(MissionNewswire) Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, joins humanitarian organizations and countries around the globe in honoring World AIDS Day celebrated each year on Dec. 1. The day is held to honor AIDS victims and focuses on prevention and treatment issues surrounding HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).

World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programs for AIDS Prevention. Every year since then, United Nations agencies, governments and civil society join together to campaign around specific themes related to AIDS.

U.N. AIDS has estimated 38 million people live with the virus, and more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS-related illnesses over the past 40 years, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

In the U.N. AIDS Global Update report, it is noted that in 2023 there were an estimated 1.9 million adolescent girls and young women aged 15-24 years living with HIV compared with 1.2 million adolescent boys and young men of the same age. Globally, 44% of all new HIV infections were among women and girls (all ages).

The agency has noted the world is off track to meet the 2025 targets for new infections and AIDS-related deaths. U.N. AIDS has indicated, “The urgency of now is that significant gaps remain in access to HIV prevention and treatment services that need to be filled. Further, unfair laws, discrimination and violence must be stopped to ensure access to treatment and prevention for all.”

Father Michael Conway, director of Salesian Missions, explained, “Salesian missionaries offer more than 150 medical clinics and hospitals around the globe that handle a wide range of medical care needs and are mostly in rural areas. HIV/AIDS prevention and testing programs are vital components of Salesian health care initiatives in Africa. The work of Salesian missionaries around the globe goes beyond education to ensure the well-being of our students.”

Navajeevan Bala Bhavan, a Salesian community within the Province of St. Joseph, Hyderabad, based in Vijayawada, India, recently received a certificate of recognition acknowledging the Salesian organization’s exemplary nutrition support programs for children impacted by HIV/AIDS. The certificate was given by the Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society.

The Navajeevan Bala Bhavan’s Neethodu Integrated Counseling Center has been working across Vijayawada to serve individuals and families grappling with HIV since 2021. To date, the organization has reached 390 individuals, 234 adults and 156 children across 106 families, offering essential support to improve their quality of life.

Another program specific to addressing the risk of HIV/AIDS for young women is Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations located in Freetown. Here Salesians offer the Girls Shelter GO+ program to support young girls who have been forced into sex work. Some of the girls are as young as 9 years old. Most of them have faced violence and sexual abuse. They include girls from other countries, villages or the poorest areas of Freetown who often are forced to provide financially for themselves and their families. Many of the girls have been infected with sexually transmitted diseases, as well as HIV, and are in need of medical care.

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INDIA: Salesians recognized for nutrition programs serving children impacted by HIV/AIDS

Salesian Missions

Sierra Leone: Over 600 girls rescued through program

World AIDS Day

Global AIDS Update 2024

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, Sierra Leone, conducted a week-long cataract surgery campaign at a hospital in Waterloo in partnership with Visio Sense Fronteres from Spain. During the campaign, 217 people received free cataract surgeries to restore their sight and improve their quality of life.

The campaign was open to all and was free, reflecting the Salesian shared commitment to accessible, inclusive health care for vulnerable communities. In addition to the surgeries, post-operative medications were provided and reading lenses were distributed to those in need.

A Salesian explained, “We are very proud of the impact this initiative continues to have, not only in restoring vision, but also restoring the dignity and independence for hundreds of individuals. The success of this campaign has deepened our partnership with Visio Sense Fronteres, and we remain grateful for their continued collaboration as we work together to expand medical access and serve those who need it most in Sierra Leone.”

Don Bosco Fambul is a national leader in child protection, operating the largest interim care and therapeutic centers for abused children in the country. Since it was established in 1998 to rehabilitate and reintegrate child soldiers, it has grown to support the country’s most vulnerable children and youth through two main campuses in Freetown. Young people in the country face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70% of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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Sierra Leone

(MissionNewswire) Young women with Don Bosco Fambul Girls Shelter Hope Plus Project, located in Freetown, Sierra Leone, received essential support including nutritional assistance, clothing and financial assistance. This support is provided to help ease some of the basic challenges they face while focusing on their education and skills training. With guidance from Father Edwin Tangie and the Hope Plus team, this initiative continues to serve young women who are poor and vulnerable.

A Salesian said, “The goal is to provide the stability and encouragement they need to prioritize learning, build sustainable skills, and move away from harmful coping mechanisms. We thank the sponsors of this project for keeping it alive and helping to create and build a better future for those in need.”

In May, eight young women were reintegrated back into society after spending two years at the shelter. These young women faced significant challenges with not being accepted back into their families, even after extensive mediation efforts. Despite these challenging circumstances, their determination to rebuild their lives never wavered.

The Salesian said, “Recognizing their potential, Don Bosco Fambul made the decision to empower these young women through comprehensive skills training in tailoring, catering and cosmetology. After successfully completing their vocational training, we provided them with household items, feeding support and business startup packages to help them establish independent, self-reliant lives.”

Don Bosco Fambul is one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations. Among the many services offered at the organization is a Girls Shelter for girls who have faced sexual and physical abuse. Hope Plus assists young women who have been forced into prostitution and youth in trouble with the law. It’s the only program in West Africa that provides services of this kind helping young women with a safe environment to overcome their traumas and start a new life.

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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Fambul

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, Sierra Leone and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, supports young women who have been victims of the sex trade by providing them with training in hotel, catering, tailoring, or hairdressing disciplines, or formal education. Recently, 35 school pupils and 50 skills training students received financial aid, food and clothing through support from donors including Medicor Foundation, Jugend Eine Welt, and the City of Vienna.

Every beneficiary received a bag of rice to help meet their nutritional needs, a cash contribution to support daily expenses, and a packet of assorted clothing items to enhance their comfort and dignity. This support is crucial in improving the overall well-being of the youth and enabling them to thrive in their respective environments.

Don Bosco Fambul also facilitates the Mobil Project, designed to identify areas where children living on the streets and girls involved in commercial sex work face significant risks. The project’s primary mission is to recruit youth in need into the program, provide them with rehabilitation and support, and reintegrate them into society as empowered individuals. In the 2024-2025 academic year, the Mobil Project proudly supported 55 students in grades ranging from primary and senior secondary school. The students received school bags, learning materials, and financial aid to cover their school fees and other associated expenses.

A Salesian said, “This crucial support ensures that these students can concentrate on their education without the burden of financial challenges. This remarkable achievement would not have been possible without the generous contributions of our incredible donors. Their unwavering support is making a lasting impact, transforming lives and paving the way for a brighter future for these children. We thank them for being a part of this journey.”

Over the last few years, Don Bosco Fambul has provided assistance for nearly 11,000 children and youth suffering violations of their fundamental rights. Through education, Salesians and a large multidisciplinary team of social workers transform the lives of youth to allow them to take control of their own lives. Don Bosco Fambul also offers a 525 Childline toll-free number, available throughout the country, 24 hours a day/7 days a week for youth who suffer any type of violence.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

AOS – Embrace Newsletter October – December 2024

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is a national leader in child protection, operating the largest interim care and therapeutic centers for abused children in the country. Since it was established in 1998 to rehabilitate and reintegrate child soldiers, it has grown to support the country’s most vulnerable children and youth through two main campuses in Freetown.

The Fort Street Campus includes a mobile project that conducts outreach programs and interventions for youth living on the street, while the Hope Plus Project provides education, skills training, and reintegration support for girls exploited in prostitution. In addition, the Pademba Project focuses on rehabilitating boys in conflict with the law, including those in detention. Salesians also operate the ChildLine, a 24/7 toll-free helpline for children in crisis, ensuring rapid response and referral to appropriate services.

At the Therapy Center Campus, Salesians operate a shelter for girls who have experienced abuse, trafficking, and cruelty. Staff provide psychosocial, medical, educational and legal assistance. At the Girls’ Shelter Plus, staff focus on rescuing and rehabilitating girls exploited in prostitution. The Child Care Center provides temporary shelter, care, and rehabilitation for boys, including those living on the street. Finally, the Group Home offers long-term alternative care for boys who have been rejected, neglected or abandoned, helping them rebuild their lives in a supportive environment.

A Salesian explained, “The Don Bosco Fambul Therapy Center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week with qualified personnel, offering innovative programs and strategic partnerships. It features a metal training workshop and an automotive mechanic garage for beneficiaries engaged in skill development. The organization also works closely with local and international organizations to enhance its impact.”

Yappoh, age 18, is one of the youth who benefited from Don Bosco Fambul. Orphaned at a young age and a victim of child trafficking, he faced immense challenges with no family support. Through the intervention of the Sierra Leone Police and the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Yappoh was connected to Don Bosco Fambul.

Despite efforts to trace his relatives, none were found. Recognizing his potential, Don Bosco Fambul enrolled Yappoh in an auto mechanic workshop. He thrived in this environment, and his skills earned him the opportunity to assist at the Don Bosco garage, where he further honed his expertise.

The Salesian noted, “Yappoh’s transformation from a vulnerable trafficking victim to a skilled and promising young auto mechanic showcases the power of opportunity and determination. His story inspires others to overcome adversity with perseverance and the right support system.”

Another youth who sought safety at Don Bosco Fambul is Sando, age 9, who is a victim of sexual abuse. Sando and her sisters have been staying at Don Bosco Fambul for the past three years.

The Salesian said, “Sando faces significant challenges as she deals with the trauma of abuse while managing a difficult family situation. After losing her father, her mother, who is deaf, mute, and partially blind, is unable to provide support. It’s heartbreaking that other family members have not stepped in to help, and her uncle has even suggested adoption, feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility. This situation is incredibly tough for Sando and her siblings, and they truly deserve compassion and support.”

Despite Sando’s challenges, her determination to continue her education at Don Bosco Fambul is inspiring. Now in class three and performing well academically, she also engages in cultural dance, quiz competitions, and choir, which bring her joy and connection during this journey.

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ANS – RMG – The social works that give life to Don Bosco today: “Don Bosco Fambul” in Freetown

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(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries with Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations located in Freetown, provided support to 217 girls who had been rescued from prostitution. Funding was possible through a Christmas concert at the Vatican in 2023 to raise awareness about human trafficking and child prostitution in Sierra Leone.

All of the girls received care and resources, while 86 underwent long-term rehabilitation and training sessions. Additionally, 137 girls participated in a shorter intervention program that included immediate crisis response, medical care and psychological counseling. The 217 girls had access to therapeutic rehabilitation as well as educational sessions designed to enhance their motor skills, concentration and physical fitness.

Each year, 160-180 girls undergo screening which help determine the root causes of their trauma. Following these thorough assessments, personalized plans are created to help the girls overcome symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

At the Girls Shelter, Salesians provide three daily meals, clothing and personal hygiene products for 40-50 girls. Special assistance is offered to young mothers to meet the needs of their small children. Each week, 10-15 girls receive medical assistance including first aid, malaria treatment, and care for other ailments at the Don Bosco Fambul Hospital.

Approximately 40-50 girls have participated in customized informal lessons to prepare for reintegration into the formal educational system. Eight workshops have focused on hygiene, health, human rights, sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, friendship, trauma healing techniques and anger management.

Not all the support at the Girls Shelter is so formal. A Salesian noted, “We organize outings to various locations to help the girls overcome their traumas. These precious moments provide opportunities for personal growth, relaxation and fun, allowing the girls to engage in activities such as swimming, beach volleyball, and sandcastle building.”

Support is rounded out with legal assistance and education about their fundamental human rights. Salesians engage in mediation with law enforcement to address minor offenses committed by the girls before arriving at Don Bosco Fambul, seeking alternative solutions to resolve disputes positively.

The Salesian explained, “This extensive project is divided into five phases including identification and reception, rehabilitation, support and legal representation, networking, and finally, tracing and family reunification. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of all those involved in the project, a remarkable 196 girls have been reintegrated into their families or have found placements with extended or foster families in the area.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, has been offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

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Photo courtesy of Missioni Don Bosco

ANS – A Refuge of Hope – The Successes of the Girls Shelter

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) People who were victims of a devastating fire in Bo City, Sierra Leone, received support and resources to ensure their safety, thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Many of the people have a disability, such as blindness or a physical disability, and do not have jobs.

With donor funding, Salesians were able to provide shelter, health and hygiene support, education, and livelihood resources for 34 people including 15 children. Salesians were able to help the children enroll in school, cover their tuition and help with school supplies.

Mariama, who is blind and in her 40s, has spent most of her life asking for money on the streets of Bo City to help support her family. After the fire destroyed her home, she and her two children were left homeless and forced to seek shelter in an unfinished school with other families. The living conditions were poor, and they were at risk of violence. Salesians were able to provide immediate aid with nutrition for her family and medical support.

A Salesian noted, “To ensure that families will have ongoing support, we also strengthened our collaboration with local authorities and organizations to help families access health care, food and educational services. The goal is to provide for these families beyond the initial aid, so their lives are permanently changed for the better.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Young people in the country face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70% of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries operate the Don Bosco Socio-Sports School in Lungi, Sierra Leone, thanks to support from the Real Madrid Foundation and the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid. Through soccer, basketball and volleyball, youth, ages 5-17, are learning values and healthy hygiene and habits while improving their school performance.

Both the Real Madrid Foundation and Salesians are aware that sports are important for social integration and the promotion of values like teamwork, communication, respect and team spirit. As part of the Real Madrid Foundation’s “They play, we educate” program, participants receive nutrition, family and psychological support, regular health checkups, the opportunity to participate in social and educational workshops, gymnastics, crafts, reading, and citizenship activities. Training sessions on topics such as health, hygiene, values, and the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse are also provided.

The Don Bosco School has four soccer teams, two basketball teams and three volleyball teams, involving 70, 45 and 98 students, respectively. The school has been renovated for this season, and youth have access to all the equipment they need to learn and practice the sports. Students will also engage in competitions.

Ansuma, one of the youth involved in the school, said, “The school taught me much more than soccer. I have learned to control my temperament and now I also help at home and in school activities.”

M’Balia plays on the women’s soccer team. She explained, “In addition to my skills in dribbling, passing and controlling the ball, now I don’t get sick so easily. I discovered my vocation thanks to one of the sports subjects we are taught — physical health education.”

The partnership between the Salesians in Madrid and the Real Madrid Foundation began in 2010 in a Salesian school in Senegal. Today, the collaboration has 21 projects in 15 countries and serves nearly 4,000 children each season, using educational sport and its values as a catalyst for the social betterment of youth and communities.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Sport and health, with the Salesians and the Real Madrid Foundation, at the “Don Bosco” socio-sports school in Lungi

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LIBERIA

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries opened a multifunctional sports facility in Monrovia Central Prison in Liberia to provide support to the prisoners. The facility was built thanks to Don Bosco Mondo in Bonn, Germany, and has been dedicated to Pope Francis. Don Bosco Mondo received support from financier Peter Friemel. For years, he got on his bicycle and collected money from sponsors and donors on his tours. The 85-year-old has already collected €200,000.

Archbishop Walter Erbi, the Nuncio for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Gambia, opened and blessed the new sports facility. This was followed by the first soccer, basketball and volleyball games. After the awards ceremony, local music bands played and inmates celebrated the new facility.

The Monrovia Central Prison is constantly overcrowded due to the slow and sluggish judiciary. While the prison was built for 325 inmates, today there are over 1,500 prisoners crammed into the narrow cells. Overcrowding in the prison leads to a lack of food, water, hygienic standards and psycho-social support. These challenges often result in increased aggression and frustration among prisoners, as well as physical and mental illnesses and injuries. There were no opportunities previously for sports in the narrow area. The new arena is primarily intended to promote sport and health.

Salesians have been offering social and pastoral support in the prison since they arrived in Liberia in 1979. A Salesian explained, “Today, we work in the prison every day from morning to evening. The malnourished receive a warm and nutritious meal, the sick receive medical assistance, children and young prisoners receive psycho-social care in a specially built living area, and those wrongly held prisoner receive free legal assistance from lawyers. What is particularly important, however, is the pastoral offering, which is strongly geared to the situation and needs of the prisoners.”

An estimated 64% of Liberians live below the poverty line and 1.3 million live in extreme poverty, out of a population of 4.6 million, according to the World Food Programme. Food security is also affecting 41% of the population and making chronic malnutrition high.

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul Hospital, along with its partners from Spain, conducted a medical outreach program early this year in During Town, Peninsula, Sierra Leone. The medical team, consisting of specialized eye doctors from Visió Sense Fronteres, offered a wide range of services including diagnoses and treatments for various eye conditions.

Care provided also included detailed examinations, prescriptions for corrective lenses and necessary surgical interventions. During the medical camp, 212 people received cataract surgeries.

A Salesian said, “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the generous donors and partners who supported and made this impactful mission possible.”

The hospital is part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul, which is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and located in Freetown. The organization has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families.

Over the last four years, Don Bosco Fambul has provided assistance for nearly 11,000 children and youth suffering violations of their fundamental rights. Through education, Salesians and a large multidisciplinary team of social workers transform the lives of youth to allow them to take control of their own lives. Don Bosco Fambul also offers a 525 Childline toll-free number, available throughout the country, 24 hours a day/7 days a week for youth who suffer any type of violence.

In the last 25 years, Don Bosco Fambul has also earned recognition for having been at people’s side during the civil war and the Ebola epidemic. In addition, Salesians are on the front lines of helping residents during the floods and landslides that the capital suffers every year.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Young people in the country face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70% of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Child Protection Newsletter

Don Bosco Child Protection Newsletter Embrace Jan-March 2024, Page 21

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(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul Childline, with the support of AEXCID and Atabal Foundation, launched a countrywide initiative to combat gender-based violence in Sierra Leone. The goals are to increase awareness on violence and mistreatment of youth, provide support for those impacted, and promote the 525 toll-free line. The program includes training sessions for a variety of stakeholders including students, educators, family support units, women and girls, and community members.

A Salesian explained, “Educating these groups about the nature of violence and mistreatment against women and children, how to recognize it, understanding the laws related to gender-based violence, and knowing where to report such incidents is crucial for the well-being and safety of the community. This 18-month campaign will be replicated in each of the 16 districts in Sierra Leone. We are thankful to our donors.”

The campaign aims to establish a network of support and resources for survivors of gender-based violence, as well as to challenge the social norms and attitudes that perpetuate such violence.

Don Bosco Fambul’s 525 Childline toll-free number is available throughout the country, 24 hours a day/7 days a week for youth who suffer any type of violence. Over the last four years, Don Bosco Fambul has provided assistance for nearly 11,000 children and youth suffering violations of their fundamental rights. Through education, Salesians and a large multidisciplinary team of social workers transform the lives of youth to allow them to take control of their own lives.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Young people in the country face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70% of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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Sources:

Don Bosco Child Protection Newsletter Embrace January-March 2024, Page 18

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, Don Bosco Fambul is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. It has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. In December 2023, the Salesian organization celebrated its 25-year anniversary.

Over the last four years, Don Bosco Fambul has provided assistance for nearly 11,000 children and youth suffering violations of their fundamental rights. Through education, Salesians and a large multidisciplinary team of social workers transform the lives of youth to allow them to take control of their own lives. Don Bosco Fambul also offers a 525 Childline toll-free number, available throughout the country, 24 hours a day/7 days a week for youth who suffer any type of violence.

In the last 25 years, Don Bosco Fambul has also earned recognition for having been at people’s side during the civil war and the Ebola epidemic. In addition, Salesians are on the front lines of helping residents during the floods and landslides that the capital suffers every year.

Don Bosco Fambul has two buildings where youth receive assistance. The original building houses the 525 Childline staff as well as the staff for the bus that goes out at night to meet with youth on the streets. There are also staff that go to the Pademba Prison each day to provide food, psychosocial support and recreational activities to the most vulnerable inmates, especially the youngest and the sick.

The original building also supports the Girls Shelter and the Girls OS+ (Hope Plus) program that aids victims of the sex trade through training in hotel, catering, tailoring or hairdressing disciplines, or formal education. The Eco project focused on reducing plastic waste and increasing tree planting is in this original building.

The second location was built outside the city. The Fambul Therapeutic Center complex near the sea is surrounded by greenery and large recreational areas. The complex includes four large residential buildings for youth accepted into the various programs. They receive education and legal and psychological support as well as family reunification, when applicable. The complex also has sports fields, a health clinic, a nursery and accommodations for volunteers.

During a celebration of the anniversary, Salesian organizations that support Don Bosco Fambul came from around the globe for an event. The event was also attended by members of various ministries of the government of Sierra Leone, international organizations and official representatives of the embassies of Spain and Germany.

Raquel Fuente, head of the Department of International Cooperation for the Development of Salesian Missions, together with Dr. María Eugenia Hernández, head of Anglophone Africa, delivered a commemorative plaque to Father Piotr Wojnarowki, director of Don Bosco Fambul, in recognition of this collaboration.

“The work of Don Bosco Fambul is the best example of child protection. Don Bosco worked all his life in Italy for the most vulnerable minors and young people, and Don Bosco Fambul does just that, thus expressing the best demonstration of Salesianity,” said Hernández.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul, a reference point for the protection of children’s rights in Sierra Leone, celebrates 25 years of service

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(MissionNewswire) Youth at Don Bosco Fambul in Freetown, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations, have a new chapel thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Don Bosco Fambul provides a range of programs to support youth who are living on the streets, girls who have faced sexual abuse, young women who have been forced into prostitution and youth in trouble with the law.

A Salesian missionary at Don Bosco Fambul noted, “The Don Bosco chapel in Don Bosco Fambul’s Child Protection Center provides a safe and nurturing environment where youth can find comfort, solace and hope. Many of the youth who come to the center have suffered physical, emotional or sexual abuse and are traumatized by their experiences.”

Before the chapel, Salesians were holding Catholic Mass in the corridors of the building, By providing a chapel within the center’s facilities, youth now have a designated space where they can reflect, meditate and receive spiritual guidance. The chapel provides a peaceful and calming environment, which can aid in the healing process. It also offers a sense of community where youth can connect with caring adults and their peers, developing a sense of belonging essential for their well-being.

The Salesian added, “The chapel also provides a space for staff, volunteers and supporters who understand the importance of helping youth who have been through such difficult times, allowing them to experience a sense of hope and comfort. The chapel will complete the therapy center and give staff a place to reflect during their breaks. Their mental health while doing this critical work is as important as that of the youth we serve.”

Don Bosco Fambul social workers go out to the streets, poor neighborhoods, and marketplaces to engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s programs. The organization has four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and the chapel. The Child Protection Center, where the chapel is located, currently serves 125 young men who stay an average of three months.

One of the beneficiaries is Osman, who experienced child trafficking and was intercepted along the Sierra Leone-Guinean border. The whereabouts of his parent are unknown. Osman takes the auto mechanic’s course at the Don Bosco garage, and Salesians have been impressed with his commitment to skills training.

Another beneficiary is Musa, who had been living with his father and mother in the eastern part of Sierra Leone. After his father’s sudden death, he came to Freetown because his mother could not provide for him. He ended up living with his elderly sister who forced him into child labor. He left to live on the street and survived for more than a year washing dishes and sleeping in market stalls. Staff of the mobile unit at Don Bosco Fambul found him and brought him into the group home. Musa is now honing his skills in welding and improving every day.

In addition to the youth and staff at Don Bosco Fambul who will use the chapel, it is also open to the more than 2,000 in the village community. While nearly 80% are Muslim, because of the pastoral work of the Salesians, they will join the congregation for prayers, especially on Sundays.

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Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul in Freetown, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations, has added staffing support thanks to a grant from the Flora Family Foundation secured by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The Flora Family Foundation was established in 1998 by the family of William R. Hewlett (co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company) and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett to support social progress, environmental well-being and cultural vibrancy.

Don Bosco Fambul provides a range of programs to help support youth who are living on the streets, girls who have faced sexual abuse, young women who have forced into prostitution and youth in trouble with the law. With the funding, Don Bosco Fambul was able to add a program manager, advocacy officer and communications officer.

Thanks to the staffing support, Don Bosco Fambul raised public awareness about child sexual exploitation and promoted its Child Line 525 for reporting child abuse and crimes committed against children. Through an advocacy campaign, Don Bosco Fambul staff educated the public about sex offenses, child rights, sexual exploitation and the consequences when these laws are broken. They also provided information on the channels by which the public can access justice in such cases.

Don Bosco Fambul celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2023. It is operating a shelter for young girls who have faced sexual abuse and are in need of support and education. Recognizing the specific need for girls who had been forced into prostitution, Father Jorge Crisafulli, former director of Don Bosco Fambul, created the Girls OS+ (Hope Plus) program inside a therapeutic center. Since the program launched six years ago, it has changed the lives of more than 600 girls.

