1 | P a g e

NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL OF ZAMBIA UPDATE

REPORT FOR THE SALAMANCA TRIP

SHARED WITH DUBLIN EAST REGION - TWINNING PARTNERS

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruits that will last." (John 15, 16)

Report prepared by Justin Mumba Sandi NATIONAL YOUTH COUNICL OF ZAMBIA 2nd. Floor Chester House, Cairo Road,

2 | P a g e

About the Report

The report provides a detailed account of events which prevailed before, during and after the Salamanca trip. I wish to pay growing gratitude to Dublin East Region for the financial contributions made through the National Council of Zambia as well as the Confederation International General (CGI) for the invitation, logistical support as well as financial support towards my Air ticket.

The program which started like a fairytale sometime last year in October through an invitation finally came to pass. After the invitation was received the National Council of Zambia had no means of sending any representative to such an important event. Notably so our twinning partners who have been supporting Zambia National Council had just assisted massively on two (2) important activities, the funeral financial support for the deceased Vincentians who died in a road accident as well as logistical support for the visit of the International President General, Brother Renato Lima de Oleveira and in principle it wasn’t just proper to ask for more financial support for the youth coordinator to meet his travel logistics.

However Considering the importance of the meeting and the agenda which has been set by the IPG President during his tenure of office in pushing for a 30% youth representation in the Society, the National Board of Zambia through the President had to try their lack against the prevailing realities and since there were no other options available, the National President Brother Kenny Kachali had to reluctantly and shyly so write appeal letters to Sr. Rose Mcgowan, Vice President for Ireland National Council, Council Confederation General (CGI) as well as to Dublin East through the twinning Officer, Brother Michael and the President Brother William Casey for logistical support to enable the National Youth Coordinator travel to such an important youth international gathering. The appeal letters submitted were enclosed in with the Budget for the round trip and understandably so, Dublin pledged to provide 50% support towards the trip and the other 50% was to be sourced elsewhere.

On the hand the CGI team led by Claire Helen de Parseval and her colleagues, Willian Alves, Anne Wintenberge among others worked tirelessly in ensuring that logistically things were in place, which included: Invitation letter, air ticket, insurance cover among others as well as contribution to the Air ticket was in place.

The Spanish local organizing committee equally played a very commendable job by working with an Admin advance team from CGI and worked tirelessly for a successful execution of lined up programs in both cities, Salamanca and Madrid.

The local organizing team was led by Carlos Lafarga who was part of the media team and the rest of the team members were;

1. Juan Gomez president 2. Isabel Maria Isa 3. Carlos Lafarga 4. Luis Garcia

Other Admin organizing support staff were; 1. Aude Geant (Interpreter) 2. Sabrina Lourenco 3. Leonardo Magalhaes (Director of Program)

3 | P a g e

4. Renata Mancini (Presenter and co – Director of Program) 5. Luke Brouwer media and logistics

Day 1 - Arrival Though I arrived quiet late due to connection freights as I joined my colleagues on the 16th of June in the early morning around 04:00hrs and I missed most of the activities for the official opening ceremony, never the rest I joined the meeting 3 hours later. However from the reports shared by participants who arrived on time, participants were warmly welcomed from the Airport in Madrid to Salamanca. In brief the following were the lined up activities in Salamanca at the Spirituality Centre:

1. Morning Spirituality 2. Opening Ceremony of the second international Meeting 3. Welcome remarks to Salamanca by the host President 4. Spain’s Anthem 5. Lighting the flame of the Meeting 6. Lecture on the Theme “ The role of the youth in the SSVP of the Origin and the role Youth

today for the renewal of the SSVP 7. Second Lecture; “ The Search for holiness of life in the SVP” 8. Interaction with the International General President - Renato Lima de Oliveira 9. Video International Youth Conference 10. Social evening

Day 2 SUNDAY, JUNE 17, 2018 1. Morning Spirituality 2. Workshop Groups; “ Youth of reality in the SSVP in the Church and in Society” 3. Transfer to Salamanca for Mass at the Cathedral presided by the Bishop 4. Guided tour of the city of Salamanca in language groups 5. Transfer of participants to the City Center at the Mayor’ Plaza 6. Territorial meeting

Group Photo after Media interaction in Madrid during the World refuge Day

4 | P a g e

Vincentian youths were entertained by a local organized live Music Band and on the Right , Claire Gomez youth coordinator for England and

Whales during Dinner in the Dinning Hall.

Details the Salamanca Youth second international Meeting

It is believed that more than 100 young leaders from all the regions of about 87 countries

attended the 2nd youth International meeting which was held at the Spirituality Center of the

Congregation of the Mission in Salamanca, which ran from June 15th June, 2018 to June 21, 2018

and ended in Madrid. The meeting began on June 15th June, 2018 with a morning prayer on the

theme of the "Man of the Beatitudes", Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who is also the patron saint

of the Youth of the SSVP. The opening ceremony followed with the messages by Ana Torrecilla -

President of the Provincial Council of the SSVP of Salamanca, Juan Manuel Gomez - President of

the National Council of Spain, Willian Alves - International Vice President for Youth - and Renato

Lima de Oliveira - 16th General President of the International General Council.

