1.  Main Activities of JESCOMEAO Team during the year 2001

A. Production and Internet Projects

January - April:
Production of 150 half hour TV programs for Kuangchi Program Service's English Conversation TV series broadcast daily over China's Phoenix Satellite TV Channel.  Daily broadcast began in April and will continue into 2002.  This project was partially financed by the JCEAO.

April to present:
Construction of a website to complement the KPS TV series for China and highlight the values content of the series.  The website www.unclejerry.tv is accessible but still in the process of construction and development.  This project was financed by the JCEAO.

April:
The release of "Something More--Songs for Skeptics"--a music CD of 15 songs written by Jesuits, performed by popular singers, and aimed at Asian youth.  A joint project of JESCOMEAO and the Philippines' Jesuit Communications Foundation, the CD is being distributed internationally by Kuangchi Program Service.  JCF is now producing a series of music videos based on the songs.

June:
Distribution of The Bridge--a six-part EAPI theology lecture series, produced by Jescom Philippines.  The series is being translated and subtitled in Mandarin, Burmese, Khmer, Vietnamese and other Asian languages.

August:
Completion of the English and Chinese versions of the 53-minute video documentary "Asian Exile--The Gamble of Asia's Migrant Laborers" produced in Taiwan and Thailand. 

September to present:
Renovation and updating of the JESCOMEAO website www.jescomeao.org

October to present:
Production of a daily KPS educational TV series for children for broadcast first in Taiwan (beginning November, 2000) and later in Mainland China. 

B. Communications Training

Jan 6-25:
JESCOMEAO Special Assistant Augustine Loorthusamy coordinated four communication workshops in Yangon, Myanmar: (1) Media Awareness for 24 Major Religious Superiors of men and women; (2) Pastoral Communication for 20 Seminary professors from 11 diocesan and 2 major seminaries; (3) Communications Skills for Sisters and Brothers; (4) Communication Skills for Diocesan Directors of Communication and their assistants.  A team of 5 trainers from Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and India conducted the sessions.  This is the second series of courses for the Church in Myanmar.

Feb. 11-18:
JESCOMEAO Special Assistant with the help of Johnny Go and Letty Taberdo conducted a 5-day workshop on communication skills for the 70 participants of the EAPI's Pastoral Leadership Course.

June 10-16:
JESCOMEAO, together with OCIC/Unda Asia conducted the first of a three-years series of training courses for young Asian women communicators to help them develop media skills for use in pastoral work and human rights promotion.  Women from 14 Asian countries participated in the course that took place in Bangkok.

June 18-July 6:
JESCOMEAO, together with Taipei's Kuangchi Program Service, conducted a 3 week communications training course for students of the Fu Jen University Theologate.

August 20-25:
JESCOMEAO Special Assistant Augustine Loorthusamy conducted a one-week communications training course in Fiji for 67 seminarians from 18 countries in the Pacific Region.

Sept. 10-19:
JESCOMEAO Special Assistant Augustine Loorthusamy organized and conducted a second series of pastoral communications training courses for the Church in Sri Lanka.

C. Meetings and Conferences

Feb. 27:
Planning meeting at the JCEAO on the Assistancy Magazine and electronic news service for the Assistancy.
Meeting with Jescom Philippines

July 6:
Planning meeting with JESCOMEAO Special Assistant Augustine Loorthusamy, in Kuala Lumpur. 

July 7-15:
JESCOMEA participated in and helped organize a conference of the International Study Commission on Religion, Media and Culture in Bangkok.  Scholars from North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia participated.

July 7-15:
JESCOMEAO together with a group of Asian colleagues formed the "Asian Communication Network"-- a pool of competent, dedicated and mobile Asian communicators, inspired by the values of the Gospel and other religions, who volunteer their services in response to communication needs in the region, especially training and co-production.   

July 16-18:
Visits and meetings with Bishop George Phimphisan of Udon Thani, Thailand, and the Bishop of Vientiane, Laos concerning communications training for the Church in Laos.

Aug. 1-2:
Planning meeting at the JCEAO for a workshop on interreligious dialogue in 2002.
Meeting with Jescom Philippines

November 17-18:
Meeting of JESCOM Secretaries in Rome.

November 19-27:
OCIC/Unda World Congress in Rome and foundation of SIGNIS--the new World Catholic Association for Communication, which replaced the former organizations.  JESCOMEAO helped organize and conduct the Asian regional meetings, produced the Asian audio-visual presentation, and facilitated the participation of delegates from Cambodia and Vietnam.

December 7-11:
Annual JCEAO meeting of Secretaries and Major Superiors in Hong Kong.

2.  On-going and Unfinished Projects

Assistancy Vocation Video: 
Funding for this production, which is to be carried out by the Jesuit Communications Foundation in Manila, has been allocated by the JCEAO. 
Planning has been done, but actual production has been delayed until February
2002 due to changes at Jesuit  Communications Foundation in Manila and
the schedules of key Jesuit personnel.
Development and promotion of the interactive website which supplements the
English TV Series for China.

Development of the JESCOMEAO website.
Because of the unexpectedly heavy production schedule at Kuangchi, the
JESCOMEAO Secretary had to postpone his planned visit to Sanggar Prathivi, Puskat
Audio-Visual Studio, Kanisius Publishers, and scholasticates in Indonesia until 2002.
Acquisition of radio and printing equipment for East Timor.  Because of the injury and
prolonged recovery of Ruedi Hofmann, this project has been delayed until Ruedi returns to East Timor in Easter, 2002.

3.  Planned Activities 2002

January: 
KPS Children's English TV series
Meeting of the Asian Communications Network core committee
Third series of communications training in Myanmar

February:
Communications training course at CREC-AVEX, Lyon, France
Conference on interreligious dialogue in Yogyakarta
Communications skills training at EAPI

March:
Training course for producers/directors of 15 TV stations in Vietnam's central and Mekong Delta region on the production of educational TV for rural audiences.

June:
Puskat Training Course and/or Second training course for Asian women communicators

August:
Training course for Malaysian major seminarians Penang.
No Dates:

Training course for Cambodian seminarians, sisters, priests, laypeople.

Visits to Assistancy units, especially Indonesia (as time allows)

4.  JESCOMEAO Network

A.  Coordinators:

Jerry Martinson, SJ, Secretary
Mr. Augustine Loorthusamy, part time Special Assistant
Mr. Michael J. So

B.  Secretaries (active):

Philippines - Johnny Go, SJ
East Timor - Ruedi Hofmann, SJ
Taiwan - Jerry Martinson, SJ
Australia - Michael Kelly, SJ
Micronesia - Fran Hezel, SJ

C.   Secretaries (nominal) and Contact Persons:

Thailand - Alfonso de Juan, SJ
Indonesia - Yosephus Iswarahadi, SJ
Hong Kong - Ciaran Kane, SJ
Macau - Luis Sequeira, SJ
Cambodia - Sr. Denise Coughlan
Malaysia/Singapore - Leslie Raj, SJ
Korea - Bob McIntosh, SJ
Japan - Sanji Yamaoka, SJ

D.  Regional Collaborators:

Jeremy Clarke, SJ, Assistancy Publication
Fr. Jude Botelho, Asian Communication Network, Coordinator
Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers, SVD, Secretary,
FABC Office for Social Communications
Ms. Siriwan Santisakultarn, President, SIGNIS Asia

E.   Volunteers

Ms. Letitia Taberdo, volunteer
Ms. Yvonne Siu, volunteer Consultant
Mr. Abelardo Cordero, volunteer Technical Consultant