EREBB Kolkata India October 2016

Roisin Maguire and Caroline Cirino were delegates at the recent international ‘Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders’ (EREBB) congress held in Kolkata, India. Alongside Tom Murray from the English ER office, they represented English Schools at this inaugural congress. There were 200 delegates from 22 countries, each bringing to the gathering their own interpretation of the charism of Blessed Edmund Rice within educational settings. The aim of this movement, namely EREBB, is to allow for all ER schools around the world, including the 20,000 staff and the 200,000 students within them, to form more comprehensive and reciprocal working relationships. The notion of ‘borders’ played a central theme, with delegates being encouraged to think about the borders that exist in their own educational, regional, political, financial, religious and national settings, and to then strategize ways to remove those barriers, so to ensure equitable education for all students within our schools.

During the congress delegates were privileged to hear a passion for justice and education from a variety of speakers including Br. Philip Pinto, Sr. Cyril Mooney and the archbishop of Kolkata Fr. Thomas D’Souza. Each of these addresses encouraged all present to look for systemic change within their own locations, and to be the hands of Christ to those in their own communities…breaking down borders as they go.

As a follow up to this congress, all European delegates have been asked to meet in November so that a plan for further dissemination of the EREBB message can occur across all of our European schools, and to jointly plan events for the coming year that all schools can access and participate in.

For further information please see www.erebb.org