Technical Team on Sustainability visited the Marist District of Asia
Within the framework of the sustainability project of the General Economato, in February, a strategic planning workshop and visit were held with the Marist District of Asia (MDA). The technical team that supports the District, from Brazil and the General Administration, and several brothers from the District of Asia participated in this project. The objective is that this planning will set the future direction for projects that can contribute to greater financial autonomy in the District. The Brothers of the District of Asia are present in Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and the Philippines.
We share below the summary of the work, written by Br. George Valle from Bangladesh, of the District’s sustainability team.
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Before I share the outcome of the recent visitation of the technical team, let me introduce the brothers and lay Marist behind the fruitful visits. I would like to start with the technical team. It is composed of Br. Goyo Linacero, from the General administration in Rome, Br. João Batista from Brazil Centro-Sul, Br. George Valle from MDA and Sergio Oliveira from Brazil Centro-Norte. And in MDA are Brothers Canisio Willrich, Jose Grande, Eugenio Sanz, Bao Xuan Joseph, Jiji Dhasan, John Hung and Le Hai. Majority of these brothers and lay, who are members of any of the teams mentioned above, were present in the 2-day face-to-face workshop while two brothers & one lay, due to valid reasons like time difference, health issues and hectic timetable, were able to participate in the sessions online only either in the morning or in the afternoon.
The Technical Team planned to visit the communities of Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, from the 20th of February – the 4th of March 2023, and aimed to conduct a 2-day workshop on the formulation and validation of strategic plan, know the reality of each community and visit its mission projects as well as other sustainable projects of the diocese and other religious congregations within the diocese the community members are currently working. For the smooth flow of the planned activities and guidance of everyone involved, these objectives and other details related to it, were communicated, in advance, to the country coordinators and community leaders before the actual date of the visit came.
The 12-day visit started with a workshop on Strategic Planning held at St. Camillan Pastoral Center in Lat krabang Bangkok, Thailand on February 21 & 22. The first day was devoted to the revision and validation of the Vision-Mission statement, Strategic drivers, SWOT matrix & Strategic options with Sergio assisting the MDA team online. Prior to the formulation of the plan on the second day, Sergio invited Vanderlei Soela, a lay and principal in one of the brothers’ schools in Brazil, to give a session on Strategic planning. During his talk, he made mention and singled out that the road to sustainability is a slow process and requires ample of time and above all, active participation from every brother & lay in the province or district. The sharing of his expertise in this matter paved and eased the proceeding and concluding session which was the elaboration of the strategic objectives and actions of the plan at the district level.
The District Council reviewed and validated the results of the workshop the following morning of the 23rd of February 23 and the materials were shared to all the communities visited except the Sector house & La Valla in Thailand. The succeeding steps to accomplish the plan will be done in the country and community level and is calendared between March and July of this year. The implementation hopefully will commence sometime in August as soon as it is completed, reviewed, and validated.
