Once again, around the feast of Champagnat and as part of the activities of the Open Network of Champagnat Global, the meeting of the international Marist school community took place in the online modality: “Together to look beyond”, on this occasion with the title: “Building the Global Compact on Education Pact in Marist Schools”.
Br. José Sánchez Bravo, Director of the Secretariat for Education and Evangelisation, opened the meeting.
The opening was given by Brother Ernesto Sánchez, Superior General, who reminded us that our founder had ‘attentive ears and a daring heart’, looking for the best way to continue to generate Marist life. Thus, he said, the Champagnat Global network is the place where we can continue that mission and connect directly with the educational commitment to which we have been invited by the Pope.
After the opening greeting, the participants were able to experience a moment of celebration prepared by the Santa Marta Marist School and Social Centre of Brazil. A moving greeting and an inspiring song, “Marcellin taught“, helped to commemorate and celebrate the presence of Marcellin and the Marist spirit.
Br. Ben Consigli, General Councillor, liaison with the Secretariat for Education and Evangelisation, introduced the assembly to the theme of the Global Compact on Education, recalling the commitment we have as a Marist school to the initiative of Pope Francisco. He also reminded us of the African saying: “It takes a whole village to educate a child”, which reflects the need to generate a network, a favourable and global environment that helps to educate us as global citizens.
An excellent lecture by Br Juan Antonio Ojeda (La Salle) on the implications of the Global Compact for schools, focused us on the essence of Pope Francisco’s proposal.
Br. Juan Antonio set out the steps to be able to continue with this commitment, looking and listening humbly to what is happening outside our schools to meet the existing needs; generating a change from the bottom (from the local) to the top (towards the global).
After this conference, the Marist Notebook of the Global Compact on Education was presented, a notebook that brings together different activities and dynamics carried out in the Marist Provinces to promote the seven commitments proposed by the GCE.
Another very enriching moment of the webinar was the presentation by different provincial representatives of some of the activities included in the above-mentioned notebook:
- Mexico Central – Eduardo Preciado presented ‘Revbélate’, an art and culture programme in which students are the real creators.
- The Integrated Schools Network of Brazil. Marista Brasil – Br. Natalino Guilherme shared about the Social Intervention Projects, where they hold a forum for students to present challenges and solutions to different problems in the community.
- Ibérica – Jaime Feo explained Campus Ibérica, a coexistence activity where students have to solve a challenge of a current and global theme, in a collaborative way.
- Star of the Sea – Mark Elliott introduced us to the programme to improve learning and professional effectiveness where teachers are sent to places like East Timor to teach English, among other things, to teachers in the area.
At the end of the presentations, Angela Mediero, responsible for communication at Champagnat Global, led an interesting moment in which some of the questions and concerns shared in the chat by the participants were discussed.
Br. Luis Carlos Gutiérrez, Vicar General, gave an encouraging farewell message to the school community, encouraging everyone to be agents of change and to try to find spaces of service and freedom and in this way to bring about change through the lived experiences of one another.
We take this opportunity to thank the executive secretary of Champagnat Global, Javier Llamas, for the animation of the meeting, as well as our digital volunteer, Luis Pérez, for all his collaboration with the design and image of the event.
A big thank you to the 800 people who registered for the event and to the 300 who had the opportunity to participate.
If for some reason you were unable to attend or you wish to watch it on a recorded version, you can follow it on Youtube.
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