From March 11th to 19th, 2023, Makoto Yamada, representative of Seibo, stayed in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Medjugorje is a pilgrimage site where, from June 24th to 29th in 1981, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to six children over six days. It is also home to a cross on Crnica Hill, erected in 1933 to mark the 1900th anniversary of the death of Jesus Christ.

Tony Smith, president of Mobell, considers Medjugorje a significant pilgrimage site where he decided to link his business to charity. Later, he also erected a similar cross in Malawi for religious community support and, subsequently, began school meal support as educational assistance in 2015.

For more information on the cross in Malawi, please visit here.

When Tony asked an elderly woman in Malawi what was most needed in the country, she responded, “jobs for the young.” This inspired him to establish a vocational training center and erect the cross. He named his charity organization that operates the vocational training center “Krizevac Project,” which translates to “Hill of the Cross” in Bosnian.

The above photo features the Hill of the Cross and St. James Church, located near the site of the Virgin Mary’s apparition.

Often, in the course of conducting business, there isn’t much time to reflect on why we are doing what we do. Still, the existence of pilgrimage sites worldwide allows us to reconsider the importance of NPO missions and reflect on our vocation and perspectives on work.

At NPO Seibo, we offer classes on career education in schools that explore business and charity aspects of career and calling. We aim to provide meaningful stories to educators and others, and we hope we can be of some help.

For more information on Seibo’s educational initiatives, please visit here.