CEBU: 1 December 2011 -- How would you react to the following ideas (or shall we say stereotypess) regarding the Rector?
- 'matey' AUL
- directive (CIN)
- senior deserving respect (GIA)
- decisive manager (FIN/S)
- authority, deserves respect (KOR)
- father figure (ITM/Ind)
    Stereotypes they may be, but there may also be a grain of truth in there too. This is but one of the 40 or so items that came under discussion at the recent 'formation of formators' session in Cebu, led by Fr Edison Fernandes of INB Province India.
    Fr Edison had the distinct advantage, apart from his encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject and the skill he demonstrated in sharing it, of being something of an 'insider' to our Region.  He had spent five years of post-graduate studies in the Philippines.
    Fr Edison provided many handouts (mostly Word documents, but including ppt presentations and some videos) for those who took part in his sessions. Given the importance of the topic of multicultural and intercultural communications in Salesian communities today, some of these items will have much wider appeal.  They are available in BOSCONET (as are many other items dealing with formation from earlier years).
    Given the Rector Major's insistence on the importance of international communities, and given too the movement of personnel in and out of Regions in the name of 'missions' (think of Project Europe for example, which now involves 60 missionaries), the 'formation of formators' course in Cebu is unlikely to be an isolated event. Our Region, at its own request, has almost certainly set in motion a chain of such considerations.  Less than a week ago, msot of the 60 referred to above met in Rome with Frs Cereda and Klement to reflect on their experiences after 1, 2 and more years in their new province - and the intercultural communications aspect was high on the agenda!

    Our Region expresses its gratitude to Fr Edison for his time and expertise and his gentle insistence on the importance of the ideas he raised.