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Creating a network at this time of pandemic? Presentation Youth Network

on 20 Sep, 2020
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Medellín (Colombia), 09/20/2020, Sr. Zabrina Llanos Bolaños.- During this strange time, when expressions such as isolation, social distance and quarantine, echo in our surroundings as the best shield to avoid infection, to speak about network is a paradox. We live today in a frightened and closed society that mistrusts anyone and everything, hoping to reach a “new normality”.

It is in this context that a project was born between the structures in Colombia and in El Caribe, as a response to the request of the 55th General Chapter. The main purpose of this new project is the evangelization of the youth in the light of the Charism of Charity of Marie Poussepin through sharing, communication, teamwork and community building. This is what we call Red Juvenil Presentación - RJP (Presentation Youth Network).

This new project was started in May 2020 and continues to grow through social Networking and Media, by a group of Sisters from the Provinces of Colombia and El Caribe: Sr. Zabrina Llanos Bolaños - Coordinator of the team and Sr. Lina María Quintero Ríos (Province of Medellín); Sr. Luz Grecia Ocampo Gaviria - Secretary of the team (Province of Santafe); Sr. Luz Karime Mancipe Laguado and Sr. Karina Lizeth Bustos Lasso (Province of Bucaramanga); Sr. Leonila Castaño and Sr. Leidy Johanna Aristizábal Padilla (Province of Manizales); Sr. Fannery Madrigal Gutiérrez (Province of Bogotá); Sr. Yadira del Carmen Laya Morillo (Province of El Caribe). Having had experience in Vocational Youth Ministry, these Sisters with the support of other Sisters, youth and laity, have started a Youth Presentation Network Project (Red Juvenil Presentación), whose aim is to expand it and make of it an option for the entire Congregation.

The sisters who are committed to this project spent months to study and reflect on its development. We had the opportunity to learn about the Ignatian Youth Network in Colombia and in Mexico, as well as the Dominican Youth Movement in Colombia and the “Jeshua” Catholic Biblical Youth Community. This sharing together contributed greatly to our reflection in finding paths, that will help us to make possible a true networking among ourselves, in the style of our Congregation, in order to animate the process of youth evangelization in different social, cultural and religious contexts where we are present.

The journey forward is an adventure that requires commitment of everyone.
 
- A clear and defined option for Vocational Youth Ministry.
- To achieve the consolidation of an organizational structure that allows the active participation and synodal spirit of all in the process: Youth, Sisters, laity, institutions, other congregations and / or ecclesial and social groups.
- Define what is the proposal we want to offer to the youth, which methodology, pedagogy, symbols, and network dynamics.
- How to articulate the Vocational Youth Ministry experiences we already have.
 
However, we are still working on these points and many others in this line. Our dream is to be able to consolidate the Presentation Youth Network as a platform from which the Congregation offers a journey of holiness to the youth according to the Dominican Charism of Marie Poussepin. We are grateful for the support and trust of our Provincial Superiors of our Structures; to Sr. María Escayola Coris, Superior General and her Council. The passion for the youth and the audacious missionary spirit of Marie Poussepin encourages us to work with joy and determination in the building up and implementation of this project.