A Jesuit Finds Divine Inspiration in Disaster Management

On most Sundays, Fr. Taroh Amédé, S.J. (G'27), presides over Mass on Georgetown's Capitol Campus.

During the week, his head is buried in a different topic: emergency and disaster management.

The Jesuit priest enrolled in Georgetown's Master's in Emergency & Disaster Management in 2024 to learn how to more effectively serve people in crisis, understand systemic challenges and respond to emergencies ranging from natural disasters to acts of terrorism.

In the process, he found his graduate program dovetails with the Jesuit mission.

"What unites these two missions is a shared commitment to the protection and dignity of human life," Amédé wrote for a School of Continuing Studies' blog. "Both seek to prevent harm and alleviate suffering."

Amédé also found something else: Emergency management not only makes him a better leader. It makes him a better Jesuit.

"I am studying EDM not in addition to being a Jesuit, but to become a better Jesuit," he wrote. "My education at Georgetown is deepening and expanding my vocation in meaningful ways."

In Georgetown's chapels and classrooms, Amédé is finding new ways to serve.

Gospel and Grad School

Amédé, 38, was born in Laï, a city in southern Chad. Growing up, he noticed how the country struggled to respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

As a young adult, he sought to help Africans in need through his Catholic faith. Amédé was drawn to the Jesuit order when a priest visited his home parish and impressed him with his eloquence and kindness, he said.

He entered the Society of Jesus in 2010, and earned bachelor's degrees in philosophy and theology from universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya. He earned an additional ecclesiastical degree, a licentiate in sacred theology from Boston College, in 2021, the same year he was ordained a Jesuit priest.

Amédé planned to return to Africa afterward, but his Jesuit superior asked him to stay in the U.S. and direct his skills toward fundraising. He worked in development roles with the African Jesuit AIDS Network and the Washington Jesuit Academy for two years while living in DC. Although he enjoyed the work, he felt compelled to serve those in need on the ground.

"I felt a necessity to impact people's lives," Amédé said. "I realized that people don't only need the Gospel, they also need food."

Graduate school was the natural next step to build on his professional experience and develop his skills in a new subject. Amédé browsed Georgetown's graduate programsin search of a "practical, concrete and impactful" part-time degree that he could balance with full-time work as a development officer at American Jesuits International. He landed on emergency & disaster management.

In studying emergency management, Amédé recognized the good he could make in people's lives. From his ministerial work, he counseledindividuals and familiesin his congregation through smaller-scale challenges. Here was an opportunity to expand those skills and reach more people in a life-saving capacity.

Community in Action

Through in-person and online courses, Amédé has met classmates and professors from different backgrounds in disaster response who offer enriching perspectives on the course material and underscore its real-world impact, he said.

"The lecturers are available any time you need them," Amédé said. "That shocked me coming from Africa, where the lecturers are more distant from students."

It didn't take long for Amédé to begin applying his newfound knowledge to make a difference.

In July 2024, Chad experienced devastating floodsthat continued through the fall. The country, which is particularly vulnerable to climate change, was still reeling from the aftermath of floods two years prior when new floods hit and displaced more than 1.3 million people.

Amédé felt his country's grief. Drawing on what he'd learned in class and his own life, he recognized the progress Chad had made toward more proactive disaster management but knew how reliant it still was on NGOs and foreign organizations for aid.

He also knew that relief efforts cost the country more money than it would have invested in preparation - every dollar spent on risk reduction saves $15 in estimated recovery costs, according to United Nations estimates.

Amédé had previously decided to center his capstone projectaround how to mobilize faith-based organizations for effective disaster response. But after the floods, he refined his focus: how religious organizations in Chad could be a grassroots resource for disaster relief and supplement the government's response efforts.

He hopes to share his research with government officials in Chad and have his proposals become part of the country's disaster planning playbook.

"Because I'm a church leader, I have the opportunity to use my congregation to respond to disasters and help people recover," Amédé said. "And now, because of what I'm learning, I'm really well-equipped to teach others how to be more professional in their disaster response and transmit to others the urgency of the work."

A Deepened Vocation

Amédé's classes on project management and risk perception have also taught him something about his Jesuit vocation.

While learning how to prevent harm before calamities strike and effectively serve people in crisis, he is practicing the essential values of his faith and becoming a better Jesuit, faith leader and community member, he said.

"I see more clearly how the Jesuit call to be 'men and women for others' intersects with the urgent challenges facing our world, especially those affecting vulnerable communities before, during, and after crises," Amédé wrote. "These studies are strengthening my compassion, sharpening my skills, and confirming me more and more in my vocation."

Amédé is applying these lessons to his role with the American Jesuits International, where he supports educational and developmental projects in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

"Through this work, I see, hear and encounter the suffering of people living on the margins," he wrote. "My education in [emergency and disaster management] gives me a better understanding of the systemic challenges they face and prepares me to respond more effectively and with greater empathy."

He's also discovered his role as a student has made him a better minister at Georgetown. His relationship to the university helps him connect with students, faculty and staff on a personal level, he said.

"When they see you preaching, they see you as another person," he said. "But when you come down from the altar, they see you also as their friend."

In true Jesuit fashion, and inspired by the preparedness emphasized in his classes, Amédé is already mapping out how to use his degree for the greater good in the future.

"I hope to continue using the knowledge I gain through the emergency and disaster management program to serve God's people and help build a world that reflects the justice, compassion and hope God desires for all creation," he wrote.

By Katie Rice