COMPARTE, networking for hope and opportunities

All over the world, poor and indigenous peoples have been resisting the globalized neo-liberal economy for decades, in search of a space for life and dignity. Many social centres of the Society of Jesus in Latin America, and other NGOs, have been accompanying, supporting, fighting, and dreaming for a better future with those communities as part of the “Promotion of Justice” claimed by the mission of the Society. A lot has been achieved locally, in Piura, Peru; Nariño and Valle del Cauca, Colombia; Ixcan, Guatemala; and Chiapas, Mexico…
ALBOAN has been witness to all this work for years. We thought that only by bringing together all the knowledge developed at the local level is it possible to overcome the vulnerability of human development experiences taking place.
[pullquote align=”left or right”]Many social centers of the Society of Jesus in Latin America have been accompanying, supporting, fighting, and dreaming for a better future [/pullquote]In 2010, the first gathering of a group of ten social centers happened in Loyola-Spain as a place to reflect on their experiences. A publication of the main features of our way of understanding development was issued. At the end of the seminar, a group of leaders was elected, with the Social Apostolate Coordinator of the Conference of Provincials of Latin America a member, and the network was named COMPARTE (to share, playing also with the concept “the art of sharing”). The topic of interest for the network was definitively set: alternative approaches to economic development.
This network, COMPARTE, ultimately seeks to uphold the maturity of communities and their economic development to the extent that they become relevant actors in the social, political, and economic scenes of their regions, while at the same time respecting the principles of an economy that has the Common Good of all as its ultimate goal.
Later, in 2012, back at Loyola, a new seminar was held, this time with 12 centers. The group concentrated its reflection on the capacities that our centers help to develop in people, their organizations, and the public institutions that govern the territories. This was previously identified as the main strategy for the social centers in order to gain knowledge of the human dynamics behind development and to have their own proposals to continue supporting the communities where they work as subjects of their own future.
The methodology that was used during the months prior to the second encounter made the group of centers become a real network. With the strict leadership of ALBOAN, each center answered four questionnaires that later on were shared online. Conclusions were summarized and further discussions in the seminar opened up multiple opportunities for future reflection and also for future action informed by the individual experience of each social center. This methodology certainly increased the ownership of the network by its members.
From then on, new dimensions of alternative economic development have been worked on by the community, like the regional impact of our endeavors and the commercialization of international markets. New centers have joined, bringing the network to a total of 16 members. Hope in the network is rising…
Nacho Eguizábal is director of ALBOAN, Development NGO of the Society of Jesus in Basque country- SPAIN- and member of the leading group of COMPARTE.
Photo from COMPARTE