The prayer by Cristina Sanz put us in contact with Mary, who “is as well the praying woman and the worker in Nazareth as Our Lady of haste, leaving her village to diligently help others” (Apostolic Exhortation, “ Evangelii gaudium” November 24, 2013, Pope Francis).
Solidarity impels us and demands a response with all our strength to meet the expectations of the groups who seek our help. The work meetings were well prepared by each one keeping in mind the intense program and the hard questions posed in taking on a dynamic of sustainable development project.
Education for development is one of the principles of the group. It expresses this to a specific characteristic. The presentation by Mariluz Sarabia, responsible for the FISC Education for Development, was excellent; even though she did not have time to present the totality of her work. It would be good for each one to make it their own with the goal that our practices be consistent and aim towards real development.
The present day crisis has a strong impact on financing the different projects: seeking donors is a challenge and public subsidy decreases at enormous speed. FISC and ODNs look for more important collaborators to make it possible for the communities that live in extreme poverty to respond to the basic needs of the populations they accompany.
In conclusion, the sharing between FISC and the different ONDs was very productive in trying to sustain the projects presented, in looking for other sources of funding adapted to certain projects like micro credit, strengthening collaboration…
To continue our joint reflection, maintain the contacts, facilitate communication on our reflection and practices, we are going to establish an intranet.
The spirit of the conference was joyful; over and above our intense meetings and friendly work, we joined the feast of lights. The people from Lyon express their devotion to Mary every December 8 since 1852 by placing candles in their windows. Today, the feast is an international spectacle of magic light.