Tuesday, 15 November 2022 22:09

Notification from Alison McKenzie The International Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family:

Notification from Alison McKenzie The International Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family:

 chris mcd Copy

Chris McDermott, well-known long-term Principal of Chevalier Collete.

 

Alison McKenzie, secretary of the International Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family writes:

The International Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family has created two new positions called Regional Coordinators. The primary responsibility of those who have been appointed is to prepare the member countries in the regions of Central and Southern America and Australia, Asia and the Pacific for the upcoming Assembly of Laity to be held in the Philippines in January 2024. Olguita Garcia Campos and Chris McDermott are the two appointments and I attach their biography.

 

Chris McDermott, Australia

chris mcd

I was born in 1958 in an Australian town called Goulburn in the state of NSW – about 3hrs south of Sydney.

When I left school I trained to be a teacher of Mathematics, whilst also exploring my faith position, having been raised in an Anglican family.

I commenced my teaching career in state owned schools in some of the poorer areas of Sydney and Wollongong.

My faith journey led me to Catholic schools – still in the poorer areas, and after working in these schools I eventually decided I wanted to join the Catholic Church.

My journey after that saw me leading three different Catholic schools as Principal across a 24 year period, with the last school being Chevalier College – a school owned and conducted by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart , and where I spent 15 wonderful years. It was here I found and became committed to the way of being catholic that was shown by Fr Jules Chevalier and those who followed him.

I was fortunate to be invited to join the Australian National Council  of the Laity of the Chevalier Family and as I move into retirement from the role of Principal, I look forward to working with others in the  international arena,  as well as nationally, in Australia. I am hopeful that my small contribution remains true to the words of Fr Jules when he wrote “it is by the Heart we are Something”.

 

 Olguita Garcia Campos, Peru

olguita

I was born in Moyobamba, the land of the orchid, located in the Peruvian Amazon, two hours away from Lima by aeroplane.

I was formed in Christian values by my parents Antonio and María Olivia; at home there was always the image of the Sacred Heart with whom I felt identified from a very young age, I belonged to the group of the parish San Juan Masías, close to my home.

I studied psychology at a university in the capital, where I met Néstor Jesús, my husband with whom I have been in love for 32 years and married for 22 years. Together we share the same passion for promoting mental health; he from the public administration and I from the school promoted by the MSC sisters as well as in the care of patients in private practice. It is in this school that I came to know the charism and spirituality of the Chevalier Family, to which I have been committed since 2015, when the MSC sisters invited a group of people from the school, which allowed me to rediscover my childhood values and principles, strengthening my vocation to serve and help those most in need.

I began as a committed laywoman forming a new community called Corazón de Jesús in a district of Lima. Later I was elected as Coordinator of the National Council and now I am the Coordinator of the Americas. My commitment is to make the heart of God known wherever I am and to be loved everywhere.