Santiago (Chile). The meeting of the Interprovincial Conference of Bolivarian Nations (CINAB) and of the Andean Region was held from 11 to 13 January 2020 in Santiago, Chile, at the House for Spiritual Exercises of the Missionaries Servants of the Holy Spirit.

The representatives of 15 Provinces of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, of the Salesians of Don Bosco, and of the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary were present. This meeting strengthens the operational coordination of 5 countries – Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela – where the Salesian presence animates hundreds of educational centers where children, adolescents, and young people are formed. There were twenty participants in charge of Education in the Provinces, while the Salesians lacked the representation of the Provinces of Venezuela and Medellin (Colombia), which were unable to participate.

The objectives of the meeting were both formative – to reflect on the care and protection of children and adolescents in educational contexts – and to verify the state of implementation of the points of the IV Congress of the Salesian School in America (ESA IV) and the sharing of good practices.

The meeting began on 11 January with the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Fr. Renè Antonio Santos, of the Dicastery of Youth Pastoral.

After the introductions and initial greetings from the SDB Provincial of Chile, Fr. Carlos Lira and the Provincial Vicar of the Province of St. Gabriel Archangel (CIL), Sr. Rosa Suazo – who gave the participants a new publication on Sister Angela Vallese, “A Flower Amid the Ice” – the Referents for the Salesian Schools in America (ESA), Sr. Ivone Goulart Lopes, from the Youth Pastoral Sector, and Fr. René Antonio Santos, welcomed everyone and relayed the message of the World Councilors for Youth Ministry, Sr. Runita Borja and Fr. Fabio Attard.

Following the presentation of the participants and the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, each Province presented the results and difficulties in the implementation of the ESA objectives. In the afternoon, a report and a workshop on the evaluation of the strategic plans and on the reference framework of the ESA Axes in the area, was held by Dr. Patricia Guajardo Zúñiga.

The following day was entirely devoted to in-depth studies on Canon Law, on the care and protection of children and adolescents in educational contexts, held by Fr. David Albornoz (SDB) and Sr. Iris Inostroza (FMA).

The meeting ended with a visit to two Social Works: the Laura Vicu̱a Day Center of the FMA in Lo Prado (Chile) and the Cardinal Ra̼l Silva Henriquez Family Residence, in Los Cerezos РLa Florida (Santiago), of the Don Bosco Foundation (SDB).

 

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