austraLasia #2941
PDO Roadmap under way
HYDERABAD: 11-11-11 -- Many people, not the least the key organisers of the Project and Development (PDO) Seminar held at the Provincial House in Hyderabad, India, have expressed satisfaction at the proceedings and their outcome. This was the second such international PDO meeting, the first having been held in 2005 under the then leadership of Fr Alencherry.
PDO is something of a neologism in Salesian terminology, and is to be distinguished from a Mission office or simple Project office, though with more than three quarters of Salesian Provinces represented in Hyderabad this time, just about every version of whatever is to do with this kind of entity was present. The prime purpose of the just concluded meeting was to draw up a roadmap that would take the PDO notion and structure forward and insert it more solidly into the normal operation of a Province. Indeed the meeting went as far as to propose that the upcoming GC27 introduce a new article or at least an adjusted article into the Regulations to 'formalise' things more in this regard.
EAO was well represented, not only in numbers but in contribution. Six of the circumscriptions of the Region were represented (Bro Michael Lynch from Australia-Pacific, Fr Gregory Bicomong and MS Rona Palma from Philippines North, Fr George Militante and Ms Leah Samson from South Philipinnes, Fr Bodi and Fr Do Carmo from Indonesia and East Timor, Frs Saw and Mynt Aung from Myanmar, and Frs Tuan and Pham Ba Hung from Vietnam. Interestingly enough Leah was the only woman in the group and was among the six members of the steering group for the seminar. Fr George Militante and Yohannes Boedi probably share the distinction of being the only Provincials or Delegates to be heading up a PDO in their province! In the case of Indonesia Fr Boedi was previously Provincial Economer, and so was Fr Militante for that matter, but FIS had already made a decision to shift responsibility for overseeing PDO operations to provincial level rather than by the Economer.
A significant group (27) of 'resource persons' from mission offices, NGOs, and from the Missions, Finance and Youth Ministry Departments in Rome was also present.
Given the rocky road that one or two very well-known 'roadmaps' have had in recent political history, and given the financial crises afflicting entire nations if not the world economic structure as a whole, the Hyderabad PDO Roadmap is a brave move forward, but one which builds on the recognised evolution of the PDO notion over the six years since it was launched at the first meeting in Rome. The Hyderabad meeting has gone out of its way, however, to stress that PDO is not only nor mainly about money - it is a structure intended to enhance Salesian education and evangelisation, of course something that needs money but the PDO also "serves as a link, a bridge, between the consecrated Salesians and civil society in the work of promoting youth development and empowerment, justice, and holistic human development". That is a much broader task than just fund-raising!
Also, and as a final comment, this writer could not but be pleased to note the attention given to an issue that is now constantly emerging at every level in the Congregation: "f) We encourage the PDO to understand and use properly the Salesian terminology as provided in the website (http://www.sdb.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php)".
PDO Roadmap under way
HYDERABAD: 11-11-11 -- Many people, not the least the key organisers of the Project and Development (PDO) Seminar held at the Provincial House in Hyderabad, India, have expressed satisfaction at the proceedings and their outcome. This was the second such international PDO meeting, the first having been held in 2005 under the then leadership of Fr Alencherry.
PDO is something of a neologism in Salesian terminology, and is to be distinguished from a Mission office or simple Project office, though with more than three quarters of Salesian Provinces represented in Hyderabad this time, just about every version of whatever is to do with this kind of entity was present. The prime purpose of the just concluded meeting was to draw up a roadmap that would take the PDO notion and structure forward and insert it more solidly into the normal operation of a Province. Indeed the meeting went as far as to propose that the upcoming GC27 introduce a new article or at least an adjusted article into the Regulations to 'formalise' things more in this regard.
EAO was well represented, not only in numbers but in contribution. Six of the circumscriptions of the Region were represented (Bro Michael Lynch from Australia-Pacific, Fr Gregory Bicomong and MS Rona Palma from Philippines North, Fr George Militante and Ms Leah Samson from South Philipinnes, Fr Bodi and Fr Do Carmo from Indonesia and East Timor, Frs Saw and Mynt Aung from Myanmar, and Frs Tuan and Pham Ba Hung from Vietnam. Interestingly enough Leah was the only woman in the group and was among the six members of the steering group for the seminar. Fr George Militante and Yohannes Boedi probably share the distinction of being the only Provincials or Delegates to be heading up a PDO in their province! In the case of Indonesia Fr Boedi was previously Provincial Economer, and so was Fr Militante for that matter, but FIS had already made a decision to shift responsibility for overseeing PDO operations to provincial level rather than by the Economer.
A significant group (27) of 'resource persons' from mission offices, NGOs, and from the Missions, Finance and Youth Ministry Departments in Rome was also present.
Given the rocky road that one or two very well-known 'roadmaps' have had in recent political history, and given the financial crises afflicting entire nations if not the world economic structure as a whole, the Hyderabad PDO Roadmap is a brave move forward, but one which builds on the recognised evolution of the PDO notion over the six years since it was launched at the first meeting in Rome. The Hyderabad meeting has gone out of its way, however, to stress that PDO is not only nor mainly about money - it is a structure intended to enhance Salesian education and evangelisation, of course something that needs money but the PDO also "serves as a link, a bridge, between the consecrated Salesians and civil society in the work of promoting youth development and empowerment, justice, and holistic human development". That is a much broader task than just fund-raising!
Also, and as a final comment, this writer could not but be pleased to note the attention given to an issue that is now constantly emerging at every level in the Congregation: "f) We encourage the PDO to understand and use properly the Salesian terminology as provided in the website (http://www.sdb.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php)".
