In other news
Brazil - Technology for social inclusion
March
29th was inauguration day for the Technology Courses at the Dom
Bosco campus of the University Centre of (UNISAL), Americana. On
this occasion Alexandrer Garcia Aguado, a former student of the
centre, presented to the students his missionary experience in Angola,
where he had used his talents in the service of the most needy.
Having graduated in 2007 in “Free Software
Technologies" while he was still specialising in his Masters degree in
Technology and Innovation, young Alexandre left Brazil in 2011 to take
part in a volunteer project developed by Salesians in Angola. There he
was occupied in coordinating the information and technology team,
checking the electronic equipment and the training programs
offered to young Angolan students in the professional training courses
in Information Technology.
In his address to the students,
Alexandre spoke about technology and social inclusion, and how
these two elements marked his experience in Angola, and of the cultural
enrichment received. Social inclusion, especially, was the
leading theme of his intervention and he stressed the correlation
with improvement in human conditions.
The young volunteer also described the motives
which led him to do a year of voluntary work in Angola. Everything
derived from some questions:“What good am I doing with all my
knowledge? What meaning can I give to my profession? Who do I
want to help through the technology which is my occupation?
Alexandre was able to answer these questions.
Finally, Alexandre related some of the
successes achieved during the year. Along with the team which he
accompanied in the project, he set up a solar kitchen, a bio-digestor
and a plant for solar heating and water purification; he followed the
training of the young students in information and communication
technology and the development of relevant manuals and guides; finally,
he built up the software literature and improved the internet links of
the Salesian centres in Angola.
Mexico – Inauguration of the “Bosco Cinema”
The “Bosco
Cinema” was inaugurated on March 31 in one of the three Salesian
oratories of Ciudad Juárez. The aim of this initiative is to offer
cultural attractions to young people and so divert them from the
dangerous situations which are unfortunately spread around the city.
Last year the Salesians celebrated the
twentieth year of this Salesian presence on the frontier with the
United States, which began as the civic association “Youth Development
in the North”. On the occasion of the anniversary various programmes
were developed to reinforce the activities and to give a new
significance to our presence in the face of the realities of violence
and disintegration of the social framework, which directly affect many
adolescents and young people of the city.
In the districts where the Salesians work, the
lack of meaningful places and socio-cultural alternatives is so serious
that the Salesian community has set out to provide, among the
activities of the oratory, a further service for the benefit of the
youngsters. It is a cinema where many activities take place; an
educational aid for local schools; a location for film shows and
festivals and for simple entertainment.
The “Bosco Cinema” joins the other initiatives
offered by the “Don Bosco Cultural Corridor”, a project which includes
an art gallery, an open forum for concerts and artistic activities and
a library – all activities which are organized and run by the oratory
members themselves.
The recent opening the association's website, www.djnsalesianos.mx, was another reason for celebration for the whole Salesian community, which is at work on a “frontier”, and not only in the geographical sense.
Communications enterprises, the Americas
Directors
and representatives of publishing houses, multimedia enterprises and
Salesian radio stations from nine countries of the Americas, met from
12-14 April at the retreat house at Lo Cañas. The meeting, which was
intended to be a reflection on the new challenges of digital
communication, was organised by the Social Communication Department. Fr
Filiberto González, the SC Councillor, was in attendance.
The meeting began on Thursday 12 with a
welcoming address by Fr Juan Bustamante, SC Delegate for Chile. Fr
Filiberto González and Fr Jaime González (from ANS, Rome) also
addressed the meeting. Fr Bustamante drew upon the Salesian Social
Communication System and the importance that Don Bosco gave to
communication as a tool for evangelisation and education of the young.
Fr Jaime, in turn, spoke of the aim of the meeting: "The idea is to
tackle and reflect on ways to revitalise our provinces... looking at
the current scene whereby digital technology in a sense unifies our
disparate languages. Each of the communication areas then spoke of what
they are doing.
Two topics were developed on the second day.
The first - “The Publishing world vs the Digital world” - was explained
in depth by the President of the Chilean Book Chamber, professor Arturo
Infante. He highlighted the numerous advantages of the digital
book: economical production, ease of transport, the fact that today's
readers are accustomed to the screen… He also recognised that it would
not be difficult to imagine that the book as we know it might
completely disappear.
The second speaker then presented the
experience of an enterprise that has transferred most of its resources
from print to digital and is now offering services rather than
products. Cristian Vial, from Pearson, a firm involved with educational
products, was the speaker.
