MELBOURNE: 12th January 2005 -- Really, from the perspective at least of the austraLasia desk which is fielding enquiries from all over the world, one gains an interesting perspective: a teacher from Bolton UK missing, presumed dead in Thailand: 'can we help by contributing to a school there?', asks the local teacher's union.  In Sydney, clothing sent to a Salesian community looking after young people at risk: 'could we send what we cannot use to help out where it may be absolutely needed?' asks the Rector of the community there.  And now, news from the Vietnamese community in Australia...

    Fr Anthony Quang SDB, Melbourne-based chaplain and long-established leader of the Vietnamese community, began Dan Chua many years ago, a publishing venture which keeps expatriate Vietnamese aware of things Catholic and social both at home in Australia where they now belong and at home in Vietnam where they came from.  But he does more than that - he is also a well-recognised pastoral figure along with other Vietnamese clergy, on radio and in social welfare areas, as their people move through the various processes of cultural assimilation.

    Now Dan Chua has run a brief campaign to drawn funds for Asian Tsunami victims.  Through correspondence in the magazine, but especially through several hour-long appeals conducted by Vien Xu Radio, Fr Quang has to date raised a cool $31,500.  Stacked up against the several billion of the international community it may look a drop in a turbulent ocean, until you think that it will be cash in hand, immediately available to those to whom it will ultimately be directed.

    The funds, and additional support that will undoubtedly flow from the venture, are being channelled via ASMOAF, the Australian Salesian Missions Overseas Aid Fund.

'austraLasia' is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia-Pacific.  It functions also as an agency for ANS, based in Rome.  Try also www.bosconet.aust.com  and Lexisdb  If you would like a copy of the Salesian Thesaurus, do not hesitate to ask by return mail.  In hard copy 132 pages; in digital form 157 kb.