(MissionNewswire) The Don Bosco Salesian Education Center (CEDES Don Bosco) in San José, Costa Rica, has organized a series of training sessions to encourage students to participate in the upcoming Don Bosco Global Youth Film Festival. Teachers want to ensure students have the necessary tools to make their videos.

The training was offered by Julio Zúñiga, assistant of the Club House and a graphic designer with extensive experience in multimedia production. Zúñiga provided audiovisual resources and taught techniques to create shots, manage light effects and to focus on different planes, underlining the importance of maintaining the thematic context. Retouching and editing photos, along with videos and film techniques, were also covered.

Michelle Marchena, environmental manager of CEDES Don Bosco, spoke to youth about how to combat climate change. The goal was to raise students’ awareness of the festival’s theme, “I have a dream! Young people and climate change.”

A Salesian explained, “The training, which was organized by the CEDES Don Bosco’s Department of Social Communication, encouraged the students to participate in the film festival and helped them get ready to do so. In 2021, CEDES Don Bosco won an award at the festival thanks to our student Nazareth Cascante, who also recently sent a motivational video to the students encouraging them to participate.”

According to the World Bank, more than 1.14 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, which is more than 21% of the population. In addition, poor Costa Ricans are more likely to live in a single-mother household and have a higher-than-average number of children under age 5, as well as other dependents living in the same home. Dependents include children under age 14 or adults over age 65. More than 77% of poor Costa Ricans work in the informal sector and have roughly three years less schooling than their peers who are not living in conditions of poverty.

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ANS – Costa Rica – CEDES Don Bosco prepares students for the Don Bosco Global Youth Film Festival (DBGYFF 2024)

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Costa Rica

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(MissionNewswire) St. Dominic Savio Center in Cartago, Costa Rica, has been providing educational workshops for people, with a focus on women, for the past 40 years. The goal is for students to acquire a trade and start their own businesses. Currently, the workshops provide education to more than 150 people.

Among the courses that are taught are cooking, beautician skills, relief painting, jewelry making, pastry making, cutting and packaging, among others. The packing course was the first one provided at the center and it has only grown from there.

“Salesian missionaries in Costa Rica and around the globe provide programs that ensure girls and young women have equal access to education and the supports needed to graduate and find stable employment,” said Father Timothy Ploch, interim director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “These programs work to help women achieve long-term self-sustainability, which benefits their families and communities.”

According to the World Bank, more than 1.14 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, which is more than 21 percent of the population. In addition, poor Costa Ricans are more likely to live in a single-mother household and have a higher than average number of children under age 5, as well as other dependents living in the same home. Dependents include children under age 14 or adults over age 65. More than 77 percent of poor Costa Ricans work in the informal sector and have roughly three years less schooling than their peers who are not living in conditions of poverty.

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

ANS – Costa Rica – “Mamma Margaret Workshops,” an option for the advancement of women

Santo Domingo Savio Salesian Center Facebook

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Costa Rica

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(MissionNewswire) Fabian Carillo, an 8th grade student at the Don Bosco Center for the Development of Skills, known as CEDES Don Bosco in Costa Rica, has been a member of the national taekwondo team for the past three years. In international competitions, he has participated in meets in the United States, Panama, and Nicaragua, and has won several gold medals.

In Carillo’s most recent event at the Latin American Taekwondo PANAM, he won a bronze medal, taking first place in his category at the Costa Rican level and third place at the Latin American level.

His father, Alejandro Carillo, says that Fabian handles his role as an athlete well and that as a student he gets very good grades. His next competition will be in August in Nicaragua. He is already hard at work training for the event. Carillo practices taekwondo after classes at school, and trains two hours every day six days a week. He hopes to soon have the opportunity to compete in a Taekwondo World Cup.

“Sports programs are important for social integration and the promotion of values like teamwork, communication, respect, and team spirit,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Learning and playing team sports encourage leadership skills as well as teach youth to work as part of a team. Students also learn important social skills and have opportunities for growth and maturity.”

According to the World Bank, more than 1.14 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, which is more than 21 percent of the population. In addition, poor Costa Ricans are more likely to live in a single-mother household and have a higher-than-average number of children under age 5, as well as other dependents living in the same home. Dependents include children under age 14 or adults over age 65. More than 77 percent of poor Costa Ricans work in the informal sector and have roughly three years less schooling than their peers who are not living in conditions of poverty.

