Well-known Irish Columban missionary Fr Shay Cullen has been selected as this year's winner of the 'Hugh O'Flaherty Humanitarian Award'.
Fr Shay has worked tirelessly over his lifetime in the Philippines battling for the rights of children to be respected and trying to stem the depredations of child traffickers, paedophiles and the sex industry.
The award was set up in honour of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish prelate, who was based in the Vatican from 1938 until 1960, and who courageously helped save the lives of 6,500 Jews and Allied soldiers from the Nazis via the Rome Escape Line.
Fr Shay set up the PREDA Foundation in 1974 to help child victims and trafficked women who were being exploited in the sex trade that flourished alongside the huge United States Naval Base on Subic Bay in Olongapo City and at the US Clarke airbase in Angeles City. PREDA stands for “Peoples Recovery Empowerment and Development Assistance.”
PREDA uncovered and exposed widespread child sexual abuse and human trafficking involving children as young as nine years abused by US personnel and sex tourists including local men.
It works to change the unjust economic, political and social structures and attitudes that allow such abuse. It is open to people of all faiths.
Announcing the Hugh O'Flaherty Memorial Committee's chairperson, Jerry O'Grady said, "Fr Shay has given his life to protecting the human rights of oppressed and exploited children and has fearlessly challenged those who were not prepared to shoulder their responsibilities, including local vested interests, local and national government in the Philippines and the US Government."
Fr Shay said the award was in recognition of the children PREDA has rescued and "those human rights workers who, like Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, continue to work for the unjustly imprisoned, the refugees trying to escape from Isis and war and those risking their lives to help them escape."
Fr Shay has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. He has received the Ireland Meteor Award, Irish Personality of the year award, German city of Weimar and Italian city of Ferreira Human Rights awards.
About PREDA
The PREDA Foundation is an internationally recognised human rights and child rights advocate for social justice, peace, dialogue and human dignity. It is an active social development organisation today with 54 professional Filipino paid employees, implementing projects that save children from sexual abusers, human traffickers and from life in the brothels and sex bars frequented by Filipino men and foreigners of all nationalities.
It provides residential care with therapy, education, empowerment and legal action for the children in two centres in Zambales Province, one for abused girls and one for boys rescued from jails and detention centres.
The PREDA boy's home is an open community with an average of 35 boys resident in a farm setting without fences or walls. The boys are free to stay or leave. Most choose to stay. It has a full time staff of 15 therapists, social workers and qualified male nurses.
An average of 44 girls between 8 to 17 years-old live in the Girls home.
PREDA has also set up an awareness and reporting system to help people report abuse. A hotline alerts PREDA to a child in need and the PREDA rescue team is sent to rescue the child with the help of the government social worker and police if needed.
Article source: 'Independent Catholic News' (ICN), Friday, August 26. For more information on PREDA visit: www.preda.org
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