BRAZIL: Youth volunteers provide support
Salesian Youth Mission Animation visits 1,631 families during volunteer weeks
BRAZIL
(MissionNewswire) The Salesian Youth Mission Animation, a missionary volunteer project with youth from the St. Pius X Province of Brazil-Porto Alegre, visited 1,631 families from July 10-27. Salesian programs in Guarapuava, Rio do Sul, Porto Alegre, Viamão, Santa Rosa and Rio Grande saw 340 volunteers providing their support during this time.
“We were very happy to be able to carry out this project in person this year since the last two were held online during the pandemic,” said Father Sérgio Ramos de Souza, provincial delegate with the Salesian Youth Ministry. “It was very nice to be together to share life, dreams and above all to have a good experience of Salesian missionary volunteerism.”
In addition to the visits, the mission weeks featured prayer, workshops, oratory activities and vocational support.
“Volunteering is a great way for youth to give back to others in need,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Youth in Salesian programs have access to the education and social supports they need to overcome challenges and lead productive lives. These missionary volunteering experiences give youth the opportunity to take what they have learned in the classroom and pay it forward.”
Salesian missionaries in Brazil provide education, workforce development, and social services throughout the country and specifically focus on children with disabilities within several programs. Missionaries help to meet the basic needs of poor youth, including street children, and provide them with an education and life skills to gain employment, break the cycle of poverty, and lead productive lives.
According to the World Bank, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on Brazil with poverty tripling in 2021. Nearly 17 million people fell into poverty in the first quarter of the year and the poverty rate now is higher than it was a decade ago. Researchers estimate that 12.8 percent of Brazil’s population, some 27 million people, are now living below the poverty line.
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
ANS – Brazil – Country’s south turns into mission land for young people from Salesian environments
Salesian Missions – Brazil
World Bank – Brazil
