Thirty years of SED

On February 2, the NGO Marist SED celebrated its 30th birthday with an event to honor all the people who, during all these years, have made the work of the NGO possible. Schools and members of the organization’s team were the protagonists of this special event.

During its three decades of work, the NGO has spread Marist values in Spain and abroad. With educational projects, social impact and cooperation for development in Latin America and Africa, but also in some countries of Asia and Europe.

Ismael Cámara, in charge of communications for SED, explains that “we are a family made up of a lot of realities and people, made up of schools, local organizations, volunteers and teachers, among others, who in the end are the ones who make our work possible. And, of course, they are the ones who make our work visible so that we can continue to move forward.

The celebration took place on the 22nd day of month 2 of the year 2022 as a key moment to commemorate the thirty years of trajectory; since as Javier Salazar, director of SED, explains, “All the numbers are magic, the numbers of our achievements and goals all started with the number three”. To have been working for 30 years, in 38 countries, with 3,000 active projects, thanks to 3,000 volunteers, with 37 million euros and for 3,000,000 beneficiaries, is not a coincidence but the result of all the work that all the components of SED are making a reality”.

Because if there is something that stands out from the organization is that “our goal is focused on being able to make our objectives something tangible, and that the dreams we have become a reality,” says Cámara. SED continues to keep its essence alive and demonstrates it with the slogan chosen for this special occasion: ‘Thirst for a new world’.

The celebration took place in Madrid, but was followed online from multiple schools throughout the peninsula. The artist from Albacete, Rozalén, did not hesitate to congratulate the work of the NGO with a virtual message in which she thanked them for their work.

As Javier Salazar points out, “the celebration is not only festive, but also projection”, and there are several important projects for the future. For example, coinciding with the anniversary of the death of the Bugobe brothers, a classroom pavilion is being built at Champagnat de Korobó. “Because the present is already leading us to a future,” says Salazar.

And not only that, but “by the end of the year we also have a meeting of NGOs and Institutions dedicated to international cooperation, where we will launch the book we have been working on: ‘Manual of the anticooperation index’, where we will deal with the importance of the barriers and clichés that exist and that hinder cooperation.

Because sometimes, the economic aid we get is not everything, but human courage and perseverance prevail”, says Javier Salazar, who also assures that this is precisely what makes SED so special.