One hundred twelve members of the Vincentian Family gathered outside St. Louis for four days devoted to training members with the tools necessary to collaboratively develop projects that foster a systemic change approach in our service with people who live in poverty.
The International Commission for Fostering Systemic Change had already conducted four such continental workshops in Brazil, Mexico, Cameroon and Bangkok. Next year workshops will be held in various language segments in Europe. Rev. Bob Maloney CM, former Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity is the chair of the Commission. He, along with member of the Commission for Europe, US, Latin America and Asia presented the main talks. Workshops highlighting various elements of systemic change in US projects helped all to enable the participants to imagine how they could begin to change some of their work into systemic projects.
An excellent cross section of the leadership of the various branches of the Vincentian Family attended with the designated “trainers” who will be expected to foster collaborative systemic change projects.
The Vincentian Family Collaborators were asked to serve as the local planning committee. This group had previously organized workshops for the Vincentian Family in St. Louis, Princeton, San Francisco, New Orleans and Detroit. Most recently they developed the first ever meeting of the Family in cyberspace with over 500 people attending in 25 locations in Canada and the United States. The theme of this event was also systemic change.
The energy was palpable during these days. Structures are being developed to foster practical next steps. The Vincentian Family website, famvin.org will be a source for continued information.
Photos by Elena Miranda