Address by the International President General – Renato Lima de Oliveira

The President general in his address assured delegates that the International General Council will

support the young members of the Society in their projects and initiatives, encouraging them "to

be creative, to inspire other young people by their example, thus inviting them to join the

Conferences, to be the leaders the SSVP needs and to be zealous in every action and service they

commit to doing.

Presentation by the Director of the Catholic Congress and Public Life

The Director of the Catholic Congress and Public Life, Mr. Rafael Ortega - made a brief

presentation on the Society's challenges in Europe, urging all young people to get involved and

be at the forefront of all the work of the Society the society.

Presentation by the Deputy Vice President for the Confederation General Council

Sebastian Gramajo - Deputy Vice President of CGI - gave the first lecture on "The search for the

sanctity of life in the SSVP". He opened his speech with the quote "Be holy, for I am holy" from

the book of Leviticus. He concluded it with the words "Let's walk together towards holiness".

5 | P a g e

Presentation by Isabel Garzo representing Vincentian youths in Spain

Isabel Garzo - member of the National Council of Spain - then presented "The role of youth in the

origin of the SSVP and the role of the youth today for the renewal of the SSVP". She shared the

close connection between young founders and today's youth by emphasizing the motivations of

founding members and comparing them with those of today's youth.

The International President General’ Vincentian experience; Reflecting on his spirituality as a

Vincentian the General President Renato shared from an excerpt from the book of Proverbs:

"The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. He shared God's purpose in his

life from the day he joined the SSVP until he was elected general president. And encouraged

young Vincentians that they too could be like him considering that he first attended the first

International meeting as a youth.

After sharing the Vincentian experience, the director of Program Br. Leonardo Magalhaes then

invited questions from the audience “Open Forum", thereafter a video conference was held in

the presence of more than 30 groups from all over the world. Young people participated from

Brazil, Lebanon, Australia, the Philippines, Kenya and England shared some of their activities

being undertaken to preserve peace. And commenting on what youth Vincentians ought to do to

help in keeping peace, Zambia National Youth Council representative who is also the National

Coordinator, shared that as young Vincentians we need to be vessels of peace just like in the

beatitudes which says Happy are the peace makers because the kingdom of God is theirs and he

further encouraged delegates to follow St. Francis of Assisi as a role model of peace.

Justin Mumba Sandi making a contribution during the meeting and on the right with Monica,

National youth Coordinator from CANADA

Presentation by Fr. Ralph Ger,amos – Spiritual Director for the National Council of Lebanon.

The second day of the meeting began with the Morning Prayer, centered on the life and

charisma of Saint Vincent de Paul.

6 | P a g e

Fr. Ralph centered his lecture presentation on the importance of spirituality and Chartism in the

lives of young Vincentians. He called on young Vincentians to respond to the call of serving in

hope in order to appreciate the divine providence that God fills us with.

Appointment of 12 Youth Regional Coordinators

During the 2nd Youth International Meeting, 12 Regional Coordinators were appointed by the

President General, other regions were divided into two (2) due to the size and for example there

are 2 regional coordinators for Africa. The following were the regions and coordinators;

America (1) Kymmala Natalia Francis Lewis (Grenada)

Canada, United Sates of America, Haiti, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis,

Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana and Trinidad

America (2) Jose Fuentes Flores (Honduras)

Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador and Nicaragua

America (3) Del Carmen Palencia Centella (Venezuela)

Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Suriname, Paraguay, Uruguay and

Venezuela

Europe 1 and 2 Whilssy Candelaria (Czech Republic)

England, Italy, South Tyrol, Switzerland, Belgiul (Flemish/German, Albania, Belgium, France,

Gibraltar, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Czech Republic, Hungary,

Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Balkan, Croatia and Macedonia

Europe 3 Tamer E. Chemaly (Lebanon)

Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Algeria

Africa (1) Joseph Bege Shemang (Nigeria)

Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Africa (2) Boipelo Mathodlana (South Africa

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland,

Angola Cape Verde, Guinea, Mozambique, Sao Tome, and Principe and Equatorial Guinea

Africa (3) Marie Hortense HOUALAMIN (Ivory Coast)

Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Gabon, Mauritius, Guinea, Mali, Senegal, Togo,

Burundi, Madagascar, Central Africa Republic, Rwanda, Chad, Congo – Brazzaville, Democratic

Republic of Congo

7 | P a g e

Oceania Luke Brouwer (Australia)

Australia, Karibati, Papua New Guinea, Western Samoa, East Timor, Caroline (Chuuk), Fiji,

Salamon, Tonga, Vanuatu and New Zealand

Asia (1) Levin Pushparaj Ravi KUMAR (India)

Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Asia (2) Gabriel THON Socheat (Cambodia)

Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam,

Laos, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Macau and Mongolia

Experience in Madrid and Avilla and Lessons learnt from the trip

The experience of the Salamanca youth International meeting provided an opportunity of

interaction with Vincentian youths from different parts of the world with similar Goals, which is

selflessness, Vincentian vocation, friendship, creativity, spirituality, hunger to serve others

regardless among others.