Fr. Crisafulli said, “The main aim of the Girls Shelter OS+ program is to reach out to underage girls who are involved in prostitution and help them off the streets, offering a safe environment where they can access holistic rehabilitation and physical, psychological, and spiritual healing. The goal is to help them recover their dignity through education and skills training and reintegrate back into their community.”

A young woman named Mable was one of the beneficiaries of the program. She explained, “I was able to access the resources I needed to change my life. This included education at the Portree Vocational Training Center where I studied hairdressing. During the training, I was given food, clothing and financial assistance. I was even given a start-up kit when I graduated. Today, I make a good living in my salon.”

In addition to these services, Don Bosco Fambul also has social workers who go out to the streets, poor neighborhoods and marketplaces. They engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s programs. The organization has four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. It’s the only program of its kind in West Africa that provides girls who have been sexually abused or forced into prostitution with a safe environment to overcome their traumas and start a new life.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

Don Bosco Fambul

Flora Family Foundation

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001, when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in the capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations. It offers food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

At the core of Don Bosco Fambul’s work is a program for street children. The organization has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, poor areas and marketplaces. They engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s programs.

The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to its holistic approach which focuses on meeting basic needs like food and shelter in addition to personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care. Salesians reach out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region each year.

Rehabilitation is a gradual process that includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. The parents and extended families of participants are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

Don Bosco Fambul has also been operating a shelter for young girls who have faced sexual abuse and are in need of shelter, support and education. Recognizing the specific need for girls who had been forced into prostitution, the Girls Shelter GO+ program was created. Since the program launched six years ago, it has changed the lives of more than 600 girls, given them the opportunity to start a new life and provided access to education.

Whether working with a young boy who has been living on the street or a young woman forced into prostitution, psychological support is a critical part of the work at Don Bosco Fambul. A Salesian noted, “Don Bosco Fambul Therapy Center is the first and one of the biggest in Sierra Leone. We offer therapeutic sessions for minors and survivors of all forms of abuse.”

The organization has four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. It’s the only program of its kind in West Africa that enables girls to live in a safe environment to overcome their traumas and start a new life.

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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Fambul

Don Bosco Fambul

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations located in Freetown, offers the Girls Shelter GO+ program to support young girls who have been forced into sex work. Some of the girls are as young as 9 years old. Most of them have faced violence and sexual abuse. They include girls from other countries, villages or the poorest areas of Freetown, who all often are forced to provide financially for themselves and their families.

Don Bosco Fambul has been operating a shelter for young girls who have faced sexual abuse and are in need of shelter, support and education. Recognizing the specific need for girls who had been forced into prostitution, Father Jorge Crisafulli asked a group of girls if they wanted to change their lives.

He was able to create the Girls Shelter GO+ program inside a therapeutic center. Since the program was launched six years ago, it has changed the lives of more than 600 girls, given them the opportunity to start a new life, and provided access to education.

A Salesian said, “The main aim of the Girls Shelter GO+ program is to reach out to underage girls who are involved in prostitution and help them off the streets, offering a safe environment where they can access holistic rehabilitation and physical, psychological, and spiritual healing. The goal is to help them recover their dignity through education and skills training and reintegrate back into their community.”

Don Bosco Fambul has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces. They engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s programs. The organization has four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. It’s the only program of its kind in West Africa that enables girls to live in a safe environment to overcome their traumas and start a new life.

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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Fambul

Don Bosco Fambul Girls Shelter GO+

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, Don Bosco Fambul is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. It has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families.

Don Bosco Fambul operates a medical clinic that provides services to youth in its program and members of the community. The clinic was officially certified and verified as a hospital by the government of Sierra Leone. This enables the clinic to do even more for the community and expands medical services to those in poverty. Donors provided the equipment necessary to help the clinic pass the certification.

The organization has also increased medical outreach to the community. Don Bosco Fambul hosted two specialists who provided medical assistance to the new Don Bosco hospital. A partner organization, ACISS from Malaga, Spain, visited the Don Bosco Fambul hospital with a team of medical practitioners. They offered free medical surgeries, focusing on hernias, hydroceles, and lipomas, for 41 patients who are now fully recovered.

In addition, vision specialists and dentists provided a one-week health outreach at the Don Bosco hospital. They focused on giving community members free cataract operations and eye and dental exams.

In the last quarter of 2022, Salesians held a 10-day medical camp including eye screening, cataract operations and dental care. More than 300 people had tooth extractions and fillings, more than 1,000 people had eye screenings and 100 people received cataract operations.

A Salesian missionary said, “Medical outreach is one of our significant arms for reaching out to our communities as an institution. We are grateful for all the specialists who volunteered their time to help our community members.”

When Salesians are not able to provide the care needed at the hospital, they sometimes are able to connect with organizations in other countries to help those in need. This was the case for 11-year-old Emmanuel, an orphan with congenital knee dislocation. Because of his condition, his peers bullied and taunted him. This caused him to drop out of school and become a loner.

Don Bosco Fambul assigned him to a social worker who supported him in undergoing play therapy, counseling and informal schooling. During their counseling sessions, Emmanuel told her that people called him names because of his condition. Don Bosco Fambul, through Salesian Missions in Madrid, Spain, organized a medical trip to Spain for Emmanuel to have the corrective surgery he needed.

The Salesian said, “This was only possible thanks to our partners and donors from Clinica Centro in Madrid. He went through a successful surgery and is now in physical rehabilitation. We are so grateful.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, has been offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

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Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Fambul

Don Bosco Fambul

Don Bosco Fambul Facebook

Don Bosco Fambul Newsletter First Edition 2023

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) St. Augustine Agricultural Junior Secondary School, located in Lungi, Sierra Leone, received support from donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The school, which was established in 1984, has 14 classrooms, a computer lab, an infirmary/clinic and an administrative building.

The school provides education to marginalized students in the region. It currently has 700 students, 34 teachers and four auxiliary staff, including a nurse. Given the economic condition of the country and the challenges faced by students, the school recently reintroduced its feeding program. A portion of the donor funding went to support this program and ensure students in need have access to healthy nutrition through school lunch.

In addition, funding provided for school uniforms and to support salaries for the auxiliary staff. Maintenance and repairs of the school buildings, assembly and sport grounds, school fence, bathrooms and canteen also took place with the funding.

At the school, Salesian sports programming provides much-needed recreation and life skills for the students. Funding provided for table tennis equipment, balls, and jerseys for soccer, basketball and volleyball.

One Salesian at the school said, “On behalf of the school community, we want to take this time to say our profound thanks and appreciation to all the donors who helped support these efforts. This was the first time in the history of our school that we have been able to make such far-reaching and important improvements for our students, staff and school grounds.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Youth across the country face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70% of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries in Tikonko, in the Bo district of Sierra Leone, have transformed the economy of an entire village by employing 30 families in harvesting and drying the leaves of the Moringa oleifera plant. The plant, imported from India, is also called a miracle plant and makes a black tea powder that acts as a food supplement and is used to enrich soups.

Once the leaves are dried, they are processed inside a machine and turned into a black tea powder. The tea is then packaged into sachets and its final packaging. Brother Riccardo Racca, a Salesian coadjutor, along with three others, have grown this successful project in just three years. Funding for the project, including the machinery to package the product, came from the Salesian German Cooperation.

“Moringa plants grow very well in our area. It has white flowers, can grow a lot and become a real tree, and is good for people,” explained Bro. Racca. “There is nothing thrown away on the shrub. We harvest and dry the leaves, which is simple but a time-consuming process.”

The Gola Rainforest National Park, in the southeast of Sierra Leone where the project is taking place, has rich forests and natural beauty but also has a troubled history. Bro. Racca said, “Outside of here we are known for three things — diamonds, child soldiers, and Ebola, but it is clear that Sierra Leone is not just that.”

He added, “Salesians work with youth to give them a chance to build a future. We teach them trades in our vocational schools so they can find a job. This is where the success of an entire African country like Sierra Leone starts.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Youth across the country face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70% of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Moringa oleifera and the Salesian tea “brand”

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

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SPAIN

(MissionNewswire) Emmanuel, a 12-year-old boy from Sierra Leone, has a new lease on life thanks to the medical team of Dr. Pedro Guillén, the CEMTRO Clinic in Madrid and many volunteers. Emmanuel was born with a leg disability and was abandoned by his mother. After being abused by his family, he ran away from home and survived on the streets. It was there that Salesian missionaries found him.

Emmanuel was asked to join Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. Over the past two years, his life has changed. He has found an environment free from discrimination where he studies and dreams of becoming a soccer player. Thanks to his recent operation, he is now able to walk normally and “be like everyone else” as he has said.

The plan was put into place last summer, and volunteers worked to make the trip to Spain and the surgery possible. Emmanuel arrived in Madrid on April 22. On April 26 he was admitted to the operating room of the CEMTRO Clinic and underwent a successful surgery. Guillén explained, “We were clear that it had to be an operation on the soft parts, without touching the bone, although we realized that the bone was also affected after years of resting the leg badly.”

Dozens of volunteers, including the staff of the CEMTRO Clinic, and university students from Francisco de Vitoria and CEU-San Pablo Universities, took turns spending time with Emmanuel, going on walks, and playing games. A nurse said, “He arrived as a weak child and in these few weeks he has grown, gained weight, and has shown that he is very intelligent and adapts very well to any situation.”

In just a few weeks, Emmanuel experienced things he never imagined, including seeing snow for the first time, attending a Real Madrid game, and receiving a jersey with his name on it from the president of the Real Madrid club. For the past month, Emmanuel has spent most of his time with a foster family and has only gone to the hospital for rehabilitation. He has integrated seamlessly with his new siblings and has begun to enjoy his time being like everyone else.

The medical team will continue to follow him over the next year. Emmanuel will have to wear an insole in his shoe to walk properly and continue to strengthen his muscles. Next year, he may return to Spain for another corrective operation, but in the meantime, at Don Bosco Fambul everyone is waiting for him.

Salesian Father Jorge Crisafulli, former rector of Don Bosco Fambul and now provincial of the new Africa Nigeria Niger Province, said, “Thank you to all those who make these miracles possible. The world is a little more beautiful with each of these boys and the miracle of Don Bosco Fambul continues. We are all together part of this dream and we are the miracle in motion.”

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Spain – Emmanuel, Freetown street boy whose life has changed thanks to a leg operation

CEMTRO Clinic

Don Bosco Fambul

Don Bosco Fambul Facebook

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries with St. Augustine’s Parish, located in the Dworzak community within Freetown, Sierra Leone, have partially completed construction of a new church thanks to donor funding provided by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Salesians are seeking additional funding to finalize the project.

With the additional funding, the next phase of the project will include electrical, plumbing, floors, walls and painting. Once completed, the church will be able to accommodate 800 parishioners indoors for celebrating liturgies and holy Masses. There will also be a youth center for children when schools are on holiday. The parish currently has two schools, St. Augustine’s Pre-School and St. Augustine’s Primary School.

St. Augustine’s Parish is one of the poorest parishes in the Archdiocese of Freetown and parishioners are making personal efforts to bring the building to completion. As the number of parishioners and the size of the community have increased, Salesian missionaries embarked on a multi-phase project to expand their outgrown church.

“We appreciate the funding donors have provided to date to help with the construction of this church,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “With the construction of the building, Salesians in Sierra Leone are now in need of funding to finish the internal parts of the church to make it operational for the community. Our donors are generous and we hope to provide the funding to finalize this project.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Don Bosco Fambul, located in the capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations — offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations and located in Freetown, has received the “Solidarity Project Award” from the Spanish daily newspaper ABC. Don Bosco Fambul receives the support of the Salesian Missions Office in Madrid, and this partnership is highlighted in the award. Don Bosco Fambul has been awarded 40,000 euros.

Don Bosco Fambul won for the Girls Os+ program, which provides support and recovery for underage girls who are victims of sexual violence and abuse and forced into prostitution. Since the program was launched five years ago, it has changed the lives of more than 600 girls and given them the opportunity to start a new life and access education.

The project began by accident when Father Jorge Crisafulli asked a group of underage girls forced to be prostitutes on the streets if they wanted to change their lives. He was able to create a new program inside an already thriving organization. Don Bosco Fambul has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces. They engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s successful programs.

To support the Girls Os+ program, Don Bosco Fambul launched a therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. It’s the only program of its kind in West Africa that enables girls to live in a safe environment to overcome their traumas and start a new life.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers, and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access services at the shelter are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

“I am very grateful for this award, which gives recognition to all the work behind it including support from Salesian Missions in Madrid, social workers, nurses, and psychotherapists. It is a daily miracle to see these girls come back and smile. This means that they have overcome their traumas and are working on leading full lives,” said Fr. Crisafulli.

In 2018, Salesian Missions Madrid produced the documentary “Love” which showed the work of Don Bosco Fambul’s efforts to help these young women. Fr. Crisafulli said, “We succeeded in getting the minors to be seen for what they are, victims and not perpetrators. Thanks to the documentary and the testimony of young women at European institutions, Sierra Leone’s president decreed a national emergency on child sexual abuse, and laws were changed in the country to benefit and protect young victims.”

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Spain – “ABC Awards” for solidarity acknowledge success of Salesian project to save girls from prostitution in Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian Father Philip Gboa has launched a new Climate Club in Lungi, a small coastal town in the Port Loko District of the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The club will be open to the more than 6,000 youth in the local Salesian schools and youth center and will have a focus on environmental education and activities. The goal is to start the club with at least 60 youth. Ten volunteer teachers at St. Augustine Agricultural Secondary and Junior Secondary Schools will facilitate the program,

“When the world is talking about climate change and environmental impact, it’s not being talked about here,” said Fr. Gboa. “People throw garbage around and don’t really care about the environment much. They cut down trees for no reason. There are plastic bags littered all over. We have beaches but no one uses them because they are so dirty. As a result, we have diseases like cholera and typhoid, and something needs to change. It’s not just the parents who are impacted, it’s the children too.”

While there have been some initiatives launched by the government, such as a last Saturday of the month cleanup, Fr. Gboa reports that the environment doesn’t stay clean long. He wants to teach children how to care for the environment and instill in them the knowledge of why it’s so important in order to have the greatest long-term impact.

Fr. Gboa said, “It occurred to me that people may litter because they have never been taught to care about the environment. So, this is the time now to teach our young people. If we teach them in schools, they will go and teach others as they go to universities or back home with their parents. They will be able to share about the Climate Club, what they are learning and the importance of not destroying the environment. The young people have to be the ambassadors.”

The Climate Club will run three days a week and offer youth educational sessions and activities that will teach them about the environment and allow them to put those lessons into action. As an incentive to take part, Fr. Gboa said that youth who become ambassadors will be eligible for financial support to cover 50 percent of their university fees.

“There are many intelligent and motivated youth who want to continue their studies after secondary school but who cannot afford to go to university,” added Fr. Gboa. “If they become ambassadors in the Climate Club, we will help them financially to continue their education. They will never forget the lessons they learned in the club and know that it was the club that helped them be able to continue school. They will also pay that forward by teaching others what they have learned.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Don Bosco Fambul, located in the capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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Photo from video courtesy of Salesians of Lungi, Sierra Leone

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone Climate Club

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) The Salesian Missions Office in Madrid, Spain, has launched the “Innocence behind bars” campaign in collaboration with the new documentary “Libertad,” directed by filmmaker Raúl de la Fuente. The campaign and documentary shed light on the daily life of youth in the Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but currently has more than 1,300 inmates. Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to a lack of medical care, contribute to the persistent spread of disease and illness among the inmates, which have led to deaths.

Salesian missionaries visit the prison and provide food and water for young inmates while also offering counseling services, medical assistance and therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms end. Through the prison program, missionaries reach 250 inmates.

The message of the new campaign and documentary goes beyond this one prison and aims to highlight the more than 1.2 million minors in the world who are deprived of their freedom in prisons, police stations and detention centers.

According to the documentary, most of these youth are there without a trial and without criminal records. Some are imprisoned for sleeping on the street. They do not receive legal assistance, often no one knows they are there, and they share cells with adults accused of violent crimes and sexual assaults.

These youth are deprived of their freedom and see their rights systematically violated. They are treated like criminals when what they need is social support and assistance. Some die without hope or stop eating because they lose the will to live.

Salesian missionaries around the globe help to support these youth, offering them legal and spiritual support and health care, food, and education with the aim to have them more easily be able to reintegrate into society once they are released.

Experts are working and campaigning to find more suitable places for youth who have committed a crime, in lieu of prison, to ensure that children remain safe and have the chance at rehabilitation. The United Nations has proposed sanctions, counseling sessions, social services, probation and supervisory ordinances, among other ideas.

“The great challenge is to understand that by putting an end to the circle of violence we can transform the aggressor’s heart and stop them thinking about revenge,” said Father Agnaldo Soares, a Salesian who works with minors in conflict with the law in Brazil. The goal for Salesians is also to help youth have their basic needs met so they can focus on an education and find hope for the future without violence or resorting to criminal behavior.

“Libertad” premiered Sept. 16 on the Salesian Missions Office Madrid YouTube channel.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Spain – “Libertad”: new documentary of “Misiones Salesianas” presents condition of minors in prisons

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

Salesian Missions – Spain

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, is responding to the needs of more than 600 youth in its programs who were impacted by recent fires that broke out in the suburb of Susan Bay. The fires tore through 10 hectares of land covered with shacks and huts made of wood and sheet metal.

More than 500 houses were reduced to ashes and more than 5,000 people lost everything. Salesian missionaries have already announced that their doors are open to welcome, help, and protect children, adolescents and mothers with small children. They are already providing aid and supplies to those in need.

“We have lost everything,” said Yaikain, one of the girls hosted at Don Bosco Fambul. “We got out as fast as possible as soon as we heard the shouts of fire. We have been on the street, without food, since that day and without knowing where to go because I am taking care of my grandmother who is very old.”

Vast fires in the suburb of Susan Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone, tore through 10 hectares of land covered with homes made of wood and sheet metal.

In just four hours, and for reasons still unknown, the fire spread through the wood and cardboard houses. There are currently no reported deaths, but there are about 80 injured and more than 5,000 displaced.

“Children, adolescents and mothers with babies know they have a safe place to go to at Don Bosco Fambul,” said Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of the organization. Don Bosco Fambul is collaborating in its response with the government, the mayor’s office and other nongovernmental organizations active in Freetown.

Salesian missionaries responded similarly with other tragedies that have struck in the region. They did so during the Ebola epidemic in 2015 when they welcomed orphaned minors. In December 2016, they welcomed the community when a fire in the Angola Town suburb left hundreds of people homeless, and again in August 2017, when the Don Bosco Fambul courtyards became the new home for dozens of people for several months when a landslide on Sugar Loaf hill caused more than 1,000 deaths, hundreds of injuries and displaced persons.

Fr. Crisafulli added, “Many children we had rescued from the streets and reinstated with their families lived in Susan Bay and were impacted. There were many minors from the anti-violence program, saved from prostitution, crammed into these humble shacks. More than 600 boys and girls we serve in our programs have lost everything in the Susan Bay fire. We will help those who have lost everything by giving them shelter, clothes, hygiene products, food and medicine, so we will in turn need urgent help for hundreds of minors.”

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS) 

ANS – Sierra Leone – Urgent aid for hundreds of children who have lost everything in a fire

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul distributes aid to women who lost everything in Susan Bay fire

Don Bosco Fambul

Don Bosco Fambul Facebook

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UNICEF – Sierra Leone

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Youth Center, part of the Dwarzak Parish in Freetown, Sierra Leone, offers youth a space to enjoy leisure and sports, get help with schoolwork, have a nutritious meal, and find personal and spiritual support in a safe and healthy environment. Salesian missionaries also promote an attitude of service and teach children and older youth the importance of giving back to their families and community.

Thousands of minors roam the streets of Freetown every day. They don’t go to school because they are orphans or have been kicked out or ran away from home and survive by grouping into gangs. In many cases, they come from large families where there was not enough food or space for everyone. Girls and young women are particularly vulnerable on the streets.

Father Sergej Goman is a Salesian missionary from Belarus. In his 40s now, he has spent most of his religious life in West Africa. In Sierra Leone, he dedicated himself to street children and Ebola orphans. For the past three years, he has been in charge of the Don Bosco Youth Center in Dwarzak and has become a father figure for dozens of abandoned or at-risk youth.

Each day up to 100 children, between the ages of 7-18, participate in recreational, educational and spiritual activities. More than 50 youth receive nutritional assistance three times a week, and 80 children receive educational and spiritual assistance six days a week. These activities promote an enriched environment where youth feel secure and free.

The center also organizes sports programming six days a week with soccer and basketball training, friendly matches in Lungi and Freetown, and championship races. Other programming includes table tennis, educational films, performances and quizzes, the music band, and music courses.

“The activities and support provided at Don Bosco Youth Center decrease the risks for vulnerable youth who might otherwise lead dangerous lives on the streets,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This serves as unique space for youth who lack connection to adults, academic assistance and access to safe places for play.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

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Sierra Leone – “Don Bosco” Youth Center in Freetown: factory that saves lives with a smile

Don Bosco Fambul

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Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: At-risk youth participate in safe, healthy activities first appeared on MissionNewswire.

SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, provides job starter kits to young women who complete their education. The young women, who have come from situations of vulnerability, receive training in tailoring, tourism, catering and hair care through Salesian education.

Don Bosco Fambul has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution, as well as to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces.

Don Bosco Fambul has a new therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic issues forensic reports about abused minors arriving at the center so that police are able to conduct investigations early.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter was developed to response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

Don Bosco has also been helping young women caught up in prostitution come in off the streets. Father Jorge Crisafulli launched the program out of Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter in September 2016 with the aim of searching for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The program offers them shelter, health, nutrition, education and wherever possible, reintegrates them back into their families.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program helps young women who have faced poverty and exploitation to have a chance at a better life. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul promotes activities of newly graduated women

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries with St. Augustine’s Parish, located in the Dworzak community within Freetown, Sierra Leone, have partially completed construction of a new church thanks to donor funding provided by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. As the number of parishioners and the size of the community have increased, Salesian missionaries embarked on a multi-phase project to expand their outgrown church.

St. Augustine’s Parish is one of the poorest parishes in the Archdiocese of Freetown and parishioners are making personal efforts to bring the building to completion. The church is still in need of funding to complete the last phase of the project, which includes windows, doors, flooring, painting, plumbing and electrical work. Salesian Missions is seeking donor funding to help finish this project.

The church serves more than 700 members of Dworzark Catholic community, and with the larger church, this number is expected to grow. In addition, more than 150 youth come to the parish compound to attend activities at the Don Bosco Youth Center from Monday to Saturday. The parish also has two schools, St. Augustine’s Pre-School and St. Augustine’s Primary School.

“We appreciate the funding donors have provided to date to help with the construction of this church,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “With the construction of the building, Salesians in Sierra Leone are now in need of funding to finish the internal parts of the church to make it operational for the community. Our donors are generous and we hope to provide the funding to finalize this project.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Don Bosco Fambul, located in the capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Food security in Sierra Leone is undermined by chronic poverty. The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population lives under the national poverty line of earning approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Youth Center, part of the Dwarzak Parish in Freetown, Sierra Leone, offers youth a space to enjoy leisure and sports, get help with schoolwork, have a nutritious meal, and find personal and spiritual support in a safe and healthy environment. Salesian missionaries also promote an attitude of service and teach children and older youth the importance of giving back to their families and community. They are being prepared to be good, honest citizens.

Youth in Sierra Leone face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed. Programs facilitated by Don Bosco Youth Center help to ensure youth have access to the services they need to gain an education and to be able to connect with their peers.

Each day up to 100 children, between the ages of 7-18, participate in recreational, educational and spiritual activities. More than 50 youth receive nutritional assistance three times a week and 80 children receive educational and spiritual assistance six days a week. These activities promote an enriched environment where youth feel secure and free.

Don Bosco Youth Center also offers table tennis, educational films, storytelling events, spelling and quiz competitions, and brass band, keyboard and singing instruction. Sports programming is provided six days a week. Youth can take part in soccer and basketball training and engage in friendly matches in Lungi and Freetown, as well as league competitions. In addition to services for youth, Don Bosco Youth Center serves as a training and meeting place for educators.

“The activities and support provided at Don Bosco Youth Center decrease the risks for vulnerable youth who might otherwise lead dangerous lives on the streets,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This serves as unique space for youth who lack connection to adults, academic assistance and access to safe places for play.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Youth Centre in Dwarzak Parish

Don Bosco Fambul

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Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Children and youth learn in safe environment first appeared on MissionNewswire.

SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, recently held a workshop entitled “Youth4Life” that focused on issues concerning the well-being and integral development of youth in Sierra Leone.

