takes part in, DACA is for him the
occasion to help those who have nothing (for more information on
Father Ceyrac's activities, visit the web site ceyrac.com). His
role is to guide spiritually the DACA institutions and the CMF.
His formation and past experiences:
Holder of a BA in Classical Letters and Philology from the Sorbonne,
he pursued his studies in India : BA in Philosophy, Theology, Sanskrit
and Tamil.
He arrived in India in 1937 and remained there until 1980 when he
left to spend 13 years in a Cambodian Refugee Camp. He returned
to India in 1993 and now lives in Madras. Close to Fathers Monchanin,
Varillon, de Lubac, Dujardin, he took part in the great movement
to renovate the Church. He tried to be a pioneer of the new missionary
paths to such an extent that he states: "India is my country,
I come back home each time I return here from Cambodia, from France
or elsewhere. Profound inculture is what makes me say, as Ruth once
did: "Your country is my country, your people are my people,
your greatness is my greatness, your misery my misery and your history
my history".
Michael Jeyraj
sj (62 years old).
DIRECTOR of the EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT
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" I consider
it my "vocation" to work for the empowermwnt of Dalits
as a special calling within the Jesuit vocation.It is my deep
conviction that any genuine following of Jesus in today's Indian
Church essentially demands a deep immersion on our part in the
liberation struggles of the Dalit people. Wherever it may be
: in Brazil, in Venezuela, in the U.S or in India the social
reality reveals so deep injustices that it urges us to act in
favour of the poorest. " |
His role:
As a responsible of pedagogic projects on both the Campus and the
villages, he manages the actions lead in the villages ( e.g:micro-credit,
small-savings , evening studies, cultural activities, milk cooperatives)
with the support of four coordinators. On the Campus he sets pedagogic
objectives as well as long terms plans (e.g: the starting of both
a technical high school and university).
His formation and past experiences:
Doctor in psychology of education with a PhD from the university
of Pennsylvania (U.S), Michael is also graduate in philosophy, theology
, social action and criminology. During 20 years he's been teaching
social action in the Loyola College of Madras, then was Provincial
of Madurai district from 1981 to 1987 and director during 13 years
of the Institute for Development Education Action and Studies (IDEAS)
based in Madurai, his arrival in DACA proceeds from a life-long
social commitment to the poorest. His studies in Germany , and in
the U.S , as well as his numerous travels in South America (Brazil,
Venezuela), and Africa ( Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mauritany) allowed
him to develop a comparative analysis of the different situations
of poverty.
Santha (40 years old).
ACCOUNTANT for DACA and CMF
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"As a Dalit
woman, I have been both witness and subject to the oppression
that weighs on this condition which is why I have made myself
one of its spokesmen. Beyond my particular attachment to the
condition of women, my motivation has been to help promote Dalits
by education and social action." |
Her role:
She takes care of the accounts of DACA and CMF being as efficient
in the spending as possible.
Her formation
and past experiences:
She has a Diploma in sociology and then took a course in accountancy
so as to manage the accounts of the Liberation of Dalits initiatives
in which she took part. She was first assistant researcher in sociology
to Father Antony Raj and accountant for the DCLM (Dalit Christian
Liberation Movement), then secretary in the Federal Office for Education
of Indian Workers. Her role as an accountant of DACA and CMF is
the pinnacle in a professional life vowed to the Dalit cause.
Br. Jacob
(.. years old).
EDUCATIONAL OFFICER for DACA
His role:
His formation and past experiences:
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