“A letter for you” – ISECENSA

Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) On 1 July 2020, as part of the “A letter for you” solidarity initiative, students and teachers of the Higher Institutes of the Educational Center of Mary Help of Christians (ISECENSA) delivered to the elderly of the Retirement Home Monsenhor Severino of Campos dos Goytacazes (Rio de Janeiro) 44 gift packages with a handwritten letter for each.

“We tried to know the characteristics of each elderly person so that they could receive the letter as a message of personal affection”, explained Túlio Baita, Coordinator of the Administration Course. The initiative also extended to Mother Marchese House of Our Lady of Penha Province of Rio de Janeiro (BRJ), where 11 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians received the letters.

The impossibility of direct contact with the guests of the Retirement Homes, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meant that the “Administrators of Joy” project, conceived and developed by the ISECENSA Administration Course in 2016, was transformed into the solidarity initiative “A letter for you”. “Social isolation has made it even more necessary to work with the elderly who, in the position of people at risk of contagion, tend to stay even further away from community life”, said Sister Rosa Idália Pesca, Director General of the Higher Instructional Institutes (CENSA).

With the awareness of the educational and social importance, ISECENSA has now consolidated the promotion of solidarity actions developed by each Course, which involve students during their academic life.

“We are committed to training highly qualified professionals who are aware of their social responsibility – said Elizabeth Landim, deputy director of CENSA and ISECENSA – “From the beginning of their studies, our students are encouraged to volunteer, to engage with others, to embrace the idea that being a professional who makes a difference includes having a human approach”.