The event was attended by students from 10 schools in Freetown and touched on various topics including ecology, the need to preserve the ecosystem and taking care of animals in their environment. Other topics focused on the importance of the gift of one’s life and the adoration of God. During the workshop, the Salesian Youth Movement presented about the importance of learning a trade by attending one of the Don Bosco Fambul courses.

Don Bosco Fambul has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution, and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces.

Most recently, Don Bosco Fambul launched a new therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic will be able to issue forensic reports about abused minors arriving at the center. In turn, police will be able to conduct investigations early and arrest the perpetrators.

At the core of Don Bosco Fambul’s work is a program for street children. The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to its holistic approach which focuses on meeting basic needs (food, clothing, a safe place to sleep) in addition to personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care. Rehabilitation is a gradual process that includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. The parents and extended families of participants are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Don Bosco Fambul has been an integral part of the social welfare system in Sierra Leone helping youth come in off the streets where they face poverty and are at risk for exploitation. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently and live a better life.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Workshop on young people’s well-being and integral development

Don Bosco Fambul

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Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Workshop promotes well-being of youth first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Sierra Leone

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. The Salesian organization and its staff were on the frontlines of the Ebola epidemic that struck West Africa in 2014. The World Health Organization called it the “largest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic” in history. More than 28,000 people were infected, and over 11,000 people died before the international public health emergency ended in June 2016.

The virus is under control in Sierra Leone with few positive cases and deaths, but the threat remains. Close to 47 percent of the population does not have running water and social distancing is difficult in crowded slums.

Thanks to the experience gained during the Ebola epidemic, Salesians started working from the very beginning on prevention and raising awareness of the virus. One of the first steps they took was to make Don Bosco Fambul headquarters a first-aid base and transfer youth who were not infected to the buildings on the capital’s outskirts.

In addition, the bus used in the Don Bosco on Wheels project traveled through the streets of Freetown’s poor neighborhoods during the night to identify and help street children and young girls who prostitute themselves. Even during the curfew, the bus  never stopped serving people. With permission from the police, Don Bosco Fambul was able to go out onto the streets.

“During the first weeks of isolation, we took care of almost 500 minors. One hundred of them have already been reintegrated into the great family of Don Bosco Fambul,” said Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul.

Don Bosco Fambul is also the only institution that works with prisoners, providing many programs and helping to prevent the spread of the virus. After a revolt caused by the confusion generated by the virus took place in the Pademba Prison in April, Salesians had to start many of their prison programs from scratch. Fr. Crisafulli said, “Let us not lose heart because we are the only hope for them.”

Salesians work to help minors in Pademba, many of whom are innocent or charged with petty crimes and are placed in cells together with adults. These conditions led Salesians to negotiate agreements with prison management for their release or for  various activities within the prison. Don Bosco Fambul provides medical examinations of the injured and the sick and has also re-equipped a section to house infected people, transforming the prison chapel into a clinic to isolate suspected cases.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul fights consequences of coronavirus among the most vulnerable

Don Bosco Fambul

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Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

UN World Food Program – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul provides support to youth and prisoners to prevent coronavirus infections first appeared on MissionNewswire.

SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul, located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown and one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, has received an award from Action for Youth and Children Network. The organization, focused on the defense of the rights of young people and children, has recognized Don Bosco Fambul as the best humanitarian organization of Sierra Leone.

According to Action for Youth and Children Network executive director Mohamed Awuah Kamara, the interventions of Don Bosco Fambul to develop and change the lives of young people in Sierra Leone are exemplary. He encouraged Don Bosco Fambul to continue its good work helping victims of sexual violence, trafficking, neglect and domestic violence.

Don Bosco Fambul has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces.

Recently, Don Bosco Fambul launched a new therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic will be able to issue forensic reports about abused minors arriving at the center. In turn, police will be able to conduct investigations early and arrest the perpetrators.

At the core of Don Bosco Fambul’s work is a program for street children. The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to its holistic approach which focuses on meeting basic needs (food, clothing, a safe place to sleep) in addition to personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care. Rehabilitation is a gradual process that includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. The parents and extended families of participants are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program helps youth come in off the streets where they face poverty and are at-risk for exploitation, and have a chance at a better life. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. Young people also face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – “Don Bosco Fambul”, country’s best humanitarian organization

Don Bosco Fambul

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Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul receives award as best humanitarian organization in the country first appeared on MissionNewswire.

SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, Don Bosco Fambul is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations. It has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families.

The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120, including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces. They engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s successful program.

Don Bosco Fambul recently launched a therapeutic center with four large buildings, a clinic, accommodations for volunteers and social workers, a house for the Salesian community, and a chapel. Its inauguration was postponed due to the pandemic, but the center remains a safe and virus-free place. Salesians have already welcomed many minors in need.

The first lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, chose the new therapeutic center to sign the “Agreement against Domestic and Sexual Violence against Girls and Adults”—an agreement among Don Bosco Fambul and national agencies for the protection of children in the fight against violence and child abuse.

The first lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, chose Don Bosco Fambul’s new therapeutic center to sign the “Agreement against Domestic and Sexual Violence against Girls and Adults.”

Police agencies, lawyers and child protection agencies are working collaboratively with Don Bosco Fambul in the fight to protect children. Don Bosco Fambul’s clinic will be able to issue forensic reports on abused minors arriving at the center. In turn, police will be able to conduct investigations early and arrest the perpetrators.

During the signing event, Fr. Crisafulli gave a tour of the new therapeutic center. Attendees were welcomed with songs and dances by the center’s youth. Minors saved from prostitution by Don Bosco Fambul’s program gave Bio earrings in the shape of a ring which she immediately put on. Bio encouraged youth to continue studying and to fight bravely for their rights.

Continuing her visit, she praised the work of Salesians and noted the structure is “undoubtedly the best place to have a therapeutic center.” She also had very strong words against abusers and batterers. Bio also recalled her visit to the United Nations in Geneva to hear the testimony of the girls and teenagers saved from prostitution.

Finally, Bio invited Fr. Crisafulli to be part of her team of collaborators to work for the rights of those who suffer violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking in human beings. He accepted the honor.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, has been offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Young people, especially, face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul signs agreement with First Lady to combat abuse and violence

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SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates often die from overcrowding, illness and violence. All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but can at times have up to 2,000 inmates. Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to a lack of medical care, contribute to the persistent spread of disease and illness among the inmates which have led to deaths.

The Salesians are the only institution that works with detainees. Recently, fear of COVID-19 led to a riot that ended in unrest, fires and deaths among the detainees. On April 29, 237 prisoners were scheduled for release for minor offenses. A few days before that, however, the first case of COVID-19 inside the prison had been confirmed and visits prohibited. Prisoners were also forbidden to leave the cells as a preventive measure, but they interpreted it as another humiliation.

Pademba Road Prison experienced a bloody revolt that day. In the morning several inmates reached the internal clinic and set fire to it. They then circumvented the guards, opened all sections and burned the kitchen, pharmacy, document registry and all the workshops. Material damage, fires, many injuries and deaths were the toll of the revolt.

“There was some damage to the chapel and the Don Bosco room where 225 inmates receive an extra meal every week. The computer room and a library room were also destroyed,” said Father  Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul, which oversees the Salesian work at the prison.

Some of the inmates who are beneficiaries of Salesian initiatives at the prison helped the guards climb the walls to save their lives. The police and army opened fire indiscriminately. The revolt was suppressed within four hours and the prisoners locked up in their cells. For three days, they received no food or water and were tortured to locate the fomenters. Some, without medical treatment, died in the following days.

The Salesian team working in the prison managed to enter to assess the damage and the situation of the prisoners the next day. The Salesians committed to start feeding all the prisoners, currently 1,421, and to provide medical visits.

Coronavirus has also spread in prison, infecting 19 people to date. Fifteen of them have already recovered and four are still confined. Fr. Crisafulli said, “We brought beds and rehabilitated an area to isolate it as a hospital.”

The Salesians give each prisoner a bag containing a paste called gari, powdered milk, vegetables, fruit, sugar and water. Fr. Crisafulli added, “Gradually the prison officials let inmates out of the cells and they also bought buckets of water for cleaning.”

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ANS – Sierra Leone – Salesian work in prisons: a new beginning amid Coronavirus and after a revolt

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

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The Salesian Province was also widely affected by the catastrophic Ebola epidemic that the World Health Organization (WHO) reports killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016. Ebola greatly impacted Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Salesian programs in those countries were on the front lines of prevention, providing educational materials, soap and hand washing stations, as well as bleach and other cleaning products. Salesian centers also immediately began working with orphans whose parents, and sometimes entire families, died from the disease.

“Salesian missionaries in the West African Province have had many challenges to overcome including the Ebola epidemic and high rates of poverty in those countries, leaving many children and families in need,” says Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “While education is always the primary focus, because Salesian missionaries are living and working in the communities in which they serve, they know the local need first-hand. Because of this and their past experience, Salesian centers are able to effectively launch wide-reaching prevention programs in time of crisis.”

Even before there were many COVID-19 cases in the countries, Don Bosco Network secured its centers across Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, and put into effect physical distancing, sanitizing and ensuring staff and youth were safe. Salesians also started making homemade sanitizer and teaching local populations how to make it. The centers also began distributing soap and other sanitizers.

Developing and launching an awareness campaign was also critical. Through Don Bosco Radio in Ghana and Nigeria, information on preventive measures, symptoms, testing and avoiding the spread of the virus were given through online radio stations. Salesians also shared information on their social media channels. Within their communities, Salesians shared banners and flyers to highlight prevention information.

Training has also been key. In Lagos, Nigeria, Salesian staff were taken through training on COVID-19 to be equipped and ensure safety. In Ashaiman, Ghana, training for 15 people were trained on how to make their own masks using tissue paper and rubber bands.

In some of communities, frantic efforts to create food banks are being made. These are in preparation and anticipation of a worse case scenarios that could include lockdowns. Food banks will enable Salesians to support the vulnerable with critical nutrition support, which is needed even in the best of times. With people out of work, many lack the ability to purchase food as needed. Measures are also being taken to assist rural farmers with agro-input to support their farming.

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Salesian Missions

The post WEST AFRICA: Salesians launch awareness campaigns, training and nutritional support in response to COVID-19 first appeared on MissionNewswire.

SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, Don Bosco Fambul is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and has been on the forefront of efforts to help rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120 including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums, and marketplaces to engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s successful program.

The Salesian organization and its staff were on the frontlines of the Ebola epidemic that struck West Africa in 2014. The World Health Organization called it the “largest, most severe and most complex Ebola epidemic” in history. More than 28,000 people were infected, and over 11,000 people died before the international public health emergency ended in June 2016.

Salesian missionaries with Don Bosco Fambul sprung to action mobilizing their staff and providing information about the prevention of Ebola. Salesian missionaries worked with local communities to provide food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine.

In addition, the organization provided 20 mobile hand-washing basins to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs for use in Freetown. The mobile hand-washing basins were fitted with taps and hygiene-related products. Brother Lothar Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul at the time, noted that the mobile hand-washing basins were placed in strategic locations around Freetown to act as a reminder that good hygiene practices are some of the best methods to prevent the contraction of the Ebola virus.

Don Bosco Fambul, with assistance from the Catholic nongovernmental development organization Manos Unidas of Spain, also transformed a school into a home for 120 boys orphaned by Ebola. This unique care center for orphans on the Don Bosco Fambul campus met the children’s basic needs while providing schooling and education on health and hygiene. Precautions around health and hygiene, including a focus on preventative measures, were extremely stringent since the orphans had all been in contact with people infected by Ebola.

“We feel very close to Spain right now, because we know what it means to be in quarantine, to be afraid to go out on the street, to see people die during the epidemic. We lived with Ebola,” said Fr. Crisafulli.

To date, Sierra Leone only has officially reported a few cases, but Salesian missionaries are concerned because testing hasn’t been widespread. Fr. Crisafulli said, “There are only two places where tests are possible. When people die here it could also be the result of poverty or any number of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS. Without testing, we don’t know for sure.”

As a preventive measure, the country’s airport has been closed to international flights, and land borders have also been closed. Public religious celebrations and meetings with more than 100 people are prohibited, and schools will be closed this week. However, everyone knows that as soon as there is a positive case, quarantine and curfew will be mandatory.

Salesian missionaries ensure that they are prepared for the worst. Fr. Crisafulli added, “If or when an emergency is declared, given that the school will be closed, we will transform it into a care and reception center for 400 street children, obviously with all the necessary precautions toward everyone. We are already in the process of launching an awareness campaign and preparing for the emergency.”

Prevention protocols in the African country were put in place a long time ago. However, there are two needs that concern the Salesians at the moment—having enough food to feed the children during quarantine and having enough cleaning supplies and medicines to deal with the crisis. Salesian missionaries are working within their networks to help prepare as best as possible should the country be quarantined. Their focus is on minors who live, work and sleep on the streets of Freetown. The aim is to accommodate and feed them, as well as provide prevention information, health care, educational and recreational activities.

The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population in Sierra Leone lives under the national poverty line of approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin and persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – “Don Bosco Fambul” draws on experience during Ebola to face coronavirus

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

UN World Food Program – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul draws on experience during Ebola to face coronavirus first appeared on MissionNewswire.

SIERRA LEONE

(MissionNewswire) Filmmakers Raúl de la Fuente and Amaia Remírez recently debuted their film “Hell” at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in Spain. The film, which is produced by Kanaki Films, tells the story of Chennu, a street child from Freetown, Sierra Leone. At the age of 15, he entered the adult Pademba Road Prison in the country’s capital. The film shares Chennu’s journey and how he changed his life.

“We wanted to share the stories of those people who are dying forgotten in prison in inhuman conditions,” explains Remírez. “Chennu is a very powerful character. After spending four years in prison, he manages to change his life and is now dedicated to helping prisoners. It is a complete redemption and a total overcoming of the difficulties experienced in prison.”

The short film was produced thanks to the support of Don Bosco Fambul Center, one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, and Salesian Missions of Madrid. Remírez adds, “With this short film we also wanted to give visibility to the work in the prison that the Salesians are doing, especially with minors and the sick.”

Prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates often die from overcrowding, illness and violence. All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but actually has more than 1,300 inmates. Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to a lack of medical care, contribute to the persistent spread of disease and illness among the inmates which have led to deaths.

Food is scarce in the prison with the only substantial meal of the day consisting of cassava leaves and rice. Water distribution is inconsistent and incarcerated men and boys sometimes do not receive the daily allocation of one-third of a liter of water. Younger, smaller members of the prison’s population suffer the most. Those with money are able to buy additional food and water but most inmates at Pademba are poor or do not receive visits from people who could give them food or money.

Salesian missionaries with Don Bosco Fambul provide food and water for young inmates while also offering counseling services, medical assistance and therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms end. Through their prison program, missionaries reach 250 inmates.

In addition to “Hell”, Kanaki Films has produced other documentaries for Salesian Missions in Spain to give visibility to the work being done in developing countries. The company has produced “Love” focused on work for young women who have been victims of human trafficking and sexual abuse in Sierra Leone and “30,000” set in the Ivory Coast. Upcoming, the company will release “Palabek. Refuge of Hope” focused on work with refugees in Uganda.

The national premiere of “Hell” will take place at the end of October at the Seminci Valladolid International Film Festival in the competitive short films section “Story Time.”

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – “Hell” by Chennu, in Freetown prison, in 22 minutes of film

SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missionaries Provide Critical Services to Meet the Needs of Young Inmates at Pademba Road Prison

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Filmmakers Raúl de la Fuente and Amaia Remírez debut film “Hell” focused on one youth’s story of redemption in Pademba Road Prison first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“We are appreciative of the funding which is allowing Salesian missionaries in Freetown to improve the lives of vulnerable youth,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “These supports decrease the risks for vulnerable youth who might otherwise lead dangerous lives on the streets. This project provides a unique space for youth who lack connection to adults, academic assistance and access to safe places for play.”

As part of this project, Salesian missionaries held a “Youth for Life” workshop in May that discussed issues affecting girls and helped participants develop relationships and trust. It was so successful that the workshops will be expanded to other schools in Freetown.

Additional activities hosted by the Don Bosco Youth Center include table tennis, educational films, brass band, keyboard and singing instruction, spelling and quiz competitions and storytelling events. The Youth Center also organizes sports programming six days a week with soccer and basketball training, friendly matches in Lungi and Freetown and league competitions.

Salesian missionaries are planning a number of activities to focus on prevention for at-risk youth. These include three workshops focused on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, environmental conservation and positive attitudes with good manners. Salesian missionaries also plan to establish two programs celebrating Day of the African Child and Christmas. Food, music and small party favors will be distributed to young attendees during the festivities.

In addition, Salesian missionaries are planning a summer camp in August that will directly benefit 250-300 children. Indoor table games will be purchased in the next few months that will be incorporated into the summer camp. During camp, educational, spiritual, musical, arts, sports and pastoral activities will be carried out. Salesian missionaries will also construct a basketball court to minimize travel costs and increase on-site youth recreation.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization, Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in the country’s capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Food security in Sierra Leone is undermined by chronic poverty. The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population lives under the national poverty line of earning approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people, especially, face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. And persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Vulnerable youth have access to supportive programming at Don Bosco Youth Center Dwarzak Project thanks to funding secured by Salesian Missions first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Located in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, Don Bosco Fambul is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and has been on the forefront of efforts to help rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families. The organization is directed by Salesian Father Jorge Mario Crisafulli and has a staff of 120 including Salesian social workers who go out to the streets, slums and marketplaces to engage with vulnerable youth and encourage them to join Don Bosco Fambul’s successful program.

Many of the youth who are contacted during this time fill out the required questionnaire and those most at-risk are admitted into the program. Salesian missionaries seek out youth who have few other options and are most in need. This includes orphans, victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse and those who have spent longer on the street or who are sick and weak. After evaluation, participants are assigned to appropriate educational levels, are given thorough medical exams, necessary treatment and housing. Participants also engage in listening sessions and counseling, group discussions, prayer, talks, sports and recreation, all of which are a part of the rehabilitation process.

The success of Don Bosco Fambul’s street children rehabilitation program is credited to its holistic approach which focuses on meeting basic needs (food, clothing, a safe place to sleep) in addition to personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care. Rehabilitation is a gradual process that includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. The parents and extended families of participants are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

On reunification day, an agreement is signed between parents and Don Bosco Fambul in order to secure a safe environment for the children to continue along a path of personal growth, including ensuring they will have the food, clothing, shelter and education they need. Social workers continue to visit the children and their families until they finish secondary school.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program helps youth come in off the streets where they face poverty and are at-risk for exploitation, and have a chance at a better life. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population in Sierra Leone lives under the national poverty line of approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin and persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Street children of Don Bosco Fambul reintegrating into their families

World Food Programme – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Youth start reunification process with their families at successful Don Bosco Fambul street children program first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Lungi is a poor community and the demand for nutritional rice-meals is at an all-time high. Most youth participating in activities at the Don Bosco Youth Center are malnourished and underprivileged. The feeding program ensures they have the nutrition needed to improve their concentration at school, participation in sports programming and interaction with peers while at the center.

Youth at the Don Bosco Center receive support that includes nutrition, sanitary items, educational/training materials and medical assistance that’s been made possible with the help of donations through Salesian Missions.

A 15-year-old boy at the center, Joseph Kamara, noted that since receiving the rice-meals he has been able to spend more time with his friends instead of working to pay for something to eat. He notes, “The feeding program at the Don Bosco Center every Saturday is helping us greatly. We used to go and work for farmers so that we can get something to eat. However, when we started receiving the food, we would no longer have to do odd jobs for people on Saturdays. The food gave us the opportunity to be together not only to share the meal but also to have a football team in our vicinity. The rice is helping us to develop our skills in football and to bring us together as a team.”

As Kamara indicated, the Don Bosco Center places an emphasis on socio-sports activities as a way for youth to connect with their peers and develop skills. The center offers structured training and learning programs in basketball and football as well as hosts various competitions. In 2018, there was tremendous growth in participation and results.

Last year, 125 young people (80 boys and 45 girls) received football training twice a week and 10 boys and 15 girls were trained in basketball twice a week. There were four friendly matches and three trophy competitions.

The Don Bosco center also provides additional academic and financial support. During 2018, 150 students received remedial classes in five subjects, 10 students received scholarship support and 150 students had access to free educational materials. In addition, three seminars were organized with close to 150 participants at each.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization, Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in the country’s capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Food security in Sierra Leone is undermined by chronic poverty. The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population lives under the national poverty line of earning approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people, especially, face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. And persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

Don Bosco Youth Network West Africa Annual Report 2018

SIERRA LEONE: Children at Don Bosco Youth Center have access to better nutrition thanks to Feed My Starving Children rice meal shipment

Salesian Missions

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Youth attending Don Bosco Center Lungi have the nutritional and social support to engage in studies and sports programming first appeared on MissionNewswire.

In addition, Preca was given a copy of the documentary, “Love,” and the book, “Girls with No Name,” from Augusta Ngombu-Gboli, a teacher who was once helped by Don Bosco Fambul. Ngombu-Gboli shared her story with President Preca and described how she went from living on the streets and involved in prostitution to becoming a teacher and entrepreneur thanks to Don Bosco Fambul. Ngombu-Gboli shared her dream of opening a restaurant and inviting Preca for lunch. The President was visibly touched and noted that while she has a 27 year-old daughter, she now feels she has found another daughter in Augusta. Preca provided Ngombu-Gboli her personal email and phone number to stay in touch.

The documentary, “Love,” is short film directed by Goya prize winner, Raúl de la Fuente, that tells the stories of many young women like Ngombu-Gboli. It captures the work of Salesian missionaries at Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations located in the capital city of Freetown. A Don Bosco Fambul program is helping hundreds of girls forced into prostitution by poverty or neglect.

Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul, launched the program in September 2016 as part of the organization’s Girls Shelter with the aim to search for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The goal is to offer them shelter, health care, nutrition and education and whenever possible, to reintegrate them back into their families.

Father Crisafulli said, “At Don Bosco Fambul, we are committed to making these girls understand that the situation in which they find themselves is not their fault, and that they can start again, dream of a better future and make their dreams come true because they are unique, wonderful, each a work of art made by God.”

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. The Girls Shelter at Don Bosco Fambul, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access services at the shelter are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ASN – Malta – “Now I have a daughter in Sierra Leone”: touching encounter with President of Malta

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Crux article: In new film, girls rescued from prostitution are ‘heroes of the story’

Catholic News Agency: Film shows Salesians’ work to rescue girls from prostitution in Sierra Leone

View the film on YouTube

The post SIERRA LEONE: Former Salesian student presented the documentary “Love” to President of Malta and told her story of support from Don Bosco Fambul first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers. Today, Don Bosco Fambul has become one of the Sierra Leone’s leading child welfare organizations and offers food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Don Bosco Fambul has a 120-person staff that includes mostly social workers who reach out to thousands of street children in the region each year. The organization has implemented several interventions for children who have been abandoned, experienced violence and abuse and/or have found themselves in situations of prostitution.

“Don Bosco Fambul provides services to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region each year,” explains Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Transformation for street youth starts with the Salesian rehabilitation and reunification programs operated at Don Bosco Fambul. From there, youth are able to access other programs including education and technical training enabling them to successfully enter the workforce.”

The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to the organization’s holistic approach focusing on attending to basic needs (food, clothing and a safe place to sleep) as well as personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care. This gradual process includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. Parents and extended families are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

One of Don Bosco Fambul’s most recognized programs is its Girls Shelter. Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation.

The Girls Shelter, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to these crises. In September 2016, Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul, launched a program to help girls caught up in prostitution. The program is run out of Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter with the aim of searching for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The program offers them shelter, healthcare, nutrition, education and wherever possible, reintegrates them back into their families.

The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population in Sierra Leone lives under the national poverty line of approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin and persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Youth of “Don Bosco Fambul” running for Don Bosco

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

UN World Food Program – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul holds marathon in honor of St. John (Don) Bosco feast day first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Recently, students attending a Salesian school were invited to write letters to the youth at Don Bosco Fambul. Conteh is one of the staff that will ensure the children receive the letters. He has become like a father to the 50 children who enter Don Bosco Fambul’s Child Care Center every nine months to receive help or be reunited with their families.

As it is for many boys in Africa, Conteh’s family was very poor. He says, “There was not enough money at home to support us all, because we were many.” While suffering from poverty, his friends convinced him he would be better off without his parents. He took their advice and ran away.

