David, Ivan and Mark.

Quebec Youth Symposium: 12-17th July 2002



It all began in Rome in August 2000. Whilst queuing for lunch at the
World Youth days, Yanick came up to me and Mark and told us what we
thought about the idea of forming an International Lasallian Youth
Movement. Such an idea came up at the right place and at the right time:
in the Mother House there were over 1000 lasallian youths were being
hosted, and all over Rome youths were grouped within their own
international associations and movements. We gave Yanick our details as a sign of our commitment to this idea.



A couple of months later David, being our representative was informed
that the brothers had given the go ahead to start working on this
project. Accordingly on the occasion of the next world Youth day,
Lasallian youth leaders were to meet in Quebec city in Canada. During
the months leading up to the Quebec symposium we gave Yanick and his
team a helping hand especially for translations and writing of formal
letters in English.




The much awaited July 2002 arrived. Unlike previous youth gatherings I
participated in, more preparation was required this time since this was the first step to launch a new association within the lasallian family. We had to answer some questions as part of the preparation road. This
was split into several segments. As a Maltese delegation we also sent
out our answers as part of our monthly e-publications: The Worth Link.



The Maltese delegation in Quebec consisted of five individuals: David,
Mark, Charles, Mary and myself. Before reaching Quebec we spent some
time in Toronto. Visiting the Niagra falls was an awesome experience. I
never imagined that so much water exists!! (In Malta it does not rain
much and there are not any lakes). We also went up the CN tower from
where we got some good views of Toronto city.


On Friday 12th July we arrived in Quebec in the evening, just in time
for the welcome meeting. We were divided in around 11 groups, the
division being made on the basis of language. I felt very lucky to have
three young brothers in my group. We had some ice breaking activities to
do and the rest of the evening was free. It was really good to meet up
with a couple of other youths who were present in Worth and in Rome. I
also learnt how successful the Worth link was proving to be. Even though
some individuals never sent us any e-mails, they were actually
forwarding it to their friends. A very pleasant surprise indeed! An even
more pleasant surprise was when we met a Maltese brother in this youth
symposium: Bro. Norbert had come up with the delegation from Kenya!!


Saturday was our first full day. Bro. Lavalle and Yanick gave us an
introductory speech about this symposium and what is expected. Yanick
reminded us of the words of Br. John Johnston that though we may have
different religions, cultures, backgrounds and nationalities, the
charisma of John Baptist De La Salle will keep us united in the days to
come:



"We are all brothers and sisters of a great family"


Yanick concluded by encouraging us to start of the movement for
lasallian youth so that hand in hand we'll build the civilisation of love. <=BR>

In his short address Bro. Lavalle welcomed us to the "jewel of Canada". He emphasised that in the forthcoming days we were going to take
important decisions that will have an effect on the future of the
brothers and the international lasallian community. He also thanked us
for accepting the invitation to reflect on this project.


Bro. Alvaro Rodriguez, the superior general, then gave us his address.
He immediately started off by telling us how happy he was when his
holiness Pope John Paul II wrote to him saying (referring to the
lasallian institute)"I am delighted with the initiatives taken thus
far, such as the creation of the "Lasallian Youth Network". Bro.
Alvaro then recalled his own experience of World youth days in Rome. He
continued to explain the Lasallian charism and our personal encounter
with God. He suggested a three step process to look at the world with
the eyes of faith:



1. Looking at life, events, history, as places where God is made manifest.

2. Search for Gods' will.

3. Trust in God.



Bro. Alvaro concluded his address by sharing another experience. This
time it was about a youth meeting organised by the PARC region. He
insisted that even though there were a variety of religions and
cultures, all participants identified themselves with Lasallian values
of faith, community and service.


I feel that the last sentence of Bro. Alvaro's address is a very
important one. The brothers are counting on us youth to continue the
mission of St. John Baptist De La Salle.



"Today the torch is passed to you young people, and the future of the
Lasallian Institute is, in large measure, in your hands. I know that you
will not let us down."



