(ANS – Victorica) – Don Bosco is calling his Salesian Family today to ‘think together’, ‘plan together’, ‘work together’ and ‘pray together’ for the young and with the young people. For this reason I would like to share with you a special experience from my place of Victorica, La Pampa, Argentina: ‘Unification of the Salesian SDB – FMA schools’ with a joint Educative and Pastoral Project.

by Fr Natalino de Jesus, SDB

First of all I will share the main situation. This experience started thanks to the life of  communion and fraternity between the two SDB and FMA communities as well the wise accompaniment by both provincial councils SDB and FMA. From the beginning it was clear that we would like to reach this goal: to make the best of our Salesian educative Project in Victorica. However this goal brought us during the past six years to consider our joint work in the school. We were able to rethink in a participatory way the whole Salesian mission in this Western part of the Pampa region, where we work for three different ethnic groups.

Most challenging was the start of the whole process, when we tried to put together our new ways of running the school together. First we started to build communion between the SDB and FMA religious to build up in a systematic way our new joint Educative-Pastoral Project. Today we have a leadership team of four lay mission partners working together for the school administration and animation together with three SDBs and three FMA sisters. Regular meetings were enriched with the contributions of two provincial council members.

I’m convinced that this Project was possible thanks to two lay mission partners who are totally committed to this Project. These two ladies are the principals of two primary schools – of Mary Help of Christians and of St. John Bosco. Apart from the two religious communities, other administration teams composed of committed lay mission partners are also involved

Sometimes the circumstances and the wind of the Holy Spirit are pushing us to take new unexpected options in order to overcome certain difficulties. This is a way of mobilizing and learning a new path in which we discover the charismatic richness.

In fact the schools cater for 580 students (from kindergarten up to secondary school). Many of them come from a vulnerable socio-economic or family background typical of the local population. On the other hand, the Mission of the Western Pampa region ministers also to other situations of the indigenous people. Rural and poorer class environment is the focus of our mission here in the West Pampa region of Argentina. During the weekends SDBs and FMA travel together around our vast semi-desert region to the villages scattered around Pampa in order to share our moments of celebrations and catechetical encounters.

The primary focus of our missionary presence is the rural communities. Every weekend we travel together in a team composed of SDBs and FMA to different places in our province to share the moments of celebration, catechesis, visiting to new places, family visits and systematic youth encounters on Saturday night.

Concluding, I would like to share my attitude when I arrived in Argentina – I came here in order to listen, to observe and to learn. I didn’t come here to teach doctrine to the people but simply to share my life and faith in fraternity with the young and the people. I start by sharing with simple rural people, visiting their houses and sharing the Word of God in the Small Christian Communities. This was a most beautiful experience which I’m living in the missions at this moment.

Published 19/10/2015