Once he was already living on the street, Conteh realized that life was not as good as he expected. He says, “Every day we had to fight to survive.” Conteh and his friends would eke out an existence by getting a few small jobs, begging or stealing. They risked violence, disease and being sent to prison with adult felons.

“One day a person came from Don Bosco Fambul. He asked me if I wanted to stay on the street or go home. I didn’t know who to trust because people from many organizations came to talk to us, but in the end, they would only take a few pictures and then they left,” explains Conteh.

Salesian missionaries visited him twice more and it was then he decided to visit Don Bosco Fambul. When he saw the center, he decided to stay. Conteh says. There were 72 other boys with him at the center at the time.

“We spent ten months there and then we were asked if we wanted to continue studying at school or go to vocational training,” says Conteh. “Whatever we chose, they would help us for another two years so I opted for vocational training. I studied for 18 months at the end of which they gave me the tools necessary to start working. I graduated on June 22, 2002.”

Conteh adds, “I had a dream of helping other street children to have a better future. Living in this country is not easy. But I tell you that being here is a great opportunity and that we need to work together to become free citizens, responsible and friends of God. Every day I pray for them.”

Don Bosco Fambul, which has a 120-person staff that includes mostly social workers, reaches out to thousands of street children in the region each year. The organization has implemented several interventions for children who have been abandoned, experienced violence and abuse and/or have found themselves in situations of prostitution.

The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population in Sierra Leone lives under the national poverty line of approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin and persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Joe will distribute your letters to street children

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

UN World Food Program – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: After gaining an education with the support of Don Bosco Fambul graduate goes on to help other street children first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Following the incident, Salesian missionaries immediately began planning how to rebuild. Letters were sent to companies, banks, individuals and other agencies to ask for help with the immediate reconstruction. Many people responded to the call and day by day missionaries received donations either in cash or as in-kind supplies, all geared towards the construction of the shelter. Don Bosco Mondo in Bonn, Germany offered to cover the remaining balance needed to finish the project.

An official ceremony was held for the reopening of the shelter with speakers commending the good work of Don Bosco Fambul in the country. Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul, expressed his thanks and appreciation for all the donors and their contributions towards the reconstruction and prayed that God would bless them to continue to help the most vulnerable children in society.

Father Crisafulli also thanked Emma Fofanah whom he called a “human angel” for her support and help ensuring the shelter would become what it is now. Nicky Spencer Coker expressed her thanks and appreciation to Don Bosco Fambul on behalf of Power Women 232, an organization in Freetown that aims to create an ecosystem of professional and entrepreneurial women. She noted how happy she was to see how far the shelter has come since she participated in its initial launch more than five years ago. Coker donated toiletries to the girls and promised to always support the shelter.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday.

The Girls Shelter is one of the nine programs run by Don Bosco Fambul. The program welcomes, houses and provides security and education to minors who have been abused in their families. It also helps support victims in legal proceedings against abusers.

At the shelter, Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers come together to provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women. Those that access the shelter’s services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Girls return to their refurbished building after fire outbreak destroyed their home

SIERRA LEONE: Fire destroys Don Bosco Fambul house that shelters and provides programs for 34 child abuse victims

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Girls Shelter rebuilds after fire destroyed house that provides shelter and programs to child abuse victims first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates often die from overcrowding, illness and violence. All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but actually has more than 1,300 inmates. This is still the case in 2018. Overcrowding and a lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to a lack of medical care, contribute to the persistent spread of disease and illness among the inmates which has led to deaths.

Food is scarce in the prison with the only substantial meal of the day consisting of cassava leaves and rice. Water distribution is inconsistent and incarcerated men and boys sometimes do not receive the daily allocation of one-third of a liter of water. Younger, smaller members of the prison’s population suffer the most. Those with money are able to buy additional food and water but most inmates at Pademba are poor or do not receive visits from people who could give them food or money.

Salesian missionaries provide food and water for young inmates while also offering counseling services, medical assistance and therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms end. Through their prison program, missionaries reach 250 inmates.

“Youth incarcerated in Sierra Leone must find hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our goal is for youth to use their time in prison constructively and through counseling, begin to address what brought them to the prison in order to prevent their return.”

Salesian missionaries also provide legal services to youth who have committed minor offenses or have been unlawfully imprisoned in Pademba. The goal is to seek their immediate release and/or a referral to a remand home or to an approved school.

In collaboration with Catholic Caritas and Sierra Leone Prisons Service, Salesian missionaries launched the Legal Support Project in 2014 to provide the most disadvantaged inmates critical legal representation to ensure their rights are upheld. Many of the prisoners assisted through the project do not have family outside of the prison who will make sure that the court and prison system acts in a fair and balanced way. This project gives inmates fair representation as they work for their release.

One of the prison’s challenges is its disorganized and difficult to access records for the approximately 1,300 prisoners. Many of the incarcerated men and boys have similar first and last names and prison officers are often careless or negligent when creating or using the documents. The haphazard record keeping and administration result in many of those incarcerated waiting months or years before going to trial. Some have spent months and even years in the prison without having received a formal sentence.

Don Bosco Fambul’s intervention on behalf of 79 inmates who had never received a formal indictment, resulted in official indictments and release for those who had been in prison for longer than their sentence. Projects are bringing justice and hope to suffering inmates, providing opportunities for them to reintegrate into society and to become more engaged and successful citizens. In addition, Don Bosco Fambul has been instrumental in the release of more than 150 wrongfully accused inmates over the past two years and the payment of fines for the release of 35 young inmates in 2017.

After a prisoner’s release, Don Bosco Fambul continues its support by providing basic necessities and assisting with reintegration into the community. The organization has assisted 225 individuals with extra food, mental health treatment, hygiene kits and medical and dental attention, including surgical procedures.

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Sources:

SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missionaries Provide Critical Services to Meet the Needs of Young Inmates at Pademba Road Prison

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul provides critical support and intervention services for inmates at Pademba Road Prison first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Don Bosco Fambul, which has a 120-person staff that includes mostly social workers, reaches out to thousands of street children in the region each year. The organization has implemented several interventions for children who have been abandoned, experienced violence and abuse and/or have found themselves in situations of prostitution.

A Child Hotline offers around-the-clock counseling and is staffed by social workers along with other trained professionals, offering hope and services for children who are living on the streets. The hotline was invaluable during the Ebola epidemic as it provided vital prevention information. Staff working for the Child Hotline field close to 700 calls each week from children in crisis situations asking for advice and support. Roughly 100 to 120 of the calls require immediate attention and follow-up.

Once staff have engaged young clients, there are a number of programs they can access including Salesian rehabilitation and reunification programs. Using a holistic approach, the Salesian programs focus on meeting the basic needs of each child as well as offering personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care.

One of Don Bosco Fambul’s most recognized programs is its Girls Shelter. Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation.

The Girls Shelter, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to these crises. In September 2016, Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul, launched a program to help girls caught up in prostitution. The program is run out of Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter with the aim of searching for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The program offers them shelter, healthcare, nutrition, education and wherever possible, reintegrates them back into their families.

In total, Don Bosco Fambul rescues 500 girls from the streets every year to reunite them with families and reintegrate them into society. The Girls Shelters has supported more than 330 girls over the last year, 196 of whom were rescued from situations of prostitution.

Don Bosco Fambul has also initiated a new Don Bosco on Wheels program which consists of a bus staffed with professionals providing medical, food and psychosocial assistance traveling around Freetown seeking to assist children in need. This program has reunited 220 boys with their families while also initiating supportive relationships for those who are unable to rely on their families. These interventions illustrate Don Bosco Fambul’s goal to provide guidance, hope and resources to help children succeed and positively influence their communities.

The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population in Sierra Leone lives under the national poverty line of approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin and persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Girls Shelter gives girls caught in prostitution a chance for a better life

SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul helps youth living on the street access shelter, nutrition and education

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

UN World Food Program – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul offers life-changing social services and support for poor and at-risk youth first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Lungi is a poor community and the demand for nutritional rice meals is at an all-time high. Most youth attending activities at the Don Bosco Youth Center are malnourished and underprivileged. The feeding program ensures they have the proper nutrition to improve their concentration at school, participation in sports programming and interaction with peers while at the center.

Emma Kamara is a 34-year old single mother of five children. She has struggled to provide for her family especially during this time of government transition and rising prices. She says, “The rice has been a blessing in keeping me and my family alive. Before receiving the rice, I could only afford to feed my children late in the evening which means that they would go to school hungry thereby making it difficult for them to concentrate and participate fully in classes. However, with the provision of the rice which I receive through the Salesian of Don Bosco, I am able to feed my children in the morning before going to school and hopefully they will acquire the adequate knowledge which will enable them to care for me when I am old and their younger brothers and sisters.”

Another recipient, Joseph Kamara is a 15-year old student. Since receiving the rice-meals he has been able to spend more time with his friends instead of working to pay for something to eat. He notes, “The feeding program at the Don Bosco Center every Saturday is helping us greatly. We used to go and work for farmers so that we can get something to eat. However, when we started receiving the food, we would no longer have to do odd jobs for people on Saturdays.  The food gave us the opportunity to be together not only to share the meal but also to have a football team in our vicinity. The rice is helping us to develop our skills in football and to bring us together as a team.”

The ongoing partnership between Salesian Missions and Feed My Starving Children has resulted in 40-foot containers of fortified rice-meals being shipped to Salesian sites around the globe. Feed My Starving Children provides the food and Salesian Missions takes care of the cost and logistics of shipping each container from Feed My Starving Children warehouses to the destination country. Salesian Missions also works to help identify where the greatest needs are at any given time. The partnership began in early 2006 when the first 40-foot container was donated to and shipped by Salesian Missions for programs in Sri Lanka.

Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization, Don Bosco Fambul. In the years since, Don Bosco Fambul, located in the country’s capital city of Freetown, has become one of the country’s leading child welfare organizations—offering food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification.

Food security in Sierra Leone is undermined by chronic poverty. The UN World Food Program reports that over half of the population lives under the national poverty line of earning approximately $2 per day. According to the 2016 Global Hunger Index, Sierra Leone also faces an alarming level of hunger with nearly 38 percent of children younger than 5 years of age suffering from chronic malnutrition.

Young people, especially, face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. And persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

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Sources:

Feed My Starving Children

Salesian Missions

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Children at Don Bosco Youth Center have access to better nutrition thanks to Feed My Starving Children rice meal shipment first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Betty is 14 years old and has lived on the streets of Freetown since she was 9 years old. She survived in the only way a young girl on the streets could, by prostituting herself. Betty has been abused and discarded by most of society. Because of her rough and challenging start in life, she harbors an immense amount of anger and frustration. Her life started to turn around after she met social workers with Don Bosco Fambul, but it has been a long, slow process of recovery.

At the Don Bosco Fambul reception center, the social workers and other staff found Betty difficult to handle and often clashed in discussions with her. From time to time, she would run away, but then would return to the director’s office feeling guilty for her outbursts. Betty speaks of her pains and her internal struggles with Fr. Crisafulli who has deep and infinite compassion for her and her continuous emotional pain.

After her last outburst at the center, she wrote a note to him to express how sorry she was and how much she cares for him and asked for his forgiveness.

“How can I not forgive her? What fault does she have if the circumstances of life have dragged her into prostitution? I never stop saying to her that it’s not her fault, that she is beautiful and intelligent, that God loves and cares for her. I encourage her to not stop dreaming,” says Fr. Crisafulli.

At Don Bosco Fambul, Salesian missionaries realize Betty’s need for attention and affection and the importance of her knowing with certainty that she is not judged or discriminated against and loved for who she is. Missionaries have noted that people start to change when they are treated with affection and accepted for who they are.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. The Girls Shelter, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

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Source:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Sierra Leone – Betty, “God loves you and takes care of you”: from the streets of Freetown to the Salesian house

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Girls Shelter gives girls caught in prostitution a chance for a better life first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea were hard hit by the Ebola crisis that started in 2014. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 14,122 total cases of Ebola and 3,955 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. During the Ebola outbreak, Salesian programs, particularly those operated out of Don Bosco Fambul in Freetown, mobilized staff and immediately began providing information about the prevention of Ebola. Salesian missionaries worked with local communities to provide food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing including long-sleeve shirts and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine.

Sierra Leone is also still recovering from a brutal 10-year civil war. More than 500,000 people were displaced and more than 60,000 children were orphaned and left homeless. Girls and young women are especially vulnerable in Sierra Leone. Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s civil war, according to aid agencies.

Salesian missionaries have been living in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers. Young people in particular face significant challenges in accessing education in the country. There are too few teachers and many school buildings were destroyed in the war. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s youth are un- or under-employed.

In recent years, Salesian missionaries in Sierra Leone have not only been reaching out to at-risk youth and providing educational opportunities, they have also been responding to local urgent needs. The school band is an opportunity to provide youth an educational and social outlet. In Angola, Salesian missionaries have already launched a school band that is highly successful. The Don Bosco Band, based in Lixeira, one of the poorest areas within the capital city of Luanda, is made up of youth who attend Salesian schools in towns and villages in and around Luanda.

Organized band activities have replaced idle time when students would browse the internet or loiter in markets or on the streets with little to do. The band brings much needed structure to the students’ lives as well as teaching valuable concepts like teamwork and collaboration. Participants become an integral part of the band’s larger community and find purpose in working together toward a common goal. The band has more than 95 instruments available. Students are able to choose the instrument they are most interested in and receive lessons, play the instrument in recitals and other events and build relationships with like-minded peers.

Another successful youth band is the Don Bosco Band launched by Salesian missionaries at the Don Bosco Children and Life Mission in Central Uganda. Music lessons began at the school nine years ago when Salesian missionaries introduced a new initiative teaching a small group of students to play the trumpet. Many of the children attending the primary school wanted to learn and enrolled in the program. Soon a small class grew to more than 50 students.

The music program was so successful that the number of musicians and trumpets increased until they were able to form a school band. Initially, the music program was held only on Sundays and lasted two hours. Some of the enrolled children enjoyed the program so much that they started to teach their friends the best way to play the trumpet. By the end of the school year, so many students were learning that they were able to take part in a concert alongside older and more experienced students.

“The Don Bosco Children and Life Mission and all Salesian programs are constantly looking to improve themselves to offer students more diverse programming to help them discover and expand their talents,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “We appreciate our donors who have helped ensure students in Sierra Leone have these opportunities.”

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Sources:

ANGOLA: Salesian Programs Offer Education and Don Bosco Band to Provide Hope to Poor Youth

UGANDA: Band Helps At-Risk Discover, Expand Talents

Salesian Missions Projects

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missions donors provide funding for musical instruments for new school band first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesian focus on these at-risk youth was recently presented in the documentary, “Love.” This new short film was directed by Goya prize winner, Raúl de la Fuente, and captures the work of Salesian missionaries at Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations located in Freetown. Don Bosco Fambul is helping hundreds of girls forced into prostitution by poverty or neglect.

Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of the center, launched this program in September 2016 as part of Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter, with the aim to search for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The goal is to offer them shelter, health, nutrition, education and whenever possible, to reintegrate them into their families.

There are only four Salesian missionaries working each day in the poor quarters of Freetown. They are assisted by 110 staff members and three volunteers and are supported by a psychologist and counselors at significant cost. Funding for the program comes from missionary aid societies, especially Salesian Missions in Madrid, Spain. The program must also rely on donations.

Father Crisafulli created the new documentary to highlight the work of Don Bosco Fambul but also to show its impact and the critical need for funding. During a planned trip to showcase the film, Fr. Crisafulli and his team are hoping to persuade the European Union and the United Nations to support the initiative. In the short term, they hope to employ doctors and gynecologists to be on site to provide medical attention.

This latest event in New York, sponsored by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and more than a dozen countries, was attended by representatives from more than 15 countries and delegations of the UN Council. The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, went specifically to New York to attend the event. In her speech, she thanked Salesian missionaries at Don Bosco Fambul for their work and assured them that the issue will become one of her concerns. She also noted that she will do all she can to make sure the newly elected government in Sierra Leone will also focus on the issue.

Father Crisafulli spoke at the event about prevention and the unconditional love for the girls. He said, “At Don Bosco Fambul, we are committed to making these girls understand that the situation in which they find themselves is not their fault, and that they can start again, dream of a better future and make their dreams come true because they are unique, wonderful, each a work of art made by God.”

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. The Girls Shelter at Don Bosco Fambul, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access services at the shelter are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – UN – “Girls with no name”: United Nations applaud Salesian work in favor of girls

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

View the film on YouTube

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian organizations hold event at United Nations in New York to give visibility to girls at risk of prostitution first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“When the fire happened, the girls ran away, but they were not able to save anything. Everything in the house was lost including mattresses, clothes, kitchen items, computers, documents, television and other items,” says Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul. “The most important thing is that the girls are safe, and we will go on as always. I think it was a miracle of Mary Help of Christians that the girl that was injured was saved. We will again need the help of everyone to give them back a home.”

Responding to the girls’ needs, Don Bosco Fambul has begun transforming its courtyards into a large multipurpose hall, while several rooms of the center have been prepared to accommodate mattresses for the girls to sleep. Fr. Crisafulli adds, “At the beginning it will be difficult, but these girls will not lack for anything, thanks to the solidarity of all.”

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday.

The Girls Shelter is one of the nine programs run by Don Bosco Fambul. The program welcomes, houses and provides security and education to minors who have been abused in their families. It also helps support the victims in legal proceedings against abusers.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers come together to provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

With the participation and collaboration of the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid and the Spanish Salesian organization Jóvenes y Desarrollo, the Girls Shelter works to reintegrate these children and young girls into a family-like environment.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Fire destroys house of Don Bosco Fambul program hosting 34 child victims of abuse

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

ANS photo

The post SIERRA LEONE: Fire destroys Don Bosco Fambul house that shelters and provides programs for 34 child abuse victims first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of the center, began this work as part of Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter in September 2016, when he launched the program aimed at searching for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The goal is to offer them shelter, health, nutrition, education and wherever possible, reintegrate them into their families.

“We realized immediately when we contacted them, that they are children,” he told journalists at a press event in Rome. “They feel like children, think like children, behave like children, and so the streets and prostitution are definitely not for them.”

Fr. Crisafulli described them as “the most vulnerable among the vulnerable.” Soon after working with these young girls, he learned that they were in need of not just economic help, but also medical and psychological attention. Fr. Crisafulli noted that nearly 100 percent of the girls carry STDs and some even have the HIV virus or Hepatitis B.

“No one is lost forever,” he says in the film. “While there’s life and the capacity to dream, there’s always an opportunity to get ahead… These girls have a real kindness in their hearts. They want to help their families, they don’t think about themselves. These girls are the real heroines of this story.”

Aminata was the first girl that Fr. Crisafulli met when he started the program, but she has yet to fully engage and come in off the streets. But Fr. Crisafulli hasn’t given up. He still invites Aminata to attend programs, access shelter when she needs it and receive a hot meal. Many girls have come and gone from the program with much success. Augusta worked as a prostitute to be able to have enough food to eat, but because of Don Bosco Fambul, she now has her own catering business and strives to help other girls make better choices like she did.

A Crux article about the program noted that there are only four Salesian missionaries working each day in the poor quarters of town. They are assisted by 110 staff members and three volunteers. They are also supported by a psychologist and counselors, but the cost is significant. Funding for the programs comes from missionary aid societies, especially Salesian Missions in Madrid, Spain. They also must rely on donations.

Fr. Crisafulli created the new film to highlight the work of Don Bosco Fambul but also to show the impact and why funding is so critical. During a trip showcasing the film, Fr. Crisafulli and his team are hoping to persuade the European Union and the United Nations to support the initiative. In the short term, they hope to employ doctors and gynecologists to be on site to provide medical attention, according to the Crux article.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. The Girls Shelter, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

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Sources:

Crux – In new film, girls rescued from prostitution are ‘heroes of the story’

SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Launches New Program Helping Young Girls Caught Up in Prostitution

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Photo: Still shot from the film “Love” by Raúl de la Fuente

View the film on YouTube

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While the exact number of victims is unknown, disaster-related deaths are estimated at 500 and more than 600 others are still missing and feared dead. More than 5,000 people were left homeless and hundreds of buildings were damaged or destroyed by the mudslides. The disaster was exacerbated by the city’s poor infrastructure and drainage system. Immediately after the disaster occurred, the government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Office of National Security, contacted Don Bosco Fambul asking Salesian missionaries to care for women and children who were victims of the flooding.

Don Bosco Fambul was turned into an improvised shelter. Many of those who came to Don Bosco Fambul had been injured during the catastrophe and were given continuous medical assistance. More than 230 victims of the flooding and mudslide took shelter at the Salesian organization.

Outdoor tents were built on the Salesian compound to house those displaced. A source of electricity was needed, but buying a rechargeable light became problematic and was a drain on the already overtaxed national electricity grid. It became difficult for children to study during the evening and mothers found it challenging to make supper and care for their children in the dark.

With $4,000 of donor support through Salesian Missions, Don Bosco Fambul was able to provide portable solar lights to 74 families and nine orphans (296 individuals). The solar lights were used in the tents as a permanent electricity source. Students used it around the compound to study and sometimes mothers used it at night to feed their babies and do other domestic work.

“We are grateful for our donor who was able to provide support to Salesian missionaries on the ground in Sierra Leone,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Because Salesian missionaries are living in the communities they serve, they were among the first to respond with shelter, aid and coordination for relief efforts. Now, they will continue to help families rebuild and lives and livelihoods.”

While all of the victims have been reintegrated back into their communities to date, Don Bosco Fambul is continuing to help beneficiaries in a post-emergency intervention. They were able to secure funding from public and private donor organizations and plan to provide continual school support and vocational skills training for women.

Don Bosco Fambul has been operating in Freetown since 2001, when it launched its work with child soldiers. Today, the organization offers food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification. The organization was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. Don Bosco Fambul received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

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Salesian Missions

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missions donor provides funding for solar lights for victims of mudslides first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Each year, International Women’s Day focuses on a theme. This year the theme is “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives.” The United Nations notes that this year’s International Women’s Day comes on the heels of unprecedented global movement for women’s rights, equality and justice. The United Nations highlights the global marches and campaigns, including #MeToo and #TimesUp in the United States and their counterparts in other countries, on issues ranging from sexual harassment and femicide to equal pay and women’s political representation.

This year’s theme echoes the priority theme of the upcoming 62nd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. It aims to draw attention to the rights and activism of rural women, who make up over a quarter of the world population and are being left behind in every measure of development, according to the United Nations.

Salesian missionaries living and working in more than 130 countries around the globe are focused on achieving gender equality through programs targeted specifically for young women and girls. These programs strive to empower young women and girls by providing opportunities for education and training that lead to livable wage employment.

“Salesian missionaries around the globe empower young girls and women through education and social development services to ensure that they have equal access to attend school and gain the skills needed for later employment,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Young women and girls face many disadvantages and barriers to accessing education and achieving financial independence despite their huge potential. Those who are able to access education are more often able to achieve financial independence and make better and healthier choices that affect not only themselves, but their families and communities as well.”

In honor of International Women’s Day, Salesian Missions is proud to share some of its programs around the globe that empower young women and girls.

BURKINA FASO

Thanks to the joint efforts of several Salesian organizations in Spain, a Women’s Promotion Center is taking shape in Kouba, within the capital city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. The center will be operated by the Salesian Daughters of Mary Help of Christians as part of a vast socioeducational project. Work started in December 2017 and should be completed within 10 months.

This is the second construction phase of the large socioeducational, cultural and sporting complex for children and older youth, especially girls, that the Salesian sisters have planned for the next five to 10 years. The complete project will include a nursery school, primary and secondary schools, a shelter for girls with limited resources, an oratory open to the neighborhood with sports facilities and educational workshops of various kinds. The new Women’s Center will offer apprenticeships and foster literacy.

The Women’s Center was developed to address the precarious situation experienced by many women and young girls by providing qualified skills and professional training in sectors such as catering, tailoring, information technology and hairdressing. The project includes courses of literacy, support for work placement, education in values and time management. The main objective of the project is to train girls and women so they can work and earn an income while breaking free from a life of poverty. Read more about this program >

ETHIOPIA

In 2002, in the village of Abobo in western Ethiopia, a group of Italian and Spanish volunteers set up a local health clinic in collaboration with local Salesian missionaries. Today, the Abobo Health Center is the symbol of the community and provides health services for the more than 4,000 local villagers. Having expanded its reach over the years, the health clinic also serves the approximately 20,000 people living in the area and the 200,000 people in the entire region.

Two Spanish physicians, Tere and Maria, are the soul of the health center and aim to provide medical care for those who are affected by malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and various infections common in the region. Thanks to their passion and care, the clinic also has a special focus on maternal and child care, two of the most at-risk populations in the country.

