The meeting, which was attended by both Salesians and lay people, took place on the first day at the Provincial Headquarters. In a family ambiance Ms. María Sol Villagómez, the Vice-Principal of the Salesian Polytechnic University (Quito branch), presented a dossier of the academic evaluations of the study carried out by Fr. Marcelo Farfán, the Provincial, and Coadjutor Br. Enrique Pogo, both of whom present at the event, and who incidentally were also among the first graduates of the same university centre.
Subsequently, Fr Farfán spoke about the document issued by the Rector Major in 2021 on the theme of the meeting: "The need to cultivate a sense of history and to preserve the sources: a challenge and a commitment". He emphasized the importance of the new generations taking a leading role in preserving the history and the memoirs of the province.
Then Ms. Milagros Aguirre, the Head of Salesian Publications 'Abya Yala', presented a seminar on the elaboration and modeling of a chronicle, and thanks to her editorial experience, shared some tips on how to record facts.
The final day event took place at the South Campus of the Salesian Polytechnic University facilities. The activities focused on sharing the contents of the Provincial Regulations for the Administration and Preservation of Information, and a workshop on the preservation and management of archives. Finally, the reporters signed a document by which they formally committed themselves to certain activities, such as sending an annual chronicle of the community and safeguarding the historical documents preserved in the Salesian Houses.
The various testimonies registered by the participants at the event were quite enthusiastic: "Where there is memory -there is history! This is the message I take away from this meeting. For us who are in the missions, it is important to keep alive the memories of the work done and make it a contribution for the Salesians who will come in the future," said Jaime Pastuña, from the Simiatug community.
Franklin Arévalo, from the Cuenca-Yanuncay community, added: "The challenge we have, is to record the events taking place in each community from an evangelizing perspective! The important thing is to identify how the presence of God and the Salesian charism is made visible in the events.
David Cevallos, of the "Cardinal Spellman" school, for his part, commented: "In our daily activities, we have the mission to care for and disseminate the information that the Salesian presence carries out for the good of young people. We are all called to build the history of the Province, so that future generations may know it".
Finally, Margarita Benavides, from the 'Don Bosco - La Tola', concluded: 'This meeting was very productive because we want to better organize the archives we keep in our works. Thanks to the knowledge passed on to us, we will better classify and curate the information that is archived".
Within the Salesian communities and houses, the Salesian chronicler has the mission of recording the most relevant events and portraying the charism that is lived in each of the spaces or environments of the mission. Angélica Almeida, collaborator of the Historical Archives of ECU, recalls that the importance of this activity is given by Don Bosco himself, who was the first to record the history of the Congregation and to leave a legacy for posterity.
This is why the chronicles of Salesian life are rightly considered fundamental documents, because they perpetuate facts and personalities of the Salesian presence. In the case of the Province of Ecuador, the oldest chronicle in the Historical Archives dates back to 1887. The document is written in Italian by the first Salesians to arrive in the country and recounts, day by day, the journey from the departure from Turin to the arrival in Guayaquil, first, and then in Quito, in 1888.
In recent years, the Salesian chronicler has also been entrusted with the mission of safeguarding documentary and other heritage assets, such as paintings, sculptures, ethnographic works etc.,
To carry out these activities, one of the challenges of the Historical Archive is to accompany the houses to encourage the correct recording of history, to promote the dissemination of the material preserved and to initiate the digitization of information that will allow greater access to the Salesian community and society at large.
In order to carry out these activities, one of the greatest challenges of the Historical Archive is to accompany Salesian houses and encourage those in charge, to correctly record the history. Other areas to be improved upon are the promotion and dissemination of the material preserved and the initiation of the digitization of information gathered so far, to facilitate greater spread of knowledge of the documents in the Salesian community and society in general.
Source: Salesianos.org.ec
