1. The Association Compassion Asian Youth – ACAY: A Christian mission for youth at risk
ACAY Mission is a Christian, Catholic mission, which was established by the sisters of the Missionaries of Mary in Manila in 1997. This Missionary community have dedicated their lives to offer a second chance to youth at risk to enable them to live a full and joyful life.
They are dealing with youth who are extremely disadvantaged due to poverty, or who have experienced childhood trauma that has left them so wounded that without help they would not be able to live a normal life. The goal of the ACAY mission is to restore dignity and hope for these young people so that they can envision a full and fruitful adulthood.
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The experience of ministering to adolescents as a team with expert Filipino staff and volunteers both local and from overseas together with the charism of the Missionaries of Mary form the basis of a unique Pedagogical Approach with these components: family-type care; culture of responsibility; culture of creativity and service to others. This Pedagogical Approach forms the basis of their four programs: The School of Life recreates a family like atmosphere for girls who are victims of abandonment, neglect or abuse; the Second Chance Program offers training and accompaniment to males in conflict with the law in jail and reintegrates them back into society with a 90% success rate; the Family Program associates the parents and the youth to achieve their integration and in the restoration process; the Mission in Tacloban is helping the whole barangay Sta Cruz Tanauan Leyte with a program of recovery and sustainability following the traumatic experience of the Yolanda super typhoon which struck in November 2013. Since November 2014, the Second Chance program for males in conflict with the law has been eshtalished in France giving formation and training for the youth in conflict with the law who are incarcerated in jails for minors.
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2. Why is the ACAY Mission important?
The ACAY pedagogical approaches have changed the life of many youth who were once lost in their lives or margenalized by the society. ACAY gave them a second chance with its programs, educative approaches that open the door to them to a totally new life. Before they were in jail, they lived in an abusive community or even abusive family. They lost their direction in life.
Now, with the help of ACAY, they found again their direction in life, they can dream, achieve goals and aim high. Many of them are now holding a diplome, working as young professionals and become agents of change in the Filipino society.
They help others, encourage those youth who are still struggling with their lives and are living witnesses that "yes it is possible, nothing is impossible!".
3. We are Christian movie makers.
We are the founders of shoeshine.hu, a website for Christian youth in Central Europe. Shoeshine.hu is a contemporary blog and videoblog, which aims to convey God’s eternal creativity and love for those who feel something is missing in their lives. We are a filming crew and write editorials. Based on our Christian beliefs, we launched our volunteer media service in 2006.
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Our mission is to present God, his love and his openness towards every person. We believe that everyone has to establish his/her relationship with the Creator. Our contents are seeking to provide help and inspiration for those who wish to have a personal relationship with God. Our goal is to make people think about questions of their lives: believers, non-believers, atheists, seekers, anyone who is open for this. As Pope Francis sais "we cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him."
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Furthermore, our mission is to present these Christian values in a modern and contemporary way. During our works we have always pay considerable attention to the principle that our films should not only be a product, but that they should also become a work that conveys our values.
Over the past years we have made more than 500 films for the youth. These films have a unique style that attracts young people. They are funny and easy to digest, but they always contain a deeper spiritual message that can find a way to the heart of the viewer in Hungarian and Central European online media. These films were made by volunteers.
4. Why we are raising money?
Sr Edith Myriam Fabian, one of the sisters of the Missionaries of Mary invited us to make a film about the work of the Missionaries of Mary who founded the ACAY mission in Manila. Since it was founded, no such film has been made about the community. Our aim is to present their work and service in a touching film for an international audience. We believe that this film will convey a deep religious message that could help the viewer to experience God.
The frequent natural disasters such as typhoon Haiyan last 2013, the poverty and the huge differences between social levels make the majority of people’s lives difficult in the Philippines. In spite of this, catholic faith is a real support for society there. Here in Europe we were not exposed to such catastrophes nor the state of poverty. Still, do we Europeans have that deep faith which gives hope and promise for our lives? The aim of our film is to make people think about their lives and help them to grow in faith. We believe that we can learn from the people in Manila, and our aim is to portray this.
We would like to make a film about the Missionaries of Mary sisters. We are planning to have interviews with the sisters serving in the mission, about their faith, the hardships and the joy of their work. We will also have interviews with the young people. It is important that they talk about their problems and challenges, and their experience with God through these difficulties. The shooting of the film is planned for September 2016 over a period of two weeks. Three staff would be sent.
5. Costs of the project:
Total: 7400€