White Paper on Intercultural Encounter

In addition to providing direct medical care in Bolivia and Paraguay, we at Solidarity Bridge remain committed to ensuring that our model of care is truly transformative—for individuals, communities and systems. In 2022, this focus resulted in the writing of a white paper on Intercultural Encounter with our sister organization, Puente de Solidaridad. Capturing the essence of our cross-cultural work, we codified the learnings and insights gained from our decades of experience and created a framework to make these encounters even more fruitful, respectful, and transformative. 

This framework reinforces our dedication to the values of Catholic Social Teaching and formed the basis for our annual Board/Staff retreat at the end of 2022.As we continue to integrate this  into our daily work, we are happy to share it here with our wider community. 

Intercultural encounters have the potential to be transformative experiences. But to be fully transformative, they require a number of conditions from those engaging in the encounter. This paper attempts to outline the essential elements for a fruitful intercultural encounter. Walking through these observational and reflective steps can lead to a personal, social, and intercultural transformation. 

Full transformation is not a linear process and it requires more than a singular experience. Our three-phase process can be better understood as cyclical. Each experience of intercultural encounter holds an invitation to enter into the next experience with deeper awareness, knowledge and intentionality. 

We are deeply committed to God’s invitation to co-create a different world. We believe that by following this process of conscientization and conversion, of ever deepening experiences of intercultural encounter, each of us holds the potential to transform – ourselves, our communities and the wider world – moving us closer to God’s vision for our world.