LEFT: Maria Fabiola Veslasquez Maya, OP (Presentation) international coordinator of Dominican Sisters International , DSI, and Toni Harris, OP (Sinsinawa) International Co-Promoter of Justice and Peace.

International Dominicans Visit USA

RIVER FOREST, IL --November 10, 2008 -- Two representatives of international Dominican organizations recently visited the United States, Maria Fabiola Veslasquez Maya, OP (Presentation) who is the international coordinator of Dominican Sisters International and Toni Harris, OP (Sinsinawa) International Co-Promoter of Justice and Peace.

Both sisters were in this country to attend the DLC Annual Meeting in Adrian MI, October 17-20, 2008 and visited with the Adrian Dominicans while attending that meeting. Prior to the DLC Annual meeting, Fabiola and Toni visited New York with Pat Simpson, OP (San Rafael), who is the North American representative to DSI. They visited the United Nations and ground zero in New York and met with representatives of the Northeast Six congregations in Sparkill.

DomLife.org caught up with them during a visit to Dominican University, River Forest, but the globe trotters had just made a worldwind tour and visits to the motherhouses of Dominican Sisters in Grand Rapids, Racine, Oxford and Sinsinawa.

About seven different congregations were represented at the gathering at Dominican University where 32 sisters attended. Sr. Fabiola offered a powerpoint presentation on her recent travels around the world to visit and confer with Dominican sisters from North Vietnam to Hungary, Mexico to Palestine. She spoke in Spanish, with Toni Harris as her interpreter, most of the time, but she used English when comfortable.

DSI was founded May of 1995 when 80 Dominican superiors general met, but the roots of DSI go back to the 1980s when congregational leaders began to see the value and opportunity of organizing Dominican sisters around the globe.

DLC is a major supporter of DSI's Solidarity Fund, which helps to support important projects for Dominicans around the world, including computer and internet training and technology in Africa, a preaching program for Dominicans under 40 in Hungary and support for Dominicans in the Asia Pacific region.

There are 27,461 Dominican Sisters in 160 congregations in 116 countries around the world.

Sr. Fabiola during her presentation at Dominican University