In the afternoon the group visited a number of
Salesian communications activities: the “Caetera Tolle Multimedia
Centre”, led by Frs Jorge Moraga and Rafael Muñoz; “Salesianos S.A.”,
explained by its Business Manager, Roberto Tapia; and “Don Bosco Edebé
Publishers”.
On Saturday 14 there was a series of
addresses. Writer and children's literature expert from Latin
America, Manuel Peña, stressed the i8mportance of narrative,
especially in children's literature, and presented a number of authors
relevant to this idea; Professor Leonardo Mollinedo, from the Salesian
University in Bolivia, then sketched out the Salesian presence in the
radio sector in his country, made up of 13 different broadcasting
centres; Daniel Corona, from Edebé Barcelona, spoke of their
development of digital learning devices to meet the needs of schools;
finally, Fabiola Poblete from Edebé Chile, explained how digital
devices are tied in with improvements in quality, cost management and
cultural interplay.
The meeting concluded with an address by Fr
Filiberto González, who reminded them of the principles contained
in the Salesian Social Communication System and offered a brief
summary of the work that had been accomplished. He then showed how SC
activities form part of the Salesian mission; of the need to hold
together all the challenges of new technologies; of the importance of
unity and mutual cooperation at different levels, personal, enterprises
and provinces.
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please.
SIGNIS India National Assembly
The 2012 SIGNIS India National Assembly, organized by SIGNIS India in
association with Tej-Prasarini , Don Bosco Communications, gathered
more than 90 delegates from all across India on the theme “Creating Images for a Better Tomorrow”. The meeting took place from February 24-28 at Don Bosco Matunga in Mumbai.
Joaquim Fernandes
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UPS-FSCS-Italy: 12 May - novices and postnovices SDB and
FMA; joint meeting to discuss the Pope's Communications Day Message
LISBON-Portugal: SC Delegates 2-4 May; PE Reference Persons 4-6 May 2012. 6-8 May: Eurclip DB Group
ROME-Pisana: 16-20 May, Salesian Bulletin Editors (world)
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Animation - Letter from Fr Filiberto 
My dear confreres and friends of SC,
A
very happy Easter to all of you, a time that with its various lively
liturgical celebrations in community, listening to the Word,
sacramental involvement, communicates life and hope, grace and
conversion, sending forth and mission.
It seems to me that Salesian communication finds, in Easter, its best source of inspiration,
the heart of its spirituality: beloved disciples, called, forgiven and
saved, apostles sent to communicate in first person the unheard of
experience of salvation.
For some
time now the Department has been seeking some particular aspects of
Salesian spirituality to support the vocation and mission of the
communicator, lived with fidelity and conviction based on the Gospel
and on Valdocco, so we can be prophets in a society that seems to want
to silence God and remove him from the awareness and experience of the
young. We will not be communicators unless we have been witnesses of
God's love for us, nor unless both the cross and the resurrection have
touched the core of our being; we will not be prophets if, through fear
or accommodation, we cease to proclaim the one who called us and sent
us into the world as his witnesses.
It is
worth asking ourselves: what or who are we communicating "when we
communicate"? What is is that sustains our calling as prophets of the
God of Life, the Resurrected One?
Once
again, Easter greetings and I invite you to let us know of your ideas
and proposals concerning the principal elements of the spirituality of
the Salesian communicator...
In the Risen Christ,
Fr Filiberto González, Councillor for SC
Information: Salesian spirituality through blogs (just a sample)
En el corazón de la ciudad
Un blog de José Miguel Nuñez
Returning to Don Bosco and the joy of his spirit
My blog is a
personal blog of the things that interest me as a Salesian of Don
Bosco. I have been able to attract well over one million visitors in
the past 3 years. I enjoy keeping the blog and I hope it is a place of
interest for many in the Salesian Family. Fr. Steve Leake
Salesianos São Carlos, Brazil
Returning to Don Bosco and the joy of his spirit
Trabalhamos
na promoção à criança e ao jovem carente, impulsionando-os a uma tomada
de consciência, de construir um projeto de vida
Da Mihi Animas
This blog is maintained in Korean by Fr Bernard Lee.
A drop of honey
Reflections on life by Bro Vincent Castilino, Hyderabad province, India.
Word of God and Salesian Life
Multilingual blog maintained by Fr Juan José Bartolomé.
