Under the slogan “Organising Hope”, from 6 to 8 October in La Zubia (Granada, Spain), the Volunteering Meeting of Proclade Betica was held with the participation of volunteers from Granada, Malaga, Cordoba and Seville.
The motto was inspired by the invitation of Pope Francis in his message for the World Day of the Poor: “We cannot limit ourselves to hope, we have to organise hope. If our hope is not translated into concrete choices and gestures of attention, justice, solidarity and care for the common home, the sufferings of the poor cannot be alleviated, the economy of discarding that forces them to live on the margins cannot be changed and their hopes cannot flourish again. It is up to us, especially us Christians, to organise hope […] to translate it into concrete daily life, into human relationships, into social and political commitment“.
The days were divided into three blocks of content: a) Preparing ourselves for hope, b) Organised hope, c) Sent to spread hope. Within this structure there was time for prayer and personal reflection, listening and dialogue, shared work and celebration.
At the meeting, the ‘CATALOGUE OF CRITICAL INFORMATION ON MIGRATION. Guide and communication resources to prevent disinformation and hate speech’, one of the results of the Right to Dream project, funded by the Andalusian Agency for International Development Cooperation (AACID).
The importance of social communication for social participation and advocacy was also reflected upon, and the participatory drafting processes of the new Volunteering Plan of Proclade Betica 2024-2030 continued. In addition, recorded interventions of the long-term volunteers who have started their experience in the small town of Ingeniero Jacobacci, in the Argentinean Patagonia, with the accompaniment of SOMI of the Claretian Province of St. Joseph of the South and Álvaro Rodríguez cmf, missionary in Zimbabwe, were shared.
Among the conclusions drawn by the participants of the Encounter, the need to continue growing in strengthening the links with the Claretian mission and the focuses on which the strategic accent has been placed for the coming years stands out, insisting on the line of generating processes and promoting and accompanying a volunteering for personal, community and social change, guided by the commitment to the rights of all people, justice, and the care of creation.
Read more on the Proclade Betica website (click here).
