“Who cares for the caretaker?” This was the motto of the Meeting of educators of the Marist social works of Catalonia, which was held on Friday, March 17 at the Maristes Anna Ravell school in Barcelona, and which wanted to influence the care of people and teams in a particularly difficult time.
After the thanks of the director of the Marist social works of Barcelona, Helena Bové, hosts of the event, the meeting was inaugurated by the Marist brothers Lluís Serra and Gabriel Villa-Real and Brigida Ceballos, technician of the Barcelona City Council. Brother Lluís Serra made a historical journey through the Marist social works and went back to 1990, when the Compartir Association was created. Referring to the task of educators in obras sociales, he recalled that “giving and receiving are the systole and diastole of social action. From this perspective, professionals and volunteers realize that they also have to receive attention to explore their interior, strengthen their action, work better as a team, avoid unhealthy conditions, improve their personal training, contribute from humility… If they don’t fill the canteen they won’t be able to offer water to others”.
Brígida Ceballos, for her part, highlighted from the City Council the work carried out by the entities, “a work of high technical complexity” and remarked that one of the challenges of the Barcelona City Council is “to continue offering lines of work and supporting the Projects”.
To close the parliaments, Brother Gabriel Villa-Real recalled the path and the good work that has been done in the last 20 years and the determined and firm commitment that has been taken as an institution for social works. A banda, thanked each of the educators for their daily work: “Thank you for your courage because your day-to-day life means living in direct contact with fragility, and for this you must have courage. And in this context it is important not to lose from the point of view that you have to take care of those who take care of others. And take care of yourself, know how to express it with words and feel what we feel. Feel connected with others and know how to disconnect in order to reconnect”.
The day continued with a dynamic talk by Oriol Julià, called “We accompany each other feeling to accompany with meaning. Equipment care spaces”, which shook the attendees and then there were workshops aimed at caring for people and equipment: the word , laughter, emotions, the common home and curative laughter. After a shared meal, the general director of the Champagnat Foundation, Loreto Rubio, shared a moment with the educators to talk about the strategic lines of the institution and the day ended with a playful space for educators with the aim of networking and learning more about people from social works.
Congratulations, once again, for the task carried out by the Marist social works!
