From 21 to 25 August, the Lasallian community of Tabatinga, on the triple Amazonian border between Colombia, Brazil and Peru, is hosting the 2nd Volunteering Congress of the Lasallian Region of Latin America (RELAL).
“Among the objectives of this gathering, we want to focus on the services of the Regional community of Tabatinga, for which the eight Lasallian Districts that make up the Region are jointly responsible, both in their animation and in their accompaniment”, remarks Brother Vinicio González, RELAL’s Secretary for Mission and Management.
Being leaven in the triple border
The Tabatinga Community is also one of the ‘Leavening Experiences’ of RELAL, says Brother Vinicio: “the pastoral work, from the Amazonian periphery, is not carried out in an educational work, as such, and implies an option for inter-congregationality on the triple border”, that is to say, together with other religious congregations and ecclesial initiatives.
Twenty-five members of the RELAL volunteering network from different countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are taking part in the Congress, including representatives from various Lasallian universities in the Region and from a French Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) which is developing its experience of volunteering with Lasallians in Bolivia.
Mourad Barsoum, Director of the Office of Vocations and Volunteer Ministry of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, is also taking part in the Congress and expressed his hope in this space for reflection and immersion: “we hope to increase gradually the number of international volunteer communities around the Institute, where lay Lasallians (young people and adults) together with the Brothers, live in community and share the mission at the service of those most in need “.