In the afternoon we met for the first time in the small groups. I had
the role of chairing and leading (where necessary) the discussion of my
group. I always made it a point that each session starts with a small
prayer. I was in group 3. All participants in this group spoke and
understood English quite well. The individuals came from the USA,
Australia, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Colombia and Malta. With such a
worldwide representation it was inevitable that we will not have the
same views on certain issues. The first session was related to spheres
of action and types of involvement.



We managed to agree that there was a need to learn more about our
founder to be able to speak about him especially with those who never
heard about John Baptist De La Salle. We felt that a universal
definition of the term lasallian volunteer is required as this may have different meanings in different countries. For action to be effective we
felt that more networking and linkage amongst young lasallians should
take place on the international level. As for concrete action we
recommended that a strategy should be formed to keep individuals
involved in the lasallian family after they finish school. Parameters
are required before a project can be called lasallian or not and use of e-mail can be made made to exchange ideas and programmes.



After the first session more of us started realising how important the
issues we discussed were. In the evening we were treated to a show of
French-Canadian culture at Villa des Jeunes.


On Sunday morning I woke up to the sound of rain. I am not used to the
idea of rain in the middle of July! During breakfast I noted that the
French seemed a bit more jovial then the rest of us waving the flag
and shouting Vive La France!! It took me a couple of minutes to realise it was the 14th July the national holiday of France. With so many
national holidays in my country I am not used to this kind of patriotism.



This morning's prayer session was being led by "REBIM" Our District. We
had worked quite late the previous nights, and also back in Malta to
make sure everything would be right. We wanted to involve everybody in
the session and made use of all the languages. We used the popular songs
"We are the World" and "Love Shine a light". We also sung the Our Father
in different languages. As for a reading we chose the one with the World
Youth day theme "You are the salt of the Earth". Many were those
including Bro. Alvaro, who congratulated us for such an interesting and
animated prayer session.



After the morning prayer Bro. Nicolas Capelle, secretary of the
lasallian educational mission, gave us an address about aspects on
lasallian commitment. He concentrated on 5 aspects of the work of a
lasallian which he felt should be known by us. These are:

1. The service of young adults (eg helping the rice growers)


2. Look out (eg teaching the gypsy children)


3. Proposition of the faith in a new inter-cultural and inter-religious
context.


4. Action to promote the rights of children and young people.


5. Commitment to the Dakar resolution "education for all 2015"


Bro. Nicolas then described the characteristics of the lasallian
tradition. He also mentioned that there are still a large number of
educational needs just as many as the 17th century. He then ended his
address with a question:


"Are there not 20, 30, 50 young people in the Lasallian world, who would
be willing to respond, in one way or another, to the new needs of young
people in today's culture, and who are looking for new forms of
consecrated life, fraternal life, presence among the least privileged in
society ? Think about it."


After a short break it was time for some lasallian youth to share some
experiences about their local scene with all the other delegates. Of
special interest was the presentation given by representatives from the
"Movimento Juvenile Lasallista" from the district of Bogota Colombia.
This group has all the structures and programmes which any eventual
local movement in Malta should aim to have.



In the afternoon it was time for the second group session. This time it
was held at the Villa Des Jeunes, in a very special environment. The
theme of this sessions was about who are the young lasallians? Our first
task was to define the lasallian spirit of a young lasallian. We could
not arrive at just one definition and agreed that it is impossible to
define it: it is only the actions of an individual which make a person
lasallian. All of us valued the fact that it is a big satisfaction for
us when we help people who then themselves subsequently help others.
When this happens you feel that you have gained more than you have
given. As a group we all had similar views about how the lasallian
spirit is experienced in our areas. As a start the lasallian spirit is
first instilled and nurtured in the lasallian school we attend and then others through our actions experience the lasallian spirit from us.
Lasallian spirit is how we live and all those around us can experience
it through us including our families. We went on to discuss the work we
do with young lasallians. The type of work varied from providing work
contacts to organising forums and training as well as conducting
volunteer programmes. Since each one of us was coming from a different
region we also discussed the structure of the organisation we form part of and how it is financed.



After this session a meeting took place for group leaders and note
takers. Michael, the note taker in our group, went to this meeting and
he briefed us on it at a later stage.



Later we had a guided tour of Quebec City. Our guide, Caroline, showed
us through all the historical sites and places of interest found in the city. We spent the evening in the heart of the city.


