Counter-Trafficking Training Programme for Religious Personnel

Report of the session held in San Paolo (Brazil) from 2nd to 7th October 2006

 

The Brazilian session of the CT Training for Religious Personnel took place from the 2nd to the 7th of October 2006in São Paolo, Tatuapé, at the house of the Oblate del Santissimo Redentore.

 

The session was delivered by Sr. Franca Artini – Comboniana,  representative of  UISG  (International Union of General Superiors), Sr. Roseli Consoli da Penha, Suore Oblate del  SS. Redentore,  representative of CRB, Stefano Volpicelli  and  Giulia  Falzoi  both representing IOM (International Organization for Migration).

 

The session was attended by some 24 Sisters of 20 different congregations, coming from 12 different Brazialian States such as: Piauì,  Rondonia,  Cearà, Minas Gerais, Sergipe, Parnaìba, Goiàs,  Espirito Santo,  Bahia,  Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina e San Paolo.

 

The training session was aimed at the improvement of the skills of Sisters already active or willing to become active in the future in counteracting Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

The participants agreed about the following objectives:

To deepen the knowledge of TIP;

To share experience and working tools;

To start up with the network building.

 

The session privileged a highly participative and interactive methodology. The course started with the presentation of the trainer team and the participants, followed by the gathering of the participants’ expectation and the introduction of the programme for the training week (see agenda attached).

 

Each working day envisaged two moment of prayer, alternatively (and creatively) prepared by different sisters. The symbols chosen, the lyrics of the songs and overall the biblical quotation had been the “spiritual nourishment” of every working day.

 

The participants were satisfied about the contents brought and the clarification of some basic concepts not completely clear before the training. They would have dedicated more time at discussing the causes of TIP, an expectation not completely fulfilled.

 

In the second day, the lacking of consistent figures about TIP pushed the participants to create a map of the different reality where they are living in order to have a better perception of the phenomena.

 

The third day, the participants showed great interests in the preventive strategy of TIP, since the majority of them are already active in that area.

 

The final evaluation revealed the satisfaction of the group about this opportunity of meeting and sharing the various experiences of work. The great distances and consequently the sense of solitude and isolation that sometimes they lamented, make them appreciate more this training. Their great desire is to be able to organise themselves in a network soon, in order to share information and coordinating with other pastorals, such as the pastoral of the marginalised woman (PMM =pastoral da mulher marginalizada), the pastoral of migrants (PM = pastoral dos migrantes), and JPIC.

Future collaboration between the “lay” and the religious world were welcomed, for improving the living conditions of many people victims of unfair mechanism propelling new forms of slavery.

 

The participants, as first step of their active involvement in counteracting TIP, decided to inform the CRB, the congregations, the dioceses and the general society. For this purpose they considered as possible media the religious websites, bulletins and periodics (such as Convergencia among others) as well as talk about the phenomena during pastoral, congregational and CRB meetings.

 

At the end, tentative (given that the extension of the UISG/IOM partnership has to be agreed again) dates and location for the follow up session was suggested as follows: from March 28^th to April 1^st 2007 in Salvador (Bahia). The objectives stated for the new meeting are the follow up of the activities to be carried out in the next six months and the establishment of a network of sisters counteracting TIP.