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ALUMNI
EXCHANGE PROGRAMME
St. Ignatius of Loyola,
born in Spain in 1491, as the principal founder and first Superior
General along with St. Francis Xavier as co-founder, formed the Society
of Jesus, a Christian religious order active in the field of education
throughout the world.
St. Francis Xavier
in his official
role of Apostolic Nuncio of the Roman Catholic Church landed in
Goa in 1542. The Jesuit idea of spreading
education has now withstood 5 centuries of Indian historical turmoil,
cultural diversity, religious upheavals and transcended boundaries.
With devoted service, Jesuit priests spread knowledge to enlighten
students for achieving self-sufficiency and self-realization.
The
Alumni under the umbrella of the World Union of Jesuit Alumni (WUJA)
has, over the past 50 years, responded to the clarion call given by the
former Superior General Rev Fr Aruppe “to be
men and women for others.”
With the
spirit of fellowship and net-working and with the advent of
globalization, the Alumni movement received a great boost at the WUJA’s
World Congress at Sydney by its taking two historic decisions – (i) in
adopting “Twinning” as a prime goal and (ii) by deciding to host
the 2003 World Congress at Kolkata, the City of Joy. This led to the
formation of the Federation of Jesuit Alumni Associations of India (JAAI)
that hosted Summit of Joy, the World Congress in 2003. Mr. A. P.
J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, himself a Jesuit Alumnus of Loyola
College inaugurated the Summit with delegates attending from all over
the world including a large contingent from Spain.
As a
consequence, the Spanish Federation and the Indian Federation (JAAI)
have dreamed about “Twinning” through an Alumni Exchange
Programme (AEP). Through the efforts of Mr. Goncal Fabergas,
President of the Spanish Federation and JAAI, the pilot group of Spanish
Alumni comprising of 10 members came to Kolkata in 2007.
As a
return visit the first Indian Alumni group from JAAI will be visiting
Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona in Spain from 18th to 27th
September 2008 for sharing thoughts and ideas with Spanish Alumni for
social service and for bringing back best practices to our country as
well as for cultural exchange.
The objectives of the Alumni Exchange program with Spain are as follows:
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a)
To
encourage international understanding and give a fillip to the Jesuit
Alumni movement.
b)
As the
basis of Jesuit Education is to create “men and women for others” – the
program aims to provide opportunities for action.
c)
The alumni
will become sensitive to and assist comparative social & human problems
in Spain and India.
d)
The alumni
will act as cultural ambassadors of their countries.
e)
To
strengthen bonds between Alumni of different countries and to expand
horizons.
f)
To boost
interest of younger members in the activities of their Alumni
Associations.
The Indian Alumni Group comprises
of 1 member from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, 2 members from St.
Xavier’s Alumni Assn, Burdwan and 2 members from St. Xavier’s School
Alumni, Kolkata.
With the next World Congress
slated for 2009 in Africa, the AEP is an important programme that would
link the past to the future Congresses with the motto of the Summit of
Joy, taken from Rabindranath Tagore – “Where the mind is without fear
And the head is held high.”
Naresh Gupta, Secretary, JAAI,
Pl visit -
http://jaaialumniexchangeprogramme.blogspot.com/
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