Together they are engaged in providing wellness exams and regular screenings for pregnant women, as well as vaccinations to mothers during pregnancy. Tere and Maria are also focused on preventative care and routinely provide medical care to pregnant women to prevent diseases such as such as anemia, hypertension, malaria and various infections that also cause serious consequences to the newborn child. They provide an average of 40 maternal vaccinations per week and attend to 30 births per month.

For difficult pregnancies and childbirth, Tere and Maria are also well-connected to the larger hospital in the city of Gambella. For women who require more advanced medical care, they will provide ambulance services to transport these women to the hospital. After childbirth, Tere and Maria provide follow-up care to the mothers and newborn exams. Read more about this program >

INDIA

The Don Bosco Development Society held a two-day workshop on the candle making business for women in the Salesian-run Self-Help Group. Forty women from the slums of Mumbai completed the training course, which was also held as a flood relief project supported by Don Bosco Mondo in Germany. This training was held in association with Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education Development.

The participants learned how to make fancy candles in a cost-effective manner. During the workshop, participants were also taught about marketing, costing, budgeting, pricing and promoting their product. The participants were truly dedicated to learning the skills and determined to start a small business. Raw material was also distributed to participants to help them in starting their business. The workshop was designed as a way to reach out to families in Mumbai who had been affected by recent flooding and train them in skills that would help them earn some extra income for their families. Read more about this program >

SIERRA LEONE

Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations located in Freetown, has been helping young women caught up in prostitution come in off the streets. Father Jorge Crisafulli began this work as part of Don Bosco Fambul’s Girls Shelter in September 2016, when he launched the program aimed at searching for girls in their workplaces where they are surrounded by alcohol and drugs and at risk of danger and exploitation. The goal is to offer them shelter, health, nutrition and education, and wherever possible, reintegrate them into their families.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. The Girls Shelter, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment. Read more about this program >

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Sources:

Salesian Missions

UN Women – International Women’s Day

The post INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: Salesian Missions highlights health, education programs that empower girls and young women first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Don Bosco Fambul reaches out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region each year. Transformation for street youth starts with the Salesian rehabilitation and reunification programs operated at Don Bosco Fambul. The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to the organization’s holistic approach focusing on attending to basic needs (food, clothing and a safe place to sleep) as well as personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care of the children. This gradual process includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. Parents and extended families are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

Osman has found great success through Don Bosco Fambul. He did not know how old he was, nor did he remember the last time he had learned something at school. He said he did not have a family. Osman first learned about Don Bosco Fambul while living on the street. He was told that a bus would arrive to take care of children like him, that it would stop at various points in the capital and that he could play there and even get something to eat. But Osman wasn’t convinced.

For a long time, he attended only the Don Bosco Fambul night program. Standing at the door, he talked to the people at the entrance. It was his way of feeling safe. He always asked, “What do I have to do to become one of Fambul?” He saw other street children come to the program and make great changes. Eventually, he wanted to be like them and grew to trust that Salesian missionaries could help him make the changes he desired.

When Osman entered into the program, he played with the other children and was fed meals. He was able to take a shower and was given clean clothes. He also started school. Even if he did not understand everything that was said in the classroom, Osman was learning little by little. Without realizing it, he ended up becoming a big part of the Don Bosco Fambul program, distinguishing himself for the joy and the effort he was putting forth to make changes in his life just like his friends.

Today, Osman is still at Don Bosco Fambul, attending school and wanting to find out more about his family. He says, “If they have not lost the hope of seeing me again, we will be very happy, given the desire I have to find them.”

According to the World Bank, more than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population lives in poverty with many living on less than $1.25 per day. The literacy rate is only 41 percent and 70 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed or underemployed as a result. The country was hard hit by the Ebola crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 14,124 total cases of Ebola and 3,956 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. Don Bosco Fambul was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. The organization recently received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

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Sources

ANS – Sierra Leone – Osman, the child who wanted to abandon the streets: “It is Don Bosco who changes lives”

World Bank – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul helps youth living on the street access shelter, nutrition and education first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Across the four countries, Salesian missionaries and support staff operate 30 schools that are educating 8,692 students. Missionaries also operate six scholarship programs to help poor youth and their families pay for school tuition fees along with school supplies and other necessities. The schools and programs that Salesian missionaries operate ensure that youth have access to the education they need to succeed in life, as well have their basic needs like shelter, nutrition and medical care met so they can focus on their studies.

The Salesian Province was also widely affected by the catastrophic Ebola epidemic that the World Health Organization (WHO) reports killed more than 11,300 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016. Ebola greatly impacted Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Salesian programs in those countries were on the front lines of prevention, providing educational materials, soap and hand washing stations, as well as bleach and other cleaning products. Salesian centers also immediately began working with orphans whose parents and sometimes entire families died from the disease.

“Salesian missionaries in the West African Province have had many challenges to overcome including the Ebola epidemic and high rates of poverty in those countries, leaving many children and families in need,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “While education is always the primary focus, because Salesian missionaries are living and working in the communities in which they serve, they know the local need first-hand. Salesian centers then are able to customize programs and services to meet specific needs in those communities to have the biggest impact for youth.”

Salesian Missions is pleased to highlight Salesian programs that are positively affecting the lives of poor and at-risk youth in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

GHANA

Youth in Ghana have been positively affected by the Salesian-led Stop Human Trafficking campaign that was launched in October 2015 by Salesian missionaries in Italy. The campaign raises awareness of the dangers of youth migration. With a focus on youth leaving countries in Africa in search of a better life in Europe, the campaign aims to prevent young migrants from becoming victims of crime and exploitation. The campaign is part of an initiative promoted by the Salesian-run International Voluntary Service for Development and the Don Bosco Mission Association in Turin, Italy.

The campaign provides analysis and research on the real reasons for migration, informs potential youth migrants about the risks of the journey and the real chances of success, and gives individual guidance to those who want to leave. In doing so, the campaign is working to deter young people from leaving countries where people are most at risk of human trafficking such as Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Senegal. In collaboration with Salesian missionaries in Africa, the campaign will also raise funds to help with program development in targeted countries in Africa.

Ghana’s rural Brong Ahafo region is one of the areas most affected by youth migration. Through the Stop Human Trafficking program, Salesian missionaries are putting a program in place to offer youth the opportunity to remain in the region and earn a living through sustainable agricultural projects. Salesian missionaries are working with local people to help launch the project.

LIBERIA

The Don Bosco Youth Center provides a foundation of education and support for young students who would otherwise have limited opportunities to better their lives. After school, from 4 to 6 p.m., students have access to the Don Bosco Youth Center. Located in the capital city of Monrovia, the center gives former child soldiers and other young people the opportunity to experience some of the joys of childhood.

Youth can participate in recreational activities and sports. They receive recreation counseling each day in activities from chess to soccer. Some participate in a cultural troupe where they sing, dance, act, practice African acrobatics and even perform at local functions. But it’s more than just play and recreation at the youth center. In addition, youth have access to vocational training and academic courses. The center also offers a women’s development program for women to learn self-reliance.

NIGERIA

Salesian missionaries are setting up schools, boarding homes and running water for poor youth in the area of Koko within Kontagora, a major town on the south bank of the Kontagora River in northwestern Nigeria. The area lacks educational opportunities for children and older youth.

The area, like many in Nigeria, faces several challenges. Koko has many street children age 7 to 15 years of age who beg in the streets. Practically all of them have been abandoned and exposed to terrorists groups like Boko Haram. Without an education and supervision from adults they can be easily manipulated and exploited.

Recognizing that for youth to make the most of their educational opportunities, they must have their basic needs of shelter, food and clothing met, Salesian missionaries are establishing boarding houses so the youth will have a safe place to live, learn and spend time with their peers. Salesian missionaries are also digging wells that will supply the boarding houses and schools with fresh water for drinking, bathing, washing clothes and proper sanitation.

SIERRA LEONE

Don Bosco Fambul reaches out to an estimated 2,500 street children in Freetown and surrounding communities each year. Transformation for street youth starts with the Salesian rehabilitation and reunification programs. The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to the organization’s holistic approach focusing on attending to basic needs (food, clothing and a safe place to sleep) as well as personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care of the children. This gradual process includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. Their parents and extended families are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

Don Bosco Fambul also operates the Child Hotline 116, which is an around-the-clock counseling hotline staffed by social workers—along with other trained professionals—offering hope and services for children who are living on the streets. The hotline was invaluable during the Ebola epidemic, providing prevention information.

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Sources:

Salesians of Don Bosco West Africa Province 2016 Annual Report

The post WEST AFRICA: Salesian missionaries are bringing hope to 29,000 youth across Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Washington Post and other sources on the ground report that upwards of 500 people have died and more than 600 are still missing. More than 3,000 people have been impacted by the flooding with homes washed away and many losing everything. Because Salesian missionaries are living in the communities they serve, they were among the first to respond with shelter, aid and coordination for relief efforts going forward.

“The situation was total chaos as Sierra Leone is not ready for these emergencies and the government is overwhelmed. There are just a handful of machines to remove the earth and mud so rescue work is done by hand,” says Father Jorge Crisafulli, director of Don Bosco Fambul.

“As each day passes, we gain a clearer perspective on what is required, but even now it is clear that there is a need for medication, clothing and food. These are the basic necessities for the care of the children in this first phase of the emergency.”

Don Bosco Fambul has already started to care for children who have lost their families. Right now, the Salesian organization has 260 children in its care who have either lost their families or who have been separated from them and unable to reach them. Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesian of Don Bosco, has sent emergency food aid from Feed My Starving Children to help address the need for food for additional children at the organization.

Salesian missionaries are also helping other survivors of the flooding. Women and other youth have accessed the program. Don Bosco Fambul will be accommodating 81 mothers with their children who have lost their homes due to the flooding. The government has asked Don Bosco Fambul to accommodate the displaced for two months to allow them to find a permanent solution for the homeless. Salesian missionaries are also helping those who have been injured because of the flooding. One boy who is being cared for by Don Bosco Fambul was so severely injured he had to have his foot amputated.

Fr. Crisafulli notes that the organization will continue to assess the ongoing situation and determine what relief efforts will be needed in the upcoming weeks and months to help orphaned children and families recover and rebuild from these devastating floods.

Don Bosco Fambul has been operating in Freetown since 2001, when it launched its work with child soldiers. Today, the organization offers food, clothing, crisis intervention services, shelter, educational opportunities, long-term counseling and family reunification. The organization was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. Don Bosco Fambul received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions

ANS – Sierra Leone – “We have started receiving survivors”: an endless story of death and suffering

ANS – Sierra Leone – Rain, flood, dead, missing: Don Bosco Fambul will host needy children

Washington Post – Hospital officials: Nearly 500 dead in Sierra Leone mudslides

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Provides Aid Following Flood, Mudslides; Salesian Missions Sends Emergency Food Aid first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Aminata was the first girl that Fr. Crisafulli met when he started the program but she has yet to fully engage and come in off the streets. But Fr. Crisafulli hasn’t given up. He still invites Aminata to attend programs, access shelter when she needs it and receive a hot meal. Many girls have come and gone from the program with much success. Augusta worked as a prostitute to be able to have enough food to eat, but because of Don Bosco Fambul, she now has her own catering business and strives to help other girls make better choices like she did.

Aminata, whose grandmother and mother were both prostitutes, is grateful for the work of Don Bosco Fambul but finds it challenging to give up the life and freedom of the streets. She knows how dangerous it is and how little money she makes, earning only two euro with each encounter. Aminata also knows she is at risk of gangs and violence, including the Chinese mafia who has lured girls on their boats. She speaks all too naturally of how police officers sweep girls off the streets, keep them in the police station and ask to have sex in order to be freed. Yet, Aminata continues to go back to the streets because she cannot convince herself that there may be a better life. In the group that started at Don Bosco Fambul together, she is the only one to resist abandoning prostitution and start a new life.

“It’s a challenge for us to get her to leave the street. I think we are closer to that goal each time. It challenges her to assimilate into the program’s rules and timetables because she has grown up in the freedom of the streets,” explains Fr. Crisafulli.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthday. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. The Girls Shelter, which has been in operation for five years, was developed in response to this crisis.

Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

Those who would like to learn more or give to causes like this should go to SalesianMissions.org.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions – Hope and Refuge for At-Risk Girls in Sierra Leone

ANS – Sierra Leone – Aminata and Augusta: night and day, fear and hope, prostitution and a new life.

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Launches New Program Helping Young Girls Caught Up in Prostitution first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“Don Bosco Fambul offers tailored programs to best meet the needs of youth in our care and decrease the risk for youth who are living on the streets with nowhere else to turn,” says Brother Lothar Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul. “Once in our programs, Salesian missionaries are able to help these children by providing critical social and educational services, reunifying them with their families when appropriate or connecting them with shelters and more long-term care, if needed.”

Don Bosco Fambul reaches out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region each year. Transformation for street youth starts with the Salesian rehabilitation and reunification programs operated at Don Bosco Fambul. The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to the organization’s holistic approach focusing on attending to basic needs (food, clothing and a safe place to sleep) as well as personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care of the children. This gradual process includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. Their parents and extended families are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

On reunification day, an agreement is signed between parents and Don Bosco Fambul in order to secure a safe environment for the child to continue his personal growth, including ensuring he will have the food, clothing, shelter and education he needs. Social workers continue to visit youth and their families until they finish secondary school.

Along with these services, Don Bosco Fambul offers tailored and targeted programs to address the needs of poor and at-risk youth in Sierra Leone.

CHILD HOTLINE 116

Don Bosco Fambul operates the Child Hotline 116, which is an around-the-clock counseling hotline staffed by social workers—along with other trained professionals—offering hope and services for children who are living on the streets. The hotline was invaluable during the Ebola epidemic, providing prevention information.

MOBILE OUTREACH

Salesian staff at Don Bosco Fambul makes it a point to go out into the community to do specific outreach for street children. Thanks to a bus donation, missionaries launched the project “Mobile unit for the protection of children at risk on the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone” funded by the Extremadura Agency for International Cooperation for Development. Often youth living in rural areas of Sierra Leone leave their village communities in search of a better life in Freetown, only to find once they are there that there is little opportunity available to them. Some minors end up working as domestic servants while others are forced by their parents into prostitution or sold in markets to help the family financially. Other children have been orphaned as a result of the Ebola epidemic.

The result is that there are thousands of children living on the streets of Freetown, suffering from malnutrition, diseases, abuse, labor exploitation and sexual violence. They are denied education and have little hope for the future. The bus travels to the poorest neighborhoods of Freetown and is a point of safety and support for at-risk youth. The bus is staffed with health personnel and social workers who have experience with street children. Children are able to access food, clothes, showers, and medical and basic health care. The bus also provides an opportunity for Salesian staff to provide youth with more information about programming at Don Bosco Fambul to help them come in off the streets, access shelter, and attend school.

GIRLS SHELTER

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthdays. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation. Don Bosco Fambul has been operating the Girls Shelter for the last five years. Salesian missionaries, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

SERVICE TO YOUNG PRISONERS

Salesian missionaries from Don Bosco Fambul have been actively providing services to young prisoners incarcerated at Pademba Road Prison. A long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul was established to allow missionaries to provide a number of services, including the development of a youth counseling center to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release. Salesian missionaries provide food and water for the young inmates while also offering counseling services, medical assistance and therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms have ended. Through their work, missionaries reach 250 inmates with their prison program.

In collaboration with Catholic Caritas and Sierra Leone Prisons Service, Salesian missionaries launched the Legal Support Project in 2014, providing the most disadvantaged inmates critical legal representation to ensure their rights are upheld. Many of the prisoners assisted through the project do not have family outside the prison to ensure that the court and prison system acts in a fair and balanced way. This project helps to ensure they have fair representation as Salesian missionaries work for their release.

Currently in search of funding to help support their work, Salesian missionaries would like to start a formal education program in the prison in addition to skills training to help inmates learn trades in subjects like masonry, plumbing and welding. The goal is to help young inmates who are illiterate or who dropped out of formal schooling gain an education and complete both primary and secondary education. For others, the skills training provides an opportunity to learn a trade for long-term employment upon their release. Those who are released with few skills and no employment prospects are at risk for returning to criminal activity for survival.

EBOLA PREVENTION/ORPHAN CARE

Don Bosco Fambul was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. The organization received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola. During the Ebola outbreak, Don Bosco Fambul mobilized its staff and immediately began providing information about the prevention of Ebola. Salesian missionaries worked with local communities to provide food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing including long-sleeve shirts and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine. In addition, the organization provided 20 mobile hand washing basins fitted with taps and hygiene-related products to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs for use in Freetown.

The organization also began advertising its free child hotline as a preventative defense against Ebola in May 2014, and youth were encouraged to call to access critical information about the virus. More than 25,000 calls about Ebola were answered and fielded. The data gathered as a result of the calls helped the country’s national registration office identify Ebola hot spots and crisis regions.

Don Bosco Fambul, with assistance from the Catholic non-governmental development organization, Manos Unidas of Spain, also transformed a school into a home for 120 boys orphaned by Ebola. This unique care center for orphans on the Don Bosco Fambul campus meets the children’s basic needs while providing schooling and education on health and hygiene. Precautions around health and hygiene, including a focus on preventative measures, are extremely stringent since the orphans have all been in contact with people infected by Ebola.

Youth who do not have extended family to go to are able to stay long-term at Don Bosco Fambul, attend school and participate in activities such as music, dance and organized games. Counseling is also available to help them successfully transition into adulthood.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Provides Life-Changing Programs for At-Risk Youth first appeared on MissionNewswire.

López made the prison visits for a new documentary that will provide insight into the horrible conditions of the prison and highlight the work of Salesian missionaries from Don Bosco Fambul. A long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul was established to allow missionaries to provide a number of services, including the development of a youth counseling center to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release.

According to humanitarian watch groups, prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates often die from overcrowding, illness and violence. Minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but has more than 1,800 inmates, which is still the case in 2017. Overcrowding and lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to lack of medical care, contribute to the spread of persistent disease and illness among the inmates, which has led to deaths.

Food is also scarce in the prison, and the only solid meal of the day consists of cassava leaves and rice. Water distribution is inconsistent, and incarcerated men and boys sometimes do not receive the daily allocation of one-third of a liter of water. Younger, smaller members of the prison’s population suffer the most. Those with money can buy additional food and water, but most men and boys held at Pademba are too poor or do not receive visits from people who could give them money or food.

“Who could have imagined that a Sierra Leone prison did not have security cameras and that in the control area inside the courtyard, between the barracks and the prisoners, the guards after lunch would sleep with their uniform open and that tens of prisoners went naked around the courtyard, washing in buckets of water,” says López. “Prisoners sentenced to death were dressed in black with a large “C” sewn on the uniform. I could never have imagined such as thing but saw it with my own eyes.”

Because prison authorities forbid any media coverage of the appalling conditions at their facility, Lόpez was forced to visit under the guise of an international benefactor in order to avoid the scrutiny that would thwart his desire to tell the inmates’ stories. Later, on his second visit, he assisted a Salesian doctor, Father Jorge Crisafulli, who provides medical treatment and other services to 250 inmates each week.

“With a huge bag, packed with all kinds of medicines, tests and medical instruments, we went into the jail to see everything and undergo another unspeakable experience in which suffering is mixed with resignation and apathy on the part of the detainees and also with gratitude for every gesture of attention,” adds López. “I came away convinced that many of them know that they will die in the most inhumane prison in the world, despite their young age.”

Salesian missionaries provide food and water for the young inmates while also offering counseling services, medical assistance and therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms have ended. The Salesian program also provides legal services to youth who have committed minor offenses or those who have been unlawfully imprisoned in Pademba. The goal is to seek their immediate release and/or referral to a remand home or to an approved school.

In addition, in collaboration with Catholic Caritas and Sierra Leone Prisons Service, Salesian missionaries launched the Legal Support Project in 2014, providing the most disadvantaged inmates critical legal representation to ensure their rights are upheld. Many of the prisoners assisted through the project do not have family outside the prison to ensure that the court and prison system acts in a fair and balanced way.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – “I came away convinced that many of them know that they will die in the most inhumane prison in the world, despite their young age”

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Spanish Journalist Alberto López Working to Create Documentary of Pademba Road Prison in Sierra Leone first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“Girls as young as nine to 17 years old are engaged in prostitution. Some have been forced into the trade by poverty, cliques, mafias or as a result of maltreatment by their relations. The number of street kids is on the increase at an alarming rate,” said Father Jorge Crisafulli, the director of Don Bosco Fambul in a recent article from Awoko.

In 2015, thanks to a bus donation from Stadt Werke Trier in Germany, Don Bosco Fambul staff was able to operate a mobile unit that went out into the streets to assist children in need. During the outbreak of Ebola, the program was stopped to focus on the epidemic and prevention education. Following the outbreak, the bus was no longer operable so the program wasn’t able to get back off the ground. Thankfully, a recent city bus donation from the city of Badajoz, the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the community of Extremadura, Spain, has relaunched the project.

The city bus will be used as a mobile unit that will help thousands of children at risk of exclusion who are living on the streets of the city. The bus has been repainted and renovated. Inside, there’s space for education programs, counseling, and other programs. A generator provides power to PA systems, allows for phones to charge, and music to be playing.

Fr. Crisafulli noted that the bus would be operated by five social workers with six junior staff, a nurse, a driver, and two security personnel. The bus will operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 4:00pm and 10:00pm. He added that Wednesdays are focused on a family day to assess whether street children in the program are able to reintegrate with their families.

The bus will park at strategic points in close vicinity to the slums and places where street children sleep. In addition to social development services, youth will be provided with free HIV/AIDS counseling and testing, a free meal, and free legal services for those children that are in conflict with the law. The overall goal of the mobile outreach is to help reintegration children back with their families, if possible, or to connect them with foster families or alternative residential care for those who have spent a long time on the streets.

According to the World Bank, more than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population live in poverty with many living on less than $1.25 per day. The literacy rate is only 41 percent and 70 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed or underemployed as a result. The country was hard hit by the Ebola crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 14,124 total cases of Ebola and 3,956 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. Don Bosco Fambul was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. The organization recently received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

Sources

Awareness Times – Sierra Leone News : Don Bosco Fambul Launches Mobile Programme

Awoko – Sierra Leone News: Don Bosco calls for action on behalf of street kids

World Bank – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Mobile Outreach Provides Counseling and Medical Care to Street Children in Freetown first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesian Community in Lungi and Bo including St. Teresa’s Primary School Bo City, Saint Augustine’s Primary School, Holy Cross Primary School and Mother Teresa’s preschool shared this donation. The schools offer feeding programs so youth are able to have at least one meal a day and are better able to focus on their studies. The rice-meal donation was also shared with some of the teachers in the schools.

“Many of those participating in Salesian programs in Sierra Leone are malnourished,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “For students, this donated food not only encourages them to attend school, it allows them to focus on getting the education they need without worrying about where their next meal will come from. Children cannot learn on an empty stomach.”

Feed My Starving Children’s Partner Assistance Program has allowed Salesian missionaries to share some of the rice-meals with other local nonprofit organizations. The Widows Welfare Association provided rice-meals to 540 widows—mostly the elderly, those living with HIV/AIDS, Ebola widows and recently widowed women who are finding it difficult to get food daily for their families and especially their children. Most of these widows are living below the poverty line and lack any means of livelihood that will provide them with a regular income in order to support their families.

Veriocia Demby, who lives at New London in the back of St. Augustine’s School Lungi, lost her husband during the Ebola epidemic. He was the bread winner of the family, and now Veriocia has four children to take care of on her own. Two years after her husband’s death, she does not have enough money to pay the school fees for her children or enough food to eat at home. Veriocia became seriously ill and was taken to the hospital where she met Salesian missionaries in Lungi. She was malnourished and could not stand for a very long time. After weeks in the hospital, she was discharged. She explained her story to a Salesian missionary and asked for food aid to help her family. She has been the recipient of a weekly donation of a box of rice-meals to feed her family. Her health and that of her children has improved since the donation.

“Salesian missionaries are an integral part of the existing infrastructure in many countries. Salesian Missions plays an important role in making sure aid from the United States reaches its destination country and gets into the hands of those who need it most,” says Fr. Hyde.

