News of the Institute and Lasallian Family

Rome, May 29, 2007

PIRAEUS – GREECE - MEETING OF THE PAST PUPILS OF ST.PAUL’S: It was with joy and collective enthusiasm that the meeting of the Past Pupils of St.Paul’s, Piraeus, Greece took place in the college auditorium on Monday May 14th 2007.
More than 400 past pupils were present at this annual rendezvous. They were welcomed by the Management, the teaching and administration personnel, the President of the Council of the Brothers of Greece, Br.Nicolas Printezis, and Br.Mario Capellas.

The Councilor for Action and Cultural Cooperation of the French Embassy in Greece, M. Alain Fohr as well as the Attaché for Educational Cooperation and the Attaché for French-language cooperation, also participated in this meeting.

Monsieur Alain Fohr, in the name of the French government, presented the insignia of the Order of the Palmes Académiques to three new recipients from our educational community. These three colleagues were honoured for their devotion to their education mission as well as for their efficiency in promoting and reinforcing the teaching of French and French culture in our Lasallian establishments.

The former Director of St.Paul’s College and teacher of French, Br.Mario Capellas and Mr. Antoine Damianos, teacher of French and also author of manuals on teaching French as a foreign language were named Officiers of the Order. Mr.Antoine Rigoutsos, present Director-General of our establishment and Professor of Physics, was named Chevalier.
Br.Nicolas and Monsieur Antoine Rigoutsos then offered a souvenir from the establishment to the two attachés, M. Stanley Hilton and M.Jean Maiffredy. They expressed their thanks to them as their mandate in Greece was coming to an end. Both their action in boosting French and their close and constant cooperation with our schools have been invaluable.
Finally, the reception in the college courtyard with a toast to friendship and some exquisite dishes was an exceptional of meeting, conviviality and exchanges for the past-pupils of St.Paul’s.

All the French and Greek officials emphasized the decisive contribution of St.Paul’s in the development of the character and the formation of the personality of the young people in Piraeus and surrounding towns.
^{(Constantin Voulgaridis, Head of Communications and Public Relations)}

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - MY EXPERIENCE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: I return quite moved by a week’s project in the Dominican Republic. I accompanied Brother Daniel Morin and the charming Suzanne Major along with a group simply bursting with energy of fifty young people and teachers from the Jean-Eudes College in Montreal.

The project, supported by many Lasallians and other persons of good will, enabled us to see the other side of the coin. In fact, our way of living in the ‘first world’ of abundance and comfort is based unfortunately on the exploitation and marginalization of the greater part of the world. The “Dominican experience” project, founded by Mr. Robert Laurin, allowed us to open a window on this reality obstructed by our economic system.

In fact, thanks to the support and unconditional welcome of the Dominican people, the young Canadians were able to share the daily life of poor families, cross the slums and experience a sugar-cane plantation where Haitians and Dominicans work flat out. They were able as well to become aware of the fair-minded business of the cocoa producers , share the difficulties but also the hopes of the students in La Salle College of San Domingo and especially, allow themselves to be changed by the warmth of the Dominican people.

Upon their return, they could no longer allow themselves to be led blindly by the “high speed train” of modern life. The faith of the Dominicans led us to allow ourselves to be challenged by another dimension. Their welcome and human warmth echoed the friendship and brotherhood which links us all, while their poverty and unjust situation, still prevalent in 2007, challenges us to roll up our sleeves and to work continually in an ethical fashion for the coming of a world based on Love. 

And so, we will no longer leave anyone in darkness and the other side of the picture will shine with its thousand fires.

I invite you to visit the website www.tiersmonde.net in order to shed some light on all the possibilities offered by the Dominican experience and to contribute to it in your turn….
^{(Yanick Chamberland-Richer, Lasallian Associate )}

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