Cakes, coffee, care
The Curia staff at the Irish Jesuit Provincialate office in Dublin held a cake and coffee morning in aid of Syria and Gaza. Together they have helped to raise €2,100 to support Tony O’Riordan SJ’s work in Syria and UNICEF’s work in Gaza. They were joined by Jesuits Tom Phelan and Charlie Davy. And by members of the staff from Cherryfield who took some of the goodies back for men in the nursing home.
The staff had baked cakes and biscuits and provided gifts for raffle prizes. The director of human resources Joe Greenan played Christmas songs on his guitar accompanied by the Curia staff choir – The Curia-osities.
Tony O’Riordan SJ joined the gathering via WhatsApp video. He thanked the staff for the gesture of solidarity and for showing their care for the people of Gaza and Syria. He said one of the most important things people could do is to remember the ongoing situation in Syria. He reminded staff of the recent earthquake in February, noting that at that point in time a Euro was worth 6,000 Syrian pounds. “Today it is worth 15,000 Syrian pounds and people’s wages have not increased in thirteen years,” he said.
With winter approaching and temperatures falling fast, Tony says that Syrians can only afford fifteen litres of heating oil for the entire season and two hours of electricity per day. So he wants to share the funds raised with Syrians so that they can buy more fuel and heat their homes for longer this winter.