After the morning prayer on Monday we had another session in the small
groups. This time the theme was together and by association. The first
issue to discuss was how to create unity amongst international
lasallians. We felt that as a start a framework is required and that
agreement needs to be found on the definition of terms used as the same word had different meaning to different cultures.. Both the creation of similar progression of lasallian programmes as well as the setting up of
a central internet site to keep young lasallians informed about any
voluntary work opportunities, youth gatherings and to exchange ideas
would help unify the Lasallian Youth. The next issue to discuss related to the project of having an international lasallian youth association.
As a group though we all agreed that in principal it is something good, however, we were miles apart about whether it should be started, and how
and when. It was understandable to have such division because the level of commitment taken by lasallian youth is not the same in each country: so what is impossible for some sounds very easy for others.



In the afternoon after lunch we were taken to Duchesnay. We had a very
relaxing walk in this large park and we enjoyed canoeing. We also had
the opportunity to spend some time alone to reflect in this natural
environment.



One of the meetings I enjoyed most took place in the evening. This
meeting was for all group leaders and note takers. It lasted for over
three hours. During this meeting we got the first overall impression of what the groups are discussing and some ideas and points were clarified.
This meeting could be considered as the one that gave birth to the first
high level discussions leading to the creation of the international
lasallian youth movement.




Tuesday was the last full day of this symposium. After the morning
prayer the Group Leaders had a short meeting where they were given some additional points to be discussed in the groups. In the next group
session we were required to think more in terms of the operation of the new association. My group was of the view that as yet it was still too
early to set up the international lasallian youth movement, but the
process of setting it up could be started. As a prerequisite lines of
communication linking up all lasallian communities were required. In
order not to fail in this big project it was suggested to move ahead at a slow but steady pace to ensure that everybody is moving forward at the
same rate. My group also decided that it was too early to discuss issues
of funding and the specific tasks of the pilot team. We could not arrive
at a common age bracket to define when a person is a young lasallian,
but all of us agreed that no one who is enthusiastic and willing to
contribute should be precluded because of his or her age.



In the afternoon Bro. William Mann, the vicar general, gave us his
address about what he thought about this project. He reaffirmed that the
brothers will support this project and it was up to us to decide whether
to go ahead or not. The ball was now in our court. Bro. William also
took part in some of the groups for some sessions to get a feel of what was being discussed. During question time as a Maltese delegation we
asked what will happen to past students associations and UMAEL once the youth movement was created. Bro. William replied that UMAEL will still
continue to exist and that the youth movement will only appeal to those within a specified age bracket. Several other delegates put their own
questions to Bro. William, one of which was to give a definition of what
is meant by district and region when used in an international lasallian context.



Later on in the afternoon we had a Eucharistic celebration together.
This was definitely the climax of the symposium. As a Maltese delegation
we helped out in organising some of the music for this mass. In the
evening we had a very special dinner which was followed by a memorable
farewell party at the Villa Des Jeunes. It was only at this time that
most of the participants realised that the symposium will soon be over.



On the final day after a very early morning meeting between the group
leaders we managed to come up with the conclusions which could be put
forward to all the participants of the symposium. It was decided that
this final address should be read out in each of the official three
different languages that have been used throughout the past days. David,
from the USA, was to read out the final address in English. The address started off by showing gratitude towards Brother Alvaro, William and
Nicholla, after which David thanked God for being present in each and
every one of us in the decisions we took over the past days. As a final thanks David mentioned all the delegates who worked so hard from the
very beginning in the preparation road. Without the work of such
delegates nothing could be achieved.



The propositions the group leaders had earlier agreed upon were then
mentioned: that a committee from the Quebec participants should be
formed to analyse all the work done and how to proceed. Such committee
had to be formed in a short time:


"We need action and we need action now so that the fire present in our
hearts today does not die out."



The group leaders also had a message to all the delegates: We could
start working right away and that we need to keep up the network set up amongst us to keep sharing our experiences and ideas.


So dear readers as you can see Quebec 2002 was just the start of a very demanding project. From now until forever, hand in hand, we as young
lasallians with other young lasallians and with brothers and others must
continue together and by association, hand in hand, to build the civilisation of love.