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CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES OF THE PRIORY OF ST JAMES
Charitable work is one of the principal purposes of the SMOTJ, and the Priory of St James divides its charitable activities between local and international causes. Recently, the objects of the Priory's charitable focus have included:
The Priory of St. James has recently committed itself to a special, long-term humanitarian project in support of providing safe drinking water in Third World and Developing nations. Dysentery and amoebal disease are the second largest killers of children in the Third World. Yet, it is a simple and 
inexpensive disease to cure. The cause is always the same - dirty, contaminated water. Half of all hospital beds in the world are occupied by someone suffering from a water-related illness. In the developing nations, 80% of all diseases stem from consumption of and exposure to unsafe water. Contaminated water is deadlier than any other evil on earth; deadlier than AIDS; deadlier than cancer, deadlier than contagious diseases; deadlier even than World Wars. During the Second World War, one soldier died every 5 seconds. Today, one human being dies every 3.5 seconds from drinking contaminated water.
For these reasons, it has been decided that the Priory of St. James would adopt a clean water program as its international charitable focus. Central and South America appear to provide the greatest chances for early success, and opportunities are being explored there. One such charity, Living Water, is headquartered in Toronto and Halliburton, has a record of success and are wonderful people. There is also the opportunity for Knights and Dames to actually join them on their drilling expeditions and participate. Watch for updates and additional reports soon.
Support for Christian Churches in the Holy Land
There is a small village church, St George at Ein-Kenya (Arabic, Ein Qinya), one of the only four occupied villages and the only Christian Church that remains open on the Golan Heights. The village has about 1700 people, the majority being of the Druze faith, with five remaining Christian families served by the church. The Church is respected by the other residents of the Golan Heights and is still used at least three times a year when all the families come together in celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Father Joseph Issa, the Maronite Priest of Nazareth, has accepted pastoral responsibilities for these families and visits them at least six times a year in their homes. The Church remains the symbol of how these families have come together in their various denominations beneath one roof in praise of God. The Church needs significant work and the Priory of St James has committed $2,000 in 2008 for its repair and upkeep.
Shoe Program for Homeless Persons
Beginning in 2006, members of the Priory of St. James collected and delivered over 500 pairs of shoes to the Foot Clinic for Homeless Persons at the Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto. As the Very Rev. Douglas Stoute, Dean of Toronto, noted, “Homeless people spend all day on their feet and it is imperative that they have good shoes.”
Under the supervision of Charitable Activities Committee Chair Dame Joan Peters, DCTJ, Dame Dai Gaasenbeek, DCTJ played a pivotal role in coordinating the collection of gently-used shoes from various Toronto athletic clubs. Chev. John Walsh, KTJ and Dame Barbara Walsh, DTJ accounted for over 200 pairs of shoes through the diligent efforts of one of their employees.
Gloria Wiebe, RN, director of the foot clinic expressed her personal thanks to Dame Joan for the contributions.
Humewood House
Dame Anne Matthewman, DTJ organized a group of Templars to attend the Christmas party for clients of Humewood House (a facility for pregnant and parenting mothers aged 13-19 years old) on December 21, 2006. Over a dozen members of the Priory attended and brought gifts for mothers and babies, served Christmas dinner and sang carols (to the piano accompaniment of Chev. Michael Willson).
Afghanistan Project
The St James Priory was very fortunate to learn of an unusual need in Afghanistan through Canadian Forces members who were serving there under the UN Mandate. Lt Cmdr Albert Wong, who was assigned to Kabul with the United Nations Mission as a Public Relations Officer, was able to directly assist an orphanage and a school for disabled children in Kabul during his year-long tour in Afghanistan.
Albert is a full time member of the Canadian Armed Forces and is very proud of being able to assist in the creation of a school for disabled homeless children found in the streets of Kabul. This incredible project was started by an Afghan-American woman called Mrs. Shirzai on her own initiative without any funding or support from either government or private sources. The school now provides basic literacy and skills training to 23 children.
The children themselves are handicapped street people who, without the school, would barely be able to cope with life’s challenges. For six days a week they receive training to assist them with their disability, along with proper schooling in reading and writing. In order to enhance the training abilities of her school, Mrs. Shirzai had dreamed of receiving specialized training herself to be able to better meet the needs of her adopted children. Through his various international contacts Albert was able to find a similar program which existed in Iran.
To make this dream a reality, either Mrs. Shirzai had to go to Iran or a teacher from Iran would have to travel to Kabul. As Mrs. Shirzai, by the very nature of her program, was very short staffed, a decision was made to somehow arrange travel to Kabul for an Iranian teacher. Not having any viable means of funding this expense through either government or UN programs, Albert appealed to the Templars to fund the endeavour - which amounted to $1,500.00 US.
This amount covered not only airfare but also "leave behind literature in Arabic" and program models to assist Mrs. Shirzai. Considering that the teacher from Iran would stay for one week as well as provide program models in Arabic, such a small sum would reap considerable rewards. The St. James Priory members met and quickly decided to wire the money to Albert, who ensured that the program was carried out as quickly as possible.
In order to prevent any possible objection from Moslem factions, the donation was executed under the "Silent Knight" program. Albert has now returned to Canada and is in the process of establishing a registered charity under the terms of the Canada Revenue Act. We expect there will be many more opportunities to assist Mrs Shirzai. In fact, based on her model as refined by the training she received, the school has been asked by the Afghan Ministry of Education to consider setting up a centre of excellence for disabled learning and to start up more schools in Afghanistan. We can now look forward to assisting, in an even greater way, this exciting and meaningful project.