Be part to take part

17Mar, 2023 | Actuality, Itaka, Province of Emmaus

Last Saturday, 11 February, more than a hundred people from Itaka-Escolapio’s Emmaus met in Bilbao for the 5th Meeting for Social Transformation under the motto BE PART to TAKE PART.

In the online session we reflected on the importance we attach to participation in Itaka-Escolapios and the conditions that need to be in place for it to develop fully. The material used is available at: https://tinyurl.com/58va983e

At the face-to-face meeting, we shared experiences of participation in the different locations and got to know the Itaka-Escolapios projects in Bilbao on the ground. We were particularly impressed by the scope of the Calasanz Movement, the 21 homes for young migrants and women at risk of exclusion, the AILARA day centre for women, the vocational training being developed in collaboration with the Betania cooperative, the volunteers dedicated to teaching Spanish…

Considering the growing number of people of Muslim faith participating in Itaka-Escolapios projects and attending the meeting, we held an interfaith prayer with the participation of the Imam and several people from the mosque of Rekalde as well as the diocesan representative for interfaith dialogue. It was an intense moment of shared spirituality.

The meeting culminated in the celebration of the Eucharist of the Christian Community of Bilbao, during which Elena Pérez and Igor Irigoyen made their final promise as lay piarists.

At the end of the Eucharist, the Manifesto of the meeting was read, in which all the participants committed themselves to a more just and solidary world. You can read and distribute the manifesto here: https://tinyurl.com/uahzhzf9

ANNUAL PLAN OF THE PROVINCE AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF EMMAUS SHARED WITH THE ITAKA-SCOLAPIOS NETWORK

As a concretisation of the Programmatic Charter that the Province and the Emmaus Fraternity signed at the time, we presented to the Executive Committee, after approval by the Provincial Congregation and the Provincial Council of the Fraternity, the annual plan of the projects that we of Emmaus share in the Itaka-Escolapios network. A large part of our extra-Muslim mission is developed through this NETWORK, in which we thus share mission with 11 Piarist Provinces and 5 demarcational fraternities and are present in 18 countries.

The projects of Emmaus that we share in Itaka-Escolapios cover many areas of social intervention, with projects to accompany migrants and to welcome minors under guardianship increasing greatly in these years.

These projects are listed below:

  • 14 officially opened branches and another in the process of legalisation in Mozambique.
  • 17 offices: Bilbao (2), Granada (2), Logroño, Pamplona-Iruña (3), Peralta de la Sal, Seville, Soria, Tafalla, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Tolosa and Zaragoza (3).
  • Calasanz Movement in 14 Emmaus sites: Alcañiz, Barbastro, Bilbao, Granada, Jaca, Logroño, Pamplona-Iruña, Seville, Soria, Tafalla, Tolosa, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Zaragoza and Minheuene.
  • 4 schools for educators in 9 places: Lurberri in Navarre, Iturralde in the Basque Autonomous Community and Itaka-Escolapios in Andalusia and Aragon, with actions throughout Emmaus.
  • Management of 9 hostels: 3 in Bilbao (Arrazola, Lezana de Mena and Estacas de Trueba), 1 in Granada (Cortijo de la Zubia), 2 in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Barria and Casa Vitoria) and 2 in Pamplona-Iruña (Txamantxoia and Irañeta) and 1 in Tolosa.
  • 27 homes: 21 shelters in Bilbao with one hundred and nine places for young migrants and women at risk of exclusion with minor children in their care (1 night shelter, 2 assisted shelters, 1 sheltered home, 2 autonomous shelters and 13 independent living shelters and 2 with women), 3 shelters in Soria with twenty-seven minors in care, 1 shelter in Vitoria-Gasteiz with six young migrants, 1 shelter in Logroño with three women at risk of exclusion with minor children in their care and 1 shelter in Zaragoza with six places for young migrants.
  • 2 hostels for refugees: Peralta and Zaragoza with 110 places.
  • 1 day centre for the accompaniment of women at risk of exclusion: Ailara in Bilbao.
  • 1 day centre for young people recently released from the care of the administration: Bidaide, in Bilbao.
  • 8 literacy projects with migrants…: Ojalá in Bilbao, Tafalla, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Seville, Logroño and Barbastro, Ikaskide in Pamplona-Iruña and El Faro in Granada.
  • 6 social counselling projects: Acompañamiento de Personas Migrantes and Bidaide in Bilbao, CSE Cartuja in Granada, Acompaña in Logroño and Zaragoza, and Ikaskide in Pamplona.
  • 4 socio-educational centres: CSE Cartuja in Granada, Ikaskide in Pamplona, Aingura in Bilbao and Ojalá Txiki in Vitoria.
  • 5 employment training projects: Errotazarra in Vitoria (vocational training for young people with disabilities), Ikaskide in Pamplona (courses and workshops for adults), cleaning training in Bilbao and Vitoria, Lanbide employment guidance centre in Bilbao.
  • 1 employment agency: “Le damos la vuelta” in Zaragoza.
  • 12 projects to support schools: Trastévere in Barbastro, Bilbao, Granada, Jaca, Logroño, Seville, Soria, Tafalla, Tolosa, Zaragoza, Ikaskide in Pamplona and Balira in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
  • Piarist presence in Minheuene, Diocese of Pemba, Mozambique: supporting the Piarist community itself, the Calasanz Movement, the functioning of the parish and its escolinha and promoting an agro-pastoral project.
  • Volunteer in all our actions (convocation, training, accompaniment, etc.).
  • Numerous awareness-raising, communication and training activities (joint campaign of solidarity with the South, solidarity with Ukraine, Peace Week, participation and promotion of EDUCA NETWORK, food collection, publications, courses, etc.).
  • 13 resource collection offices: Alcañiz, Barbastro, Bilbao, Granada, Jaca, Logroño, Pamplona-Iruña, Seville, Soria, Tafalla, Tolosa, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Zaragoza.
  • Alliances with other educational, social and ecclesiastical institutions.

As we can see, a great variety of projects aimed at responding to the calls we receive from our environment, our determination to change reality according to the values of the Gospel and the priorities that characterise our project of Piarist presence.

At the heart of Itaka-Escolapio’s Emmaus is the work of the Calasanz Movement, which accompanies more than 2,800 girls, boys, adolescents and young people, with all that this entails in terms of richness and responsibility. For the development of the Calasanz Movement and all other projects, we count on the irreplaceable contribution of about 900 volunteers and the support of 120 volunteers.

Financially, Itaka-Escolapios Emmaus proposes a budget of 4.7 million euros for this year, supported by contributions from the Province and the Fraternity, from members, solidarity campaigns and funds from public institutions that trust in our good work.

From Emmaus, Jesús Elizari as Provincial and Raúl González as representative of the Fraternity are on the Board of Trustees of Itaka-Escolapios. From our Province, Alberto Cantero as representative of the General Fraternity and Igor Irigoyen as General Coordinator and Ander Mijangos as Coordinator of the Administrative Area also participate in the Board of Trustees.

Itaka-Escolapios in Emmaus is undoubtedly a very rich instrument of the Piarist mission, which allows us to always be IN DEPARTURE and to follow in the footsteps of Calasanz in many of our Trastéveres, and furthermore, it illustrates very well the style of SYNODALITY and the model of Piarist presence that we want to promote together, Province and Fraternity.