"WE ARE FAMILY" - DECEMBER 2022

Let's walk together - Lettre December 2022 

Dear friends, 

We are pleased to present you with our third letter which deals with fraternal actions carried out in different institutions of our Congregation. It is our last letter on the theme of Fraternity.

We are Family

We warmly thank the readers who help us by participating and supporting the publication of "Let's walk together"... 

Thanks in particular to Jean-Luc Mouesca, Director of the Sainte-Marie School in Biarritz, who was inspired by our letter of August as a pastoral topic. Here is his testimony:

"Hello, I would like to thank you for the quality of your August letter. It allows me to reflect on the pastoral care of the year for the educational community of Sainte-Marie de Biarritz school. I will not fail to forward the link to your letters, hoping to win the loyalty of some of my colleagues... Keep it up! Fraternally", Jean-Luc Mouesca, Headmaster.

Dear friends, for the upcoming letters, we would like to ask you, the readers, to suggest the themes you would like to see addressed. Please let us know what you would like to see in the future by sending an e-mail ensemblelsm@gmail.com or via our Facebook group.

Fraternal actions

 FRANCE 

• Ste-Foy school in Toulouse : Stéphanie Delatorre, Head mistress

In May 2019, I was contacted by a "teacher in charge of school and precariousness" concerning two Bulgarian children, Deniz and Krasimir, who live in a slum near the school. These two children have never been to school, although the older one is old enough to go to second class, and there are no places for them in the public schools in the area that have the UPE2A system for non-native speakers. The question was: would I accept to take in these two pupils, free of charge of course?

The mission was not easy: Denis and Krasimir do not speak a word of French, just like their family. They have nothing and live by begging on a busy street near the school. Father Cestac went to help the street girls in his time; it was unthinkable not to help these two street children. 

Denis and Krasimir therefore entered the school and had to get past the questioning, even contemptuous, looks of some families: what are two street children doing in a public school? There was no question of them being in their child's class because they live outside with very poor hygiene (and the arrival of COVID in 2020 did not help). Some teachers were also afraid to receive them in their classrooms. 

But on the other hand, a great deal of solidarity was established through various donations (clothes, shoes, hygiene products). A washbasin and a shower were installed in the squat, and the family was helped with the formalities: it is not easy to access health care and check-ups for the children when you don't speak the language, have no means of transport, no social security, no address, etc.

Denis and Krasimir have made their place among their little friends (the pupils have never shown the slightest reservation towards them). We provide all the school material (regularly eaten by the rats in the squat), lunches, clothes and shoes, Christmas presents, access to all the activities with the necessary material, thanks to the solidarity of the parents and teachers. Thus, Krasimir went on a snowshoeing trip to the mountains, he was able to learn how to ice-skate, to use a computer, he went to the swimming pool... The class photos and paid outings are financed by the school's parents' association.

I put aside the "obstacle course" aspect of this experience to keep only the good moments, the progress (access to reading and writing for example, a nice victory to start their integration into society) and the beautiful solidarity that was set up around these children that we welcomed with a lot of love and hope.  

• Stella Maris school complex, Anglet

As a reminder, the Stella Maris school complex is located on the Domaine du Refuge near the various social structures of the Congregation (crèche, old people's home, children's home of a social nature, family reception service, residential home for differently abled and reception facility for unaccompanied minors).

Each year, the students of the BTS in Social and Family Economics at the school establish links with the residents of the François de Paule residential home; for example, in 2022, the latter came to give a talk during the lessons and were able to visit the secondary school, while students from the vocational high school led a well-being workshop for the residents of the Family Welcome Service.

• Fraternity between young people with disabilities from the Nid Basque in ANGLET and students from the high school (SPVL Proximity and Local Life Services section): making adapted games 

Within the framework of the Externalized Teaching Unit at the Stella Maris High School, 3 groups of "Mobilization" from the IME du Nid Basque participated in a shared project with the high school students of the Terminale Bac Professionnel SPVL. For 6 weeks, on Monday mornings and early afternoons, from 8 March to 14 April, the high school students and the young people from the IME jointly designed and made games out of wood, cardboard, paper or digital media. The work was done in small groups or in pairs in order to get to know each other better. 

