Jarabacoa (Dominican Republic). From 21 to 25 February 2022, the 24th meeting of the CIMAC/NAC-MESOAMERICA Region for the Provincial Heads of Education of Central America, of Mexico, of La Vega, of the Antilles, and of North America took place at the Salesian Center for Promotion and Formation Pinar Quemado, in Jarabacoa.
The meeting was attended by sixteen people in presence and eight in online connection, representing 16 Provinces of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Salesians of Don Bosco, and the Daughters of the Divine Savior, a Group of the Salesian Family present in Central America who animate in the Salesian style hundreds of Educational Centers in 13 countries for the education of children, adolescents, and young people. There were also 6 young people present.
Fr. Carlos Alberto Montoya (SDB) and Sr. Flora Fanfan (FMA), regional Referents of CIMAC/NAC-MESOAMERICA, welcomed the group.
Greetings from the General Councilors for SDB and FMA Youth Ministry followed. Fr. Miguel Ángel García Morcuende reminded that evangelization takes place in the classroom, in the school program, in the formation of leaders, of educators, in the courtyard, in culture, and in the transmission of values.
Sr. Runita Borja, addressed these words, “I believe that this historical moment challenges us even more to put the person at the center, especially children, adolescents, and young people who are growing up; to create and strengthen collaboration, first of all within the Educating Communities, then with other people and Institutions linked to ours, and with society in general. The foundation of everything is faith in God. As Christians, as Salesians, we recognize that God is present and active today.”
Also present were the Provincial of the Province of St. John Bosco (ANT), Fr. José Pastor Ramirez, and the Provincial of the Province of St. Joseph, Sr. Cesarina Batista, who in her intervention spoke about the Acts of the XXIV General Chapter of the FMA Institute and priority choices: Formation, Missionary Synodality, and Integral Ecology. The initiatives of the 150th anniversary of the Foundation of the FMA Institute were also briefly presented.
The Referents of the Salesian School of America (ESA), Sr. Ivone Goulart Lopes, collaborator of the Youth Ministry Sector of the FMA Institute, and Fr. Claudio Cartes, of the SDB Youth Ministry Department coordinated the formative moment, according to the order of day: the activities carried out in 2021 and scheduled for 2022 by the Salesian School of America (ESA); and the educational pastoral action, in the light of the Magisterium of the Church, the Salesian Charism, and the Context in which it works.
Sr. Patricia Parraguez (Chile), representative of the ESA Central Commission, presented the ESA strategic planning, the steps taken so far; while Ana Paula Costa de Silva (RSB) presented the results of the survey to know the profile and formation needs of ESA educators. The journey of the CIMAC MESOAMERICA Region was then presented.
A meeting was also held for School Networks, in which to review the Strategic Planning document and reflect on the actions already in place directly or indirectly in the Provinces, and on the priorities, proposing three actions to be implemented from March to June 2022.
In the program of the days, the participants had some formative moments on the educational reality in times of pandemic in Latin America, and on St. Francis de Sales, the presentation of experiences of good practices, such as the “Salesian Ecological Movement” (ANT-SDB), as well as recreational moments animated by some schools, and a cultural outing, with stops in Santiago de los Caballeros and La Vega, at two Salesian educational Institutions.
The meeting urged the participants to continue to deepen the identity of the Network of Salesian Schools in this Region of the American continent, in which religious and laity share a charism and a style of management through shared projects, processes, and programs, which arise from the convergence of work axes planned over the years.
