Representatives from across Latin America and the Caribbean met in Panama at the beginning of November for a Partners in Resilience and Response Regional Steering Group meeting following on from the regional Resilience Course.
‘We shared, we learned, we put together a regional plan from our perspective and with different approaches from each country’ Amanda, Dominican Republic.
Seventeen representatives from ten dioceses across Latin America and the Caribbean gathered in Panama with the aim of supporting and strengthening diocesan preparedness against disasters. The meeting was convened by the Anglican Alliance in partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development and hosted by the Diocese of Panama. Workshop sessions covered contextual Bible studies, diocesan capacity assessments for responding to crises, modelling diocesan disaster responses, and forming a strategy and working groups to move the work forwards in the region.
Donna from St Lucia highlighted the value of the work to her region:
‘I am very appreciative of the fact that as a region we are able to build resilience, because we are affected by hurricanes, volcanoes, storms of all kinds, and every year we have them. So I am very thankful that this is happening and I hope our work in Panama will continue with the development of resilience.’
Three inspiring capstone projects were presented by representatives from the dioceses of Mexico, Colombia and El Salvador who are working with prison communities, disaster preparedness, gender justice and protection of marginalized groups. The capstone projects showcased examples of dioceses responding to particular challenges faced in their regions, utilizing skills developed during the Resilience Course.
The group also visited the indigenous community of Kuna Nega to learn about their resilience in building their community including homes, a school and hospital on the outskirts of Panama City. The community had faced numerous challenges but persisted in working together with the resources available to them. It was really valuable to the group to learn about their story from the community leaders.
The steering group meeting culminated in the formation of four working groups, with participants collaborating across regions and committing to share learning and work together moving forwards. Groups agreed on next steps, including enhancing church engagement on the Partners in Resilience and Response initiative, mapping of needs, capacities and opportunities relating to disaster preparedness, deployments, toolbox development and contextualizing resources.
Participants reflected on their achievements throughout the week:
- We looked at biblical texts in a new way and identified new ways of applying them to our lives.
- We laughed, sang, bonded, prayed, listened, dreamed, shared, learned and worked together.
- We have developed something that we own, that is realistic and something we can change.
- We made an abstract concept into a practical, thoughtful, meaningful and concrete initiative.
- We built on zoom contacts to truly build connections and relationships.
- We all used our individual strengths to develop a shared workplan and make a commitment.
Cristina from Mexico reflects: ‘There are many things we have learned, at a spiritual, theological and practical level as a team. One of the most important things is to continue building this dream together. Undoubtedly this is God’s dream too and to do it in community and feel we are going in the same direction is something very valuable.’
Meeting together in person enabled deepening of relationships formed though the online Resilience Course. It was clear that this benefited everyone to move forwards with the work across the region, further developing their learning and a workplan for the next year.
‘Now as a family we are trainers in resilience so that we can help many dioceses come together for a single goal – to recognize the needs of others and to build a common dream. It has now become a commitment that others from across the region also learn about resilience’ Elizabeth, Colombia.
Moving forward the work will continue across the regions, supported by the PiRR Secretariat and Anglican Alliance regional facilitators for Latin America and the Caribbean, Paulo Ueti and Clifton Nedd. We look forward to continuing to journey alongside participants and to seeing the outcomes as we implement the working groups and support dioceses to respond to crises and disasters into the future.
The workshop was part of the wider Partners in Resilience and Response work facilitated by the Anglican Alliance and Episcopal Relief & Development. To learn more, please visit the Anglican Alliance website: https://anglicanalliance.org/relief/resilience-course/