This project allowed the students to discover the workshops of subcontracting, laundry and carpentry at the IME, and the young people of Le Nid Basque to show their pre-professional skills. In addition, they were made aware of the FALC language (Easy to Read and Understand), which makes all written material accessible, using adapted images, logos and pictograms. During this wonderful cooperation, games such as Möllky, Morpions, Memory cards and 7 Families were created, as well as other games on digital media which could then be made available to the IME boarding school, the François de Paule home and others. 

This project has also helped to change the way people look at people with disabilities, and real exchanges have taken place between all the young people, who were delighted with this experience, which promises new joint actions in the future.

• Solidarity March on 4 October 2022
  

Aim of this march: it was organized by the chaplains and PE teachers of the Stella Maris high school for the benefit of the Etorkinekin Diakite association. All the students, who left from the Lycée Stella Maris, were able to choose between the 3 courses proposed: Sable d'or, Marinella and Corsaire. This march was supervised by the BTS ESF (Family Social Economy) students accompanied by the CAP APM (Prevention and Mediation Agent) students. The finish line of all the groups was on the beach of La Barre where there were animations: music group of the high school and a fruit stand. At the finish line, the winners were rewarded. 

The "Solidarité-Migrants Etorkinekin" Collective is present throughout the North and South Landes Basque Country. It is based on 2 main axes:

- public citizen action to inform, raise awareness and denounce migration policies and their harmful consequences;

- reception, accompaniment and support for migrants.

In parallel to the sports activities and in anticipation of the approaching winter, a collection of warm clothes for migrants is organized on Stella-Maris until Christmas.

 IVORY COAST 

• Fraternity at the heart of the mission, by Sr. Marie-Ange Ido

Fraternity is not only lived in friendship. It is also lived out in the work we do in our different communities. Here in Ivory Coast, our mission is centered on the evangelization of the people and the service of the poorest through catechesis, visiting the sick, boarding schools for girls, pre-school and primary school teaching, care of malnourished babies, training of young people in tailoring and literacy training for young people and adults. All these missions are carried out with the support of others and we are helped in these various missions by lay employees and sometimes by people of good will.

Fraternity is not outside this relationship of service which binds us together and beyond, we become brothers and sisters, in moments of joy and sorrow, we are together as a family. This Fraternity finds its meaning in our commitment to follow Christ who brings us together to witness to his love. Clearly, the people who often share this Fraternity with us in the mission remember above all our joy of living, our rigor of work well done and the providence at the heart of this mission. We agree so well with Father Cestac in these words: "As for trust in providence, it is not separated, for us, from trust in the most Holy Mother of God, since it is always through her that this adorable providence has signaled its benefits to us." (Day after day, with Father Cestac).

 INDIA 

• Fraternity and solidarity lived in Maria Nikethan Day Care Centre for the mentally and physically challenged persons at Gudalur, by Sœur Beena-Jose

We receive the different age group of mentally and physically challenged persons in our center.  We entertain them with physical activities, vocational training like candle making and cover making etc., and give them mid-day meal and snacks. It is an outing for them and they enjoy their life mingling with one another.

We are partially supported by the assistance of the people who comes to visit the center for birthday celebrations, death anniversaries and wedding anniversaries. The celebrants come to spend their time along with our special children conducting some recreational programs, birthday cake cutting and sharing the meals with us. There are also some families from our parish support us with provisional things to maintain the center. There are times social work students come for their exposure programs. We are supported and encouraged by the local people and they express their gratitude and solidarity. They are happy about our service which we render for the poor and special students.

 SPAIN 

• Community in Alliance of San Sebastián

Sent by our Congregations: Sisters of Compassion and Servants of Mary, we live in Community 4 sisters since April 2019, one sister of Compassion and three Servants of Mary. The aim of our Community is to continue the presence of Consecrated Life in the "Gizaide" Project: care and accompaniment of people with mental illness.  And by the way, we have just celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Foundation on 16 and 18 November.

We live Fraternity by assuming our differences, knowing that we are complementary and mutually enriching each other with our charisms: "Mary at the foot of the Cross" and "Mary at Annunciation, the Yes of Mary". Both foundations are dedicated to looking at and living with the poor and marginalized.

