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A day devoted to reflection and commitment, experiencing the transformative power of solidarity service-learning in higher education.
Around 20 countries and numerous Catholic higher education institutions gathered on Wednesday 26th August in San Isidro, Buenos Aires province (Argentina), for the Uniservitate Global Meeting. Held annually the day before the CLAYSS International Solidarity Service-Learning Conference, the event was an opportunity to meet, learn about specific experiences and discuss the present and future of local community-engaged education.
On this occasion, the University of San Isidro (USI) hosted a one-day event focused on caring for our common home and one other. The meeting began with a visit to “Los Huerteros”, a social and labour inclusion initiative for people with disabilities linked to the San Isidro Municipal Programme for Agroecological Gardens and USI solidarity service-learning projects.
María Rosa Tapia, coordinator of Uniservitate, later referred to the spirit that guides this Global Network and the need to envisage a “university that goes forth,” one that does not remain behind closed doors. This message was also echoed by the President of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) Father Francisco Ramírez Yañez. These reflections were particularly echoed in the welcome address delivered earlier by USI Vice-Chancellor, Enrique Del Percio, when he called on participants to rediscover the profound meaning of the word “community” and to emphasise the munus, understood as care and action for others.
The Uniservitate trip continued in the afternoon with a presentation on solidarity service-learning in prison settings, by the Triada Ensemble Orchestra —a project at San Martín Prison Unit No. 47. After the group lunch, there was one of the highlights of the day: the discussion among the network members, and later, the visit to the “Tajy Poty Intercultural Art Trail” project. The day concluded at San Isidro Cathedral with a Mass celebrated by Monsignor Guillermo Caride, auxiliary bishop of the diocese.
Once again, the Uniservitate Day proved that a global network is also built through these specific gatherings: when universities engage with the local community, listen, share their knowledge and allow themselves to be transformed by what others have to teach.
Full article: https://www.uniservitate.org/news/