MEETING OF FATHER GENERAL WITH JAAI

Submitted by conrad on February 27, 2009 - 4:47pm.

Meeting of Fr General, Very Rev Fr Adolfo Nicolas with the JAAI Governing Council and Delhi Alumni at St Xavier’s, Delhi on February 21, 2008.

At the meeting of representatives of JAAI and Alumni of Delhi, the JAAI secretary introduced the participants after which Conrad Gonsalves made a short presentation giving an overview of JAAI, its inception and growth. Ronnie D’Costa spoke about activities in

the Central zone with emphasis on the national project of Water. He also described the matching finance scheme for small projects. Siddharth Dudhoria spoke the Alumni Exchange programme. The President of JAAI, Dr Santosh Rollands invited Fr General to share his long term vision for alumni. This is an abridged version of Fr General’s spontaneous response. The Secretary of Doxa raised the Vote of Thanks.

Address of Fr General

It is becoming clear to us, even in Rome, that as the world becomes more intercommunicative and we become aware of the problems outside our own regions, we realize how limited our own initiatives are. We Jesuits are growing more conscious that many of the things we would like to do, can be done only If we work with a larger community and we realize that the Alumni of our institutes are a natural extension. Alumni strengths are their high motivation, professional expertise and the fact of their being widely spread across different countries.

It is encouraging to know that Jesuit Education is not lost, not wasted.You are proof of this. What we learned in our years of growth as persons does remain in our hearts and in our minds and we are aware that Alumni and their Associations carry on values, perceptions, a sense of humanity and justice in our world - something that is very valuable.

We are faced with the question of how we can channelize these strengths.I wouldn’t like, and now I am speaking in my own name, not in the name of the Jesuits, that we Jesuits should be the ones to be channelizing everything. Because then we would become clerical, even though we try to have the wide perspective of St Ignatius with the concerns of the world.We have our own limitations and biases. I think it should be a parallel journey of what we as Jesuits think we could do in the world and what you as lay persons and professionals involved in business, education and other areas, think should and can be done. In this process we will join forces and have a plan for dialogue and communication.

I think today in the Society of Jesus, after four centuries and a half, we realize that our mission is not “our” mission. It is the mission that God - in whatever terms you express the reality of God - wants for humanity. Better quality of life, more justice, human rights and sharing, a better future for our children and so forth. We are convinced that all forces are needed, with each contributing what they can.

You asked what is my vision twenty years from now.I think we should think about now and maybe the next five years. For instance, your water project, this would be to my mind a wonderful project. It is concrete. It has to do with sharing, with life in all senses, with survival of the environment and the world around us. In a project like this, what can be done now is really to work to make clean water available to many more. In the process, we will create community and awareness that water is a factor of unity. In water, differences in society do not count. We all need it.

I had a map in my office in Manila, which had an old Chinese saying below the different blocks of land: “One Sea, One Family.” This would make a good slogan: “Water unifies the human family”. Our bodies are around 80 percent water. The sea unites all the countries of the world. By sea you can travel anywhere. It is a reality that water unites geographically, symbolically and like in the human body, structurally. Our common project can be a unifying factor in human concern. How to feed children, how to keep children hydrated. You know from half research, half fiction that the next world war will be fought for water. While people are thinking about water as a cause for war, we can think of water as a chance for unity. It is a new wealth, that nobody should control by making it a privilege.

It is also time to start thinking about the next five years.This thinking is both from the Educators, the Jesuits, and from you who are in the professional world and who see many things that we don’t see. My hope is that the Alumni be the bridges for us to come in touch with the whole world that we do not have the means to reach. You are there.

After my election, my classmates, who belong to Alumni Association in Madrid, came to Rome. Until then they were just celebrating being alumni.They now realize they need to have wider concerns.

I think, in this collaboration, communication with each other, there are many areas where you can help us and there are some areas where we can help. All over the world there is a movement to strengthen the Associations, not as social Associations but as apostolic Associations. Apostolic in the widest sense. Not necessarily as a Christian mission in the church, but the mission that education brings us a new society and a new humanity; humanity with very strong values of inner-liberation. Here is where Indian culture has been so strong.

Water and justice and other issues could be inside all of you. So would concern for family, education of children, the future that is opening. I hope that the exchange with Spain, or America or East Africa or Japan, be a moving one.

When friends or family, ask me for a blessing for a wedding, my message always is: “the key to grow happy is if you can grow together” Something like this applies to alumni and Jesuits. If we can grow together we can continue communicating on common issues, then I think our partnership can develop, that will be my hope. It is not one-sided. It is a growth together in issues that are important not for us but for humanity.

Crusaders - Soldiers of God

Submitted by gladwin on March 1, 2009 - 12:38am.

Hi,

As a kid in the Primary, I was a Crusader also kwnon as Soldier of God
The group eventually dissolved, but I faintly remember the Anthem of the Crusaders -"Brave Crusaders our Hearts are on Fire....." Does any of the other crusaders or Father Sebastian Fernandes who guided us during the last year remember the words? Please keep me posted.

Regards,

Gladwin D. Pereira

Would a JAAI PURA model work?

Submitted by Francis DSilva on February 28, 2009 - 11:23pm.

Conrad,
Thanks for sharing this.

I am a fan of former president APJ Kalam (link) and his missions in Vision 2020 (link). In fact, in PURA - Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas - (link) I see some obvious connections to Fr General's speech that can be actioned upon by alumni. More than a centrally managed initiative, PURA is a notion of "spreading the knowledge" and also a concept with business potential for the bottom-of-the-pyramid (see the History section of this link).

I'd assume JAAI has its thoughts on responding to Fr General's vision, and it would be interesting to explore the possibility of creating a JAAI PURA model. One could pick up ideas from existing PURA models to get started.

Some areas worth exploring are water-purification and solar electrification -- these are also as relevant to urban Mumbai as it is in rural Maharashtra. Could doing something locally be a way to go? for eg. something that benefits our school but which can also be scaled out to rural areas. In these days of "Green IT" and sustainable economic development, this could also entice business sponsors.

Appreciate comments and thoughts on this.

Best wishes
Francis (Class 1977)