Kachin celebrate silver jubilee of RVA service in their own language BANMAW, Myanmar (UCAN) : Kachin people in Myanmar's youngest diocese are celebrating 25 years of a Catholic radio service in their ethnic language.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), the Manila-based short-wave station run by Asia's Catholic bishops, has been airing its Kachin Service since Nov. 15, 1982. For the local Church celebration of the Kachin Service anniversary, about 500 Kachin Catholics on Nov. 18 crowded into St. Patrick's Cathedral in Banmaw, Kachin state, 840 kilometers north of Yangon, as did Kachin Catholics in other diocesan parishes that same day. Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam of Banmaw heads the diocese that had been carved out of Myitkyina diocese in August 2006. The two dioceses cover Kachin state. The Kachin Service programs, broadcast 6:00-6:27 each morning and 7:00-7:27 every night, discuss the Bible, health, youth and education, satisfy song requests, and provide local and international news as well as information on the saints. The programs also deal with traditional Kachin customs and include a question-and-answer session, Church news, homilies and Gospel readings. There are about 1.2 million Kachin, living mostly in Myanmar's Kachin state but also in China's Yunnan province and northeastern India. The Kachin are a major ethnic group that includes subgroups of Jinghpaw, Rawang, Atsi and Lisu. According to the Myanmar government, 57 percent of its Kachin are Buddhists and 36 percent Christians, and the rest have other faiths. The Catholic Church says there are about 100,000 Catholics in Kachin state. One of the Catholics who told UCA News how listening to RVA has helped them is Marta Mary Kaw, 60, secretary of the Women's Association in St. Patrick Cathedral parish. She said she became a more understanding and considerate mother to her children after she began listening, and "I now switch on the radio so the children can also listen to the youth program." U La Ja, another St. Patrick's Cathedral parishioner, said even his non-Catholic neighbors listen to and appreciate the Kachin Service. He related that a woman told him she feels privileged to listen to RVA and asserted that though Catholic nuns are unmarried, they give very good advice about marriage. Fellow parishioner Nang Lum said that when she was assistant catechist on Sundays in the hilly regions, she took along her radio so others could listen. Zing Htung Gam, from St. Bridget Church, said the RVA programs have taught him to work with others to accomplish a task effectively. This has become his motto for life, he added, and it has worked very well for him. Archbishop Paul Zinghtung Grawng of Mandalay, who visited the diocese's St. Patrick's Church in Momauk, told people at the Mass, "We can share love with each other after listening to the love of God from Radio Veritas Asia." RVA's Burmese, Karen and Kachin services regularly attract more than a million listeners. The Burmese Service has at least 600,000 listeners, the Karen Service more than 300,000, and the Kachin Service more than 200,000. The Burmese Service has been on air since Nov. 13, 1978, and the Karen Service began a few months before the Kachin Service. A Zomi-Chin language broadcast for several tribal groups in India and Myanmar began in 1996. Father Francis Lum Dum, a priest of Myitkyina diocese, launched the Kachin Service and ran it single-handedly for two years until 1984 when two nuns began to help him put the Kachin Service together. Today, a priest, a nun, a brother and one laywoman work for the Kachin Service in the Philippines. (<http://www.theindiancatholic.com/report.asp?nid=9739>http://www.theindiancatholic.com/report.asp?nid=9739) via <http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/>www.kimandrewelliott.com Yours truly, MD. AZIZUL ALAM AL-AMIN E-65, GOURHANGA, GHORAMARA RAJSHAHI-6100 BANGLADESH ---[Start Commercial]--------------------- Order your WRTH 2008: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/redirect2.php?id=wrth2008 ---[End Commercial]----------------------- ________________________________________ Hard-Core-DX mailing list [email protected] http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/hard-core-dx http://www.hard-core-dx.com/ _______________________________________________ THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE IS FREE. It may be copied, distributed and/or modified under the conditions set down in the Design Science License published by Michael Stutz at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html
