_{Marist volunteering}

The Marist Institute’s Network of Coordinators of Provincial Volunteering (CPVs Network) responds to the need to unite efforts in the field of volunteering, sharing good practices, improving processes, and unifying languages and methodologies, whether sending or receiving volunteers. With the Network, it was possible to provide guidelines and alignments for volunteering at a global level. Little by little, Volunteering is being consolidated and strengthened.

In several AUs, awareness-raising, training and accompaniment are already structured with defined processes, both for provincial and interprovincial Volunteering. Other UAs are in the process of organization and structuring

Volunteering at the local or provincial level enables volunteers to get to know and be in direct contact with people from different realities. Through its action, it contributes to better living conditions (food, education, recreation, group living, non-violence) and collaborates so that the rights of children and young people are respected. In addition, it has the possibility to have a closer relationship with other Marists, Brothers and lay people, to get to know and identify more deeply with the charism.

We are aware that Interprovincial Volunteering is a way to build bridges and to be globally available. Through international volunteering we promote institutional and provincial initiatives such as the Lavalla200> Communities, the Fratelli Project, Solidarity with South Sudan, the Marist District of Asia, and others

Marist volunteering is an effective vehicle for building a culture of encounter, establishing connections between nations and between cultures. It is also a powerful tool for sharing knowledge, skills, and values, contributing significantly to poverty reduction. It favours the development of collaborative work and “inter” culture: INTER-national, INTER-generational, INTER-cultural, INTER-congregational and INTER-institutional. The common wellbeing, above individuality, is the key to Volunteering.

In this sense, Volunteering is placed in the perspective of availability for free and generous service, following the example of Jesus of Nazareth: “I am in your midst as one who serves” (Lk 22:27). Jesus situates service as a commitment to the promotion and defence of life. He himself told us: “The Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve and to give his life for many” (Mk 10:45). The Network of the Coordinators of Provincial Volunteering (CPVs Network) was created for the best possible synergy and collaboration in the Institute’s novels

First meeting of the CPVs and creation of the CPVs Network

In 2019, from November 25 to 29, the first Meeting of the CPVs was held, with the launching of the Network of Provincial Coordinators of Volunteering with the mission of “working in a network to promote and encourage volunteering in the Marist Institute for the benefit of the neediest and excluded. In this way, to contribute to the construction of a culture of solidarity in a spirit of global availability”.

The objectives of the Network were defined as follows:

1. To encourage and promote interprovincial and provincial volunteering in the Institute.
2. To provide the CPVs with an expanded vision of Marist life and mission, helping to forge an international mindset and global availability.
3. To create convergence in terms of training and support, language, vision, and procedures.
4. To share materials, experiences, and best practices.
5. To raise financial resources to finance volunteer costs.
6. To ensure the promotion, disclosure, and valorisation of volunteering in the Institute.
7. To work in synergy and collaboration with Marists organizations and others involved with volunteering.

Second Assembly of the CPVs Network

The Network met for its Second Assembly, April 17-21, 2023, at the Hermitage. It was attended by the Volunteering Coordinators of the Provinces and Districts, as well as representatives of the General Administration. It also had as guests the developers of the new NEXUS – Marist Volunteering Management System.

The Assembly was marked by a spirit of participation and collaboration in the search for new ways of volunteering. Drinking from the origins and sources of the Institute was certainly inspiring and touched the heart of each one of the participants.

“Each one of us is a participant and collaborator in a greater mission, God’s mission in the world and for the world. With this conviction, we feel that the volunteering path is as human as it is divine, as existential as it is spiritual, as immanent as it is transcendent. Every volunteer carries in his or her life seeds of hope, an existential path, and a spiritual path – nothing, little or very conscious – but very real. Hence the importance of taking care of the volunteer, of working and deepening his/her vocational aspect, of opening doors so that the experience of the Gospel and the spiritual experience have a space for those who want it”, emphasized Brother Luis Carlos, Vicar General.

During the Assembly, the CPVs had the opportunity to be trained in the use of the new NEXUS system, which is characterized by allowing the management of Marist volunteering, by being a content platform, and a space for sharing good practices.

Another highlight was the training in Competencies and Skills for Interculturality and Global Availability, which aims to: “encourage and promote the development of initiatives, programs or training itineraries that include aspects of global availability, interculturality and social skills for collaborative work at all levels of the Institute”. The CPVs, besides having a global understanding of the topic, received suggestions and methodological tools to develop training processes with the volunteers and the Receiving Communities.

At the end of the Assembly, the 5 Priorities of the Network for the years 2023-2024 were defined:

1. To consolidate the Network through strategies of empowerment, communication, systematization, and collaboration. For this it is necessary to: hold systematic regional meetings of CPVs; systematize the work as a global network; create collaboration strategies with other areas of Marist life and mission.
2. To promote volunteering at the global level and encouraging the reception of volunteers by Marist communities. To do this, it is important to have a plan to promote volunteering at the network level; to motivate and invite Marist communities to become Receiving communities for volunteers; to disseminate, communicate and give visibility to Marist volunteering.
3. To provide formation for Marist volunteering. To do this, it is important to provide information about volunteering in Marist communities; to create a global training program for volunteers and for Receiving communities; to prepare volunteers for the challenges of intercultural life.
4. To ensure that the Receiving Communities are ready to receive volunteers. To this end, it is important to prepare at least one Welcoming Community by the AU; to develop a guide for the CPVs to accompany the Communities throughout the volunteering cycle.
5. To investigate and propose funding possibilities for volunteering. For this, it is important to look for possibilities of financing Marist volunteering, along with financial funds at the government level; the agencies sending volunteers to the Provinces; and through fundraising projects.

The Management Council of the Network, with the participation of each CPV, is working to ensure that the established priorities become a reality. In addition to virtual meetings, a face-to-face meeting is scheduled to be held from November 27 to 30 in Manziana to advance in the progress of the NETWORK and in view of the consolidation and growth of volunteering in the Institute.

For the good progress of the CPVs Network, it is important that each CPV, appointed by his Provincial, dedicates time and participates in the processes of the Marist Volunteering from his AU. Here are some of the roles of the Coordinators of Provincial Volunteering.

• To participate as an active member of the CPV Network.
• To act collaboratively with CPVs in their Region or other Provinces.
• To collaborate with CMI in the elaboration and development of a volunteering plan for the Institute.
• To elaborate a Volunteering Plan for the UA or for the University, which contemplates the different modalities and possibilities.
• To coordinate the processes of sensitization, training, and accompaniment of volunteers, both for sending and receiving.
• To use the NEXUS database as a volunteering management tool.
• To register and update the data of the Receiving Communities.
• To register and update volunteer data: documents, personal data, insurance, tickets, visa…
• To share best practices, upload or download content for training, support, promotion, and communication in the field of Volunteering.
• To ensure the reintegration and assessment of volunteers upon their return.
• To provide training and support to the Receiving communities.
• To collaborate with or coordinate local Provincial Volunteering, valuing it.
• To act collaboratively with the other areas of their AU.
• To guarantee the confidentiality of the data.