FRANCE - WHAT MIGHT BE THE SIGNS OF A CALL TO THE LIFE OF A BROTHER?
The joy of living with and for children and young people especially the most deprived, felt during an experience of school education or during an extra-curricular educational experience (animation, catechesis, scouting, volunteer movement…).

A love of Creation in spite of the wounds inflicted. The ardent desire to contribute to a better world and to collaborate in the work of God who wishes that all should be saved.

The wish to be happy in a life which includes the search for God, a fraternal life educating the young.

The intimate wish to follow Christ in giving oneself for others, in community.

Being available to let oneself be formed by living together, sharing the word of God and looking at the world with the eyes of faith.

The desire to share the experience of God at the heart of social transformation.

Enthusiasm for the idea of announcing the Gospel with lay persons who are waiting for witnesses and companions along the way.

Availability for following a course of formation with a view to joining the teaching and education profession.

An attraction towards education and the service of the overall growth of the person.

A taste for and a desire for collaborating with other bodies in thinking up creative, flexible, educational systems for the many young people who are suffering and are forgotten by the established systems.

This list is indicative and the stages of formation should allow for authenticating these calls and then integrating the different dimensions of the religious vocation of being a Brother in a more existential manner.
^{(Brothers of the Christian Schools, Pour que les jeunes aient la vie! (District of France, 2006), p. 2. )}

LOS ANGELES – USA - NEWS FROM THE WESTERN CATHOLIC EDUCATION ASSOCIATION : The WCEA is a work of the District of San Francisco in the sense that is overseen by a Brother of that District, Brother William Carriere, FSC, Ph.D., who is in his second year as the WCEA’s first Executive Director.

WCEA is a non-profit, private accrediting agency under the California Catholic Conference which accredits all of our schools in California as a co-accreditor with WASC. All Catholic elementary and secondary schools are accredited first by WCEA and then reviewed one more time by WASC for the dual accreditation. Brother William works with the elementary and secondary commissioners in each (arch)diocese who prepare the schools to conduct their Self-Studies, and he trains the visiting team chairs and members to conduct the three-day visit to the schools undergoing a renewal of their WCEA/WASC accreditation.

WCEA is located in twenty-two (arch) dioceses in seven states. Recently Boise (Idaho), Denver and Colorado Springs (Colorado), Albuquerque (New Mexico) and Salt Lake City (Utah) have asked to join WCEA. Brother William will visit each of these dioceses and their school principals to begin the process. He is also working with the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools and the North Central Association of Accredited Schools to become co-accreditors with those regional agencies.

In mid-November Brother William attended an International Congress on Catholic Education in Paris, France, as one of about thirty North American delegates. The Congress was sponsored by the Vatican, UNESCO, and Fordham University, and centered on the role of the Catholic school in teaching students the principles of social justice.
The WCEA’s new web site is in the final stages of development. You can find it at www.westwcea.org.
^{(J. A. Gray - Director of Public Relations and Information Services)}

VERANÓPOLIS - BRAZIL - ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF LASALLIAN PRESENCE IN BRAZIL : In 2007 the De La Salle Brothers celebrate the centennial of Lasallian presence in Brazil. To begin the centennial in a festive manner, the Brothers from both Districts of Brazil – São Paulo and Porto Alegre – got together in the southern part of Brazil for three days of reflection, fraternal sharing, and prayer. The purpose of this meeting was to celebrate our fraternity, to recall and see again that together we built this work, and to begin a new phase - the next one hundred years - in a determined way. Brother Álvaro, Superior General, offered us encouragement and directed our reflections with his words of wisdom.

During the meeting, which was held in the city of Veranópolis, as we looked at one another and observed the increasing number of young Brothers in Brazil, we said yes. Yes to the Institute which continues to grow; yes to the fact of our joyful hope; yes to our wanting to embrace our consecration, following the example of our Founder, with hope and with courage, because God continues to inspire many to serve the Kingdom.

Throughout 2007 we will be having various activities to celebrate this period of time in which we are living. We would like to highlight the following events: the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Apparition, the Patroness of Brazil, in May; the National and Inter-District meeting of Young Lasallians in Toledo, Paraná, and the Fourth International Lasallian Education Congress in October, to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

As we share the one hundred years of Lasallian presence in Brazil, we share with the entire Institute our desire to learn from the past, to consolidate the present, and to plan for the future, always with joy, courage, and hope.
^{(Brother Paulo Petry)}

AUSTRALIA-NZ-PNG - LASALLIAN YOUTH MINISTERS FOR 2007 : On 11 December 2006, the District of Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea posted on www.delasalle.org.au some good news about the organization of its Young Lasallians activities.

A few of the District’s part-time Youth Ministers in 2006 (namely Tom McIlroy, James Camden, and Darren Perrett) accepted re-appointment for 2007. Tom had been one of the District’s delegates at the International Symposium of Young Lasallians (Rome 2006).

In addition, two more Youth Ministers have been appointed. Bec Barrett will work as a part-time Youth Minister at Holy Spirit College Lakemba, and Andrew Ulugia will work as a full-time Lasallian Youth Minister for the New Zealand sector of the District of Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. Not only will Andrew co-ordinate programs and events for Young Lasallians throughout the country, including leadership programs, retreats, the 8th Asia-Pacific Lasallian Youth Congress 2007, and World Youth Day 2008, but he will also become the Youth Minister at Francis Douglas Memorial College, New Plymouth.

Bec Barrett, formerly known as Bec Belton, was one of the founding members of the International Council of Young Lasallians and a participant at the 1st International Symposium of Young Lasallians (Quebec 2002) and at the 2nd International Symposium of Young Lasallians (Rome 2006). She is pictured here at her November 2006 marriage to Andrew Barrett, who was also a participant at the 1st International Symposium of Young Lasallians.
^{(Adapted from www.delasalle.org.au)}

BOGOTA - COLOMBIA - THE CENTRAL TECHNICAL INSTITUTE (ITC) : "Professional Technician in 'Mecatronica'." The ITC is a public establishment for secondary and higher education. It began in 1896 as a school for orphaned children who were entrusted to the Brothers. Later on it became a technical secondary school. Recently, some university courses have been added. The Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Higher Education, charged with approving academic courses and programs for universities, has just approved the "Professional Technical Courses in 'Mecatronica'" (mechanics and electronics). This degree can be earned in five semesters at the cost of the current minimum wage (approximately € 130.00).

"OBJECTIVE: To train professional technicians in 'Mecatronica,' with the knowledge, ability, skills, and attitudes necessary to allow them to function, effectively, in the formal area of finance, in areas that involve the maintenance of industrial, automated machinery; to support the design of products, 'mecatronicos' and the automation of industrial processes, in such a way that their actions will be effective in modernization and in competition in the country's production."
^{(Brother Bernardo Montes, adapted from www.itc.edu.co)}

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