According to the World Bank, more than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population lives in poverty with many living on less than $1.25 per day. The literacy rate is only 41 percent and 70 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed or underemployed as a result. The country was hard hit by the Ebola crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 14,124 total cases of Ebola and 3,956 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. Don Bosco Fambul was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. The organization recently received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

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Sources:

Feed My Starving Children

World Bank – Sierra Leone

Salesian Missions

The post SIERRA LEONE: More Than 900 Youth, Widows Receive Better Nutrition Thanks to Recent Rice-Meal Donation first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The initiative is part of the project “Mobile unit for the protection of children at risk on the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone” funded by the Extremadura Agency for International Cooperation for Development. Often youth living in rural areas of Sierra Leone leave their village communities in search of a better life in Freetown, only to find once they are there that there is little opportunity available to them. Some minors end up working as domestic servants while others are forced by their parents into prostitution or sold in markets to help the family financially. Other children have been orphaned as a result of the Ebola epidemic.

The result is that there are thousands of children living on the streets of Freetown, suffering from malnutrition, diseases, abuse, labor exploitation and sexual violence. They are denied education and have little hope for the future. The bus will travel to the poorest neighborhoods of Freetown to become a point of safety and support for at-risk youth. The bus will be staffed with health personnel and social workers who have experience with street children. Children will also be able to access food, clothes, showers, and medical and basic health care. The bus will also provide an opportunity for Salesian staff to provide youth with more information about programming at Don Bosco Fambul to come in off the streets, access shelter and attend school.

“One of the most important goals of the mobile unit is to make an initial point of contact and provide a safe space for children who are at risk while living on the streets,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian missionaries are then able to help these children by providing critical social and educational services, reunifying them with their families when appropriate or connecting them with shelters and more long-term care, if needed.”

Providing crisis intervention services, long-term counseling, shelter, nutritious food and an education, Don Bosco Fambul reaches out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region each year. The organization also operates the Child Hotline 116, which is an around-the-clock counseling hotline staffed by social workers—along with other trained professionals—offering hope and services for children who are living on the streets. The hotline was invaluable during the Ebola epidemic, providing prevention information.

According to the World Bank, more than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population lives in poverty with many living on less than $1.25 per day. The literacy rate is only 41 percent and 70 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed or underemployed as a result. The country was hard hit by the Ebola crisis. The World Health Organization has reported that there were more than 14,124 total cases of Ebola and 3,956 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. Don Bosco Fambul was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. The organization recently received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

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Sources:

ANS – Spain – A city bus becomes a mobile unit for street children in Sierra Leone

World Bank – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: City of Badajoz in Spain Donates Bus to Help Aid Street Children in Freetown first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Many of the youth who were contacted during this time filled out the required questionnaire and 30 of the most at-risk youth were admitted into the program. Salesian missionaries chose youth who have few other options and are most in need. This includes youth who are orphans, sick, weak, those who had spent longer on the street, and/or victims of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. After evaluation, youth are assigned into the appropriate educational levels, are given thorough medical exams and necessary treatment, and receivee their housing. Youth also engage in listening sessions and counseling, group discussions, prayer, talks, sports and recreation, which are all a part of the rehabilitation process.

The success of the street children rehabilitation program is credited to Don Bosco Fambul’s holistic approach focusing on attending to basic needs (food, clothing, a safe place to sleep) as well as personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care of the children. This gradual process includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. Their parents and extended families are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

On reunification day, an agreement is signed between parents and Don Bosco Fambul in order to secure a safe environment for the child to continue his personal growth, including ensuring the youth will have the food, clothing, shelter and education they need. Social workers continue to visit the youth and their families until they finish secondary school.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program helps youth come in off the streets where they face poverty and are at-risk for exploitation, and have a chance at a better life. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

According to the World Bank, more than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population lives in poverty with many living on less than $1.25 per day. The literacy rate is only 41 percent and 70 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed or underemployed as a result. The country was hard hit by the Ebola crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 14,124 total cases of Ebola and 3,956 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. Don Bosco Fambul was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. The organization recently received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Transformation begins at Don Bosco Fambul

World Bank – Sierra Leone

World Health Organization – Ebola Stats

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Continues Successful Street Youth Rehabilitation Program first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Close to 200,000 young girls and older women were sexually assaulted during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, according to UNICEF. And although the war has stopped, the sexual violence against women continues. Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthdays. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation.

The Girls Shelter was developed in response to this crisis. For Suntia, the shelter has been a refuge and a place to heal from sexual and physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. She notes that the abuse was daily and when she came home in the evening after selling items to earn money for food and rent, if she did not sell enough, her father would be physically and verbally abusive to her. She had no time to rest and no family that could help her.

“I became disgusted, sad and helpless,” says Suntia. “One day when I went out to sell a thought came into my mind that this abuse had to stop. I had no alternative but to report the matter to the Calaba Town Police station. In the police station, they took my statement, and I was referred to Don Bosco Fambul for shelter and protection.”

Suntia came to the Girls Shelter heartbroken and traumatized but while there her life became tranquil. She found the peace of mind she had been missing. She explains that she had time to play and rest and felt protected for the first time in her life. Suntia was able to access medical care and was provided new clothes. She was able to go to counseling with social workers who were supportive and listened to her. In addition, Suntia notes she was also able to take part in recreational and educational outings that provided her new experiences. She was also able to read books from writers that were new to her, which helped her develop intellectually.

Suntia spent more than year at the Girls Shelter. Salesian missionaries attempted reunification with her mother to no avail. Instead, Suntia was fostered with the principal of Saint Joseph Secondary School where she continued her studies. She also enrolled in the Hope+ Program, which provided a scholarship to cover her school fees, as well as uniforms, a bag, exercise books, textbooks, shoes, lunch and transportation on weekly basis.

With the help of staff at Don Bosco Fambul, Suntia was able to take her final examination and graduate from secondary school with excellent grades. She is currently pursuing a social work degree from Fourah Bay College at the University of Sierra Leone.

“My desire is to come back to Don Bosco Fambul for a second time as a role model and social worker in order to save other girls who have experienced violence just like me,” explains Suntia. “Don Bosco Fambul changed my life, helped me to overcome my trauma and above all, gave me an opportunity to study and bring out all my potential. I am thankful, and I hope one day I will become part of the organization to work in their mission.”

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Girls Shelter, the story of Suntia: Don Bosco saved me!

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Girls Shelter Provides Second Chance, Hope for the Future for Suntia first appeared on MissionNewswire.

According to humanitarian watch groups, prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates often die from overcrowding, illness and violence. All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but has more than 1,300 inmates, which is still the case in 2017. Overcrowding and lack of clean water and proper hygiene, in addition to lack of medical care, contribute to the spread of persistent disease and illness among the inmates, which has led to deaths.

Food is also scarce in the prison, and the only solid meal of the day consists of cassava leaves and rice. Water distribution is inconsistent, and incarcerated men and boys sometimes do not receive the daily allocation of one-third of a liter of water. Younger, smaller members of the prison’s population suffer the most. Those with money can buy additional food and water, but most men and boys held at Pademba are too poor or do not receive visits from people who could give them money or food.

Salesian missionaries provide food and water for the young inmates while also offering counseling services, medical assistance and therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms have ended. Through their work, missionaries reach 250 inmates with their prison program. The Salesian program also provides legal services to youth who have committed minor offenses or those who have been unlawfully imprisoned in Pademba. The goal is to seek their immediate release and/or referral to a remand home or to an approved school.

“In collaboration with Catholic Caritas and Sierra Leone Prisons Service, Salesian missionaries launched the Legal Support Project in 2014, providing the most disadvantaged inmates critical legal representation to ensure their rights are upheld,” says Brother Lothar, director of Don Bosco Fambul. “Many of the prisoners assisted through the project do not have family outside the prison to ensure that the court and prison system acts in a fair and balanced way. This project helps to ensure they have fair representation as we work for their release.”

One of the challenges is that records for the prison’s approximately 1,300 prisoners are not well organized and are difficult to access. Many of the incarcerated men and boys have similar first and last names, and prison officers are often careless and negligent when creating or using the documents. The haphazard record keeping and administration result in many incarcerated men and boys waiting months or years before they go to trial. Some have spent months and even years in the prison without having received a formal sentence.

Currently in search of funding to help support their work, Salesian missionaries would like to start a formal education program in the prison in addition to skills training to help inmates learn trades in subjects like masonry, plumbing and welding. The goal is to help young inmates who are illiterate or who dropped out of formal schooling to gain an education and complete both primary and secondary education. For others, the skills training provides an opportunity to learn a trade for long-term employment upon their release. Those who are released with few skills and no employment prospects are at risk for returning to criminal activity for survival.

“Youth incarcerated in Sierra Leone must see hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our goal is for youth to use their time in prison constructively and through counseling, begin to address what brought them to the prison in order to prevent their return.”

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Sources:

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Photo: Fernando Moleres (2010); winner of the UNICEF “Photo of the Year Award” More >

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missionaries Provide Critical Services to Meet the Needs of Young Inmates at Pademba Road Prison first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesian community in Bo has a feeding program at the St. Teresa Police School where more than 100 poor children received meals as part of their school program. The Salesian communities in Freetown and Lungi distributed the rice-meals to their programs including to young inmates at the Pademba prison, foster families of Ebola orphans, poor families of St. Augustine and Holy Cross parishes, and families of reunified street children.

Mary Ernest, living in the slums of Freetown, is married with three children. Her husband Toni Boima is a tailor and doesn’t earn enough money to sustain his family and to send all of his children to school. Mary sometimes has to beg her neighbors for something to feed her family. Things are very hard at the moment for her family, especially due to the difficult socioeconomic conditions after the Ebola outbreak. Mary approached Salesian missionaries and asked for food assistance. She is now regularly receiving two boxes of rice each month from Feed My Starving Children. As a sign of gratitude she volunteers her time to help at the local Salesian parish. The food support she receives gives her the chance to feed her children and use her small income to pay the school fees of the only daughter who is now attending school.

“Many of those participating in Salesian programs in Sierra Leone are malnourished,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “For students, this donated food not only encourages them to attend school, it allows them to focus on getting the education they need without worrying about where their next meal will come from. Children cannot learn on an empty stomach.”

Feed My Starving Children’s Partner Assistance Program has allowed Salesian missionaries to share some of the rice-meals with other local nonprofit organizations. The Widows Welfare Association provided rice-meals to 150 widows—mostly the elderly, those living with HIV/AIDS, Ebola widows, and recently widowed women who are finding it difficult to get food daily for their families and especially their children. Most of these widows are living below the poverty line and lack any means of livelihood that will provide them with a regular income in order to support their families.

The Children’s Care Center provides an ongoing feeding program. The children are given the meals during the day. As a result of the Feed My Starving Children food distribution the children’s weight has increased by 10 percent and within two to three weeks after the donation, the children’s hair has begun to start changing from a burnt red color to a deep black.

“This fact is significant as it shows that their body is getting the necessary nutrients that they so desperately need,” said Julius A. Kebbie, managing director of the Children’s Care Center.

The Needy Today Orphanage Primary School in Mathinka Village provides services to 200 orphans, who were also recipients of the donation. In addition, other children from The Needy Today programs that received the rice-meals are children from extremely poor homes and children with disabilities.

“This food is indeed timely as we are able to eat nice rice at this difficult period for the next couple of days,” says Fatima Mansaray, one of the beneficiaries, on behalf of her classmates. “It has been a little while since we have eaten a balanced meal like this, so we are excited to have this, and we will eat together with our families. We want to say thank you for this donation.”

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Sources:

Feed My Starving Children

Salesian Missions

The post SIERRA LEONE: More Than 700 Youth, Widows Receive Better Nutrition Thanks to Recent Rice-Meal Donation first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian missionaries on the ground in Freetown report that firemen attributed the fire to an electrical fault or an unattended fire that spread. Strong winds and lack of access to the slums made it impossible for firemen to stop the fire, which destroyed the slum in just two hours. Salesian missionaries from Don Bosco Fambul immediately began providing humanitarian relief offering shelter, food and medical support to those affected.

Don Bosco Fambul is currently providing shelter to 225 children ranging in age from one week to 17 years old as well as 85 mothers, most of with toddlers, who lost their homes as a result of the fire. Five Salesian missionaries and 30 staff offer continuous care to the people seeking refuge at the Salesian organization.

“The people of Sierra Leone have suffered so much already from the civil war and the terrible Ebola outbreak, which killed thousands and left thousands of children orphaned,” says Father Jorge Crisafulli, provincial of the Salesians in English-speaking West Africa. “This new catastrophe puts a portion of its population to the test once again. This time again, with the help of God and Don Bosco Fambul, the people will stand and walk towards a future of hope.”

Don Bosco Fambul was among the first responders during the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, providing education about the spread of the disease, a free hotline for prevention information, distribution of cleaning and sanitation supplies, and caring for children left orphaned. The organization took on these responsibilities in addition to regularly providing crisis intervention services, long-term counseling, shelter, nutritious food and education to poor and at-risk youth.

Don Bosco Fambul reaches out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region each year, many of whom have been abandoned by their parents, the government and those who were supposed to protect them. Don Bosco Fambul staff is also active in providing services to young prisoners at the Pademba Road Prison in Freetown.

In addition, the organization operates a girls shelter where professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter’s services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network.

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Sources

ANS – Sierra Leone – Fire destroys “Angola” slum in front of Don Bosco Fambul

MissionNewswire – Don Bosco Fambul Receives Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award for Its Efforts in Fighting Ebola Epidemic

(Photo courtesy ANS)

The post SIERRA LEONE: Assisting Families Affected by Recent Fire in Angola Town Slum first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The success of this program is credited to Don Bosco Fambul’s holistic approach focusing on attending to basic needs (food, clothing, a safe place to sleep) as well as personalized medical, psychological, pedagogical, social and spiritual care of the children. This gradual process includes formal classes, daily games, sports, music, singing, drama, dancing, counseling and prayer. Their parents and extended families are contacted several times by social workers before final reunification.

On reunification day, an agreement is signed between parents and Don Bosco Fambul in order to secure a safe environment for the child to continue his personal growth including ensuring the youth will have the food, clothing, shelter and education they need. Social workers continue to visit the youth and their families until they finish secondary school.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program helps youth come in off the streets where they face poverty and are at-risk for exploitation, and have a chance at a better life. The aim is to help them live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

In September, five Salesian missionaries and 25 social workers and junior staff at Don Bosco Fambul visited the streets of Freetown in five different areas of the capital city from 8:00 pm to 3:00 am to contact both boys and girls living on the streets in order to help them understand the services available to them. Special questionnaires were also prepared to conduct a deeper assessment of the reality of street youth exactly one year after the Ebola pandemic ended.

From October to December, a pilot rehabilitation project is working with a group of 30 street youth who are at high risk on the streets. They will be reunited with their families on December 30 after an intensive rehabilitation program. The aim of the pilot project is to speed up the process of reintegration of the children with their biological or extended families.

According to the World Bank, more than 60 percent of Sierra Leone’s population live in poverty with many living on less than $1.25 per day. The literacy rate is only 41 percent and 70 percent of young people in Sierra Leone are unemployed or underemployed as a result. The country was hard hit by the Ebola crisis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 14,124 total cases of Ebola and 3,956 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. Don Bosco Fambul was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in communities throughout Sierra Leone and provide care for children left orphaned by the deadly epidemic. The organization recently received Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award in recognition of its contribution in fighting Ebola.

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SOURCES:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Reunification Day for 48 street children

World Bank – Sierra Leone

World Health Organization – Ebola Stats

SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missionaries are Caring for 120 Orphans in Wake of Ebola Crisis

(Photo courtesy of ANS)

The post SIERRA LEONE: 48 Street Chidren Reunited with Familes After Completing Program first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Real concerns remain about how the village with so few members will survive. When the village had 270 residents, it was already a challenge to sustain the community working together under challenging weather conditions, frequent water shortages and other threats to growing crops and raising animals. Recently, there has been growing concern about how to work the fields to gather enough to eat with so few people as well as concern about prevention methods to stop another Ebola outbreak.

Having first visited Kumbrabai during the Ebola outbreak to distribute food, water and other aid, Salesian missionaries are now bringing hope to the village by starting projects to improve residents’ health, hygiene and sanitation practices and enhance agricultural capacity for the long-term sustainability of the community.

“Salesian missionaries in the region developed a fondness for the people of Kumbrabai as they helped them cope with the effects of the Ebola epidemic,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco “From the start, they resolved to support concrete, sustainable projects that could help villagers become more self-sufficient and hopeful for the future. The first project, a newly installed water well, is just one small step toward that overall vision.”

Kumbrabai is only accessible via poorly constructed country roads and is surrounded by dense vegetation that during the rainy season turns into soggy marshland. Villagers used a small swamp of dirty water for drinking, washing, watering their animals and even as a toilet. The new water well will provide safe drinking water and water for agriculture as well as opportunities for people to learn healthy habits like hand washing, that can help protect against many diseases. Before the well, nearly two-thirds of Kumbrabai’s crops were lost to weather conditions, including drought, annually.

The new water well is the result of a renewed focus on clean water initiatives by Salesian Missions. According to Water.org, more than 750 million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. The lack of clean water causes more than 3.4 million deaths each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes.

In response to this crisis, Salesian Missions has made building wells and supplying fresh, clean water a top priority for every community in every country in which Salesian missionaries work.

Looking ahead, missionaries plan to further expand agricultural expertise among the villagers of Kumbrabai by teaching new farming techniques and animal management practices and distributing seeds. And, they intend to create a local school where children can, for the very first time, begin their primary education.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions- In Sierra Leone, a Village is Reborn

Water.org

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missionaries Install New Well in Village Hard Hit by Ebola first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The 2016 theme for International Women’s Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality.” This year the U.N is reflecting on how to accelerate and build momentum for the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its new commitments under the UN Women’s Step It Up initiative. This new initiative asks governments to make national commitments that will close the gender equality gap – from laws and policies to national action plans and adequate investments.

Some key targets of the 2030 Agenda include: ensuring that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes; ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere; eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation; and eliminating all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

“On this International Women’s Day, I remain outraged by the denial of rights to women and girls – but I take heart from the people everywhere who act on the secure knowledge that women’s empowerment leads to society’s advancement. Let us devote solid funding, courageous advocacy and unbending political will to achieving gender equality around the world. There is no greater investment in our common future.”— UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon’s statement on International Women’s Day.

Salesian missionaries living and working in more than 130 countries around the globe are focused on achieving gender equality through programs targeted specifically for young women and girls. These programs strive to empower young women and girls by providing opportunities for education and training that lead to livable wage employment.

“Young women and girls face many disadvantages and barriers to accessing education and achieving financial independence despite their huge potential,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions. “It is very important for girls to attend school and gain an education. Girls that are empowered though education are more often able to achieve financial independence, marry at an older age and make better and healthier choices that affect not only themselves, but their families and communities as well.”

In honor of International Women’s Day, Salesian Missions is proud to share some of its programs around the globe that empower young women and girls.

BOLIVIA

Started in 1992, the Casa Maín girl’s home in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, provides shelter, nutritious meals and schooling for girls and young women with little access to education and those who were once living on the streets. Currently, there are more than 160 girls living and being educated at the home. Casa Maín is comprised of three houses and the girls are divided among them by age. The youngest girls, attending elementary school, live together in one house supported by several volunteer students from the secondary school. A second house provides shelter and peer support for girls attending secondary school while a third house is for young women attending the local university. The university students enjoy a setting that allows them to finish their degrees in higher education in a stable environment while learning how to live independently.

In addition to academic classes, the young women and girls at the home learn skills in communication and conflict management. Additional classes in dance, gymnastics and crafts are provided in the evenings and on weekends. Recently, the organization offered a three-week technology workshop to teach the girls basic computer skills including typing, word processing and drawing.

INDIA

Women from the slums of Mumbai, a densely populated city on India’s west coast, graduated from a Salesian-run 45-day skills training course. The women took courses in basic computing, English, tailoring, garment making, beauty care, hair dressing and mehndi (henna) application. The goal of the training was to help participants become better prepared for employment.

The Don Bosco Development Society in Mumbai which works to empower women in poverty to gain the skills and confidence they need to seek work, facilitated the training. For many of the participants, this was the first time they received educational training since the basic education they received when they were young. Salesian missionaries conducting the program modeled it after Skill India, an initiative by the Government of India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. After the course was completed, many of the students noted that through the course they gained a sense of self-worth that they had not had before. They also felt that the skills and confidence they gained would enable them to earn a living and support their families.

SENEGAL

Center Kër Don Bosco officially opened at the end of January in Dakar, the capital and largest city in Senegal. The new center provides education, vocational training and apprenticeship opportunities to disadvantaged youth and women living in the Yoff district on the outskirts of the city.

Focused specifically on helping women gain opportunities in the workforce, the center is offering two literacy classes as well as a safe space for studying. Women in Senegal are often heads of households but lack the training and confidence to try to enter the workforce or advance into higher paying jobs. The center’s goal is to help women connect with their peers and provide access to employment training to boost confidence and improve employment prospects.

SIERRA LEONE

Salesians at Don Bosco Fambul in Freetown, Sierra Leone, have been running a Girls Shelter for the past two years. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been the victims of sexual assault. Those that access services at the shelter are also able to enroll in educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network. These programs train young women in the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

As part of the rehabilitation program at the Girls Shelter, young women take coursework in hotel management, hairdressing and tailoring. This training helps to empower them to overcome the discrimination they have faced, gain a greater awareness of their rights and boost their work prospects. It also helps to build character while allowing the young women the freedom to make decisions that affect their lives and their health. Recently, both the trainers and the students in these programs were able to present their skills and products to the general public at an exhibition in Freetown.

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Sources:

International Women’s Day 2016

UN – International Women’s Day 2016

The post INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: Salesian Missions Highlights Women’s Education, Empowerment Programs first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 14,122 total cases of Ebola and 3,955 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone. During the Ebola outbreak, Don Bosco Fambul mobilized its staff and immediately began providing information about the prevention of Ebola. Salesian missionaries worked with local communities to provide food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing including long-sleeve shirts and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine.

In addition, the organization provided 20 mobile hand washing basins fitted with taps and hygiene-related products to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs for use in Freetown. Brother Lothar Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul, noted that the mobile hand washing basins were placed in strategic locations around the city to act as a reminder that good hygiene practices are some of the best methods to prevent the contraction of the Ebola virus.

Since 2010, Don Bosco Fambul has provided a countrywide phone counseling service. The organization began advertising its free hotline as a preventative defense against Ebola in May 2014 and youth were encouraged to call to access critical information about the virus. Since that time, more than 25,000 calls about Ebola have been answered and fielded. The data gathered as a result of the calls helped the country’s national registration office identify Ebola hotspots and crisis regions. The head of Don Bosco Fambul’s telephone counseling department maintained permanent contact with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry for Social Affairs as well as the Ebola command center. In addition, food deliveries were organized to the quarantine zones identified by these calls. Through the hotline, Don Bosco Fambul brought hope to the children and adolescents of one of the poorest country in the world during a terrible time of crisis.

Don Bosco Fambul, with assistance from the Catholic non-governmental development organization, Manos Unidas of Spain, also transformed a school into a home for 120 boys orphaned by Ebola. This unique care center for orphans on the Don Bosco Fambul campus meets the children’s basic needs while providing schooling and education on health and hygiene. Precautions around health and hygiene, including a focus on preventative measures, are extremely stringent since the orphans have all been in contact with people infected by Ebola.

Youth who do not have extended family to go to are able to stay long-term at Don Bosco Fambul, attend school and participate in activities such as music, dance and organized games. Counseling is also available to help them successfully transition into adulthood.

“Salesian missionaries live and work in the communities in which they serve so they are perfectly positioned to respond in times of crisis as they did during the Ebola epidemic,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “In addition to all of the Ebola related services, Don Bosco Fambul was still able to continue all of its regular programming providing education and social services to children and families who live in poverty.”

Providing crisis intervention services, long-term counseling, shelter, nutritious food and an education, Don Bosco Fambul reaches out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region each year, many of whom have been abandoned by parents, the government and those who were supposed to protect them. Don Bosco Fambul staff are also active in providing services to young prisoners at the Pademba Road Prison in Freetown.

Don Bosco Fambul has also been running a Girls Shelter for the past two years. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter’s services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – President awards Don Bosco Fambul

WHO – Ebola Stats

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Receives Sierra Leone’s Presidential Award for Its Efforts in Fighting Ebola Epidemic first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Since the Ebola outbreak started, the World Health Organization has reported more than 14,000 Ebola cases in Sierra Leone and close to 4,000 deaths from the virus. The Salesian-run Don Bosco Fambul in Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown, is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and was on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in local communities. Now the organization has turned its attention to helping care for children who have been left orphaned and assisting those whose rights have been violated.

