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Kindergarten - The roots of the Kindergarten go back to 1967, when the first Sisters had been invited by Mons.Zioni, Bishop of Baurù , in Brasil : he asked the Pious Union to take charge of a country parish which had been left without a priest in Lucianopolis. (See Our roots). This experience marked the Sisters deeply : they were so excited that they decided to open a house in Sao Paulo, a cosmopolitan city full of contrasts and needs. The Sisters asked a meeting to the Archbishop, Mgs Agnelo Rossi, who supported the idea and the small new community.

Sister Maria Liliana illustrated the work programme involving both Sao Paulo and the whole Brasil, mainly based on evangelization. It was a demanding and radical schedule : it was meant to reach the people that the regular parochial ministry couldn’t reach. The idea was ahead of those times: reach the people far from the Church. This was the aim of the Sisters: to announce the Gospel and show with their lives that the brotherhood and fraternity embodied by the Gospel are possible.

The Archbishop blessed and encouraged the project: so the Sisters bought a small house for the small Community in Sao Paulo, in Sumaré. From that moment, all efforts were directed to a target : to announce the Gospel to all social classes, in particular to the immigrants who came to Sao Paulo from the North of Brasil looking for a job. First of all, they needed help because they were risking losing their identity, their values while they were struggling for survival in an unknown environment among starngers.

The first groups started getting formed: people could meet, talk, link the pages of the Gospel to their own lives. What now seems a normal practice in any pastoral work was totally new and innovative back in the late ‘60s and ‘70s , when the practice of the sacraments represented the main form of ecclesial identity. One of the first instruments was to print a new edition of the Gospel which could respond to the needs of people with low levels of literacy: this synoptic edition was an important pastoral aid in times where such catechetical instruments were not available

People used to meet to read and meditate on the Gospel and they ended up redescovering the values of human relationships, friendship, positive values even in front of an unknown enviroment which could jeopardize the fragility of the immigrants. After a survey held in our region, a social need was highlightened: the necessity to have a place where children with difficult family situations could receive a proper education. The creation of such place could allow mothers to look for a job, children could be kept away from the streets and better conditions could be offered both to the children and their families. Such improvements are at the basis of any form of evangelization and of any approach to God.

So, a kindergarten for children aged 1-6 was founded : it was called “ Creche Nossa Sehnora de Fatima”. The whole neighbourhood cooperated and they still support this work: it’s a centre which has the purpose to offer a formative and educational action to the children and their families.