Sharing good ideas - there's any number of them
around our region!
ROME: 20th June 2006 -- It's an interesting day in Rome -
the 'new' provincials are looking to the end of their course, no doubt,
after being at things for over a week now. They include three
English-language members, one from AUL, from IRL and AFE
(Kenya-Tanzania), and today is 'communications' day. No doubt
they are up to pussy's bow with theory,
and communications is nothing if not practical! But the day is
interesting also because Thomas Friedman's latest, The World is Flat,
is published in Italian. It makes an interesting read - in
English, anyway :-), especially Chapter 9 entitled The Virgin of
Guadalupe. I won't spoil your fun, but don't necessarily expect a
religious book; instead expect a work that should make each Salesian
think about where Don Bosco might have situated himself in this newly
'flat' world.
Time to share two seemingly minor good ideas, but
Friedman would approve of them, one suspects. They refer to two
important ways by which Provinces inform their members - and other
provinces - of those living and dead. Thailand and Australia have
taken an approach to one or other of those aspects of a province's life
which are worth sharing. The living and the dead: Thailand has
produced the first Directory-cum-year book in the Region which combines
the usual information about each community and its members and work
with a section on confreres living and working in the province - each
with a colour snapshot and details of birthday, feastday, profession
dates, ordination where that applies. It is presented 'as if' on
a website, but at this point is in paper form only. This is
followed by a further section on departed confreres - birthday date,
when died and what country of origin. One notes that just four
Thai-born confreres have entered this list, out of a total of 89.
It is an effective way, at this point of the Province's history, of
noting the contribution of many missionaries since 1928. The dead: Australia has, for a number
of years now, developed an attractive local necrology, the work of Fr
Frank Freeman, Salesian Bulletin editor. Each confrere has a fill A4
size page to himself, with a largish photo and a five or six brief
paragraph 'life'. At the bottom of each page in a small box is
his date of death and a one line comment that sums up what his life has
meant for the province. Flicking through the pages and seeing
just that box is an uplifting experience in itself: 'Great and
humble confrere', 'priest, poet, pioneer and personality', 'He
travelled the continent', 'Life of self-surrender', 'Salesian dynamo',
'Man in a million'....
Other provinces too have good ideas! How
enabling it is when we share them. And you know, you can now do
that interactively on Bosco Wiki!
GLOSSARY
up to pussy's bow: a nice way of saying
'fed up'.
___________________
AustraLasia
is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.
It also
functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please
contact admin@bosconet.aust.com
Try
out BoscoWiki to be interactive. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xm
A separate service entirely is called F/OSSERVATORE
to help us keep abreast of trends in the digital world.