The Salesian Missions report found that 82 percent of Sierra Leone’s children between the ages of 4 and 12 have been victims of violent punishments. More than 70 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 are forced into child labor. Some 10,000 children are working in mines and many others are working in places where they are exploited and made to work for more than 12 hours a day. In addition, child abuse and teenage pregnancy have increased and hundreds of children have been accused of witchcraft and blamed for the deaths of their family members. The report notes that the lack of political commitment, family disintegration, loss of values and overall poverty have led to these child rights violations.

“It is true that many things have been done to improve and protect children, but since the Ebola crisis, Sierra Leone has remained sorely tried and the facilities that care for children are weak,” says Ana Munoz, spokesperson the Salesian Missions Madrid. “Protecting the children and young people of Sierra Leone is the way to build a better country and a better future.”

Don Bosco Fambul has been working for the prevention and detection of child rights violations as well as providing care and social integration for children and youth at-risk. Since 2010, the organization has provided a countrywide phone counseling service. At one time, nearly half the calls focused on teen relationship issues. Since the outbreak of Ebola in 2014, the counseling line has turned into a widely used resource for Ebola prevention and support.

The organization began advertising its free hotline as a preventative defense against Ebola in May 2014 and youth were encouraged to call to access critical information about the virus. Since that time, more than 25,000 calls about Ebola have been answered and fielded. The data gathered as a result of the calls has helped the country’s national registration office identify Ebola hotspots and crisis regions. Through the hotline, Don Bosco Fambul brought hope to the children and adolescents of one of the poorest country in the world during a terrible time of crisis.

Youth living on the streets in Freetown face emotional trauma and are in need of support, basic necessities and education. Providing crisis intervention services, long-term counseling, shelter, nutritious food and an education, Don Bosco Fambul has reached out to an estimated 2,500 street children in the region, many of whom had been abandoned by parents, the government and those who were supposed to protect them.

In addition, Don Bosco Fambul has been running a Girls Shelter for the past two years. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter’s services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment while working to empower them to overcome the discrimination they have faced and gain a greater awareness of their rights. After having suffered tremendous disadvantages and violence in their past, these opportunities for a brighter and more stable future have been welcomed.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Violations of Children’s Rights have increased since Ebola

Don Bosco Fambul

World Health Organization – Ebola Stats Sierra Leone 

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missions Madrid Releases Report on Increase in Child Rights Violations Since Ebola Epidemic first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The donation by IRN provided new desks, chairs, tables, bookcases and filing cabinets for Salesian-run elementary and nursery schools, a library, a youth center and an office. Desks and chairs help to provide a more dignified and organized educational environment for students to complete their studies. As a result, students are often more focused on their classroom work and more prepared for their lessons.

“This donation is especially important for the children in our schools,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “The furniture has contributed greatly to their discipline and learning environment while bringing smiles to their faces. This has been a great contribution to the primary and nursery schools.”

The Institution Recycling Network was started in 1999 to match surplus items that need to be recycled with organizations and people who need them. Every educational, commercial and healthcare organization in the U.S. has surplus furniture and equipment. Hundreds of millions of people living in poverty or recovering from natural disasters worldwide are in desperate need of the kinds of surplus goods these very organizations are discarding. IRN makes the match and facilitates the distribution of the surplus into the hands of the organizations and people who need it most.

“There is a clear match between Salesian Missions’ need for furniture and equipment for their worldwide projects and the supplies of surplus to which IRN has access,” says, principal of the Institution Recycling Network. “Salesian Missions has been an excellent partner.”

IRN partners with nonprofits who are known to be reputable and effective providers of relief and development assistance, and who are able to use the types of surplus that IRN can provide. The organization has a “wish list” from each of its nonprofit partners of the types and quantities of surplus they can use.

When a project comes to IRN, it makes a match against these wish lists and offers the surplus to the most appropriate nonprofits. At this point, surplus is offered on a first-come-first-served basis; the first nonprofit(s) to express interest in the surplus, receives it. In many cases, a single nonprofit will claim the entire project but in some cases, the surplus will be split among two or more organizations.

“There is almost infinite demand in the U.S. and worldwide for good quality surplus so IRN’s surplus program will continue to grow,” says Lennon. “The school or company that supplies the surplus pays IRN for the service of matching their surplus with our nonprofit network. In almost all cases they pay IRN much less than they would pay to bring in dumpsters and throw the surplus away.”

There is a three pronged benefit to the work that IRN does. The generating organizations profit by disposing of their surplus for less than the cost of throwing it away, while the recipient organizations profit from a very low cost source of quality furniture and equipment. Impoverished and disaster-stricken people benefit from furniture and equipment they otherwise would have no access to. And finally, the planet benefits from reuse of important resources.

In addition to this shipment to Sierra Leone, additional furniture from the same source has been donated to Salesian programs in the Ivory Coast, Vietnam, East Timor and Liberia.

“IRN donations have furnished Salesian schools and development offices in Central America, South America, Africa and Asia,” adds Fr. Hyde. “We plan to continue working with IRN because they are a reliable partner who is eager to assist in our mission and provide quality donations to our programs.”

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Sources:

Institution Recycling Network

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone 

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Programs Benefit from Furniture Donation from the Institution Recycling Network first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The prisoner, Musa Brima, was accused of fraud he did not commit. He saw a judge only once at the start of his imprisonment to declare he was not guilty and then was largely forgotten by the system until identified by Salesian missionaries. When his case was brought back to court, the judge told him he was free and could go home.

“I remember well my time in prison because when you live through a sad reality you count every day hoping this terrible nightmare will end,” says Brima. “It was wonderful to be able to go home free and unhindered, after all this time, and hug my wife and my three children.”

Many of the prisoners who will be assisted through the project do not have family outside the prison to ensure that the court and prison system acts in a fair and balanced way. Don Bosco Fambul hopes the project will free up to 100 inmates who have been held for more than three years without a conviction.

“We obtain the information for which prisoners are eligible for the legal support from personal interviews with the detainees, and we check the prison register to verify their requests and their claim that they had been in prison for more than three years,” says Brother Lothar, director of Don Bosco Fambul.

Prison life in Sierra Leone offers very little hope for rehabilitation or reintegration back into society once a prison term has ended. According to humanitarian watch groups, prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding and inadequate food as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates die from overcrowding, illness and violence.

All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The population of the country’s largest detention facility, Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, was designed for 324 detainees but had over 1,300 inmates at the time of the report with the number continuing to grow.

In addition to providing legal support, Don Bosco Fambul provides education and counseling services to reach youth inside the prison. A long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul was established to allow the opening of a youth counseling center for the prisoners that is staffed four hours each day with two social workers and three assistants. The goal of the center is to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release.

Don Bosco Fambul is also providing food and water to more than 70 inmates of Pademba Road Prison each day while offering counseling services, medical assistance and stress therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms have ended.

“Youth incarcerated in Sierra Leone must see hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our goal is for youth to use their time in prison constructively and through counseling, begin to address what brought them to the prison in order to prevent their return.”

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – The Salesians obtain the release of a young man imprisoned for five years without sentence

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missionaries Are Working to Free Young Prisoners Who Never Received Convictions first appeared on MissionNewswire.

At one time, nearly half the calls focused on teen relationship issues. Since the outbreak of Ebola in 2014, the counseling line has turned into a widely used resource for Ebola prevention and support. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that there were more than 13,264 confirmed Ebola cases and 3,949 deaths from the virus in Sierra Leone alone.

“At the beginning of the Ebola epidemic, the children asked for information about symptoms and for protective measures,” says Brother Lothar Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul. “From September 2014 forward, we became a crisis intervention measure against the deadly disease.”

The organization began advertising its free hotline as a preventative defense against Ebola in May 2014 and youth were encouraged to call to access critical information about the virus. Since that time, more than 25,000 calls about Ebola have been answered and fielded. The data gathered as a result of the calls has helped the country’s national registration office identify Ebola hotspots and crisis regions. The head of Don Bosco Fambul’s telephone counseling department maintained permanent contact with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry for Social Affairs as well as the Ebola command center. In addition, food deliveries were organized to the quarantine zones identified by these calls.

Through the hotline, Don Bosco Fambul brought hope to the children and adolescents of one of the poorest country in the world during a terrible time of crisis. For Fatmata and Samuel, who lost their parents to Ebola, Don Bosco Fambul provided much needed refuge. Both had contracted Ebola but were treated and recovered. Relatives looted their home and neglected the children, leaving them languishing in a hospital in Port Loko until Fatmata recalled one of her teachers telling her of the Don Bosco Fambul hotline.

Once connected with the organization, Fatmata was provided immediate assistance from a Don Bosco Fambul social worker. The children were cared for at the Don Bosco Interim Care Center in Freetown and were both eventually reunited with relatives and returned back to school. Their parent’s home has been renovated and both receive supportive family services.

In order to help children like Fatmata and Samuel, Salesian missionaries at Don Bosco Fambul, with assistance from the Catholic non-governmental development organization, Manos Unidas of Spain, transformed a school into a home for 120 boys orphaned by Ebola. This unique care center for orphans on the Don Bosco Fambul campus meets the children’s basic needs while providing schooling and education on health and hygiene. Precautions around health and hygiene, including a focus on preventative measures, are extremely stringent since the orphans have all been in contact with people infected by Ebola.

“Because the Ebola virus has an incubation period of 21 days, sometimes it is thought initially that the children are not infected, and some have even come with false certifications of a clean bill of health but it may be just that the symptoms have not yet appeared,” says Father Jorge Crisafulli, Provincial of the Salesians in English-speaking West Africa. “All the boys who come to us, no matter where they come from, pass an initial period in quarantine cared for by nurses who have survived the virus. Their temperature is taken every three hours for the entire 21 days and any change is recorded immediately.”

Youth who do not have extended family to go to are able to stay long-term at Don Bosco Fambul, attend school and participate in activities such as music, dance and organized games. Counseling is also available to help them successfully transition into adulthood.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – In the fight against Ebola: Don Bosco Child Line 116

Don Bosco Fambul

WHO Ebola Stats

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Free Child Hotline Provided Critical Support During Ebola Crisis first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Youth who are robbed of their freedom are often aware of their rights being systematically violated but lack the resources and support to challenge and change their circumstances. While sending a minor to prison or a rehabilitation center should be the last resort, in many places it is common practice. For example, in Kenya, more than 1,800 children are detained because they are homeless and live on the streets. In addition, close to 500 are being held because they are not under the control of parents and another 600 for begging.

To bring awareness to these issues, Salesian Missions in Madrid has launched the Youth IN-Justice campaign to highlight growing concerns surrounding the juvenile justice system and the needs of incarcerated youth.

“There are alternatives to a child or a youngster entering a prison or a reformatory center,” says Ana Muñoz, spokesperson for Salesian Missions Madrid. “The great challenge is to understand that in order to end these practices, we must provide supports like education and social development programs to help youth break the cycle of poverty and incarceration.”

Salesian missionaries have a long history of working with poor youth and those who have been incarcerated. Programs focus on rehabilitation as well as education and skills training so youth are able to provide for themselves once released. At the Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, Don Bosco Fambul, one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations, provides a range of services to help incarcerated youth. Prison life in Sierra Leone offers very little hope for rehabilitation or reintegration back into society once a prison term has ended. According to humanitarian watch groups, prisons in Sierra Leone face overcrowding and inadequate food as well as lack vital sanitation and health care. Inmates die from overcrowding, illness and violence.

All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The population of Pademba Road Prison, the country’s largest detention facility, was designed for 324 detainees but had over 1,300 inmates at the time of the report with the number continuing to grow.

“My life in the prison of Pademba Road was a continuous torture,” says Johnny, a former prisoner who was 14 years old at the time of his incarceration and whose only crime was being homeless and sleeping on the streets. “I was in a cell with adults who were criminals. All I would get to eat was a plate of rice and a cup of black tea without sugar. The other prisoners would take away my sandwich at breakfast and other things from my plate of rice. They would not allow me to sleep at night as I had to fan for the elder ones. In the morning, it was my turn to clean the can that we used as a toilet. But the worst thing was the sexual abuses which I was a victim of for two years. I complained against them but no one listened.”

In addition to providing legal support and working to gain early release for incarcerated youth like Johnny, Don Bosco Fambul provides education and counseling services for youth inside the prison. Through the establishment of a long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul, a new youth counseling center for prisoners will be staffed with two social workers and three assistants for four hours each day. The goal of the center is to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release.

Don Bosco Fambul is also providing food and water to more than 70 inmates of Pademba Road Prison each day while offering counseling services, medical assistance and stress therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms have ended.

“Incarcerated youth must see hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “A goal of Salesian missionaries is to do everything possible to keep youth out of detention centers. For those already incarcerated, Salesian programs help them to use their time in prison constructively and, through counseling, begin to address what brought them there in order to prevent their return.”

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Sources:

ANS – Spain – One million children in the world are deprived of their liberty

UN – Facts on Juvenile Justice

(Stock photo)

The post SPAIN: Campaign Launched to Highlight Struggles of Youth Unfairly Kept in Juvenile Justice Centers first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian missionaries report more than 530 children who have lost both of their parents to Ebola and another 153 who have lost either their father or mother to the virus across the three affected West African countries. Salesian missionaries living and working in Sierra Leone have been responding with preventative education, food aid, medical supplies and other assistance since the outbreak began.

© 2015 / UNICEF / Kamara

The Salesian-run Don Bosco Fambul in Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown, is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and has been on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in local communities and provide care for children left orphaned.

With assistance from the Catholic non-governmental development organization, Manos Unidas of Spain, Salesian missionaries at Don Bosco Fambul have recently transformed a school into a home for 120 boys orphaned by Ebola. This unique interim care center for orphans on the Don Bosco Fambul campus meets the children’s basic needs while also providing schooling and education on health and hygiene. Precautions around health and hygiene, including a focus on preventative measures, are extremely stringent since the orphans have all been in contact with people infected by Ebola.

“Because the Ebola virus has an incubation period of 21 days, sometimes it is thought initially that the children are not infected, and some have even come with false certifications of a clean bill of health but it may be just that the symptoms have not yet appeared,” says Father Jorge Crisafulli, Provincial of the Salesians in English-speaking West Africa. “All the boys who come to us, no matter where they come from, pass an initial period in quarantine cared for by nurses who have survived the virus. Their temperature is taken every three hours for the entire twenty-one days and any change is recorded immediately.”

The interim care center has a designated isolation area called Zone A which is a quarantined tent where up to 60 boys stay for their first 21 days at the interim care center. Strict preventative health protocols are enforced within this area such as a special handle to turn water on and off in the shower to ensure that no one is touching anything that has been touched by someone else.

The goal of the interim care center is to eventually reunite the boys with extended family that can care for them such as aunts, uncles and grandparents.

“When a child comes to us and is proven to be healthy, social workers and volunteers from Sierra Leone go to his village of origin to find someone of his extended family, so that he can return to them,” adds Fr. Crisafulli. “But this is not always possible, either because no one is left alive or because their families do not want to take care of the child.”

Often, Salesian missionaries at Don Bosco Fambul run into complications when trying to place boys with extended family such as struggles over land rights.

“One of the serious problems that we have encountered is that sometimes the extended family does not want the child because they want to keep the land of the dead parents that rightfully belongs to the child survivor. So they refuse. They say the child is a witch or a wizard and that it is their fault that the family died, and then they keep the land that rightfully belongs to the young person. For that reason, we have hired lawyers who take care of these problems, so that these children will have a future,” explains Fr. Crisafulli.

Boys who do not have extended family to go to are able to stay at Don Bosco Fambul, attend school and participate in activities such as music, dance and organized games. Counseling is also available to help them successfully transition into adulthood.

Headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, Salesian Missions has launched an Ebola Emergency Fund to assist Salesian missionaries in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone who are working to help contain the deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. To raise money for the fund, the Catholic nonprofit aid organization has launched an emergency fundraising campaign and is issuing an urgent appeal for donations. Go to www.SalesianMissions.org/ebola to give.

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Post-Ebola: we share responsibility

UNICEF Report

World Health Organization – Ebola Stats Week of March 22

Don Bosco Fambul in Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Missionaries are Caring for 120 Orphans in Wake of Ebola Crisis first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian missionaries report close to 530 children who have lost both of their parents to Ebola and another 153 who have lost either their father or mother to the virus across the three affected West African countries. Salesian missionaries living and working in Sierra Leone have been responding with preventative education, food aid, medical supplies and other assistance since the outbreak began.

The Salesian-run Don Bosco Fambul in Sierra Leone’s capital city, Freetown, is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and has been on the forefront of efforts to help prevent Ebola in local communities and provide care for children left orphaned. Promoting the welfare of children is a top priority for staff at Don Bosco Fambul as they work to tackle issues affecting street children, in particular educating them on Ebola prevention. Social workers from the organization have been meeting with homeless children on the streets of Freetown in the evenings while other staff offer group counseling, mediation and family tracing services in an effort to return children to their relatives. Following the outbreak of the disease, Don Bosco Fambul provided much-needed items for children affected, including those living in quarantined homes.

“This is a very scary and traumatic time for these children,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Overcoming this deadly disease only to find they have lost parents, siblings and other relatives is devastating for them. In the coming weeks and months, Salesian missionaries will be working to ensure proper shelter and care is provided to children now orphaned as a result of the Ebola outbreak.”

Recently, fortified rice-meals have been donated to Don Bosco Fambul to help feed orphans of the Ebola epidemic thanks to an ongoing partnership between Salesian Missions and Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit Christian organization committed to, “feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit.”

Starvation is a concern in the affected countries. According to reports from Salesian aid workers in the field, as a result of the Ebola epidemic, many of the local markets have been shuttered and many farmers have died. Children who could previously count on at least one meal a day at Salesian schools are left hungry because the government ordered schools to be closed for the last several months in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

The most recent shipment of emergency food aid has allowed Salesian missionaries to provide meals for more than 150 poor youth three times a week. Many of the children relying on the food aid have few options to turn to for meals and are very hungry. Without proper nutrition children are more susceptible to getting sick and at a faster rate.

With the decrease in Ebola infections (Sierra Leone currently has 117 cases), schools in the country are expected to reopen in March. Government officials report that much still needs to be done to disinfect the schools and provide training and resources to teachers. Teachers will be trained to use thermometers to take the temperatures of students and other staff members and chlorinated water buckets will be made available in all schools.

Headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, Salesian Missions has launched an Ebola Emergency Fund to assist Salesian missionaries in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone who are working to help contain the deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. To raise money for the fund, the Catholic nonprofit aid organization has launched an emergency fundraising campaign and is issuing an urgent appeal for donations. Go to www.SalesianMissions.org/ebola to give.

Sources

Reuters – Sierra Leone to reopen schools in March as Ebola infections slow

WHO – Ebola Situation Report January 2015

The post SIERRA LEONE: Recent Food Aid Shipment is Nourishing Youth Affected by Ebola Thanks to Salesian Missions Partnership with Feed My Starving Children first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The rate of Ebola in Sierra Leone is on the rise with the number infected with the virus each day nine times higher than it was two months ago, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO data in early November shows that there have been 4,862 cases of Ebola with 1,130 deaths in Sierra Leone alone. Transmission also appears to be increasing rapidly in Freetown, the capital city, where the average number of daily cases is six times higher than two months ago. The WHO says Ebola transmission remains widespread and intense across West Africa including Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The virus has so far infected over 13,000 people and claimed at least 4,951 lives.

Starvation is a concern in the affected countries. A new bulletin on the economic impact of Ebola from the International Growth Centre (IGC) has warned that the number of rice traders in some areas of Sierra Leone affected by Ebola has fallen by almost 70 percent. According to reports from Salesian aid workers in the field, local markets have been shuttered and many farmers have died. Children who could previously count on at least one meal a day at Salesian schools are left hungry because schools have been ordered closed by the government in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

“Because of the Ebola health crisis, the price of food has risen in some areas and many people are at risk of starvation, especially orphaned children who are no longer in the care of their parents and other relatives” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “The partnership with Stop Hunger Now allows us to feed those most in need and provides us other necessary supplies to help prevent the further spread of Ebola.”

The most recent shipment of emergency food aid has allowed Salesian missionaries to provide meals for more than 150 poor youth three times a week. Many of the children relying on the food aid have few options to turn to for meals and are very hungry. The lack of proper nutrition has left them susceptible to getting sick and at a faster rate. Salesian missionaries are also providing education about Ebola and medicated soap for preventive measures.

The Salesian Missions partnership with Stop Hunger Now was developed in 2011 and since that time, 58 shipping containers, including more than 16 million rice meals, have been successfully delivered to 19 countries around the globe. Recent Stop Hunger Now shipments have provided food aid and emergency medical supplies to Salesian missionaries working to help Ebola victims and their families in Sierra Leone and Liberia. These donations provided an avenue for educational workshops about Ebola prevention and preparedness.

Salesian-run Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations, has been on the forefront of the efforts to help prevent Ebola in local communities and provide care for those children left orphaned. Promoting the welfare of children has remained a top priority for staff at Don Bosco Fambul as they work to tackle issues affecting street children, in particular educating them on Ebola prevention. Social workers from the organization have been meeting with homeless children on the streets of Freetown in the evenings while other staff offer group counseling, mediation and family tracing services in an effort to return children to their relatives. Following the outbreak of the disease, Don Bosco Fambul has provided much-needed items for children affected, including those living in quarantined homes.

“There are more than 1,560 children in quarantine because they have lost their parents or because they have been rejected by their families,” says Father Crisafulli, provincial of the Salesian province of English-speaking West Africa. “They are children who have experienced trauma such as the loss of family members, have been discriminated against, separated from their families and in some cases, accused of being the cause of evil. Although Salesians remain focused, it has not been easy to start a center for children orphaned by Ebola.”

Headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, Salesian Missions has launched an Ebola Emergency Fund to assist Salesian missionaries in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone who are working to help contain the deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. To raise money for the fund, the Catholic nonprofit aid organization has launched an emergency fundraising campaign and is issuing an urgent appeal for donations. Go to www.SalesianMissions.org/ebola to give.

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Sources

International Growth Centre – Economic Impact of Ebola

WHO – Sierra Leone Ebola Outbreak 

The post SIERRA LEONE: Food Aid Helps Ebola Orphans Thanks to Partnership between Salesian Missions and Stop Hunger Now first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian missionaries already living and working in affected West African regions, including Sierra Leone, are working with local communities to provide food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing including long-sleeve shirts and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine. Missionaries are also working to care for the children who have been affected by the outbreak, many of whom have lost parents to the disease.

Recently, Salesian-run Don Bosco Fambul, one of Sierra Leone’s leading child-welfare organizations, provided twenty mobile hand washing basins to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs for use in Freetown. The mobile hand washing basins are fitted with taps and hygiene-related products. Brother Lothar Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul, noted that the mobile hand washing basins will be placed in strategic locations around Freetown to act as a reminder that good hygiene practices are some of the best methods to prevent the contraction of the Ebola virus.

Promoting the welfare of children is a top priority for staff at Don Bosco Fambul as they work to tackle issues affecting street children, in particular educating them on Ebola prevention. Social workers from the organization have been meeting with homeless children on the streets of Freetown in the evenings while other staff offer group counseling, mediation and family tracing services in an effort to return children to their relatives. Following the outbreak of the disease, Don Bosco Fambul provided much-needed items for children affected, including those living in quarantined homes.

“There are more than 1,560 children in quarantine because they have lost their parents or because they have been rejected by their families,” says Father Crisafulli, provincial of the Salesian province of English-speaking West Africa. “They are children who have experienced trauma such as the loss of family members, have been discriminated against, separated from their families and in some cases, accused of being the cause of evil. Although Salesians remain focused, it has not been easy to start a center for children orphaned by Ebola.”

Salesian missionaries are noting the spread of Ebola in places that were once free of the deadly disease and are recognizing the need for medical supplies and emergency food aid after having reported the deaths of 15 people in Tikonko, a village in the Bo District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone. Residents of the village are poor and have no medical supplies or knowledge of the disease or how to prevent it.

Salesian Missions has launched an emergency fund to assist Salesian missionaries in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone who are working to help contain the deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. To raise money for the fund, the Catholic nonprofit aid organization is issuing an urgent appeal for donations.

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Sources

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco donates mobile hand-wash basins to Children’s Ministry

ANS – Sierra Leone – Ebola out of control: 80 new cases a day

WHO – Sierra Leone Ebola Outbreak 

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Donates Mobile Hand Washing Basins to Help Prevent Spread of Ebola first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesian missionaries already living and working in affected West African regions, including Sierra Leone, are working with local communities providing food aid and education about Ebola while disseminating protective clothing including long-sleeve shirts and cleaning and disinfecting agents such as chlorine. Salesians are also working to care for the children who have been affected by the outbreak, many who have lost their parents and must be placed with other relatives.

