This January we held the first meeting of School Directors of the Ecuador-Mexico Province, in Zumbahuayco, Ecuador.
In addition to the Directors, several pedagogical coordinators, Sister leaders, members of the Education Commission and Mayi, our Provincial, participated therein.
In this great opportunity to see each other in person, we wanted to discover more closely the features of our 6 schools, as well as reread together how the charism enlightens the situations we are currently experiencing. Also, we wanted to see how to continue responding from the richness of our educational charism to the challenges that our different contexts hurl on us today.
We discovered that, in all our schools, Character Formation continues to be a pedagogy that can structure the current generations, the millennials and centennials, so that they can be fully themselves and respond, from their virtues and talents, to the challenges they face: the care of persons and of the environment, inclusion, solidarity in social action.
We also reread how the Christianization of the Intelligence continues to offer us a comprehensive Christian vision that helps educators and students respond to current questions such as the meaning of life, identity, and a sense of belonging.
Together we shared moments of mutual discovery and reflection, of prayer and festive gathering. Some conferences enlightened our search and refined future challenges. We also shared significant educational experiences from each school that give meaning to what we do and that reveal our charism.
We had the joy of discovering several emblematic places in Ecuador, and witnessed the educational character of our school in Guayaquil.
After sharing all this richness of life, we discerned together the challenges and goals that can help us move forward:
*The conviction that our Assumption charism is relevant and current, that it makes us want to express our Assumption prospectus with greater clarity, so that new members (Parents, staff and students) can know it and integrate it more effectively.
*The decision of Saint Marie Eugenie to love our times and have the (positive) outlook of God Who continues to act in history, drives us to configure ourselves as teams and educational Communities in discernment.
*The certainty that unity is strength and that communion enriches us, inspires us to socialize projects, criteria, protocols and documents, in effective communication at the service of life.
*The confusion that people and families experience in the face of what circulates on networks, the loss of ethical and anthropological references, and a society that tends to exclude, leads us to want to be welcoming and inclusive schools.
We are very grateful to our Sisters and laity from Ecuador who welcomed us with so many details, allowing us to appreciate the beautiful landscapes of the mountains, as well as the cultural and educational wealth of Guayaquil.
May Saint Marie Eugenie bless and multiply everything that has been awakened in us with so much joy and passion!
Ana Senties r.a.
Ecuador-Mexico Education Commission