Father Ruiz’s agency vows to rebuild

06 Oct 2012

By Robert Hiini

Zuo Liu and Tan Chen Dan, cared for By Casa Ricci Social Services in Hongjiang, southeastern China, as photographed by The Record in 2009. Although the Hongjiang centre in which these children were being cared for has been unaffected, others centres run by CRSS caring for children suffering from HIV-AIDS have been disrupted by a partner agency abruptly ending their understanding. Photo: Robert Hiini

Casa Ricci Social Services (CRSS), the aid agency founded by Spanish Jesuit Fr Luis Ruiz, received a shock in August when its partner Aids Care China (ACC) abruptly ended their arrangement to care for HIV-AIDS affected children.

The work of the Catholic and Macau-based charity among China’s lepers and HIV-AIDs patients has twice been featured in The Record when Record journalists were sent to China in 2006 and 2009.

Readers of The Record in Perth and across Australia raised tens of thousands of dollars to support the remarkable work of CRSS.

Casa Ricci Director Fr Fernando Azpiroz reported that ACC, without consultation, decided to move all the children under their legal care out of the CRSS-run children homes in Guangzhou and Kunming, and will also vacate the home at Nanning.

As a consequence of ACC’s decision, the two groups signed a termination of their contract on September 1.

“After more than five years of mutual cooperation, this is a painful experience for the children and the people working in these three homes,” Fr Azpiroz said in a letter on Casa Ricci’s website.

“CRSS’ community will never regret what we have done and built together with ACC during all these years. We just feel sorry for the way this cooperation has abruptly ended, and for the unnecessary pain this will cause in the more than 30 children who were under our mutual care,” Fr Azpiroz wrote.

“CRSS is willing and ready to face the big challenge of rebuilding these three HIV Children homes (Nanning, Guangzhou and Kunming). We know that God will give us strength and guide us to find those children who need our help.”

The Hongjiang Loving Care Centre which cares for children and adults with HIV-AIDS and was featured in The Record in 2009, has not been affected by the decision.

Donations to Casa Ricci are tax deductible and can be made via Jesuit Mission (Australia) at (02) 9955 8585 or online at www.jesuitmission.org.au.