CARIBBEAN: Salesians develop new facilities for youth in Guadeloupe
Lakou Bosco Village to provide meeting place, living spaces
(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries are developing a new Lakou Bosco Village in Guadeloupe, a French overseas region in the southern Caribbean. Salesians from the Saint Francis de Sales Province of France-Belgium South have been in the region since September 2020. The new village will provide support to youth and families in need.
In Les Abymes, the capital city of 50,000 people, Salesians developed the Lakou Bosco Association, which serves youth and families by offering them support and education. The association has nine employees and 40 volunteers working with more than 40 families and 70 children. It is funded by the French Fund for Family Benefits, and since September 2023, the European Social Fund.
“We intervene in our neighborhoods and through the school and the family to provide continuous support,” explained Rose Berthe Sapotille, president of the association. “Our approach is not limited to young people. We also work with their parents to offer them adequate support and strengthen their educational role.”
The current premises of Lakou Bosco is used for a wide range of activities but is no longer sufficient to meet all of the needs. The new Lakou Bosco Village, part of the province’s Don Bosco Social Action Network, will provide a 280-square-meter meeting place with different living spaces, including a large house with a living room, kitchen and a workshop. There will also be a sports field and two multi-activity rooms.
The building will be built with environmental impact in mind using thermal insulation and solar panels while ensuring perfect comfort and a high quality of life for its future visitors. The foundation stone will be laid on Feb. 1, 2025.
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Sources:
ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)
ANS – Guadeloupe – The “Lakou Bosco Village” is about to be born
