The ninth CADIS Leadership Conference has officially begun. The 40 participants from all over the world have arrived and will spend the training week at the Camillian Pastoral Center in Bangkok, Thailand, discussing this year’s theme “Reaffirming our commitment and optimizing our interventions to build vulnerable and resilient communities”.
Australia, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Benin, Haiti, Brazil, Poland, Ireland, Spain, and Italy are the countries participating in the Conference.
On Sunday evening, the Conference opened with a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Fr. Paul Cherdchai MI, Provincial Superior of Thailand. He shared his reflection encouraging participants to follow the path of the Beatitudes, the call to holiness and fullness of life. The official presentation of the activities carried out during the entire week revived the spirit, commitment, and enthusiasm of CADIS towards a future of collaboration.
The first topic discussed on the first day was servant leadership, the path to building resilience in the most vulnerable communities. The topic was addressed by Aris Miranda, MI, International Director of CADIS.
It was a journey that explored the many aspects of an authentic servant leader, different from a traditional leader. Servant leadership is a leadership style that emphasizes listening and putting the needs of others first, rather than one’s own interests.
The path began with the exploration of three different models of servant leadership: the biblical models (Moses, the Prophets, and Jesus Christ), the Camillian Tradition (St. Camillus de Lellis and the Camillian Martyrs of Charity), and a contemporary testimony such as that of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
The servant leader is made of tenderness and toughness. He shares power and control, unlike a leader who uses power and control over people. He listens, while a traditional leader speaks. He defines success as a gift and measures results based on dedication to service.
Moreover, the CADIS model of servant leadership is based on the New School of Charity of St. Camillus, which focuses on leadership through service, on being and seeing Christ in the sick person. It believes in service as the heart of leadership.
Camillus transforms into a leader and becomes a servant of the mission revealed by God. He took the necessary risks to make the necessary changes, defended the sick, and confronted those who neglected the care of the sick. He served the mission and led by serving those who were on mission with him.
Finally, we concluded with intelligent leadership as reflected in the example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Intelligent leadership is a comprehensive framework that helps exceptional individuals overcome self-imposed limits and unleash their full potential, focusing on three interconnected components: internal strengths, external skills, and commitment to excellence.
The afternoon session continued by addressing one of the key themes of the conference: “From emergency to building resilience.” A crucial point that, due to climate change that is devastating the world and its serious consequences for humanity and God’s divine plan, has pushed CADIS to recalibrate its intervention in case of disaster.
If it is true that it is essential to quickly assist the most vulnerable populations affected by natural disasters, it is equally true that it is of fundamental importance to support those same populations in strengthening their resilience and being able to interface with natural disasters by trying to minimize their destructive consequences as much as possible.
The first day ended with a workshop on identifying the three main priority areas to focus on to strengthen community resilience and on analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the commitment to building resilience.
Several challenges emerged, such as difficulties related to faith and culture within the framework of the principle of non-discrimination and the importance of reorienting the mindset of donors and volunteers towards resilience-building perspectives. In addition to the challenges, opportunities also emerged to support the most vulnerable communities and transform them into an eCon-resilient reality.