Formation: consecrated persons in the digital continent
By Fr José Miguel Núñez SDB
Regional for West Europe
If,
in bygone centuries, the convent walls, with all that such an idea
entails, claimed to be keeping out the culture of the world and
protecting monks and nuns from the dangers out there, a new way of
seeing reality has already broken down those walls some time ago. The
digital era has opened up religious communities and enabled
considerable interaction with culture, and immediate access to
information available to all and participation in the new virtual
communities that extend links and establish new information and
training environments. It is true that this situation is not without
its risks, but it is not dependent simply on the goodness or badness of
the new communication spaces created, but on the person who interacts
in a balanced and mature way with them.
Regular use of mobile phones, instant and almost unlimited access to
internet and the possibilities offered by digital television create new
situations in which religious life needs to situate itself adequately.
And the very formation that our institutes provide must face up to the
challenges that derive from this new context. Naturally, the questions
raised are not just moral ones (though they may include these) nor
about whether the use or misuse of such opportunities robs us of time
to fraternise or carry out our mission, but also include implications
regarding communication either with real people with whom I share daily
life, or with virtual communities with which I interact.
To universalise, then, this new paradigm of communication in religious
life (and in society in general) has implications for the way we
experience our relationships with others. The question is inevitable:
How and with whom do I communicate? In our daily life, the intertwining
of relationships shapes our existence as believers and consecrated
persons. We share life with people we need and who need us, brothers
and sisters for whom we express affection and from whom also receive
support and encouragement. Fraternal life, as we well know, is part of
our life project and also a true form of prophecy that makes us
credible in our divided and fragemented world.
Our real community is not opposed to the new virtual communities
(which, moreover, are also real). The former does not deny the value of
this new way of interacting and communicating, nor should the latter be
a substitute for our real community, much less an emotional refuge for
cold relationships in the convent or religious house! Both can feed off
each other and are called to integrate balanced affections and the
religious who can live in the new digital continent.
The new spaces should help religious to promote a more humane style of
communication that enriches our own relationships while becoming a
vehicle for transmitting the proclamation of Jesus Christ, fully man,
for the life and hope of other people.
As a creative and responsible citizens, religious feel the need to go
down into the centre of the village, the public square, to communicate
what we are and experience in the service of the human community. Amid
such confusion, separating the wheat from the chaff we can be a
significant presence that offers new networks which foster a different
and possible world according to God's heart, contributing to human
development.
Cyberspace is a new opportunity for realising the parable
of Jesus concerning the Kingdom present among us, comparable to the
pinch of yeast mixed with flour that leavens the dough.
From Vida Religiosa, vol 112
Salesian, Gildasio Mendes dos Santos, has recently launched his latest work, 'Generation NET: relationships, spirituality and professional life'. (Watch the video by clicking on the invitation).
This book aims
to shed light on our understanding of the world known as the "Net
Generation", born in the context of media culture and escapes the
parameters of the analyses thus far written up.
It also aims to establish an interactive relationship
between members of different generations, one that encompasses
the exchange of experiences, enabling mutual appreciation and growth of
relationships and spirituality and the professional field.
From the Introduction
The
NET Generation: computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, Facebook,
social networks. This is the world where young adults, teenagers,
children today navigate in. Given that they have already been born into
this context, they develop a particular communication potential. The
Internet makes up what we like to call the 'digital continent'. In this
continent, the air these new generations breathe is made up especially
of the media universe. Those who inhabit it can barely survive
without mobile phones, Ipods, social networks and other even more
sophisticated communications media. This is the air they
breathe. This is the world they live in.
It would seem clear enough to say that,
because of the massive use of internet and social media, there is a
constant seeking out of human relationships. We are not simply
experiencing technological change, but a human change as well, and this
change is taking place via members of Generation Y and Z, the new
communications 'authors', creative ones at that in their families,
schools, businesses. They are transforming ways of communicating and
relating.
We can see a kind of symbiosis taking place in these technologies:
internet, mobile phone, radio, television, Mp3, Facebook. email... It
sets up an environment, a communications ecosystem. Immersed in a world
of languages, symbols, daily feelings and circumstances, via the media,
geographical frontiers that once separated us are now broken down.
These technologies are amidst us and are part of us. We interact
naturally with the media world. Assuming this point of view, we are
open to understanding, dialoguing with, walking with the new generations.
Given these circumstances, this book seeks to be a tool for parents and
teachers, members of different generations, to establish an interactive
relationship, an exchange of experiences, mutually enriching
relationships, spirituality and professional life".
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