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

ANS – Costa Rica – CEDES Don Bosco student among Latin America’s top Taekwondo athletes

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Costa Rica

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(MissionNewswire) The Don Bosco Center for the Development of Skills, known as CEDES Don Bosco in Costa Rica, has been awarded the Blue Award in the hygiene promotion category by the Ecological Blue Flag and Quality Healthcare Seal. The center has been promoting a culture of cleanliness and hygiene through education and safe access to drinking water and sanitation services to help stop the spread of disease and prevent COVID-19 infections.

The Ecological Blue Flag program is an annual award that takes into account efforts to improve hygiene and environmental conditions. The Don Bosco Center obtained an evaluation of 100 points in the mandatory parameters, which include the correct management of drinking water, correct treatment and disposal of wastewater, application of the hygiene protocol, disinfection of installations and plants, hand-washing, and solid waste management.

“The Don Bosco Center has done significant work in ensuring that students and staff are learning and working in a safe and clean environment,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This work is important all the time but has been particularly importing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Salesians around the globe have made access to clean water and proper hygiene a priority in Salesian schools and centers.”

According to the World Bank, more than 1.14 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, which is more than 21 percent of the population. In addition, poor Costa Ricans are more likely to live in a single-mother household and have a higher than average number of children under age 5, as well as other dependents living in the same home. Dependents include children under age 14 or adults over age 65. More than 77 percent of poor Costa Ricans work in the informal sector and have roughly three years less schooling than their peers who are not living in conditions of poverty.

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

ANS – Costa Rica – CEDES Don Bosco receives the Blue Prize for Promotion of Hygiene

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World Bank – Costa Rica

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(MissionNewswire) The Santo Domingo Savio Salesian Center in Cartago, Costa Rica, has an ongoing initiative to collect food donated by parishioners and provide it to poor families in the community. Those who wish to donate are able to drop the goods off at the center. Donations often consist of cereals, eggs, canned products, oil and water, among other items. A delivery of the food is made every first Friday of the month to those in need.

Currently, the initiative reaches 40 families near the Salesian Center. The initiative is supported by Salesian collaborators and aspirants and members of the Mary Help of Christians Association, who divide the food into packages.

“This initiative is important now more than ever especially as people are slipping more into poverty in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This provides an opportunity for Salesians and those in the parish who are able to give back to those in the community who need a helping hand.”

According to the World Bank, more than 1.14 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, which is more than 21 percent of the population.

In addition, poor Costa Ricans are more likely to live in a single-mother household and have a higher than average number of children under 5 years old as well as other dependents living in the same home. Dependents include other children under 14 years old or adults over 65 years old. More than 77 percent of poor Costa Ricans work in the informal sector and have roughly three years less schooling than their peers who are not living in conditions of poverty.

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

ANS – Costa Rica – Santo Domingo Savio Salesian Center offers food to poor families

Santo Domingo Savio Salesian Center Facebook

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Costa Rica

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The Don Bosco School, which is part of the Don Bosco Salesian Educational Center (CEDES) and has more than 400 students, was represented by 16 students who are taking courses at the school’s center of technology. The first team, a finalist in the competition, designed two futuristic cities that reflect emotions, colors and fun. The second team, which received an honorable mention, created an eco-friendly residential complex with accessibility and eco-terraces to encourage sharing among families.

In addition to the competition, students also created and launched an application known as Quimera, which aims to reduce school abandonment. This is particularly relevant in Costa Rica. According to data from the Ministry of Public Education, in 2018, 10,211 students left secondary school without graduating. Created by five students, the project was a finalist in the regional competition Latin Code Week and was promoted by Junior Achievement.

Quimera is a cross-platform application that utilizes games and tests to motivate young people to enjoy studying and reinforces learning interactively. The objective of Quimera is to interactively link academic subjects and schools, allowing students to gain greater knowledge of the subjects, tackling them in a more dynamic way. Moreover, it will allow teachers to track student progress in order to provide extra support to help them stay in school.

These competitions provide a great way for students to use the skills they have learned in the classroom,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “In Costa Rica and in countries around the globe, Salesian missionaries help young people take responsibility for their own lives and provide them with both the technical and life skills needed to succeed in the workplace.”