The meeting provided an opportunity to share Vincentian experiences from different parts of the

World especially on management of youth program, mobilization and retention activities.

The meeting also provided a learning platform and deepened Vincentian Spirituality especially

for the youths of today in relation to the youths of Blessed Frederic Ozanam and his companion

The meeting provided a platform for knowledge sharing on how best the youth should take a

leading role in pushing the Society to a different level with a common agenda.

The meeting also provided a platform to share different cultural backgrounds from different

continents and it was particularly interesting during a special organized dinner where delegates

were entertained with Spanish cultural dance

The meeting also provided an opportunity on how Vincentian young leaders could manage their

lives both social and spiritual aspect in the demanding world.

The meeting exposed participants to the rich culture of Spain and its traditional norms as well as

the rich History of the Catholic Church and the important roles Kings played in the Catholic

Church

8 | P a g e

At the Cathederal before Mass in Madrid and on the right, Statue of St. Ignatius of Loyoya

It was also interesting to learn about the contributions made by Christopher Columbus in the

Education sector and the growth of the Catholic Church at large especially in the City of

Salamanca and the rich cultural of the people of Salamanca as well as the City of Avila which are

both tourists cities.

Above all the Salamanca meeting proved that despite language, economical, geographical, social,

race among other barriers, Vincentians share a very strong bond among God’ people.

The homework for Zambia is to adopt some of the experiences shared and strengthen on the

friendship cleated with various youth leaders on a one on one interaction such as; Canada, New

Zealand, England and Whales, Spain, Nigeria and on one end also to work with National Councils

within the region with very few youth presence in their respective Countries, such as Zimbabwe,

Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Uganda among others.

Admittedly so, Zambia has a larger youth presence as compared to other National Councils and

this was established during the many interactions held with various young leaders just

appreciate what their respective National Councils were doing with the youth.

9 | P a g e

After a press briefing during the World Day of refugees at SSVP National HQ in Madrid and on the

Right New Zealand youth coordinator

In Madrid I shared the Zambian Vincentian experience with the Media during the World Refugee

Day at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Head Quarters organized by ICG and the Spanish

National Council.

However Zambia’ youth membership presence requires management and retention

interventions such as through various cultural, social and sports interventions.

The team of interpreters did a very recommendable job as no one was left behind during the

proceedings of the meeting and kudos should go to CGI for such an initiative.

In future there is need for the organizers to apportion enough time to the delegates to interact

more especially during plenary in order for them to make meaningful contributions vis-à-vis

sharing and learning best practices from the well-established National Councils.

Further, ICG should consider introducing a pool youth fund where various National Youth

Councils should apply for financial support especially to those with viable and sustainable

projects, this in the end will make young leaders and the youth in general to become resourceful

and make meaningful contribution to the poverty alleviation agenda and ultimately become less

dependency on financial grants from their respective National Councils.

Conclusion

The Salamanca 2nd international youth meeting was my first trip to travel abroad and I was so

anxious to finally travel this was despite losing my employment because of the same trip. I could

not be granted permission to travel by the new Company I joined as management argued that I

was still on probation and when I tried to negotiate for an understanding from management my

employment was instead terminated without giving any reasons. My experience could be one of

the many challenges, the young leaders are going through in our times especially in developing

Countries where job opportunities are very few and employees normally works at the mercy of

employers.

And among the many challenges young leaders are going through and young people at large are;

joblessness, career opportunities, drug abuse, illicit sex among other bad vices, this

10 | P a g e

unfortunately has contributed to retain committed young people in the Society as they are

always on the move in pursuit of greener pastures.

However when programs such as the international meeting held in Salamanca are held, it

provide opportunities for young people apart from meeting as Vincentians from different

backgrounds but as a source of learning and sharing the pains young people go through in their

respective countries and how best their problems could be solved and ultimately to attainment

of the mission of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Finally, I wish to deeply thank Dublin East region and the International Confederation General

(ICG) for the financial support rendered to the National Council to enable me travel on behalf of

Vincentian youths in Zambia and represent their affairs.

It is against this background however that I wish to take this opportunity after my experience at

an international forum wish to make my humble request for kind the consideration to consider

sponsoring a 6 member “Ambassadors of God” team from Zambia intending to travel to Panama

for the World Vincentian Youth Day that will take place from January 18th to 22nd January, 2019,

the total amount required is estimated to be seven thousand eight hundred (7800) Euros for a

round trip for 6 people.