On Oct. 6, Don Bosco Fambul, in collaboration with Alhaji Moijue Kaikai, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, held a special ceremony to reunite 12 surviving children once held at a patient care facility called the Hasting Holding Center, back with their relatives and extended family members. It was an emotional occasion with many of the children having lost one or both of their parents as well as siblings and other relatives to the Ebola outbreak.

“This is a very scary and traumatic time for these children,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Overcoming this deadly disease only to find they have lost parents, siblings and other relatives is devastating for them.”

One of the surviving children, a 13 year old named Martha Mansaray, said she has lost her parents and brothers as well as other relatives. She explained that her entire residence at Kamajor Bush at Waterloo was infected with the Ebola disease and many people including her parents and brothers lost their lives. She requested Don Bosco Fambul take her to visit her remaining relatives but preferred to remain under the care of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and Don Bosco Fambul.

Another child, 6 year old Bintu Turay, was infected with Ebola from her late father at Josiah Drive in Freetown, according to an uncle who was reunited with her. Her uncle explained that the girl’s mother was alive but presently at a quarantined home.

The 12 children were among 49 others who survived the deadly Ebola disease at the Hastings Holding Center. Three of the 12 surviving children were immediately reunited with their relatives at the Hastings Center and the remaining nine were brought to Don Bosco Fambul under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Welfare.

Don Bosco Fambul is working to provide proper reunification for the children. Brother Lothar Wangler, director of Don Bosco Fambul, said the Salesians were asked by the Minister of Social Welfare to collect the surviving children from the Hastings Holding Center in order to avoid any possibility of child trafficking or harm to the children.

“There is a concern that Ebola could create more child trafficking, which happened during the civil war here,” says Bro. Wangler in a recent Aljazeera article about the stigma faced by Ebola’s youngest victims. “Children lost parents and ended up with strangers, and they were misused, went to the street and eventually came to Don Bosco. I have a fear this will continue for the next couple of years. We have to act now to prevent having those children again on the street.”

The West and Central African regional director for UNICEF, Manuel Fontaine, recently estimated the number of children orphaned by Ebola as of Sept. 30 to be at least 3,700. As of Oct, 10, according to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation there were approximately 1,450 children orphaned by Ebola in the country and the number is expected to keep rising along with the disease’s death toll. The ministry has set up 14 interim care centers across the country.

Bro. Wangler noted that Don Bosco Fambul, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare, will be providing specialized care for children who are traumatized or have lost their parents in addition to creating special homes for children who have been affected by the Ebola outbreak in the country.

“Salesians working in these communities see the devastating effects of Ebola first-hand,” adds Fr. Hyde. “In the coming weeks and months Salesians will be working to ensure proper shelter and care is provided to children now orphaned as a result of the Ebola outbreak.”

Salesian Missions has launched an emergency fund to assist Salesian missionaries in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone who are working to help contain the deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. To raise money for the fund, the Catholic nonprofit aid organization has launched an emergency fundraising campaign and is issuing an urgent appeal for donations.

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Sources

Aljazeera – ‘I feel I have no future’: Thousands orphaned by Ebola face stigma

Sierra Leone News – Social Welfare & Don Bosco Reunite Ebola Child Survivors with Relatives

UNICEF – Thousands of children orphaned by Ebola

World Health Organization – Ebola Global Response

The post SIERRA LEONE: Amidst Ebola Crisis Salesian Missionaries Reuniting Children with Family, Providing Homes for Orphaned Children first appeared on MissionNewswire.

All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The population of the country’s largest detention facility, Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, was designed for 324 detainees but had over 1,300 inmates at the time of the report with the number continuing to grow.

According to UNICEF, almost two thirds of the population of Sierra Leone lives below the poverty line, and although recent violence has ended, the country is still recovering from a brutal 10-year civil war. More than 500,000 people were displaced during the conflict and more than 60,000 children were orphaned and are homeless.

Salesians in Sierra Leone are giving new hope to young prisoners of Pademba Prison. Recently, Don Bosco Fambul, a leading educational and vocational organization that serves disadvantaged youth in Freetown, in collaboration with Catholic Caritas and Sierra Leone Prisons Service, launched the Legal Support Project with the intention of helping the most disadvantaged inmates in Pademba Prison. The project will provide legal representation for poor inmates who would otherwise be unable to access legal services to ensure their rights are upheld.

Many of the prisoners who will be assisted through the project do not have family outside the prison to ensure that the court and prison system acts in a fair and balanced way. Don Bosco Fambul hopes the project will free up to 100 inmates who they believe no longer belong in the prison system.

Freeing inmates at Pademba Road prison is no small undertaking. According to a recent Sierra Leone Awareness Times article about the new project, Brother Lother Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul, noted that based on current information from the prison, some inmate files and documents are missing, and can no longer be accessed by the courts to ensure justice. Lawyers and paralegals, provided by Catholic Caritas, will be working on the project to assist these prisoners and others.

In addition to providing legal support, Don Bosco Fambul is expanding its education and counseling services to reach youth inside the prison. A new long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul was established to allow the opening of a new youth counseling center for the prisoners that will be staffed four hours each day with two social workers and three assistants. The goal of the center is to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release.

Don Bosco Fambul is also providing food and water to more than 70 inmates of Pademba Road Prison each day while offering counseling services, medical assistance and stress therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when their prison terms have ended.

“Youth incarcerated in Sierra Leone must see hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our goal is for youth to use their time in prison constructively and through counseling, begin to address what brought them to the prison in order to prevent their return.”

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Sources:

Sierra Leone Awareness Times – Don Bosco & Caritas to Free 100 Inmates from Prisons

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

(File photo)

The post SIERRA LEONE: Don Bosco Fambul Starts New Project for Poor Inmates in Pademba Road Prison first appeared on MissionNewswire.

All too often, minors are detained for petty crimes and end up falling prey to prison violence, giving them little hope for the future upon their release. The country’s largest detention facility, Pademba Road Prison in Freetown, was designed for 324 detainees but had over 1,300 inmates at the time of the report with the number continuing to grow.

Once released, many youth feel they have no choice but to continue a life of crime given the lack of opportunities for legitimate means of earning a living in the country. According to UNICEF, almost two thirds of the population lives below the poverty line, and although the violence has ended, Sierra Leone is still recovering from a brutal 10-year civil war. More than 500,000 people were displaced and more than 60,000 children were orphaned and are homeless.

Salesians in the country are giving new hope to young prisoners of Pademba Prison. Don Bosco Fambul, a leading educational and vocational program for disadvantaged youth in Freetown, is expanding its services to reach youth inside the prison. A new long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul has recently been established and formalized.

This partnership includes the opening of a new youth counseling center for the prisoners that will be staffed four hours each day with two social workers and three assistants. The goal of the center is to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release.

Recently, Don Bosco Fambul, in collaboration with Brunnenbau Conrad Ltd, a German drilling company, started construction of a new water well at the prison. The well will provide 60,000 liters of water each day and new storage facilities to house the water supply will allow for 40 liters of water per prisoner each day. Because of overcrowding and compromised infrastructure, the prison has had a serious water crisis. There is a lack of clean drinking water available as well as water for healthy sanitation and hygiene.

“The construction of the water well is a significant move as it will help the prison department to maintain hygiene in the prison,” says Brother Lother Wagner, director of Don Bosco Fambul. “Water is life and prisoners deserve better sanitation despite their being prisoners. Our goal is for inmates to rehabilitate and engage in basic training and education to learn the skills that enable them to be better citizens.”

To date, 50,000 euros have been raised through donor partners for the first phase of the project but it is expected that the cost will increase as the project continues.

In addition to providing food and water to more than 70 inmates of Pademba Road Prison each day, Salesians at Don Bosco Fambul offer counseling services, medical assistance and stress therapy to ensure inmates are mentally fit when released.

“Youth incarcerated in Sierra Leone must see hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our goal is for youth to use their time in prison constructively and through counseling, begin to address what brought them to the prison in order to prevent their return.”

The new water well is the result of a renewed focus on clean water initiatives by Salesian Missions. According to Water.org, more than 750 million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. The lack of clean water causes more than 3.4 million deaths each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes.

In response to this crisis, Salesian Missions has made building wells and supplying fresh, clean water a top priority for every community in every country in which Salesian missionaries work.

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PHOTO: Stock photo (Shutterstock)

Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul continues to care for young prisoners

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Water.org

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In response to this crisis, the Salesians at Don Bosco Fambul in Freetown have been running a Girls Shelter for the past two years. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. Girls that access the shelter services are also able to attend educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network of programs. These educational programs give young women the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

“Education helps break the cycle of violence and poverty,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “These young women have been so courageous in their fight against violence and oppression, and now they are able to live safely while getting the emotional support they need and the education that will help them live independently.”

After taking part in an 18-month skills training program, more than 60 former residents of the Girls Shelter were able to exhibit their skills and talents for the residents of Freetown. As part of their rehabilitation, these young women took coursework in hotel management, hairdressing and tailoring. Both the trainers in these programs and the students were able to present their skills and products to the general public.

Trainers were able to highlight their small businesses and entrepreneurship showing off their skills and reinforcing their expertise as educators. It also helped the young women see what they can attain after graduation. Preparation for the community exhibit was also part of the young women’s training and helped foster a renewed sense of confidence in their skills and talents.

In addition, the training has helped to empower the young women to overcome the discrimination they have faced and gain greater awareness of their rights. It has also helped to build character while allowing them the freedom to make decisions that affect their lives, improve their health and boost their work prospects. After having suffered tremendous disadvantages and violence in their past, these opportunities for a brighter and more stable future have been welcomed.

“Girls education is important to the overall community,” adds Fr. Hyde. “Through education, these young women can change their lives. They can help bring their families out of poverty and contribute back to the communities in which they live. Many have already given back by helping other young women free themselves from poverty and violence.”

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Sources

ANS – Sierra Leone – Exhibition of skills and talents at Don Bosco Fambul

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Girls Education Helps Young Women Break the Cycle of Violence and Poverty first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Once released, many youth feel they have no choice but to continue a life of crime given the lack of opportunities in the country for legitimate means of earning a living. According to UNICEF, almost two thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. And although the violence has ended, Sierra Leone is still recovering from a brutal 10-year civil war. More than 500,000 people were displaced and more than 60,000 children were orphaned and are homeless. The Human Development Index ranks Sierra Leone last out of 179 countries for the well-being of its people.

Salesians in the country are giving new hope to young prisoners of Pademba Prison. Don Bosco Fambul, a leading educational and vocational program for disadvantaged youth in Freetown, is expanding its services to reach youth inside the prison. A new long-term partnership between the prison and Don Bosco Fambul has recently been established and formalized.

This partnership includes the opening of a new youth counseling center for the prisoners that will be staffed four hours each day with two social workers and three assistants. The goal of the counseling is to give youth and their families the necessary tools for rehabilitation and reintegration upon release.

“Youth incarcerated in Sierra Leone must see hope for the future if we expect to deter them from crime and other dangerous behavior,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Our goal is for youth to use their time in prison constructively and, through counseling, begin to address what brought them to the prison in order to prevent their return.”

Long-term, the goal is for the Salesians of Don Bosco Fambul to assist with the construction of a water supply for 1,500 people as well as sanitation facilities at the prison. In addition, plans are underway to establish a school and training center as well as a fully equipped library.

The Salesians in Sierra Leone hope that with a mixture of counseling services and educational opportunities, youth will be able to leave prison with skills that enable them to become productive members of society, breaking the cycle of poverty and crime in their lives.

“The Salesians saw a great need here in Sierra Leone and because they have been working in these communities for many years, they know what is needed to help rehabilitate the local youth. We want to give these youth hope and show them that there are opportunities in life despite what they have experienced in their young lives,” adds Fr. Hyde.

Sources

ANS – Sierra Leone – A new Alliance in Freetown: The Salesians and Young Prisoners

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: New Salesian Program Brings Rehabilitation and Hope to Young Prisoners first appeared on MissionNewswire.

In honor of Day of the African Child—celebrated by the Salesians on June 16 at Don Bosco Fambul in Sierra Leone—organized a youth festival with more than 700 in attendance, including youth and staff from the organization.

Each year, Day of the African Child focuses on a particular theme. This year was dedicated to “Eliminating harmful social and cultural practices affecting children: Our collective responsibility.” The theme is an important one given the rate at which young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy, among other atrocities. In addition, almost ninety percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation.

“Nothing is as powerful as a community itself seeing the harm being done to its own children and deciding collectively to end that practice,” says Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF’s director of programs, in a statement marking the Day of the African Child. “Communities are key to the health and well-being of African children subjected to harsh practices.”

In addition to advocating to protect and care for child victims, the Salesian event brought together hundreds of young people who denounced their abusers and the abuse they suffered. At a session of the Don Bosco Children’s Parliament and a subsequent press conference, a number of the girls reported sexual assaults committed by teachers, neighbors and even family members. Many of the cases remain un-investigated by the police.

But it’s not just young girls that are victims. Many boys are victims as well. Speaking at the event, one boy detailed his victimization at the hands of several police in Freetown-Kissy. He and his friends were robbed and assaulted. He was forced to stay in a police cell for three days before the social workers of Don Bosco Fambul were able to free him.

And although the incident was investigated by an internal disciplinary proceeding within the police department, the accused officers remain on duty.

“Policemen will always protect criminal policemen,” reflected one nine-year-old girl. She is one of several street children who spoke about their lives on the street, lives that are shaped by the violence and exploitation they experience every day.

Youth in Sierra Leone urged the government to take the appropriate measures to protect victims of violence and especially to prevent youth from ending up on the streets where they are at an even higher risk of violence and exploitation. They also focused attention on a failing educational and health care system that is often overrun with corrupt individuals victimizing youth. Advocates and youth also urged that the investigating authorities and the judiciary system ensure the establishment of an efficient penalty system against child abusers.

“It is not only on the 16th of June each year that children deserve the appreciation of parents, relatives, teachers, and even the President, it is every single day,” says Salesian Brother Lothar Wagner, social worker and director of the Girls Shelter at Don Bosco Fambul.

In addition to the youth festival, the Salesians at Don Bosco Fambul have been running a Girls Shelter for the past two years. The Shelter was created in direct response to this ongoing crisis. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. According to a recently published Girls Shelter annual report, staff at the shelter provided crisis intervention services 521 times over the last two years.

The Girls Shelter is one of many programs provided for youth by Don Bosco Fambul. To learn more about Salesian programs in Sierra Leone visit SalesianMissions.org.

More articles about Sierra Leone >

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Sources:

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Children’s Parliament Meets in Freetown

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Day of the African Child

UN – Day of the African Child: Communities are key to ending customs that harm children, says UNICEF

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

African Union

The post SIERRA LEONE: 700 Youth Gather, Bring Awareness of Sexual Violence to Mark Day of the African Child first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Young women are at risk for sexual violence, trafficking and forced pregnancy among other atrocities. Today, one third of girls are forced into marriage and are often sexually assaulted by their husbands before their 15th birthdays. In addition, 90 percent of girls are subjected to female genital mutilation.

In response to this crisis, for the past two years the Salesians at Don Bosco Fambul have been running a Girls Shelter. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been victims of sexual assault. According to a recently published Girls Shelter annual report, staff at the shelter provided crisis intervention services 521 times over the last two years.

The annual report also reveals causes of great concern; the brutality of the violence against the young women and the rising number of sexual offenses against girls under 14 years of age. Among the perpetrators are teachers and religious leaders as well as men who are active in child trafficking.

“Some of the girls were kept like slaves by their tormentors, often for years,” says Salesian Brother Lothar Wagner, social worker and director of the Girls Shelter. “The boldness that characterizes the way the perpetrators act against the girls and young women bears testimony to their grave moral void. Often they do not even regard themselves as criminals but present themselves instead as benefactors.”

In addition, the annual report criticized the investigating authorities and spoke of a “culture of impunity.” One recent case handled at the Girls Shelter was the rape of a 13-year-old girl by five male youth. After five days of intensive medical care the victim died from her injuries. The police have never investigated the case despite repeated demands by Don Bosco Fambul.

Equally alarming was the finding that in 37 separate rape cases the investigation files were demonstrably manipulated by the police or investigations were deliberately delayed. Perpetrators were released from custody and disappeared without a trace, in spite of the incriminating evidence against them. Only a fraction of the accused made it to court to be punished.

Given the lack of police protection, investigation and justice, only four of the 37 rape victims in these cases plan to proceed despite the fact that many of the girls are severely traumatized.

“In addition to the crisis work we do, we also work with girls to focus on safety to help them find ways to try to protect themselves in the hope the trauma is not repeated,” adds Brother Wagner.

The head of the department that oversees a crisis line for children and youth at Don Bosco Fambul reported that anonymous counseling interviews on sexual abuse and rape have skyrocketed in the past year. Close to 745 girls and 34 boys have reported sexual violence and most of the victims do not wish to report the crimes to the police.

In the upcoming years, Don Bosco Fambul plans to intensify both the services at the Girls Shelter and its outreach to victims in Sierra Leone.

The Girls Shelter is one of many programs provided for youth by Don Bosco Fambul. To learn more about Salesian programs in Sierra Leone visit SalesianMissions.org.

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Sources

ANS – Sierra Leone – Don Bosco Fambul: Stop Sexual Abuse and Rape

UNICEF – Sierra Leone

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Salesian Girls Shelter Provides Crisis Support and Care for Sexual Assault Victims first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Salesians of Don Bosco in Sierra Leone have used the donation to provide a balanced lunch for children from very poor families in the Salesian preschool and primary schools. For some of the students, this is the only balanced meal received a day. Many families work each day selling things in the market and on the streets and are only able to provide their families the basics of daily survival.

“Many of the youth who participate in Salesian programs in Sierra Leone are malnourished,” says Fr. Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions—the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “When youth receive nutritious meals through our programs, they are better prepared to take part in the counseling and education offered—as well as to face their future.”

The Salesian programs in Sierra Leone also assist youth who work in the markets with their parents. Many of the children have to work because their parents do not see school as a necessity. The Mama Margaret program offers parents a plate of food for their children in exchange for two or three hours of classes given by local youth volunteers.

One of the youth who benefited from the donation at the Mama Margaret program is Joseph, who has been attending the program for the last three years. Joseph does not know his parents, who abandoned the family many years ago. He lives with his grandmother who once sold condiments and onions in the market before an illness left her paralyzed. No longer able to care for Joseph and his siblings, the children took on the responsibility of caring for her.

As a result the siblings left school and were found begging on the streets or carrying things for strangers to earn money to bring home. Joseph, the youngest of the siblings, spends almost all day in the Mama Margaret Center. There he is able to bathe, have help washing his clothing, and is fed a plate of fortified rice. Through the Numana donation, the program is also feeding the grandmother and the other siblings.

Other programs that have benefited by the donation include the Sisters of Mother Theresa of Calcutta—a center for youth and adults who have been abandoned by their families, mainly due to health problems—and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny who provide education and residential programs for those on the streets and those with mental illness. The Sisters use the rice to feed the poor and the sick in their programs and when able, share the rice with some of the very poor families that live nearby.

“They use the rice-meals to share a daily meal with those in need in their programs,” says Fr. Hyde. “Donations like these are critical as sometimes the donated meals we provide are the only food a person will receive all day.”

To make a donation to support feeding programs around the globe go to SalesianMissions.org.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone

The post SIERRA LEONE: Fortified Rice-Meal Donation from Numana Feeds More than 1,400 first appeared on MissionNewswire.

The Child Hotline 116 is an around-the-clock counseling hotline staffed by social workers—along with other trained professionals—offering hope and prospects for the future for children suffering from the ravages of war. Many of the children live on the streets of Sierra Leone’s largest cities and unable to read or write, they struggle to survive. Sierra Leone‘s brutal civil war has resulted in 500,000 displaced families, 60,000 orphans and thousands of street children. Two-thirds of the population is impoverished and unemployment rates are at crisis levels.

The counseling hotline was launched by Don Bosco Fambul, in partnership with Sierra Leone’s telecommunications providers, Airtel, Africell, and Comium, who have guaranteed that every call will be free of charge. With cell phone use surging in Sierra Leone, the hotline is a perfect vehicle for connecting children to the many vital services provided by Don Bosco Fambul. It is the outgrowth of an initial pilot known as the Basics Mobil, initiated after it was found that many street children, especially girls in the slums, were unable to reach the Don Bosco Fambul or family home in Freetown.

Don Bosco Fambul, a Salesian-run center in Freetown, is committed to providing street children prospects for a better future, along with helping to strengthen families and enable youth to become responsible citizens.

“By means of all our projects, we want to be there for children and youths facing personal crisis,” says Brother Lothar Wager, director of Don Bosco Fambul. “We devote our time to them. and we do so without exception—24 hours a day, weekdays and weekends, working days and holidays, day and night.”

The hotline creates an essential link in connecting children in need to the variety of life-changing programs offered by Don Bosco Fambul. All of the programming directly addresses issues facing street children—including emotional trauma from the war and lost family. With the goal of reuniting with their families, youth participate in a 10-month program which includes counseling, medical care and education.

The brutal civil war in Sierra Leone not only caused death and destruction, it destroyed the economic fabric and infrastructure of the country and made rebuilding difficult. Families were torn apart, with many children recruited as soldiers and worse, as slaves. Nearly a decade after the war’s end, Sierra Leone is still struggling to rebuild schools, train teachers and reach children who have never seen the inside of a classroom. Coupled with the aftermath resulting in harsh child labor, rape, child trafficking and sexual abuse, the Child Hotline 116 is working to resolve many resulting issues. Other agencies, like UNICEF and its partners are working to improve education and bring opportunities for schooling to all the country’s children.

“We want to prevent children from ending up on the streets,” Bro. Wagner adds. “We want to strengthen them and provide possible solutions to enable them to regain control of their lives within a short period of time.”

Education is one of those solutions—and the focus of the work of the Salesians in Sierra Leone and around the globe in more than 130 countries.

Don Bosco Fambul has been helping street children and unemployed youth as well as their families in Freetown for more than 10 years. Apart from working with street children, the organization offers a 10-month rehabilitation program for 70 street children and 1,500 former street boys and girls—supported by the Family Tracing Department, whose goal is the reunification of families separated by conflict and war.

Additionally, scholarships and training programs are available and a youth center is open daily, offering support for families. This center and a number of shelters provide food and drinks, showers and laundry, a place to retreat and sleep, and the opportunity to connect with other children in similar circumstances.

Don Bosco Fambul is a member of the Child Helpline International, an organization whose work is grounded in a firm belief in the rights of children—as explicitly laid out in such internationally recognized and binding documents as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions

Don Bosco Fambul

ANS (Salesian Info Agency)

The post SIERRA LEONE: New Child Hotline Offers Hope to Children Affected by Civil War first appeared on MissionNewswire.

To respond to its street children in crisis, Don Bosco Fambul of Sierra Leone has developed two unique programs which reach children wherever they are – an outreach bus and a 24-hour crisis line.

The brightly colored bus, known by some as “Hope on Wheels,” provides much needed protection to street children like Edward, a 14-year-old youth who recently told how he and other Sierra Leone street children have been threatened, beaten and jailed by police for no apparent reason. A recently released investigative report titled, “Children of the Street,” published by Fambul, reveals how street children are unfairly targeted for abuse by law enforcement agencies responsible for looking after these vulnerable members of society.

The outreach bus operates as a full-service support center where children can receive basic health care and counseling services as well as play games with friends and watch educational movies. Each day, staff members work for and with 1,500 disadvantaged street children and youth.

“Don Bosco Fambul reaches out to an estimated 2,500 street children living in the region – 500 of whom are girls. The Don Bosco bus will help those who have been abandoned by their parents, the government and unfortunately even those who are supposed to protect them.  They are facing emotional trauma from the war, family separation and poverty,” says Fr. Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions (the U.S.-based fund-raising arm for Salesian programs around the globe, including this one).

Another program – the 24-hour crisis line for emergency and advisory services – extends Don Bosco Fambul’s ability to reach youth in need far outside the borders of Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

“The phone line allows youth closeness and distance at the same time. They hear a voice talking to them and feel safe – and are therefore able to speak about their problems confidentially. This is especially important in cases of sexual abuse of girls and young women,” says Fr. Hyde.

“The crisis line is an important addition to our services, as we have found in the last few years that the communication behavior of young people in Sierra Leone has changed. Nearly everyone, male or female, owns or has access to a mobile phone,” says Fr. Hyde.  “Our missions have to be constantly adapting to the real-life situations of street youth. Both the crisis line and the outreach bus are allowing us to reach children and youth who otherwise would not have access to Don Bosco Fambul’s services.”

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