We began this adventure with enthusiasm, not knowing where the Spirit would lead us with a text that we consider to be the foundation: "Invitation to be born again" (Jn 3:2-8). We have also concretized a Community Project that we have refined more and more, recognizing each one of us, bringing what we are to the community group and living the Mission in Alliance, convinced that we are being offered the opportunity to live the dream that "another Religious Life is possible". We are always on a journey of searching and are more aware of what it means to live as an Alliance Community, adapting ourselves to the present reality and open to what the Spirit is doing in our world.

We live in gratitude and hope, and in our fraternal life we live it with intensity, each one of us preparing for the week and sharing the tasks that we have assigned to them, each one feeling responsible for the rest of the Community. We continue to take steps and we feel the company of Mary and the light of the Spirit in the simplicity of everyday life.

 LATIN AMERICA 

• Students of the school Nuestra Señora de Monte Grande, ARGENTINA

We are students in our last year of high school, Malena Luna Martínez and Federico Nahuel Bueno. We are both 17 years old. In this letter we are going to comment on our experience with the activity called "Leaders". An extracurricular space that takes place in the school on Saturday mornings. It is a proposal where very different and particular actions are carried out. Where it is optional to belong to the group and this is done from the bottom of the heart, from belief, from faith. A place and a space that the school offers so that you can free yourself, be yourself and learn from others, whether they are leaders or led. "Leaders" stands for unity, solidarity and community.

The truth from our experience is that in these three years of "Youth Community" and three years of "Leaders", we are very lucky to belong to this group. We have had unforgettable moments. We have done many days of accompanying and encouraging children and teenagers (who do many reflection activities, games and songs in their midst). We share moments of spirituality, which leave us with many lessons. We also have a place for the artistic, be it theatre, music, drawing, etc. It allows us to express ourselves in a unique way, free of thoughts, emotions and feelings.

Personally, it has helped us to grow and mature as people, to socialize, to fulfil different roles, to learn from children, teenagers and adults, to know how to share space and place with people we have never spoken to. We believe that being "leaders" is something that cannot be expressed in words, because it has to be lived to be understood. We feel that it is beneficial to get up early for every meeting. It makes a lot of boys and girls have more than a good time at school and we go there with the aim of making everyone smile. We would say that it has changed our lives to a great extent and we would do it many times over. Thank you for allowing us to express ourselves and talk about what makes us very happy.

Leaders means Fraternity. Fraternity means respect. Fraternity means listening with an open heart. Fraternity means firmness in one's own convictions. For there is no true Fraternity if you negotiate your own convictions. This is, in simple terms, what "Leaders" is Fraternity.

• AMA Group, Llavallol, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA

Testimony of Evelin, mother of the group: my name is Evelin, I am 16 years old and have a baby of one year and three months. With other girls, young mothers, we are in the AMA group. When I joined, I met people with a big heart, who struggle every day to help each of us so that no baby goes without. Helping us with: nappies, food, hygiene products for our children, etc.

For me, it was a great help and I am very grateful beyond the material gives me a lot of tenderness the affection they give us. I like to meet every Saturday with Sister Cristina, Gaby, Lorena and the other mothers. Besides, it is good to share beautiful evenings with them and to talk. In the discussions we try to solve our problems, to move forward, to know that we can always be a better person and give the best to our children.

We are a group where we support each other, always with a heart ready to learn from each other.

• María de Belén Foundation, by Sr. Nidia, Goya, ARGENTINA

Affection and self-confidence between brothers, sisters or people who treat each other as such.

This is a simple definition, to really live Fraternity by choice, I believe, means affection and trust, but also respect for the other, sometimes leaving one's own convictions in order to be able to accompany and live those of others, without ceasing to be oneself. Have patience in the daily walk because sometimes the other person is by nature slower or still cannot see. Value the gifts of the brother or sister, let it happen. Respect each other's culture and diversity. Accept that my brother or sister is limited, express my affection and acknowledge his or her achievements. 

It seems very easy, but the wonderful thing is to be able to live it and, if we try every day, in simplicity and humility, trusting in the Providence of Jesus and Mary, we will find ourselves living a sisterhood of sisters.