According to the World Bank, more than 1.14 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, which is more than 21 percent of the population. While the poverty rate has dropped slightly from 2014, extreme poverty has been on the rise and has reached its highest recorded rate in the last six years.

In addition, poor Costa Ricans are more likely to live in a single-mother household and have a higher than average number of children under 5 years old as well as other dependents living in the same home. Dependents include other children under 14 years old or adults over 65 years old. More than 77 percent of poor Costa Ricans work in the informal sector and have roughly three years less schooling than their peers who are not living in conditions of poverty.

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

ANS – Costa Rica – Students of “CEDES Don Bosco” are finalists in educational projects in Latin America

Salesian Missions

World Bank – Costa Rica

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While some youth have gained an education, they still lack the social and life skills needed to maintain stable employment. According to statistics from Salesian missionaries and teachers who have been working with at-risk youth, nearly 60 percent of young people are laid off from their jobs because of poor values and social skills. While they may possess the labor skills needed to do the job, they don’t possess the personal work traits needed to keep the job, maintain relationships with co-workers, and act professionally on the job.

To address these issues, 25 Salesian instructors and educators with CEDES Don Bosco in Alajuelita, the 10th canton (municipality) in the province of San José in Costa Rica, have come together to start an initiative to assist youth at-risk. The first step was integrating the current Salesian school curriculum with new strategies for the care of youth in situations of social risk.

Following that, Salesian missionaries are providing teachers ongoing training on topics that will help them to effectively help these youth. The goal is to be able to provide for youth in a way that helps them remain in school, have access to life and social skills training, and gain the skills needed to find and retain employment. This will keep them off the streets and help them break the cycle of poverty.

“All youth deserve a chance at a better life,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “In Costa Rica and in countries around the globe, Salesian missionaries help young people take responsibility for their own lives and provide them with both the technical and life skills needed to succeed in the workplace.”

According to the World Bank, more than 1.1 million Costa Ricans live in poverty, that’s just more than 21 percent of the population. While the poverty rate has dropped slightly from 2014, extreme poverty has been on the rise and has reached its highest recorded rate in the last six years. In 2015, 7.2 percent of the population lived in extreme poverty as compared to 5.8 percent in 2010.

In addition, poor Costa Ricans are more likely to live in a single-mother household and have a higher-than-average number of children under 5 years old as well as other dependents including other children under 14 years old or adults over 65 years old living in the same home. More than 77 percent of poor Costa Ricans work in the informal sector and have roughly three years less schooling than their peers who are not living in conditions of poverty.

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ANS – Costa Rica – Care of young people at risk

ANS – Costa Rica – Fr Ángel Fernández Artime: “You have to give your life to be happy.”

World Bank – Costa Rica

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Each year, June 20 marks World Refugee Day, a day that honors the plight of millions of refugees and internally displaced people around the globe. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, noted that at the end of 2014, more than 50 million people had been forced from their homes worldwide. Almost 80 percent of those displaced are women and children.

Established in 2001, World Refugee Day is coordinated by UNHRC and focuses on honoring the courage, strength and determination of men, women and children forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, conflict and violence. Each year, the day focuses on a particular theme that highlights specific circumstances faced by refugees. This year’s theme, “Get to know a refugee – Ordinary people living through extraordinary times,” aims to bring the public closer to the human side of the refugee story.

“All around the world we are seeing families fleeing violence,” said High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres in a recent statement about World Refugee Day. “The numbers are massive – but we must not forget that these are mothers and fathers, daughters and sons. People who led ordinary lives before war forced them to flee. On this World Refugee Day, everyone should remember the things that connect all of us – our common humanity.”

To mark World Refugee Day 2015, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight programs around the globe that provide life-changing education and support for refugees and internally displaced people in need that were developed by Salesian Missions and funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. Salesian Missions, headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, is the U.S. Development Arm of the international Salesians of Don Bosco.

COLOMBIAN REFUGEES

In recent years, more than 450,000 people have fled the violence of Colombia to neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama and Costa Rica. Salesian Missions’ New Beginnings initiative, which started in 2011, has provided more than 1,000 Colombian refugees in these four countries vocational and human development training as well as job placement services.

Many of the Colombian refugees began the program with no marketable skills. Without the prospect of a job, it was hard for them to create stability for their families and build new lives. The New Beginnings program grants each refugee 260 hours of technical training as well as 40 hours of human development workshops. The training programs, coupled with the job placement services, allowed these victims of violence and chaos to start over and build a stable, hopeful future for themselves, their families and their new communities.

