Shillong (India). On 14 February 2026, at Auxilium Provincial House, Nongthymmai – Shillong, a one-day orientation programme was held for the Local Media Coordinators of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (INS) Province. Thirty Sisters participated in the intensive training focused on visual storytelling and digital communication. The trainers were the members of the Social Communication Team of the province namely Sr. Euginia Laloo, Sr. Jenney Iawphniaw and Sr. Sandra Mary Diengdoh.
Under the theme “Towards Reading of Reality through Visuals,” the day-long training equipped sisters with skills in reels and short film making, reflecting the XXIII General Chapter’s call to engage meaningfully in the digital communication ecosystem. The training programme is a response to the call of the FMA Institute to view digital communication not merely as a tool, but as a mission – an essential environment where life and evangelical values intersect.
The programme commenced with a prayer moment led by Sr. Stella Mary Pasi who invoked the presence of the divine into the gathering. Speaking at the opening session, Sr. Euginia Laloo, Coordinator for Social Communication highlighted that young people are specifically requesting the FMA Institute to deepen their understanding of communication culture. “The presence of the FMA is significant for understanding young people and weaving with them a network of relationships in which they are interlocutors, creating spaces for dialogue in a family atmosphere,” she noted, quoting from the Institute’s Guidelines on the Presence of the FMA in Social Networks.
The morning shift was dedicated to instruction on video production techniques combined with practical skills. The afternoon session, transformed into an immersive hands-on experience, allowing participants to work directly with video editing tools using their smartphones.
This practical component culminated in a presentation of projects, where coordinators showcased their newly acquired skills and creative approaches to visual storytelling. The concluding session revealed participants’ eagerness to implement their newly acquired skills, with many expressing commitments to serve as reporters and content creators for the media mission of the Province.
“Living in the digital communication ecosystem requires audacity and competence, so that it can be a place rich in humanity, not a network of threads but of human people” (Guidelines on the Presence of the FMA in Social Networks, p.9).