• Sister Marita, URUGUAY

I keep thinking about the "paralytic in the pool" who has been trying to dive into the water for 38 years to heal himself. And I ask myself: did no one feel close to him to help him? Did no one see him and feel compassion for this man? Jesus who visualized him... took him out of obscurity, put him on his feet and sent him where surely this man loved life.

Today, in our post-pandemic mission in Uruguay, we are struck by an alarming reality: the deterioration of the mental health of children, adolescents and young people. The paralytics in our environment, in our neighborhood. We knew many of them when they were children and now, they are wandering around looking for drugs. Exposed to crime to pay for their consumption. They left the education system because it did not meet their concerns... So, we ask ourselves: what to do? Mary, Mother, Teacher and Helper will enlighten us and make us like the Good Father: "Ask only for my Spirit".

Our proposal for confinement starts with school support.

The boys arrive from school and are received with patience... They have a snack. And they go with their teachers. Little by little we painfully discover that although the program is very important, every day we hear of deep loneliness, fears, violence (physical, verbal, sexual). These are children between 8 and 12 years old. They cannot defend themselves because their family is "fractured". There is no such first containment. Single women with children of different ages. Without access to basic services, in many cases. Children discriminated against and beaten because they "were poor". For some of them, this is their great sadness. For this reason, when they arrive running and noisy, they look for priority: the hug, the caress and the kiss of the teacher, the facilitator. This is the first meal before the snack.

In a society with a humanitarian deficit, we call on creativity by looking for ways to express ourselves that release our anxiety about something. It was the volunteers (women from the neighborhood who have lived there all their lives) who said to themselves: "Let's take a notebook and those who wish to write something personal know that we will read it to help... encourage... guide". We read about a little brother's suicide attempts, about girls marking themselves with something sharp as if to say, "That's it... that was so you'd realize I'm here and you'd help me."

Once a week we have Joy Workshops: games. Songs. And a short reflection or story or video... that reinforces them, that energizes them.

"And a very high number of suicides."

In our country in 2021, there were 758 suicides (some of them close to our community.) It is a subject that people "keep quiet" because it is embarrassing. That's why we prepared ourselves by taking a suicide prevention course. And we networked with other institutions to seek, above all, the professional attention of the psychiatrist, psychologist and social worker. The WHO diagnoses that every 40 seconds 1 person commits suicide and 20 attempt to do so. We are talking about 800,000 human beings... My God and Lord!

And to finish... back to the roots: we are going out, attentive and above all we repeat "to give back the desire and the taste of Life".

A concluding prayer

Prayer to the Lord to enable us to live in full fraternity with our brothers and sisters of other religions by praying for each other.

O merciful God, I praise and thank You for Christians and Muslims, believers and unbelievers who in the neighborhoods speak to each other, respect each other, and live in peace in the same streets, the same buildings, the same schools, the same businesses, the same sports clubs, the same associations. 

O God of truth, despite our differences, we have many points in common: we believe in You, in a paganized world where the Divine is replaced by commerce and leisure; for us, Christians and Muslims, prayer is at the heart of our faith; we celebrate You in our assemblies; we have common values such as respect for life, the family, solidarity, but also what brings us together in our Holy Books... everything that makes up our life and our faith.

O God of the possible, you invite us to be fruit-bearing branches: each of us can do something to transform the world by contributing our goodwill, our word of kindness, a friendly glance, a gesture of fraternity. 

O God of peace, we are naive to the extent that we go against the grain of the ideas conveyed by the media; for us, the important thing is the desire to dialogue without preaching, without untimely judgment. We believe that to reject the other is to encourage conflict and division. 

O God of solidarity, in the face of a torn humanity, you teach us all to share, to care for the most fragile, for those whom society sets aside, for peoples whose countries are at war. 

O God of unity, make us understand our differences as a richness. May this religious pluralism allow our cultures to enrich each other through exchange and dialogue. 

O God of love, make us all your children, happy to share simply and without preconceived ideas what makes up our lives, in trust and respect. 

Michel Jacolin, leader of the GAÏC (Islamic-Christian Friendship Group) in Toulouse.