SRI LANKAN REFUGEES IN INDIA

For the fifth year, Salesian Missions has received funding from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration to conduct its New Beginnings program for Sri Lankan Refugees in Tamil Nadu, India. To date, close to 2,500 refugees have received vocational training scholarships through the program. Since 1983, ethnic violence in Sri Lanka has forced tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils from their homeland in search of safety and a new life in Tamil Nadu, India. According to UNHCR, there are close to 140,000 Sri Lankan refugees in 65 countries, with almost 70,000 in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu.

Refugees face many challenges as they begin to make a new life in their host countries. Sri Lankan Tamils are unique in that their host population in Tamil Nadu is also ethnically Tamil. While Sri Lankan refugees share a common language and customs with their host community, they still struggle to gain marketable skills and find livable wage employment.

Since 2010, Salesian Missions has been providing its New Beginnings program for young male and female Sri Lankan refugees who have been living in refugee camps in 15 target districts in India. In 2015, Salesian missionaries are serving 550 individuals by providing vocational training through a network of nine Salesian-run Don Bosco schools spread across Southeast India. In addition, 550 women are benefiting from refugee camp-based small business incubator programs. The New Beginnings program provides market-conscious vocational and technical skills training that results in livable wage employment, allowing trainees to better support themselves and their families. Many refugees enter the program with few, if any, job prospects or with a history of low paid part-time work experience which is typically unskilled and often dangerous and exploitative.

REFUGEES IN KENYA

Kakuma was established in 1992 near Kenya’s border with South Sudan and was a place of refuge for unaccompanied minors fleeing warring factions in what was then southern Sudan. Today, the Kakuma refugee camp has more than 180,000 refugees, well over the 120,000 person capacity for which it was built. More than 44 percent of the refugees at the camp are from South Sudan and arrived after fleeing the country to escape conflict and violence.

Kakuma is operated by UNHCR in collaboration with Salesian missionaries in the country as well as several other humanitarian organizations. The camp offers refugees safety, security and life-saving services such as housing, healthcare, clean water and sanitation. Salesian missionaries at Kakuma refugee camp operate the Holy Cross Parish and the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center where 1,044 young men and women are receiving critical employment and life skills. There are many courses available and those studying welding, carpentry and bricklaying often utilize their new skills helping to build infrastructure within the camp. Salesian missionaries are currently seeking funding to build a new school on a donated plot of land at the refugee camp in order to meet the growing demand.

Salesian missionaries at the camp also operate the Helping Children to be Children program which gathers refugee children and leads them in games, songs and classes held outdoors on the camp grounds. As part of the program, children are offered the opportunity to draw and learn to speak English. Close to 3,000 children benefit from this Salesian program which currently has no steady funding and is run primarily by refugee volunteers.

SYRIAN REFUGEES IN TURKEY

Sharing a 500-mile-long border with Syria, Southeastern Turkey has more than 1.6 million Syrian refugees, as reported by the United Nations. Salesian missionaries are providing services at three sites within Syria while also providing for Syrian refugees in Turkey. While many Syrian refugees stay in towns on the Turkey-Syrian border, many find their way to big cities like Istanbul where Salesian missionaries operate a program that currently serves close to 400 Syrian refugees.

At the Don Bosco Center in Istanbul, Salesian Father Andres Calleja Ruiz leads special programs for refugee children and youth from Syria as well as for a growing number of families fleeing ISIS persecution in Iraq. Because most refugees do not speak the local language it is difficult for children to attend school and adults to find work. At the Center, Salesian missionaries provide a school for more than 350 refugee children where they learn English language skills and traditional school subjects such as mathematics, geography and music. Students have access to sports and dance programs intended to help them connect with their peers and find enjoyment and comfort in their new surroundings. In addition, the program provides counseling both for youth and their families to help them overcome the challenges and traumas they have faced.

Technical skills training is a critical component of Salesian work in Istanbul. Many refugees leave the country’s border towns and refugee camps and make their way to Istanbul hoping to find employment and a more stable life. If they fail to find work, refugees are often left in dire circumstances. The Don Bosco Center’s technical skills training program is a critical safety net for those in need.

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World Refugee Day 2015

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