The partnership between the Jesuit Migrant Service and CMPC celebrates its third anniversary
The Chilean company provided two works by well-known Chilean muralist Luis “Mico” Henríquez for one of the JSM offices in Santiago this week. Event attendees had the chance to help paint some of the work.
CMPC Chairman Luis Felipe Gazitúa, along with Jesuit Migrant Service (JSM) National Director Waleska Ureta, and Chaplain Pablo Walker S.J., arrived at the Ignacio Vergara Community Center of the Jesuit Service for Migrants (JSM) in the Estación Central neighborhood of Santiago, Chile. Here the Service carries out workshops with migrant children and supports families arriving in Chile to maintain and strengthen the alliance between the two organizations.
In 2021, JSM carried out the #CambiemosLaMirada campaign along with CMPC in response to the humanitarian migration crisis that was occurring at that time. Ever since then the two have taken a number of actions focused on education for children, integration and inclusion of foreign workers in the company’s operations, among others.
That is why more than three years after the partnership was formed, the CMPC Chairman arrived at Estación Central, where he toured part of the facilities of the Jesuit Migrant Service. Afterwards he made a donation to beneficiary families and another contribution to the office, namely two murals by Chilean artist Luis “Mico” Henríquez. One is on the building’s exterior and the other is inside the Ignacio Vergara Community Center. The latter was painted by families attending the event as well as Luis Felipe Gazitúa, Waleska Ureta and Pablo Walker.
“I am grateful for the invitation to this event and for being able to be part of the JSM, which I first learned about at my daughter’s school. They explained the immigration procedures to follow in Chile, which is quite challenging. To make matter’s worse, when I was working on the paperwork for my two daughters, my cell phone was stolen, and I didn’t know what to do or how to begin again. So, I came here with a few documents in hand and, now with their help I’m about to obtain our identity cards. I am very grateful for their assistance,” said María Jessica Bascango, who attended the event.
The Jesuit Migrant Service National Director Waleska Ureta said that the alliance with CMPC “is very important to us, as it has enabled us to serve thousands of people and to be in this beautiful space where we can welcome families and children. This gathering today is very meaningful to us. We want to express our gratitude and celebrate this civil society alliance between the company and the Jesuit Migrant Service. It lets us work together to demonstrate what is possible, that we can do things that are very important for the country today, such as the situation facing migrants and refugees.”
CMPC Chairman Luis Felipe Gazitúa said, “A company like ours, which has operations in 14 countries around the world and has 30 nationalities represented on its staff, is a multicultural one. For this reason, we believe that the issue of migration, which is very pressing in Latin America, is something that we must get involved in, especially since our company is a sustainable one and has existed for more than 104 years (…) We understand that this is a problem that Chilean society is dealing with, all of Latin America really, and we know we must do our part.”
According to JSM figures, by the end of 2022 there were more than 1,600,000 foreigners living in Chile who were forced to leave their countries of origin. More than 20,000 people have benefited from JSM’s programs as of the year 2000 when a group of Jesuits opened up an office for assisting migrants in Chile.
