At a time when coming together was more difficult than ever, the FHA decided to organise webinars to fulfil our goals of building global capacity and facilitating learning opportunities in the Vincentian Family. In 2021 we organised two, but we hope to make webinars a regular feature of the FHA work in the next few years.
We had the privilege to explain our goals and plans for the next three years to the Society of St Vincent de Paul, the biggest Vincentian branch back in May. The international president, Renato Lima, and the International Territorial Vice-Presidents (ITVP) of the SSVP attended the event. We were also blessed with the presence of Father Andrés Motto CM, spiritual advisor of the Society.
Later in July, over 70 people joined to listen to an all-women panel explaining how they developed their “13 Houses” projects. Vincentians from Cambodia to Brazil, from Ireland to Australia, had the chance to ask Sr Winnie Mutuku DC from Kenya, Ana María Escaño from the Philippines and Dawn Colapietro from Haiti their questions about how to start a project.
As we start a new strategic cycle for the years 2022 – 2024 we want to incorporate the webinars as a regular communications tool, always making sure that live interpretation is available to break the language barrier. Among the topics, we want to cover in the months to come are the Vincentian responses to emergencies and crises, education as a tool to prevent homelessness, human trafficking and gender inequality, and local advocacy. All webinars will be recorded and made available to watch again on our website and on our YouTube channel for those who are not able to attend on the day.