The members of the St John of God Fundraising Alliance met on 4 March at
the Provincial Curia of the Portuguese Province of St John of God for their
usual regular meeting. The following were present: for UMCOI, Bro.Moisés Martín
Boscá, and Bro.Giampietro Luzzato, for the St. John of God Development Company
(IRELAND) Mr. John Mitchell and David Heyer, for Juan Ciudad ONGD (SPAIN) Bro.José
María Viadero and Mrs Ana Meyer, for AFMAL (ITALY) Mr. Antonio Barnaba, Mrs Ornella
Fosco and Mrs Monica Angeletti, and for Fundação São João de Deus (PORTUGAL) the
host Association, Mr. Rui Amaral and Mrs. Sandra Silva.
Rui Amaral welcomed the members on behalf of Fundação São João de Deus.
He was followed by the Director of UMICOI, Bro.Moisés Martín Boscá, who began
by providing spiritual input before introducing Bro.José Augusto GASPAR LOURO,
1st Provincial Councillor, who thanked all the members for their efforts
deployed and their readiness to implement all the projects of each association for
the good of the least.
Before turning to the agenda, Bro.José Paulo Simoes spoke via Skype from
Nampula (Mozambique) to brief the meeting on the hospital restructuring project
and to thank the members of the Alliance for their commitment to helping the
Brothers and the guests in the Nampula hospital. He and Rui Amaral addressed the
individual requirements of the Centre, one by one, and briefed the meeting on
the administrative details regarding funds received and employed. Everything
had been done with the maximum cooperation and transparency, as required by the
guidelines.
All the Associations then reported on the work they had done in 2015/2016
both in cooperation and independently, and then illustrated the new proposals
for assistance.
Greater emphasis was placed on the requests from the African Province
since the list of projects deviated widely from what the individual
associations intended to implement. A lengthy and in-depth discussion ensued, and
the conclusion was that before any member supported any request from the
African Province they must first contact UMICOI at the General Curia to ensure
that the project was still sound.
During the meeting, the Superior General, Brother Jesús Etayo, sent his
greetings and best wishes from Mexico, where he was involved in the Latin
America Regional Conference.
Bro.Moisés proposed a number of projects for Benin, Ghana and Colombia
for possible future financial coverage. These were also discussed and taken
into account once again.
Before the meeting broke up, all the Associations thanked Mr.John
Mitchell, who is nearing retirement, for his dedicated work over so many years
on behalf of the most needy people, and he announced that his replacement would
be introduced at the following meeting.
Bro.Moisés Martín Boscá finally thanked all the members, and invited
them to attend the next meeting scheduled for 22 November, in Madrid, coinciding
with the 25th anniversary of Juan Ciudad ONGD.
